M - off - snowshoe 4ish miles, 2,000' up Nokhu Crags in the Never Summer Range.
T - 13 on the Santa Fe from school. 2 x 5 at Marathon + 10.
W - 6 easy on the Santa Fe.
H - 10 on the Santa Fe. 5 at Marathon + 20.
F - off.
S - 20 on the Santa Fe. last half at Marathon + 15.
S - 7 easy through Sondermann Park.
Total - 60 miles, 4,000'.
Thoughts/notes:
At this juncture, 60 seems to be my sweet spot. I can maintain that level indefinitely without breaking down, missing family obligations, or losing strength.
I started running in the AM this week. The thought is that if I can finish my runs before Cale wakes up, I get more time with him. It just takes a little more discipline.
Lots of tempo miles in the past few weeks - 25 this week alone. Some of it is intentional, but factors such as my hip gimpyness have contributed as well. I'll try a few hillier easy days this upcoming week. A real test will be next Saturday - 15.5 miles with a fair amount of ups and downs.
Climbing/scrambling actually seemed to help loosen up my hip as opposed to aggravate it. Counter-intuitive.
We've all had that one special day. One where every step you ran, from the first to the last, was pure bliss. One that made you love everything about running. One that made you believe you will run every single day until you die.
Too bad we don't always feel that way. The fraction of life that DOESN'T involve running tends to throw innumerable wrenches into our best-laid plans. I've traditionally held up well against many of said wrenches, but my kryptonite...my de-railer...has hit me head-on this past week.
Weather and terrain seem to be a major player in the excuse sweepstakes. Luckily, I've felt impervious to mother nature. Maybe it was my upbringing in Minnesota and Wisconsin. I ran 10 miles on this day, so getting through ones like this were no problem this winter. (La Crosse also afforded me the opportunity to run on this day - my buddy and I even intentionally ran at 4PM to just to see if we could do it) Mountains? Altitude? Whatever, just run slower. Adjusting to altitude only sucks for a little bit. Visiting my parents in Colorado during college meant dealing with that adjustment multiple times a year. I couldn't afford to just quit training, so I just dealt with it. Wind? I remember this story from my high school coach upon overhearing a teammate of mine remark "the wind SUCKS!" His response: "No, Kelly. The wind sucks for Edina." In other words, the conditions are the same for everyone. It's how you react to the conditions that matters - any bit of adversity can be an opportunity to separate yourself from your competitors.
The stress of work and the real world also seem to derail a good deal of people. I get it. Back when I made good money sitting in front of a computer all day long, I sometimes found myself struggling to get out the door. I just didn't get excited about doing anything after work...I just wanted to go home and stare at a wall. When I sucked up my pride and went into a profession for which I actually had a passion, I found that I could work twice as hard, give ten times the emotional energy, yet still be ready to rip off a hard hill run when it was all said and done. I attribute this to the fact that teaching might take a toll on me unlike anything I ever experienced in the corporate world, yet whatever I get in return makes me feel alive! That, in turn, gives me that extra motivation to run immediately after work. More common than work doldrums are the personal and relationship stressors that people deal with. I've had my share, trust me...but I've found that when I run, I relax. I think things through. I escape my demons. Years ago, when I went through a divorce, running was the one thing I could count on. Even when I'd torment myself for the other 23 hours of the day, I knew I would have a stretch of time where I would feel at peace. Safe. The stresses of life have always pushed me TO train harder.
