Saturday 6/19 - 15 miles

To change things up a bit I decided to take a drive down to Colorado Springs and run at the Air Force Academy. I heard it was a nice run so me, my girlfriend, and another friend decided to give it a try. The trail was all dirt which was nice but unfortunately there was no tree coverage. The first 4 miles was flat and wide open as if running through the desert. The next 3.5 miles had steep but small rolling hills. Then we had to turn around and do it all over again. I liked the trail but next time I think it would be a good idea be out running before 9AM if the forecast is hot and sunny.

I ran with my friend for the first 6 miles at a somewhat inconsistent pace. He is training at a slightly slower pace and we kept alternating from a pace that I felt comfortable at to one that he felt good with. This was definitely not done on purpose but it's just the way it turned out. My friend turned around here and I kept going for another 1.5 miles. I felt great until about mile 10. I don't know if it was the heat, the hills, or dehydration setting in but I began to feel pretty bad at this point. I've been trying to run near race pace for the second half of my long runs and I did until I hit all the hills.

My new approach for nutrition seemed to be a success. I normally eat a Cliff bar every hour and alternate drinking water and Gatorade. This time I ate 2 GU Chomps every half hour then took a GU gel at mile 10. Surprisingly I didn't feel hungry at all during my run. The only problem I ran into was failing to drink enough. I ended the run with half of my fluids left. I think this might have played a role in the way I felt at the end of the run. Next time I'm going to force myself to drink more and I'll try eating the same thing to see what happens.

Friday 6/18 - 3.75 miles

I ran this one with my girlfriend at a comfortable pace. The run was supposed to be 3 miles and I often skip Fridays for a bike ride but I figured I needed some extra miles this week since I already missed a few workouts.

Thursday 6/17 - 5.5 miles

This was my first day of running back at altitude. While my legs felt great during the run, my breathing however did not. The 7:07 min/mile pace should have felt like an average run but it felt more labored than I remember it being. All in all I can't complain too much and I'm still happy with my progress.

Wednesday 6/16 - 16 mile bike ride

My first day of exercise since coming back to Colorado. I was a little nervous to jump back into training after being at sea level for a full week so I decided to go on a easy bike ride. My heart and breathing rate seemed relatively normal and the ride felt easy.

Tuesday 6/15 - Day off

Hung over from going out with old friends from NY the night before. Luckily this is early enough in my training that it won't affect much.

Monday 6/13 - (4) mile repeats @ 5K pace

This was my first interval session for this marathon. I drove around Long Island for nearly an hour looking for a track. I finally found a "track" made of broken pavement with a little bit of crushed stone on top. The mile repeats definitely didn't feel like a walk in the park but it turned out to be the fastest I've run since high school.

Mile 1 - 6:02
Mile 2 - 5:53
Mile 3 - 5:50
Mile 4 - 5:45

Sunday 6/13 - day off

Supposed to be a 3 mile run but I decided to play tennis instead. I think cross training on days with short mileage might be more beneficial than doing the run.