This ended up being one of my best weeks yet, and just happened to be my highest weekly mileage ever, too. Got in some solid runs, including a speedy midweek medium-long run, a crazy little jaunt in the pouring rain, and a kick butt trail race in beautiful Redwood Park. Things are starting to look up! Fingers crossed I don't get sick again : /
Monday
4 miles, 9:30 avg pace. Nice and easy recovery run before work. Still quite sore from the 20 miles on the trails, but even more tired from lack of sleep. Meant to do 5, but settled for 4.
Tuesday
Rest.
Wednesday
10 miles, 9:05 avg pace. Wasn't having a very good day personally and went into this run looking to just clear my head. I usually do these midweek medium-long runs on a day off so I have more time, but it's always funny how my day ends up revolving around them. I started out faster than usual and felt good so I continued to push the pace and not surprisingly, felt much better afterword. I even finished off the run with the two fastest splits! Thank goodness for the cheap therapy of running!
Thursday
Rest.
Friday
4.5 miles, 9:51 avg pace. Woke up to the sounds of heavy rain and wind and would have loved to go back to sleep, but I had plans to meet up with my coworkers for our weekly run. Driving to the store was crazy enough and the whole time I kept asking myself what the hell I was doing. Only a few others were crazy enough to show up, all of us decked out in our free Nike rain slickers. We set out for McKinley Park, about a mile away, and almost immediately I was soaked and fighting against powerful gusts of wind.
The other guys are much faster than me so it didn't take long before I was all by my lonesome, looking like a crazy fool running in monsoon-like weather. When we got to McKinley we ran a few laps around the park, attempting to dodge massive puddles at first, then finally giving up and ending up with soaking wet feet. I had planned on doing 5 miles but it was all I could do to squeak out 4.5, and they sucked. It wasn't even one of those runs where after, you feel good and are glad you did it. I was just left with sopping wet clothes, looking and feeling like a drowned cat, and wondering, for the second time that morning, what the hell I'd been thinking.
18 miles, 13:27 avg pace, PCTR Redwood Park 30k. Much more to be said about this one, will have a race report coming soon!
6 miles, 9:34 avg pace. I had tentatively planned to meet Diane for a recovery run on the trails but realized I wouldn't have time before work, especially with the commute to Auburn, so instead I decided to run on the bike trail per usual. I really wanted to get in a run following my race the previous day, both for recovery purposes and to get used to running on tired legs. I had toyed with getting up early and doing 10, but it wasn't long before that turned into 8 miles, and before I knew it I had pressed snooze a few too many times and I only had time for 6. Whoops : / Gorgeous morning with a ton of folks running and cycling on the parkway. Took my pup along and felt much better than expected, only noticing a little tightness in my quads. Great way to finish off the week!
Total: 44.5 miles
*******************************************
February
Week Eight
Total: 135.8 miles
Well, we're two months in and 2011 is moving right along, as is my training! Although February is one of the shortest months I managed to fit in quite a bit. I raced a half marathon on the fly and ended up not only setting a new PR but also finally getting a sub-2 hour finish. That's one goal I can cross off my list! I signed up for my next marathon, Chicago, which I'm already crazy excited about. And then, just as things were looking good, I got sick again. I took nearly an entire week off, both from running and from work. When I started feeling better I decided to finally set up the bike trainer I got for Christmas and got in a nice sweaty workout while it poured outside.
The running community was thrown for a loop when the B.A.A. announced their new regulations for the Boston Marathon, so of course I had to voice my opinion as well. I jumped right back into training with a looong (and snowy!) training run along the last 20 miles of the Western States 100 course. Rounding out the month was the PCTR Redwood Park 30k along some beautiful trails in the bay area. Bring on March and my first ultra!
0 comments:
Post a Comment