8 Mile Runs For Another Week

Two days ago, I thought that I was already bagging my 8 mile a day plan due to fatigue.  After discovering that the fatigue was more emotional than physical, I persevered.  Today will complete my second week of daily 8 mile runs.  I went to bed last night looking forward to it.  I woke up this morning having had a bit of a restless night's sleep.  I'm getting more in tune with how I sleep as a marker or how my body is handling the daily runs.  There is also the emotional component.  My daily runs are seeping into my consciousness, insofar as they are gradually chipping away at my obsession over COVID-19.  That's good.

I take each day as it comes, as I should.  It should still be about being in the moment, shouldn't it?  I've thought about running the 8 miles relatively hard.  I've actually done my runs more solidly this week than last, with the exception of two days ago, where I chose to run super easy.  I'm tempted to push today from the start, knowing that tomorrow is a rest day.  Still, pushing from the start requires some degree of caution.  There is always the matter of warming up.  Since I run the same route every day, my runs are literally second nature.  By the time I reach the first mile I can usually guess my first mile time within a few seconds.  Depending on how hard I go during that first mile, it's been as fast as just under 10 minutes, and as slow as about 10:45.  Fully warmed up, and going all out, I could probably run the first mile in close to 8 minutes.  If I warm up and build my effort, I'm guessing that I might get the mile down into the low 9 minute range.  Anything faster would not allow for an adequate warm up, and would fry me for the rest of the run, to be sure.  In fact, I'm not sure that even pushing to get to the low 9 minute range wouldn't still fry me for the rest of the run.  So, maybe, 9:30 would be a reasonable expectation if I gradually built my effort over the first mile.

I start my eight mile run every day with about 250 yards downhill.  It's fairly steep, which I can't fully take advantage of without a warm up.  When I hit the bottom of the hill, it flattens out for the next 150 yards before I begin the fairly steady climb to the end of the first mile.  The climb undulates, and there is no really steep portion until I get to the beginning of the second mile.  That's when I have about 500 yards uphill, most of which is pretty steep.  The 3/4 of a mile climb at the end of the first mile and the 1/4 of a mile climb at the beginning of the mile form a Strava segment that I've tested myself on over the past year.  My fastest pace up that mile hill is right around 8:28.  During my 8 mile runs, my best pace for the uphill mile is 11:11.  We'll see how I feel today!