What a fun break from the routine, Jeff. Sounds like a beautiful night.
I ran last Saturday and Monday faster than usual (on a whim, because it felt so great). Last night's 8 was a comfortable slow pace; but today I've got quite a few tendon/muscle pains: ITB and adductors mainly, but also right arch and assorted other spots. I'm thinking of skipping my 3-miler tonight or maybe doing it as a walk at lunch time. Tomorrow night will be a rest day, with a planned 10 miles on Saturday morning.
updated 8:30 pm: My legs felt better as the day went on, so I ran my 3 miles with the concept that a short slow run has the effect of a massage for your legs. Nothing hurt when I ran, but if I press with my fingers everywhere hurts. I did a lot of massage with the roller ball this afternoon and that was a huge help.
Don't make excuses for why you can't get it done.
Focus on all the reasons why you must make it happen.
Good luck out there today Russ! I was going to say I would be thinking of you while I'm sleeping (night shift and all) but decided that's a bit creepy. So you will have to settle for thinking of you at 4:12 AM EST.
Have a great time today Russ! We'll be thinking of you.
Up and down week... I was super sore and chilled after my first 15 miler and didn't feel really great for days (damned snow in April). Great short run around race pace on Wed, Mid week mid long was a slog on Thursday, easy 3 miles done today, tomorrow I have 12 miles planned on a packed trail.
My ideal weekly long run pattern for keeping the soreness in check is short run, long run, light cross training (now if I can just take my own advise)
Good luck today Perfesser!
Recalculating...
Imminent Catastrophe
Thanks everyone! I'll find out how the altitude affects me. I plan to run this at a nice slow 100k pace, since this is kind of a rehearsal for Miwok.
"Able to function despite imminent catastrophe"
"To obtain the air that angels breathe you must come to Tahoe"--Mark Twain
"The most common question from potential entrants is 'I do not know if I can do this' to which I usually answer, 'that's the whole point'.--Paul Charteris, Tarawera Ultramarathon RD.
√ Javelina Jundred Jalloween 2015
Cruel Jewel 50 mile May 2016
Western States 100 June 2016
Ran 10 miles this gorgeous spring morning, sunshine and 60 now; but it was 36 when I started out. I ran the first 6 miles with a friend Kristin who is just resuming running; so there were three one-minute walk breaks in there. I haven't talked to her in a long time; so it was great to catch up and she was happy to have a companion to run with - we both were. A year or so ago, when I ran with her, she was always so much faster than I; now we're more of a match since my pace and hill-running have improved so much.
I couldn't be happier with my 5K today. Previous PR was a 19:55 and I knew I was in good enough shape to beat that. My primary goal was a PR, secondary goal of 19:20 and a stretch goal of 18:??. The weather was a perfect 65F and sunny, the course was a little less than ideal because it was a loose gravel road with some bigger rocks that made for difficult footing.
I started towards the front and shortly in I found myself in 10th place and running entirely too fast at about a 5:45 pace. I managed to reel myself in and finish out the first mile in 5:55 (25 seconds faster than my plan). I decided to just go with it and see what I had. I tucked in behind the 9th place guy for a while until he started to slow just before halfway. I was feeling good so I decided to start passing people. I was 7th at the turn and went through 2 miles at 11:55. I picked off another two shortly after that and found myself in 5th at the 2.5 mile point. It was about there that my fast pace started catching up to me. I did a quick recalculation and decided I could finish the last half mile if I slowed down to about a 6:20. I managed to hold my position and crossed the line in 18:52, a PR by over a minute and just 16 seconds shy of my 5K goal for the year!
Nice PR Jeff!
No PR for me, in fact it was about 7:10, a 50k PW. There were still quite a few behind me so at least I wasn't DFL, I reeled in a few runners in the last 10 miles, but still they were breaking down the finish line when I finally finished. Wow, no respect! It was actually almost 33 miles so it's not quite my worst one, pace-wise. Anyway, a pretty tough course, all singletrack at 6000-7000 feet elevation with, according to Garmin, 11,000 ft of climb/descent. Well, that's probably an exaggeration but the course is constant up/down/up/down, very little flat so it kept us working. It was really cold and windy and blowing snow, especially at the tops. I about got hypothermia once I finished and sat down to eat some of the (cold) finish line food. Good times.
I just wish Georgia did as well with their State Parks as Colorado does. That's a really, really nice park.
Way to run a smart race, Jeff! So happy for you about achieving this PR and the promise it shows for meeting your goal this year.
Russ, sounds like quite a challenging course with the elevation and its changes. Seven hours of "moving forward" - you've got determination!
Monday night update: 6 pleasant miles tonight which kinda surprised me since I had a charley horse in my left upper quad most of the day. Didn't hurt to run, although I got a right foot cramp in the last half mile. Go figure!
Dog-Love
I used to be such a good and consistent runner and lately I have lost my mojo but I think it is mostly because I have not had my best running buddy.. Today I ran a 2 mile trail and it rekindled the joy. Not too hard. Stretched out afterwards. I always read what you all are up to and hope soon to have more to add. I am not saying this to get attention because I know how much you all know how much I love my dog Rusty but tomorrow am we have a vet coming over to put him down and I am sooo sooo sad. I will miss his absolute love of trail running and I think because he has not been able to join me for the last couple of months I have let my running go. Tomorrow I will restart my runs and maybe down the line I will get a new dog friend.
I have loved hearing about all of your runs!!!!!
Loves the outdoors
Sorry to hear this Crabby. A sad time for you. I hope those trail runs will bring back some happy memories.
One day I decided I wanted to become a runner, so I did.
Hey Crabby, sorry to hear about Rusty.
So sorry to hear about Rusty. I'll give my poopers an extra chewie today in his honor.
Crabby - it's unbelievably hard to lose a dog like Rusty who has shared your running, your home, and your heart. I've been there. My thoughts are with you and I hope that running can help you get through this hardest of times.
Ayola - I read once that if you run 12 consecutive days in warm weather, your body acclimatizes. It's been 10 years since I lived in a warm area, but in Sacramento, CA I used to run in 100 deg weather and did okay...had to because it could go on for months....hence the acclimatization factor.