First Pfitz Lactate Threshold Run

On a treadmill at the gym, no less. Wow. I be suck.

I know these LT runs will get better, but man, that was brutal. Those of you in the dry west know about these lovely things called swamp coolers that we use in place of air conditioning. You have to have ventilation upducts or windows/doors cracked in order to pump out the moist air in order to cool the building and make the system work. Well, I started my run last night and only then did I notice that the door downstairs that is usually propped open was SHUT, and nobody seemed to be interested in propping it open in the meathead section down below. Fine. So this was still good race day simulation for East Coast humidity, I figured.

I started the run at a brisk pace for the first 3.5 miles or so, then started the 4 miles at half marathon pace portion of the run. MAN. NOT good times there. I even ran those four miles on a soft pace for me...about halfway between my disastrous Slacker pace, and my Canyonlands pace. That's about the pace I needed, though, to guarantee finishing what I had started. Hey, at least I was done faster than usual. It was an ugly run, though.

Next Monday, I'm back to 8 miles w 10 x 100 strides, which were really fun the first two weeks of the plan. Then I have to suck it up and get ready to do another LT run the following week. I keep reminding myself that if it kicks my butt in training, I WILL show up well prepared for the marathon. That's just the icing on the cake after the months of training.

In the so-far-so-good department, this plan is a dream for my IT band. The quality workout/rest or recovery day pattern is keeping it happy, along with that fabulous, fabulous foam roller. I was told that it would eventually feel like a massage to roll on it NEVER believed that after the first torturous session when I had to creep my toes along the floor to push myself because I couldn't just roll on it, feet off the ground. Now, I can practically fly back and forth on it, and look forward to that little bit of pampering that ITB. I'm hoping to get a video on the blog here eventually. The foam roller has made a HUGE difference for me, and I'd love it if another runner was able to return to running healthy by learning to use the foam roller.