Thursday:
Off, and once again, I found myself wanting to get out for a run on the only day I force myself to take a day off. It's like Modest Mouse tells us: "I know what I have and want, but I don't know what I need." I've often heard that the most important day of a runner's week is the day off. It makes sense, logically and physically, and one would think that would be enough, but I don't know what I need.
Friday:
I ran an extended version of my maintenance loop, such that I ended up going 4.0 miles (33:30). I'm going to start increasing my maintenance miles, hoping that it will help on my longer runs.
Saturday:
Another, though slightly different 4.0 mile maintenance loop (36:00). I have begun adding small bits of speed to my maintenance runs as well. I figure I might enjoy maintenance more if I vary the speeds, maybe find a few new routes.
Sunday
My first concern as I started my run today was this: I wasn't entirely convinced I'd recovered from my long run on Wednesday. I still felt a certain tightness, an additional tiredness, that I was attributing to the 16-miler. I decided to take a bit of a longer warm up than usual to help limber up. But before that:
I had in mind to run my Lancaster hill workout today. That flopped when I couldn't find my watch. I waffled for a bit about whether I should run the workout anyway without the watch. You know, man, just go with the flow, run hard and enjoy the sunshine, don't worry about my time, man, it's cool, just relax and enjoy it.
Nope. I dismissed that idea outright. I decided to run the 2.2 miles to the rec center to help with the tightness. Once there, I ran another mile warm up on the treadmill and eleven quarter-mile repeats at 11 mph (5:27-pace) with about two minutes in between. Then I ran the 2.2 miles home. Why 11, Jackson? Why not twelve or ten? What's with the odd prime number?
Well, here's the thing. I had in mind to run 12 quarter-mile repeats, followed by a very fast tenth of a mile, in order to simulate a 5K. That seems like a fun thing to do. The first few were relatively easy. The recovery minutes were necessary, but I wasn't desperate for them, just getting into a comfortable stride.
I hit the middle third and started . . . I don't want to say struggling, but . . . I was definitely feeling the burn. It was a fine burn, followed by much needed recovery time.
When I got around to the final third, I was really pushing hard on each uptempo run. My legs and lungs were feeling the workout, true, but more important to this particular scenario, my belly was objecting to something I must have eaten last night. After my tenth quarter-mile, I had to sit down. After eleven, I had to sit, and I wasn't sure if I'd get back up. I decided the twelfth quarter-mile might do more harm than good, so I called it a day. The run home was slow, I'll wager, but since I didn't have my watch on me, there's no telling, really, how slow.
Wednesday: 3.4
Thursday: 6.1
Friday: 3.4
Saturday: 3.4
Sunday: 6.0
Monday: 3.4
Tuesday: 4.0
Wednesday: 16.0
Thursday: -----
Friday: 4.0
Saturday: 4.0
Sunday: 9.9
Previous:146.6 miles
Year To Date: 164.5miles.
Running Days: 29
Days off: 7
The good news is: I'm certain, at this point, that I'm over the soreness from last week's long run.
Off, and once again, I found myself wanting to get out for a run on the only day I force myself to take a day off. It's like Modest Mouse tells us: "I know what I have and want, but I don't know what I need." I've often heard that the most important day of a runner's week is the day off. It makes sense, logically and physically, and one would think that would be enough, but I don't know what I need.
Friday:
I ran an extended version of my maintenance loop, such that I ended up going 4.0 miles (33:30). I'm going to start increasing my maintenance miles, hoping that it will help on my longer runs.
Saturday:
Another, though slightly different 4.0 mile maintenance loop (36:00). I have begun adding small bits of speed to my maintenance runs as well. I figure I might enjoy maintenance more if I vary the speeds, maybe find a few new routes.
Sunday
My first concern as I started my run today was this: I wasn't entirely convinced I'd recovered from my long run on Wednesday. I still felt a certain tightness, an additional tiredness, that I was attributing to the 16-miler. I decided to take a bit of a longer warm up than usual to help limber up. But before that:
I had in mind to run my Lancaster hill workout today. That flopped when I couldn't find my watch. I waffled for a bit about whether I should run the workout anyway without the watch. You know, man, just go with the flow, run hard and enjoy the sunshine, don't worry about my time, man, it's cool, just relax and enjoy it.
Nope. I dismissed that idea outright. I decided to run the 2.2 miles to the rec center to help with the tightness. Once there, I ran another mile warm up on the treadmill and eleven quarter-mile repeats at 11 mph (5:27-pace) with about two minutes in between. Then I ran the 2.2 miles home. Why 11, Jackson? Why not twelve or ten? What's with the odd prime number?
Well, here's the thing. I had in mind to run 12 quarter-mile repeats, followed by a very fast tenth of a mile, in order to simulate a 5K. That seems like a fun thing to do. The first few were relatively easy. The recovery minutes were necessary, but I wasn't desperate for them, just getting into a comfortable stride.
I hit the middle third and started . . . I don't want to say struggling, but . . . I was definitely feeling the burn. It was a fine burn, followed by much needed recovery time.
When I got around to the final third, I was really pushing hard on each uptempo run. My legs and lungs were feeling the workout, true, but more important to this particular scenario, my belly was objecting to something I must have eaten last night. After my tenth quarter-mile, I had to sit down. After eleven, I had to sit, and I wasn't sure if I'd get back up. I decided the twelfth quarter-mile might do more harm than good, so I called it a day. The run home was slow, I'll wager, but since I didn't have my watch on me, there's no telling, really, how slow.
Eleven Day Tally
Wednesday: 3.4
Thursday: 6.1
Friday: 3.4
Saturday: 3.4
Sunday: 6.0
Monday: 3.4
Tuesday: 4.0
Wednesday: 16.0
Thursday: -----
Friday: 4.0
Saturday: 4.0
Sunday: 9.9
Previous:146.6 miles
Year To Date: 164.5miles.
Running Days: 29
Days off: 7
The good news is: I'm certain, at this point, that I'm over the soreness from last week's long run.
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