Week Ending 3/24/2014

Last week, I was not sure whether I had reached a breakthrough in my running. This week, I think I can safely say that's the case. If you remember, I finished last week with an unexpected tempo run the day after a long (2 hour) run. Monday was then an off day, so we'll start this week with Tuesday.

Tuesday: 5 miles, 41 minutes. Easy run.

Wednesday:  7 miles. 55 minutes. 6 repeats of Ramsey Hill. This was a breakthrough workout in itself. I dropped my average time down to 1:42 despite the fact that I added an extra repeat over the last time I'd done these. That's a 6 second decrease for a 400 meter hill, with an extra rep. I was definitely rather proud of this one.

Thursday: Off. I was not actually that tired, but between work and running errands, I didn't have time to get a run in.

Friday: 6 miles, 48 minutes easy. My legs felt much more sore on Friday than they had the day before. I need to remember to run easy the days after hard (or long) workouts.

Saturday: 15 miles. 2:15. I explored a new trail on this run. I ran from home (unusual for my long runs) down summit to the River Gorge trails. Rather than head south from Lake Street, I headed north this time. There's another mile+ of trails along the river that direction (some of which was purely packed ice). I didn't push it on these sections, taking my time to explore and enjoy the feeling of hitting a new trail.

Winter had returned on Saturday, and I ran in 10-15 degree weather with a bright sun, leading to slick conditions all along the river. I managed to run the whole route without falling on my butt, though, and that is an accomplishment in itself. More than that, I remembered my phone for once!

That's right: I have pictures!

The River Gorge trail. Nice, sunny, and icy, with the Mississippi in the background! This is my bread and butter.

Ice Beard!

At the end of the run, on my way back down Summit, I decided to up the pace a bit, just to see whether I could. I dropped it down to sub 6:30 pace without breathing hard. Looks like sea level, and my workouts, are making a difference.

Sunday: 2.5 miles walking. I woke with a huge knot in my calf, and hoped that walking would help it out. Not so much. I woke this morning and it was as bad as ever.

As I said, I felt like this week was a breakthrough. Even though I only managed 35 or so miles (with walking on Sunday), I felt that the quality of my workouts has improved. My legs are feeling generally better than they have, even with the knot in my calf. And the hill workout, followed by the long run, was a huge boost to my confidence.

This week, if I feel up to it, my plan is to do a tempo run tomorrow, followed by a hill or interval workout on Thursday. If I can do that, and a longish run on Saturday, it will be a huge milestone for me. If not, well, I'm still definitely progressing.