Yeah okay, maybe last week was only a down week in the sense that it had only 4 days... but I'd say it served its purpose in so much that I feel not dead physically, and a LOT more enthused psychologically.
I think mostly I feel relieved that I chose not to run cross, it makes me feel less pressured and inadequate, and hence more likely to enjoy that which I can do now, rather than to bemoan that which I can't do yet. I'm gonna get there... some day.
Sunday 08/24: 1:26:40, the short long run again from stables to RB perimeter. Same as last Tuesday but taking the slightly longer way back crossing the bridges along the Arroyo. Felt a wee bit tired from yesterday but nothing substantial. Sleeping in continues though, which is a bit of a worrying trend. Started at 7:30 am, which all told isn't horrible... but for some reason I always feel grinchy about missing those nice early dawn hours.
Monday 08/25: Off, shots. Argh, swelling in one arm... they may cut my dose again, I swear I may never get through this damn last bottle. Maybe it's the world's way of telling me I'm not ready for the 6 day training week yet, meh.
Tuesday 08/26: 1:06:58, 5 x Arroyo Tempo Loops with middle 3 as tempo: 15:46, 11:47, 11:42, 11:32, 14:49 plus jog back to car. Not as fast as last week, but I think these were loads better. Effort level was much lower, felt controlled and comfortable. Pushed a little on the last one, but didn't breathe hard until the last 800m or so. Also, there were some fallen trees obstructing the path at one point, which was annoying less because of the time it takes to pick one's way around them, and more because it seriously cuts up your momentum on the slightly downhill portion. On the last cool down lap, a guy was just finishing hauling the trees away. Great timing guys, thanks. Biked to work, felt a little tired.
Wednesday 08/27: 49:04, I'm just going to call the Monterrey to Arroyo Tempo Loop thing the "Monterrey Recovery Loop". Today's was kind of sub-standard. Woke up late again, ugh... it was overcast but kind of warm and damp, AND there was ANOTHER damn tree obstructing a different part of the path. This is really getting old, really quick. Also legs felt tired in a nondescript way, I kinda suspect this has to do with the extra biking... run was slower than I expected w.r.t. perceived effort, which also makes me disgruntled. Biked to work, hoping that my body adjusts soon...
Thursday 08/28: 1:15:22, Lower Arroyo plus some jogging at Garfield park and some doubling back. (Thank goodness I'm no longer so neurotic that I need to know the length of each run down to 2 significant figures...) A great run with the whole team, pace ranged from super easy to a good clip. Felt not half bad, despite being pretty worn out yesterday.
Running with the crew is really fun, but at the same time it really throws me off... I'm so used to solitary hours on the trails, no traffic lights, no company, and a level of inner concentration that you just can't get if you're talking and stopping and constantly trying to adjust to other people's decisions around you. I also found that I get so excited with all the yakking and gossiping that I don't really pay attention to the things that I normally do on a run, like my stride and my HR and all that. I think I'd still like to run with the team every so often, but on a regular basis it probably doesn't suit my training style.
I guess one upside to being old and not an assistant coach is that I can choose what I want for each day. I'm definitely leaving the team in the much more competent, patient and caring hands of KB and Mark. Biked to work, feeling less exhausted and pretty happy.
Friday 08/29: Off, shots... traveling... don't you just love flight delays. Was even in a pretty good mood up until then too. But has some fantastic happy hour appetizers with Peter when I finally did arrive anyways and that made it all better.
Saturday 08/30: 1:02:54, Last Wildcat Trail run... felt kind of sad despite the fact that I'm not particularly attached to the frightening expanse of conservative, white, gated communities around here. The trails are actually pretty quality though with lots of rolling hills. I forgot how painful running at altitude is though, which pretty much quashed my enthusiasm for this run within 30 seconds of setting out the door. Felt moderately better after about 25 minutes, and I managed to make it out pretty far--turned around at this field full of adorable little groundhogs or prairie dogs or whatever they are. They're funny because they don't run away when you come, they all just perk up and look at you quizzically.
Training this week: 5:38:58
Goals: To lose the weight I gained while Peter was here (End of week addendum--I did, but then I gained it right back again when I went to visit him... *sigh*)
Monday, August 25, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Week of 08/17/2008 - 08/23/2008 (Base Week 23)
A down week is definitely in order.
Feeling really worn out, it was a big week last week and a whole bunch before that > 5 hours. I think the jump from 4 hours to 5+ hours went a lot faster than say going from 3 hours to 4 hours... add in some extra biking to work and I think I just have to not lose sight of the fact that I'm still working my way up.
