Queen City miles

I forgot what July running in Charlotte is like... and the pathetic thing - by local standards, the humidity isn't that bad right now.

The last two mornings I met Captain at 5:30am to get in our daily acres. Monday we hit the roads and did one of our favorite loops... then today we hit up the 'Lansdowne loop' for a 6 mile AT workout.

The 'Lansdowne Loop' is a 2+ mile road loop with a downhill first half and a uphill second half... and it rolls a little throughout.

I got worked over pretty good today, as the the 'Loop' showed no mercy and neither did Captain! After the first 1.5 miles, Captain was gone - looking smooth and strong up ahead - and then it got ugly for me after that. You can't fake fitness on this loop, the terrain won't allow it.

My splits were: 5:53, 6:01, 5:51, 6:06, 6:03, 6:22 for a total time of 36:16 and an average of 6:02. When looking at the numbers, I'm content for 5/6ths of the splits, but the average is about where I suspect my AT level to be at right now, especially on that course.

But the way I felt doesn't reflect the workout... I'm just not used to the terrain and the move to Cleveland has made me forget about the hills and climbs of the Charlotte roads.

In the end, these last two runs have given me a great reading on where my strength is at right now, and has provided me with some training motivation to feed off of for a bit.

* Timothy