I wish I could say that I'm invincible. Tough as nails. This brings me to this entry. Here's the problem: I see weakness in myself when presented with scenarios such as the one I'm in now. My left hip has been bugging me for the past week or so. At first I thought it was ITB, but now I'm beginning to think it may be Greater Trochanteric Bursitis? (I'd never heard of it until today, when a PT friend of mine suggested I jfgi and find out) Anyhoo, I took three days off last week (Wednesday, Friday, Sunday) to see if it would go away...and it did seem to bother me less every day I stayed off it. However, today I felt it throughout much of my run. At this juncture, the pain does seem bearable - something I can run on for a few weeks if I had to...but the thought of having this nagging injury for the next five months is unfathomable. When I'm dinged up, I lose all motivation to train. Could I bike? Swim? Ice and stretch? Absolutely. Do I do everything I can to heal? No. I don't know why I struggle with this part. I think, "eh, I'm a gimp, so why even bother doing anything about it?" In the face of a potentially serious malady, I can't believe I could even think this way for an instant. But...I do. Henceforth, one of my goals shall be to "do better" with the little things like stretching and icing.
Thing is, how do you measure this?
6 miles, 800' to 1st tunnel with Haven this afternoon. Hip bothered me throughout, and definitely more at the end than the beginning. Going to try flat surfaces for the next two days.
Cale turns 6 tomorrow. That thought in itself is big.
Took yesterday off to spend some time with Cale. After Saturday's race, it would have been a little better for my legs to have shaken them out, but it is what it is.
Saturday was just one race, but it does give me hope that I'm on the right track this season - that I've cleared a hurdle, maybe broken out of a plateau. I would hope so, as I've prepared differently these past few months. One of the biggest changes I've made has been in my diet. More on that in the future, but I've got to think it's had a major impact in my performance.
Five miles uphill from school this afternoon - two miles through Chamberlain to Gold Camp Rd, then three more on the dirt till just past the Helen Hunt parking lot. Definitely had some post-race legs - I was 93 minutes with a 139 HR this time around. Last time I ran it back in late Feb, I was 3 minutes faster with the same HR. Not a surprise there. I'm hopeful that another day of recovery will get me ready for some hill work tomorrow.
Rough day today, but I figured it would be. I had a rare night without Cale and took full advantage of it...unfortunately, that also meant getting home at 2:00. I'm too old to make that work on a regular basis. Anyway, I had set a date to meet Patrick on the Santa Fe this morning. It's a lot harder to weasel out of a run when you're being held accountable to someone else.
Today's plan - 10 out on the Santa Fe at an easy pace, likely in the 8:30 range. Turn it around and come back at mary + 10 effort - supposedly 6:26's. All the variables, though - how I felt, slight downhill, trail vs. road, southerly wind, and of course, altitude - meant "6:26 effort." Straight up, 6:26 WAS effort this morning.
Long story short - 20 miles is still 20 miles. Not a walk in the park. Patrick's company was much appreciated, as he joined me for miles 2-9 and a couple of the pickup miles on the way back. I wasn't able to push and hold well today - I'm sure it was a combination of sleep, still getting over the cold earlier this week, and having an emptier tank before I stepped out the door this morning. I shut down the pickup a mile early as I just wasn't feeling it. Splits and HR's for the pickup: 6:27/149, 6:29/154, 6:35/152, 6:28/154, 6:36/154, 6:23/156, 6:18/156, 6:26/161. Looking at when I shut it down, it seems my HR confirmed what I felt.
Long runs are opportunities to experiment with hydration, nutrition, etc. Trying things on the short runs don't really give you an idea of what they'll do to you during a race. Today's bright and shiny supplement - Justin's Peanut Butter. I'm trying to get away from all those Gu/HammerGel calories. Thought being I can get plenty of electrolytes and sugars through sport drink, but PB is loaded with protein and fat. More importantly, it appeals to me and it's a little more natural. Anyway, I had two concerns about the funky little Gu-like packages. #1 - would I be able to get the stuff out easily while holding a steady pace, and #2 would I be able to swallow this stuff? Turns out #1 was more of an issue than #2. I did feel a little better after downing the package, but my pre-run preparations were severely lacking this morning and I felt it.
Got a quick nap in up at my folks when I went to pick up Cale. Sneaked in another few minutes in the theater when I took him to Gnomeo and Juliet. Kinda cute, I guess. Even kid movies pull at the romantic hidden somewhere in me. I'll sleep well tonight...it was a good week, all things considered.
