I’ve had some pretty positive workouts over the last week, starting with Sunday’s long run and moving along to Wednesday’s tempo run and yesterday’s speedwork. I’ve also been doing a fair share of cycling and strength training in between which I’m sure has helped. And I’m back on a regular eating schedule: breakfast, lunch and dinner based on the groceries at home.

Is it possible I’m working my way out of a rut? Just in time for the nyc half!

Wednesday’s treadmill tempo run was pretty solid. After warming up a little, I cranked out 3.5 miles at about a 7:05 pace… then finished off with 2 miles at 6:33! It’s been a while since I’ve banged out back to back 6 and a half minute miles, especially after already running 4+ miles. I probably would have gone a little further but I walked away from the treadmill for a few minutes, then came back and all the machines were full.

Then last night, I was running short on time, so I decided to try to fit in as much quality work as possible in a short amount of time. After warming up (I ALWAYS warm up now) I cranked the mph up to 10.8, which is a 5:33 pace. I wanted to see if I could hold it for a full mile and ended up being pretty impressed with myself. I did some treadmill hill work, then a half mile at 5:50 pace, then biked for 15 min.

One of the things I’ve read (I think it’s from Jack Daniels) is that once you break certain barriers in running (ie, marathon completion, 5:30 mile, etc) its always way easier to get yourself back to that level than it was to originally train to that point. Thank god. I would hate to have to repeat all the crazy training I did in the first half of this year just to get back to my new baseline!

J