5.5mi (8x400 intervals)

The Bats, "Courage"
Ultimate Fakebook, "Soaked in Cinnamon"

WX at 0700: 74 (23), DP 66 (19), BP 30.07 (1018.0), W 5 haze, RH 76%

Odometer 3: 162.5mi

Z4 mid-hard
Resting heart rate before start = No reading today.

After yesterday's rest day, I felt pretty good about doing speedwork, and better still, today's times are a pretty good incremental improvement. The rest times are getting shorter, and more importantly, the iterations are starting to flatten out in the distribution of times.

Notably, the faster legs were not particularly faster today, but the whole set was more consistent, and it was based on less perceived effort than in earlier iterations.

That would imply that I'm getting stronger and fitter in that I have more power going uphills and in surges (and I was paying a lot more attention to running form this morning).

Or it could mean that I just essentially took four consecutive easy days and now I'm better rested...although I should probably get more than 5 hours of sleep a night. Gotta get to bed earlier.

Splits
1: 100/2:35
2: 103/2:36
3: 90/2:53 (reveille sounded in the middle and I had to stop)
4: 95/2:57
5: 99/2:36
6: 99/2:45
7: 95/2:53
8: 94/2:20

I can't deny the positive effects of speedwork, though. When I look at earlier iterations (most notably 23 July), the improvement is in the numbers-- especially when considering the temperatures this morning. It also doesn't hurt as much. Maybe I really should do this more often. When I look at the progress from 12 July, I really should.

Unfortunately, the poison ivy from last weekend is spreading, despite my best efforts to wash it off.