Rain, Mud and Trails

Rainy weekend, but those can make trail runs kinda fun. I hit the woods out back this morning, running an extended version of one of my regular routes, but ran it counter-clockwise instead of clockwise. This afforded me the chance to tackle a mile and a half long technical stretch on a downhill (starting at mile four), instead of climbing up. I liked this, as it was good practice, since running technical downhills is definitely my weak area.

Kept a good pace throughout. I continue to be pretty happy with my progress. The rust continues to come off at a good rate and I'm simply having fun running without major, nagging injuries getting in the way. I noticed a good quantitative measurement of this by comparing my heart rate and pace of today's run with this run last month. Same terrain, heart rate numbers are identical, yet today's pace was over :40 per mile faster.

Ran 8.6 miles @ 9:13/mile pace.
AHR/MHR - 147/165
Technical trails, fire roads.
Very hilly.
Lower 50s, overcast, light to moderate rain throughout.
Brooks Cascadia 3s, shorts, long sleeved shirt, cap.