Good weather again...

So, the weather's great again today, especially for running. Not too hot and no rain.

I emailed a couple of co-workers to see if they wanted to join me and Erik made it out. We took things a little slower than last week when we ran together, but still ended up logging 5 miles in 8:12min/mile average. Including a couple of minutes where Erik had to stop and stretch.

I really need to order a new Garmin GPS and this time get the model that includes a heart rate monitor. Today's run was pretty relaxed and I hardly felt that I was working, but I've never been able to do that pace with that perceived effort level before. I felt great! With the HRM I can push a little harder and know that I'm not going to kill myself. If I'm going to improve enough to get the Boston Qualifying time, then I need to improve my training techniques.

I'm hoping that the new manager at the company gym will be able to help me out a bit there. She's the American Record holder for the 50km race walk. Since she can walk a 50k faster than I can run one, I think she's got a lot of information that she can pass along. One of my toughest areas with these trail ultras is the walking uphill. If I can improve that speed, then I can reduce my finish times.