Sunday 08/17: ~2:20 riding the new Vitus, 9 RB laps. Woke up feeling really really bad. I don't really mind soreness, but this was not sore... this was like this awful warm, inflamed, on the verge of some injury-type feeling all through my legs, just tired and worn out. Thought riding would take some strain off, but it was still pretty hard... on the upside, I feel pretty competent with the downtube shifters now. Hopefully day off will be good, and I can shift my long run over to Tuesday.
Monday 08/18: Off, shots. Felt crappy and bummed, didn't get very much done, meaning I will be extremely stressed tomorrow...
Tuesday 08/19: 1:20:09, California back to the stables then around the RB and back, same route as two Sundays ago. Unintentionally harder than usual long runs... but pace kept creeping up. I think its because its been 2 days since the last run. Felt pretty good, was glad that I felt ready and motivated to go... don't want to fall into a funk here. Every so often I have these weird days where I feel irrationally despondent and not wanting to run, and Sunday was one of those... I was a little worried about that and how I'd feel today, but it was okay.
Wednesday 08/20: 49:23, Monterrey to end of Arroyo Loop, intentionally super super easy. Felt good, another wonderfully overcast, cool morning--I'm really liking the morning fog these days. Rode to work, first time on the red bike, it was fantastic! No computer though, so I'm just going to call all of these trips 70 minutes.
Thursday 08/21: 58:56, RB trail perimeter plus detour to yellow JPL gate. Was kind of blah in the beginning, but then started feeling really really good after the little hill up by Devil's Gate. Got a bit of a late start this morning, but it's still unseasonably cool. Awesome. Didn't get to ride to work due to after work event... *sigh*.
Friday 08/22: Off, shots. Tired. There's this new annoying guy at work. He bugs me every 5 minutes about inane things ... so had to work under someone's desk and behind some boxes to be able to get anything done. My back is all tweaked out now, this can't continue.
Saturday 08/23: 1:56:10, Brown Mountain Adventure Loop. Up to the end of the Brown Mtn Fireroad, then back via El Prieto trail. 59:30 to end of fireroad, going easy until the trail splits, then started picking up the pace the rest of the way. Felt really good for most of it, but the last 5 minutes or so I was ready to be done... and the trail just goes on and on and on...
Unfortunately, got a pretty late start today so it was already sunny and warmer than I enjoy. Was pretty thirsty already at the top, so decided to take a gamble on trying to locate El Prieto trail which I thought would be a shortcut. Thankfully two mountain bikers turned into the trail right in front of me, so I was able to find the entrance... but it turns out its a pretty rough trail. The mountain bikers promptly crashed into a pile about 10 feet in, so I had to pick my way around that, and I didn't see them the rest of the way. Descent ended up taking almost as much as going up... I really don't enjoy going downhill. Took it really easy today. All in all a good run.
Training this week: 5:04:38 plus ~ 3:30 cycling
Goals: To keep things under control, no injuries.
Feeling really worn out, it was a big week last week and a whole bunch before that > 5 hours. I think the jump from 4 hours to 5+ hours went a lot faster than say going from 3 hours to 4 hours... add in some extra biking to work and I think I just have to not lose sight of the fact that I'm still working my way up.
Sunday 08/17: ~2:20 riding the new Vitus, 9 RB laps. Woke up feeling really really bad. I don't really mind soreness, but this was not sore... this was like this awful warm, inflamed, on the verge of some injury-type feeling all through my legs, just tired and worn out. Thought riding would take some strain off, but it was still pretty hard... on the upside, I feel pretty competent with the downtube shifters now. Hopefully day off will be good, and I can shift my long run over to Tuesday.
Monday 08/18: Off, shots. Felt crappy and bummed, didn't get very much done, meaning I will be extremely stressed tomorrow...
Tuesday 08/19: 1:20:09, California back to the stables then around the RB and back, same route as two Sundays ago. Unintentionally harder than usual long runs... but pace kept creeping up. I think its because its been 2 days since the last run. Felt pretty good, was glad that I felt ready and motivated to go... don't want to fall into a funk here. Every so often I have these weird days where I feel irrationally despondent and not wanting to run, and Sunday was one of those... I was a little worried about that and how I'd feel today, but it was okay.
Wednesday 08/20: 49:23, Monterrey to end of Arroyo Loop, intentionally super super easy. Felt good, another wonderfully overcast, cool morning--I'm really liking the morning fog these days. Rode to work, first time on the red bike, it was fantastic! No computer though, so I'm just going to call all of these trips 70 minutes.
Thursday 08/21: 58:56, RB trail perimeter plus detour to yellow JPL gate. Was kind of blah in the beginning, but then started feeling really really good after the little hill up by Devil's Gate. Got a bit of a late start this morning, but it's still unseasonably cool. Awesome. Didn't get to ride to work due to after work event... *sigh*.
