I switched shoes the other night and of course my mileage is up a bit, so what does that give me? A sore right calf. Weird that it wasn't noticeable until a mile in to yesterday's run. I ran 4, but I was a bit stiff and sore through most of it. I got some massage and stretching work done afterwards and it is already feeling better. Today is an off day so combined with a little more therapy, it shouldn't be a setback.
Tuesday night saw another 5 miles on my increasingly familiar tract. This time it was in the light, now I know where to look for the cracks in the road when I run it at night! It was tougher today, it took quite a bit longer to loosen up. Wednesday's run will be the last before a day off.
I got a bit of a late start last night, but still managed a very comfortable 5 miles in the dark. It's interesting to me to run in the dark, particularly last night as there was no moon. Out here in the country there's not much in the way of transient light, so it's pretty dark out on the roads. Dark enough that you can't really see where you're going or where you've been. You feel the road with it's ups and downs and cracks and such. It really is a sensory experience. I'm also still running with the headphones and just running as naturally as possible. The only thought I'm maintaining is not to overstride, keeping my foot strikes beneath my knee. Run on!
5 miles
Sometimes the plan just seems to work itself out. I had a very loose idea that I wanted to hit 30 miles of running this week. As of Thursday's fine lunchtime run I was sitting on 18 with a plan of a long run on Saturday. Friday I took off as I knew Saturday would be tough, and I knew that 4 days in a row of running might be pushing it a touch. Saturday I met up with friends at the state park in Bastrop for a long trail run. This park is nothing but ups and downs, but the trail is fantastic. Since the training is headed for Sunmart in December, I need all the trails I can get. I ended up running right at 12 miles in 2 hours flat. We had a perfect day for running and I was feeling great. While I did get a bit dehydrated, I finished running at just about the same pace that we started. I couldn't have asked for a better run. Sunday was another rest day which brings the week tally to: you guessed it, 30 miles. My friends think I'm nuts. They're probably right.
I don't really know where the motivation to run comes from. I know I want to run Sunmart in December and I know that is a race you cannot fake. Maybe it's the calendar looming with only 6 weeks between me and 31.6 miles. Maybe it's the fact that Sunmart should be a celebration with friends on a great trail in the middle of the woods, and you can't have a celebration if you're struggling to put one foot in front of the other. Or, it could be that after months of working wild hours, eating trash, and traveling, my clothes don't fit like they should and it freaking bothers the hell out of me. I don't know, what I do know is that I head out the door and run and ALWAYS come back feeling great. Today was my 4th day in a row running. Nothing else, just getting out there. putting it on cruise control and trying to run as naturally as possible. Turning my head off, running fiddle tunes through my head, smiling at anybody that goes by and just running. It's absolutely fantastic. I can't tell you the last time (if ever) I ran 4 days in a row. It just seems like something is different this time, and I love it. Today was a lunch time run at the park near the office, so an even 30 minutes and somewhere between 3 and 3.5 miles. Who knows, and frankly, who really cares. It was a beautiful day and I was out there soaking it in.
Well, here it is, 3 days in a row and still feeling like the world is my oyster. I put the headphones on again and set out the door for my nightly cruise. It was perfect weather, just a little breezy and the radio was blaring some great training tunes. I hit my stride earlier than expected and carried it all the way out and back for 46:51. An absolutely great run in near perfect weather, just a shade under 5 miles (I think). Already looking forward to tomorrow.
An interesting day at work led to no time at all to run at the park. So, I finished my day late and got home to a cool and drizzly night. What a perfect time to go for a run! I threw on my reflective bike jacket and some headphones and headed out the door into the night. I found a good station running a continuous block of music and fell right into rhythm. Smooth and easy, it was the best run I've had in the last three weeks and a great follow up to yesterday's run.
5.5 miles in 51:37
Let's see what tomorrow brings.
Well it finally happened last week. After months of preparations and countless hours working instead of working out, my company finished acquisition of the competition and in less than 24 hours, my seemingly endless project was done. Now, I'm promised that I can return to the life schedule I had gotten good at prior to all this mess. So I celebrate with a new Monday and 5 glorious miles in the rain. I absolutely loved it and felt pretty darn good afterward. It's sometimes hard for me to get out the door to do a run, but I always finish feeling better than when I started. Here's to a great start to a new training cycle.
5 miles 45:36 on the watch.