Week 10

Man! someone sure has been lazy about getting this posted. This someone may or may not also have been particularly stupid and deleted the first version of this post only to have to compose it again. Maybe…maybe not… Anyway…

Mon 9/16 – rest

Tues 9/17 – 6 + 0.6 mi / 52:30 + 5:35 min

It’s amazing what 48 F does to your morning run. I had a 7 am experiment start time today and then nothing time sensitive for a few hrs. So, shamefully goosebumped as the wussy Minnesotean that I am, I took advantage of this luxury and got the miles in early. thankful to be in capris (rather than the normal booty skirt) and (for the first time in months) short sleeves and armwarmers, I managed a very fast (relative…be nice…) first 6 (3 road + 3 trail) and then a respectable final 0.6 up the ~~ass hole~~ character building Washington Ave hill. The knees unfortunately got sore around mile 5 (as has been the case lately :-/) but overall it felt great. It was cool and calm and what a great fall run should be. I’d forgotten what these little treasures are like given the 3 whole days of fall we get in MN (after the whole 6 days of summer…). NJ best have a lot more of these up her sleeve over the next few months or I’ll be sorely disappointed! I brought one pack of gummies, mostly because they sounded yummy and I could. No water.

Wed 9/18 – cross – flag football

Yes, this totally counts. No, I’m not 7. Before the game I was thinking to myself how absolutely ridiculous it would be to include this little extra curricular activity in the training log. But damn. It’s ~~interesting~~ depressing how undertrained I am for this kind of running. Short fast bursts, changing directions, stopping and then starting again, a few down minutes and then repeat. Nevermind jumping to catch a ball or accidentally tackling the scrappy wide receiver on the red team (who conveniently happens to sweat a mysterious gluey substance specifically on the palms of his hands) during a “poorly calculated flag grab attempt.” Oops. Anyway, a different set of muscles definitely got a work out today. The legs, hips and butt are going to be throwing themselves a pity party tomorrow for sure. Should I maybe get on those core exercises and think about doing some cross a little more seriously? Maybe…

Thurs 9/19 – 10.6 mi / 1:37

Success!! Ran to work, started an experiment, ran home, ~~kind of~~ showered and rolled into work for good by the young hour (this is not sarcasm) of 9:30 am.

Now on all fronts it was definitely a success, but damn was I tight from flag football! Not the most comfortable leg muscle situation for the entirety of the run, but this is probably a good message for me. Flag-football-leg-condition aside things felt pretty good. It was cool (55 F or so at the start) which felt good but also felt chilly…go figure. The knees started hurting towards the end and I would’ve enjoyed a visit from the water fairy as well, but I really can’t complain.

Much to my dismay, I left my MP3 player at work on Wednesday and had to complete the first half of the run with no music!!! *gasp* (I know, I’m as surprised as you are that I even survived.) But to my pleasant surprise, it was a rather pleasant change from the norm. *gasp* I can’t say that I would want to do this all the time, and of course I plugged in the tunes as soon as I headed back out for the leg back, but it really wasn’t the fiery hell that I has been envisioning.

Fri 9/20 – rest

Sat 9/21 – 18.8 mi / 3:27

This week’s long run was an awesome start to the weekend. Not because I felt so good (the legs felt like rubber bands and stones all at the same time…thanks a lot flag football and wussy legs…) and not because the weather was so nice (now I ~~probably~~ definitely shouldn’t complain about this but it was kinda cold (~55 F and drizzly at the start). However, I had awesome company with who to co-suffer through the 19 miles (engineering approximation…shoot me) we had a sweet new trail to explore (found by aforementioned co-sufferer Dr. Sami) and we looked damn cute (of course).

Before…

…and after! (Just kidding, this was taken like 13 steps later.)

We did 3 out and back loops of 8.5 + 5 + 5.5 = 19 miles returning to the car to ~~complain,~~ stretch, rehydrate and refuel. The path was great. It was packed dirt along a canal and through the woods to grandmother’s house we go.

While it was majorly rough, the problem for me was tight and fatigued leg muscles (a serious rarity) rather than the usual joint or shin issues much less breathing or lung trouble. I’ll chose the problematic leg meat any day and stop complaining.

Sun 9/22 – 8 awesome mi / 71:36 min

I’m not sure what the hell happened to me this morning but I felt incredible. It was nice and cool out, ~60, with a slight wind and as I got the first half mile or so under my belt I realized I was feeling really really good. I was on an 8 mile loop with no water or snacks (genius, right?) but figured what the hell? and decided to find out how good I really felt (yup, total genius). As it turns out, I felt pretty damn good! The first few miles were at a 9:10-9:15 pace and then I picked it up to finish with a 8:57 average. 🙂 By my calculations, this is approaching the speed of sound!

After yesterday, I was hoping just to survive a few miles and totally gave myself permission to bail turn around before the 4 mile mark if I was starting to fall apart. I should give myself an out more often if this is what happens! Somehow my legs miraculously loosened up and recovered overnight and were itching to get a move on. Happy Sunday to me 🙂

Total mileage = 44 mi

It felt great (kind of) getting the first really long run under the belt but hopefully the next few will be a bit less punishing. The cooler weather has been fantastic and the lower humidity is a great ego boost. 🙂 I feel like now I just need to get the longer miles in over the next few weeks without getting hurt and I’ll be all set for Nov. 🙂

Threads – tanks or tees (+/- arm warmers), running skirts or capris for the chilly mornings, + compression for the long runs and Mizunos (Wave Creation 11s and Wave Elixer 6s)