Nice LT run.

Thursday: Did really slow 4 mile recovery run outside. First mile was over 10min/mile. Miles 2-4 were about 9:40 or so.

Friday: Did 9 miles with 5 at LT pace. Considering the hard time I had with 3 miles at 6:48 pace last week at the gym, I decided to aim for 6:58 pace (8.6mi/hr). The temperature outside is still hovering around freezing which means icy sidewalks so no outside LT work yet. I also usually set the treadmill at level 3 of the random hills which causes the grade to fluctuate between 0 and 2.9%, but decided to cut back to level 2 which only goes up to about a 2.2% grade I think. First 2 miles were recovery at 9:13 pace. Really low HR. Didn't get to above 140. When looking back to this recovery run back in February where the first two miles were done at the same pace but I was already over 140 half way through the first mile should mean that my fitness is improving. After the recovery portion, I started into the LT miles, but noticed that the HR wasn't getting high enough. First two miles were done at a HR of less than 170 and the peak during mile 3 was only 172 or so. I bumped up the pace for mile 4 to 6:53 pace and then to 6:48 pace for mile 5. Finished off with 2 miles@ 8:00 pace. I think all the running outside lately is making the treadmill running seem easier. In hidsight, I would have liked to see if I could have handled 6:48 pace for the whole run.

Today: Did 5 mile recovery with 6 strides. Didn't wear a watch or the garmin so not sure of pace. I'm going to try and not worry so much about pace on recovery runs, but rather to just run comfortably slow. With the six days of running a week now, it'll be more important to treat these runs as true recovery runs rather than days to slip in more GA work.