In theory, this run should be a recovery effort, relative to the crazy-hard bike ride yesterday.

As such, I slept in. And it felt GOOD, although I felt fuzzy for the entire morning and through the first part of the run in the afternoon.

In the recovery vein, I ran the first 9 miles with the goal of a sub-150 beats per minute Heart Rate. I did not want to focus on speed, just the effort of my heart. The progression went as follows (per mile), 137, 138, 142, 142, 142, 142, 138, 138, and 138. After the fact, I can see that my pace was about 8:53/mile. I'm incredibly happy about that!

On the way back, I decided I would give myself 10 additional beats per minute (i.e., not much greater than 160) for the majority, and then would push for the last 2 miles regardless of HR.

As it turned out, I ran the 9 miles back in 1:07:05. Despite my fatigue from the prior day's ride I somehow managed about a 7:26 pace at an HR average of 156. Holy cow! Somehow it seems that I have Erik Petersen to thank for getting past some sort of mental barrier about what I might be capable of. I focused on location of footstrike, turnover, and armswing speed. And, like Erik, I tried to attack some of the inclines to increase my strength.

A voracious hunger took over me so I went to Trader Joe's and downed about a quart of chocolate milk - perhaps the tastiest post-workout recovery drink EVER.