Meanwhile the 'life in Zone 2' experiment continues. 4.6 today - 7:14, 7:07, 7:20; 7:25 and 4.27 (7:24 pace) for last 0.6.
More even paced than it sounds as I had the coastal wind dead behind for first two miles and dead against for about 2 of last 2.6.
According to my (sometimes) trusty Garmin it was average hr of 122, max of 134, and was just a 'maintaining' effort.
I did do a very slow 90 min - more like a run/hike on Sunday - on what part of what is going to be the Siuslaw Dunes Trail Race in March. Sand is too soft to run at any great pace on it at the moment.
Today's run felt pretty comfortable - held back a bit to keep average hr down towards 125 area. Not sure what pace (average of 7:18) it is physiologically. Probably a little slower than LT, although I don't know that I could maintain it for 10 miles (but that would be leg fatigue, more that cardio/lt).
Since I can't do speedwork at the moment in case I upset the ankle, and I don't have any racing goals until I can actually do structured training, I'm not too worried whether this is optimal training, as long as I am keeping weight off, retaining some fitness and the ankle is getting better. If I start to 'train off' I can always switch to more aerobic runs for a bit. I'm sure that this is intense enough to peak, though, so that may not happen.
Have to say that this Zone 2 pace where you shouldn't be - say 7:15 - 7-40 for me - is an awfully seductive one. It's quick enough that you feel that you are moving smoothly, not having to keep checking yourself back, but not so quick that it's uncomfortable.
Charlie - I was interested to see you mention methylation. I've done quiet a lot of studying of dna of racehorses, both on potential performance and on breeding. Suspect methylation is part of the reason that a stallion sires less top-class horses as he ages. Even though the look fine, there are some subtle changes to the genome in areas that impact performance. The genetic make up of the stallion doesn't change, but the expression of what he passes on changes. So for example if a T for myostatin gets expressed or passed on instead of a C, you would have more slow-twitch muscle fiber.