Not my finest run

A few tired miles around the 'hood

Today's run (street): 3.7 miles

Despite better weather, today's run didn't go all that well. I'm either run down or I pushed too hard on yesterday's run. I'm not a fan of running uphill and my legs reminded me of that today.  I was hoping that (sort of) keeping up with SIOR and TPP at the NJL park might have activated my fast twitch leg fibers. I actually think they were deactivated.

My goal every weekend is to do at least one run outside of my neighborhood. Since I did that yesterday, I figured a run around my local roads would be just fine. I started out well, although I did experience sinus pain when the wind hit me head on. Thankfully that went away once I'd warmed up. I began to feel lethargic the more I went on and I noticed that my heart rate was showing less than 75% max. Despite the fatigue, I picked up the pace until I was in the low 80% range. That was all I could manage today.

Yesterday's run was understandably challenging because I ran about 10% faster than I normal do. Plus there were some hills. Today's difficulties are a little harder to explain. I never struggled, but I did get tired. Perhaps it was getting up at 4:30 AM this morning that did me in. I'll get some rest tomorrow and try this again on Tuesday.

Fast twitch recruiting failure

Today's run (street): 4.6 miles

No problem with that, bud

The leg weights were doing their job as I made my way around the hilly loop in a nearby business park this morning. I tried for speed but my legs wouldn't -- or couldn't -- respond. I reached the apex of the hill and tried to let loose. My speed improved but not measurably. The weights just overwhelmed me. But here's the thing: I wasn't wearing weights.

All week I've experienced a lack of responsiveness in my running. I've thrown in some fartlek's along the way but the result, at best, has been fast lumbering. I planned to start off at a brisk pace this morning to see how my legs felt but I struggled to recruit anything resembling a fast-twitch fiber. I managed through the first mile until I found my rhythm but a glance at the Garmin showed me that I was not moving very quickly.

I'd had an extra hour's sleep last night and even took a GU gel 30 minutes before my 7:00 AM start.  Even with that, the fluidity and power that I counted on never showed up. After I completed the business park loop I turned into the adjacent neighborhood and ran those streets. A glimpse of my shadow revealed my static motion and it showed that I was hardly lifting my legs as I ran.

When I turned left to exit that neighborhood I passed one of those safety signs that parents put at the end of their driveways to alert drivers that kids are playing nearby. The big letters on the sign said SLOW and it made me laugh. I don't think I could have moved any slower. Yet, through it all I didn't find the run taxing in the least and I'd wished I'd worn my heart monitor so I would know how hard I was actually working.

I'll blame 25% of my performance issues on the high humidity and 50% on my failure to push myself harder. The remaining 25% is mystery. I wish I had actually been wearing weights so as to provide a reasonable explanation for my glacial pacing. I'm thinking of doing a bike ride later today and I definitely plan to do some speed work tomorrow. I'll recruit those fast-twitch fibers even if I have to bring back the draft to do it.