Training Aug. 17-23

Monday AM 6 PM 6
Tuesday AM 12

Wednesday PM workout at BCC with Dirk, Jake and Patrick. 4 by 1600 with 400 jog for rest; goal was to increase pace by five seconds per rep. Dirk, as he always does, set the pace, and did a great job. The weather, as it always is, was humid as hell, and I think we dealt with it well. 4:58, 4:53, 4:49, 4:58. I averaged 5:03 for this workout July 14; here, I averaged about 4:55. Obviously, I would have liked to have made it to 4:43 with Dirk on the last rep or, at the very least, have maintained or slightly increased the pace of the third rep. I was there until about 600 to go, and then I really tied up. Still, it was a good workout, and I think this hard running is going to pay off.

Thursday AM 12
Friday AM 12 PM 6
Saturday AM 12

Sunday AM Met Jake, Dirk, Max, Patrick and other Jake for an epic 21-ish-mile run that starts in Bethesda. Pace was very relaxed early on, but it got pretty quick through Rock Creek Park. The last couple miles were on the Georgetown Branch Trail and thus gave me nightmares of two crappy Parks Half Marathons; though Jake and Dirk had surged ahead I kept a fairly good rhythm. Again, this was very good training -- a lot of running at a decent pace with fairly tired legs. 2:21.

Afterward, we bought shaved ice from a street vendor unfazed by a swarm of bees. They were good -- really, really good. I drove home and met up with a friend and went to the Nats game and soaked up too much sun. Dirk, meanwhile, who is training for a duathalon race, capped his afternoon with a cycling workout.

Total - 103

Next week I have my annual alumni race, 5K XC, at Gettysburg College. Looks like we will do a midweek tempo.