Easy intervals

I ran 8 miles this morning, running from home to work. My wife and I both work for the same hospital, so I can put my clothes and my lunch in her car and then run to work. If I time things right, my clothes arrive just as I do.

The plan this morning was intervals - 5 x 3 minutes, but not at an all-out effort. I wanted to run faster than my tempo pace, but not by much. For the most part, I stayed around a 6:45 pace during the repeats - not fast, but the pace felt pretty good. I felt good enough that I added a 6th repeat at the end. My overall average pace was 8:45 for 8 miles, so I was pretty slow for the low-effort part of the run.

Right now, the mosquitoes are really bad here in central Vermont. Most of my run to work is on dirt roads. If I stop for just a few seconds, mosquitoes will be all over me. So this morning, just to reduce the chance that I'd need to stop, I wore my trail gaiters, to stop the road dirt from getting into my shoes.

My wife was rock climbing this past weekend and despite using insect repellent, she was bitten up pretty badly. She got a few bites near her eyes that have prevented her from wearing the contact lenses the past few days.

It will be nice to run in CA with fewer bugs and no humidity, although there is that heat issue.

My next run will be Thursday - 8 miles with 2 tempo miles.