Week 7 and the streak continues to 49 days! I covered 60.2 miles in 7:07:26 (7:06/mile average). There were a couple really good runs in there, including a run to the top of Castle Craig which is a nearby mountain (about 1000') a couple miles from my apartment, a hilly steady run at 5:59/mile, and a long run of 16.84 miles in less than two hours.
Generally I wouldn't regard a long, fast run as impressive but not particularly noteworthy but this one is unique. I drove back to my parents' house for the long 4th of July weekend and there is a long loop that I have always wanted to run in less than two hours but my previous best was 2:00:16. It doesn't require a particularly fast pace (only ~7:08/mile) but the run is challenging because of the elevation profile:
Over the years, I have decided that it is quicker to go up the giant hill on the steep side and then try to make up time on the ensuing down-hill than try to run quickly uphill and then bomb down the steep side which can really tear up ones quads. If you can't read the numbers, the steepest part of the run includes just under 800' of climbing in just under 2 miles. In any case, this Saturday I decided to go for it. I averaged well under 7:00/miles for each segment of the run with the exception of the hill, where I averaged about 8:14/mile. I ended up finishing well within my abilities in 1:58:20, which I am proud of.
I have found that I'm running a lot more hills than ever before and I hope that this will translate into more strength and speed later on. I intend to stay at this training level of ~60 miles/week with a faster workout and a long run. I think that it's paying dividends and I look forward to reaping the real benefits!
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