I was dreading this run all week long, as the temperatures are starting to get hotter, and the hotter it gets, the easier it is to overheat while out on a long run. I was originally planning on running at 5:00am and was hoping that I could get in a good chunk of my daily mileage before the sun really started beating down on me. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I slept horribly last night, waking up nearly every 30 minutes while having trouble falling asleep as well (you would think with the mileage I have been running lately that sleep would not be a problem). Due to the sleep issues I decided to sleep in a bit and go to plan B, which was to drive to UNLV and run on the treadmill indoors where I would not have to deal with the heat or the sun. I got to UNLV and it was 79 degrees inside, a temperature at which I actually find it quite comfortable to run. However, due to the workout I had planned I turned on the a/c to cool the place down to 70 degrees (I don't know how long it took, but the thermometer was reading 70 by the time I finished my run). I then started my run, with the plan to run an 8 mile warm-up, followed by a 2 x 5 mile tempo with a 2 mile recovery between repeats. The workout started according to plan, as I made it through the first 7.5 miles in 53:40. I then paused my workout so that I could grab some water before starting the first 5 mile tempo at the 8 mile mark of the run. I also turned on a fan, which I placed directly in front of me to provide some wind to make up for the lack of air resistance that exists when running in place on a treadmill. The goal for the first tempo was to average 5:30 pace, which would give me 27:30 for 5 miles. The goal for the second repeat was to average 5:20 pace, for a time of 26:40. I sped up slowly at the beginning of the first repeat, going through 1 mile in 5:34, followed by a 5:30. At 2.5 miles I decided that I felt good and wanted to speed up a little, so I sped up to finish the third mile in 5:29, followed by a 5:24 and a 5:22 to finish with a time of 27:19 for 5 miles. This was followed by 2 miles at 7:30 pace (plus I stopped briefly to get some more water) before starting the final 5 mile tempo at the 15 mile mark of the run. When I started this repeat I decided to shoot for the OTQ pace of 5:18 instead of 5:20, which would give me a 26:30 if I did it (vs. 26:40). I started out right on pace this time (no warming into the pace at all) and it felt harder than I thought it would. I think that the first 5 mile tempo had taken more out of me than I realized. I was not sure if I would be able to hold pace for the entire tempo, so I just focused on relaxing at that pace. I also decided that if I could hang on for 4 miles and if I still had anything left in the tank I would make an attempt at speeding up the final mile. The pace never really started to feel easier than it did at the beginning of this tempo, but luckily it never started to feel harder either, and I made it through 4 miles right at 5:18 pace (21:12). I then sped up progressively over the final mile, finishing with a final mile split of 4:56 for a total time of 26:08 for 5 miles. After I finished the final tempo I felt like I should run one final mile to cool down a bit. The final mile kind of hurt, but I think it was good for me since I had to drive home right after finishing. I finished the final tempo to make it through 20 miles with a total time of 2:05:52, and 2:13:48 for 21 miles. This finishes off my second consecutive 100 mile week. I think that I am going to back off just a bit next week, plus once the baby comes I am going to take a fairly easy week as well (which may end up being next week anyways).
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