It’s been chilly here in Duluth the past few days. Like, down in the mid-50s during the day chilly, which is tropical in May, but frigid when it was 90 degrees just a few days prior. It’s all relative.

Tuesday, it rained all day, and I had to do something horrible. I ran on the treadmill. It sucked. It was a good opportunity to do some consistent speedwork though, so I switched up my days and did 8×400 on Tuesday instead of Wednesday. I was sweating in the basement and watching Star Trek: First Contact in order to try to keep myself from looking at the treadmill clock every half a second. It didn’t work. I did run pretty fast though, 8×400 at 10:54 pace. Probably a little too fast, but I don’t care.

Wednesday I ran outside on the road, but I wore a (lightweight) long-sleeved shirt. That was depressing. I was a little bit too warm by the end, but it was drizzly and there was a mean wind, so it was probably for the best. I ran way, way too fast. I treated myself to some music during the run (90s gangsta rap) and I got really into it. I ended up with around a 14 minute pace, which is TOO FAST for an easy run, especially after a tough workout the day before.

It’s easy to run fast when the temperature’s cooler. My Monday and Wednesday runs were both significantly faster than normal. On Monday I ran the hilly Bagley course at a 15:23 pace, one of my fastest paces on that course, and it didn’t feel that difficult. I even hiked up the big hill. Wednesday’s run was over 2 minutes faster than I normally run the same route on an easy day. They say fall PRs are made in summer heat, and I am a believer!

I am lucky today is a rest day so I can slow my roll; I need to take the easy days easy, even when I’m feeling great. I also need to be careful that the sharp drop in temperature doesn’t result in a cough or cold, as it can for me. I need some solid runs on the trails over the weekend and a great overall training week. It should be back in the 70s by Friday, so I think it’s likely!

(Whoops, this published early. I corrected it.)