Mileage Reporting 49th Week of 2014

Tristan

Barefooters
Sep 15, 2011
1,855
2,761
113
45
Ohio
Well I started my off week on a good note, to the tune of 6.8 miles at about a feels like temp of 28F. I've got some ground to make up... last week was a one run week for me :(. Had to work Thur-Sun. Also, our management ordered (and home made some of) a grand Thanksgiving dinner. There was enough food that I didn't bring anything all 4 days I worked. And I tried a different pie each day. :hungry: I did a few stairs at work Sat & Sun but less than 50 flights each day. Got a busy week planed but going to try and get a few runs in, and perhaps my first long run in over a month.
 
Last week I managed to get 43km/26.7mi, despite Monday's small procedure (with anaesthesia). This week started nicely as well with 11.2km/7mi. Average temp at 8am was 25C/77F.

I think we should establish a summer challenge down here...Running with temps above 25C is quite some work...I can see the difference in my HR, I am usually 10-15% higher than with lower temperatures.

Sunday going for the Manly Dam trail (the one where I got lost last time), for the 10km. I hope to finish it, my core muscles and upper legs are quite sore since a few days, we'll see
 
Today was the first running since the half that the legs felt almost back to normal again. That's been both frustrating, because it's meant that my easy pace has been like a crawl, and satisfying when I remember that it means I ran that half hard. But anyhow, with the legs more like they can be, I warmed up with 15 minutes of easy running, then did 4x8s hill sprints, then drills -- skipping, buttkicks and 100 ups. Then I ran home, with a set of 6x20s bursts, and the rest comfortable and easy.

I sometimes ponder the idea of tracking myself in kilometers. The numbers sound more impressive! What's my biggest week this year? 85 kilometers! And I'm now less than 50 km away from 2000 for the year.

Maybe I should start running kilometers instead of these miles.
 
ran 56k last sunday with sandals. wet and muddy conditions, no good for sandals, I didnt know, kind of nightmare...

anyway, today I ran 6km with my two fresh bare feet and my two recovering legs,
such a feeling, there's nothing like bare feet
 
Nice 3 mile run 34 deg. f. feels like 28.
Ah yes cooled off
Sunday it was in the 70's, tomorrow back in the 60's wild ride?
 
Monday, I could not bring myself to go out in the freezing rain, so rode the spin bike 60 minutes.
Then, Tuesday, hubby and I went out for a 6 miler on the gravel road (in my Sockwas) around the local reservoir that was about 65% covered in a thin, crunchy layer of icy slush. I felt a bit tired, which all made sense when I woke up with pleurisy this morning. In my case, this is "just" a cold in the linings of the lungs, but it disguises itself as the beginnings of a heart attack... I rode the spin bike for 55 minutes, just to test and see if I was having a heart attack... call me stubborn. But then I slept again until noon at my husband's guidance and under his watchful eye. Guess I'm taking the rest of the week off, but it is likely I should be well in a few days.
 
Judging by yesterday and today, the legs are pretty well recovered from the race effort on the 23rd. I knocked out 8.1 miles yesterday and 7.6 today, all pretty much easy pace and feeling good while doing so. Now that the legs feel good again, it's weird how stupid easy running feels now. The 7.6 I ran today were pretty hilly, but it almost seemed like nothing to climb those hills and scoot down the other side. It's also weird how those hills have seemingly shrunk over the last year, maybe I'm wearing them down with all the running I've done over them and that's why they don't seem so steep and long anymore.

Joking aside, I imagine there are still tougher hills out there and of course there'll still be more days ahead where the legs don't feel quite so spry. But it's really nice those times when you go out, run easy, and feel amazed at how effortless it can be, and that you look at the watch and go, "Woah, is that right?" That's what I said after the Garmin beeped with the first mile split today. Then I just kept cranking along and really enjoyed it when I turned around a little after mile 4 and then had a mostly gentle sloped downhill through the next mile. I remember how back in 2007 to run as fast as I did today felt like the redline on the engine.

I've made some good progress this year.
 
10km/6.2mi trail run this morning, it went much better than last time, I did not get lost and feet are doing ok. I only hit my ankle on the side once (shod or not wouldn't have made a difference).

Toughest part was the last 100m, as I had to run on a metal plates bridge. Some technical parts downhill required me to stay very attentive, as the rocks were very slippery (it rained almost every evening for the last week).

I really enjoyed this one. It is part of a series called 'Sydney trails', of which I hope to do more (and longer ones) in the future !

Lots of encouragement from people on the trail, which is nice as well
 
Managed to do 1.2km at 4 deg C for the Winter Challenge yesterday (in two stages with a shod run in the middle.)

The path was cold, wet and gritty :( Tried running on the edge of the grass, which still had frost in the shadows, but had to resort to Sockwa after 0.6km. My feet were so cold it hurt!

I'm not giving up. I will do this. If I could find a nice smooth un-gritted path it might help. Maybe over the holidays
 
Wow. Cripes. This morning I had one of those runs which you almost wish you could repeat over and over, but when you've been running enough, you realize that they certainly can't happen all the time and that when they do happen, think of them as a reward for the long-term effort you've been putting in.

This week has been mostly dreary. Cloudy, rainy, chilly. There was sun on Friday, but it was wet and murky again yesterday. This morning, windy, but sunny. Glorious sun. So I went out to run for a while, wasn't sure how long I'd go, just let the legs decide. I kind of expected them to be tired some, I had a running streak of 9 days and almost 54 miles going. So I just set out relaxed and easy and didn't take a peek at the watch until it beeped indicating a mile had gone by.

I expected to see maybe 10:05 to 10:15 on it. I had been very conscious about keeping everything reined in. Instead the watch says 9:43.

So I went with it and the good feeling rhythm that felt so effortless, rolled up and down the hills and into wind and wind at my back and crosswinds. Just all of it rolling by underneath me. I did take it up a notch for the last couple of miles and finally closed out with 10 miles in 1:35:16.

I'm beginning to think some that I'm now also reaping some fitness gain from the half-marathon 2 weeks ago.
 
After the 6.8mi I reported on Monday, my achilles started acting up a little Tuesday, and had some general calf tightness. I went out for a shorter run, 3.8mi on Wednesday. Felt ok. Unfortunately I got so busy towards the end of the week that I missed out on a couple of runs. Of course I am always busy, but decide to put things off for a run usually. But when its cold and windy or wet, and gloomy, well I just don't feel motivated and decide to work on that to-do list.

Today though was actually bright and sunny out. And I had got so much done I decided this afternoon I had to get out for a decent run. It was a little windy. and despite being upper 30's the wind was out of the north with a chill to it. Still, fine for barefoot, and for the first time in about a month and a half I grabbed my hydration pack and decided to break 10 miles (10.2). I hope I can start adding that long run back in every week or so. I'm really missing those occasional 16-20+ mile days. Last training run that long was October 5th. :(