Today's run was on my "Boston Simulator" loop. This is really an out and back with slight variation on the way back to maximize the uphills. The course is mostly downhill for the first 7 miles (with some notable exceptions) and then rolls till I turn around. The last seven miles are mostly uphill.

I felt pretty good most of the way. Some of the early uphill stretches into the wind were a struggle and in places my pace fell off 7:30. After a while, however, I got into a rhythm and managed to hide from the wind. During these miles I averaged 7:20. On the way back I managed to pickup the pace. All miles were well under 7:20 and a few of the easier hill miles or flat stretches were under 7:00. During all these miles I did not feel like I was pushing all that much. Overall, I covered the 18 miles at a 7:18 pace.

I ran on my GEL Flashes. These are a great shoe, but I was definitely feeling the road on some of the faster miles. This may have more to do with my toe problems than with the shoe. I have cut out some of the toe areas of an old pair of inserts and put these in the Flashes instead of the newer inserts that came with them. I've done this to relieve the pressure on some of my black and turning black toenails. So it is possible that my not having less cushioning under my toes and using old inserts is making the ride of these shoes harsher than usual.

Cross-training: 0.0 miles
Running: 18.0 miles
Shoes: Asics GEL Flash
WTD running: 57.0 miles
WTD total: 74.0 miles

posted by Not So Competitive Runner at 2:08 PM