This was a recover week for me, so the mileage and intensity was lower. I did manage to get a fun run in on Saturday, as well as a new type of hill/fartlek combination on Thursday.
Monday: 3.5 miles, 30 minutes. A short, easy run to get my legs moving again. Saturday, as you may recall, had been my second-longest training run ever. Hopefully that will drop to third after this next week.
Tuesday: 4 miles. 32 minutes. Easy down Summit. My workout plan for this week, each day, said "whatever I feel like," and for once I think I kept to that, without pushing to do extra mileage or extra intensity.
Wednesday: 6 miles, 48 minutes easy down Summit. The melt had almost completed by Wednesday, and I was out in shorts and a long-sleeve shirt for an easy run. About a mile into it, another guy slotted in behind me. It was an easy run for me, and I ended up feeling bad because he was clearly trying to keep up with me and working hard at it. In the meantime, I was concentrating on smooth, easy form and not breathing hard at all.
Thursday: 7 miles, 52 minute hill/fartlek. I found a new, fun workout to do on Thursday in the rain. Running straight down Selby to the Cathedral, I dropped down to the path along 35E. Then, any time I saw a path uphill to my right, I ran hard to the top. I took it easy on the downhills, and went at an up tempo pace for the flat areas. Many of these little hill sprints were partially or fully up staircases. Others were long and shallow. And in the middle, I ran a 1:34 up the Ramsey Hill, setting a 4 second PR on that section.
Later that night, we got 8 inches of snow . . .
Friday: 3.5 miles, 30 minutes easy.
Saturday: 10 miles, 1:42 long. The snow was starting to melt as I got going. I slept in a bit, since my long run was not going to be quite as long this week. I took the opportunity to explore the River Gorge area even more than I previously had.
It was an absolutely gorgeous morning to be out, with sun, warming temperatures, and little wind to speak of. Every runner in the Cities seemed to be out running on the bike paths above the gorge, and I got more than a few curious glances as I popped up and down from the trails as I found or lost them. It was another of those runs where I was happy to just be out having fun and doing what I love.
(Pictures to come).
Later that day, I stopped by Midwest Mountaineering to pick up a guidebook for the Border Route Trail. The more I learn about this 65 mile trail across the Northeast tip of the Arrowhead region of Minnesota, the more intrigued and intimidated I am by it.
It seems there are many reasons that the FKT is over 24 hours for this trail. Not only is it difficult to navigate period, because of a faint, overgrown trail and numerous cross trails, the iron in the rocks in the region will actually make compasses spin.
Intrigued. Intimidated. And interested.
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