Friday 08/22: Off, shots. Tired. There's this new annoying guy at work. He bugs me every 5 minutes about inane things ... so had to work under someone's desk and behind some boxes to be able to get anything done. My back is all tweaked out now, this can't continue.
Saturday 08/23: 1:56:10, Brown Mountain Adventure Loop. Up to the end of the Brown Mtn Fireroad, then back via El Prieto trail. 59:30 to end of fireroad, going easy until the trail splits, then started picking up the pace the rest of the way. Felt really good for most of it, but the last 5 minutes or so I was ready to be done... and the trail just goes on and on and on...
Unfortunately, got a pretty late start today so it was already sunny and warmer than I enjoy. Was pretty thirsty already at the top, so decided to take a gamble on trying to locate El Prieto trail which I thought would be a shortcut. Thankfully two mountain bikers turned into the trail right in front of me, so I was able to find the entrance... but it turns out its a pretty rough trail. The mountain bikers promptly crashed into a pile about 10 feet in, so I had to pick my way around that, and I didn't see them the rest of the way. Descent ended up taking almost as much as going up... I really don't enjoy going downhill. Took it really easy today. All in all a good run.
Training this week: 5:04:38 plus ~ 3:30 cycling
Goals: To keep things under control, no injuries.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Week of 08/10/2008 - 08/16/2008 (Base Week 22)
A little more like me
Progress:
1) Wearing my skinny clothes for the first time in almost a year: I define skinny clothes as anything I've bought post-becoming a distance runner. Everything I wore before that are fat clothes. I now anatomically resemble an athlete, even thought the functionality is still getting there.
2) Call of the demons: I'm feeling a little bit more in my element in the past few runs. Mostly this has to do with the return of competitive instincts. It feels good to go fast. I find myself working in little surges, passing people, wanting to do more. Actually, dying to do more.
I feel a little bit more like me. Of course, that comes with pros and cons. What gives me the drive to lift myself out of being defeated and depressed is also what potentially gives me the injuries that hold me back. Keeping the demons under control will be the major challenge for this next block of training.
Sunday 08/10: 1:43:08, Monterrey to RB perimeter and back on the other side. A good solid long run. Woke up a little on the late side so it blebbed into the 8 am hour... but thankfully it remained relatively cool. Ran easy and but picked it up a little at the end. Felt good the whole way, though the first 20 minutes or so felt choppy.
Monday 08/11: Off, shots. Feeling really stressed today... I just wish that every aspect of my life did not involve QUITE so much difficult person management.
Tuesday 08/12: 1:20:52, Bailey to Connector. Due to the confluence of many inconvenient things, did my birthday run 2 days early. Woke up at 5:50 am to get out there early and it was foggy and cool and wonderful. 28:29 to camp, 47:56 to connector, not particularly fast vs. last week, but the effort level made all the difference in the world. A little rough in the beginning but felt good the whole way, breathing through nose, didn't even notice Heartbreak Hill until I was already past it. Unlike last week, I never got to the super dying horrible not going to make it state.
In other news, took a little bit of a tumble biking to work... bc I am retarded. Was standing (with one foot on the ground) at an intersection, and toppled cleanly over trying to shift my backpack. Fortunately said backpack broke my fall, but the impact managed to drop my chain. Then, somehow I decided that shifting the gears would help me get it back on, but that made the situation horribly worse because then the chain got tangled and jammed around the rear derailleur area. I try not to be a complete moron regarding bike part proficiency, but I am no Katherine Breeden... I really was rather on the boggled side as far as how to fix this situation. So instead, here I am sitting by the side of the road staring at my bike like a doofus... when miraculously a car stops in front of me, and a cyclist steps out to save the day. Bike restored, I made it safely the rest of the way. ~68 minutes round trip.
Wednesday 08/13: 47:44, Monterrey to end of Arroyo Tempo Loop. Slept in, then couldn't find watch, ergo moderately disgruntled, but run was okay. A little bit tired from yesterday, so took it real easy, but was pleased that the time wasn't that off from non-post-Bailey days. Had to drive to work today due to off-campus meetings... :'(.
Thursday 08/14: 55:59, 2 laps of the Arroyo from the horse stables to the trail closure... which is a disgruntling turn of events. Wanted to do California to Salvia Canyon, but the path was blocked off right under the bridge nearest to the RB. So had to back track and run the circuit again to add up to ~ 50 minutes. Legs felt more tired than I expected, not zippy at all, but I guess it's been a big week already. Felt better after biking to work.
Friday 08/15: Off, shots. I'm finally back to about the dose where everything went wrong... a little more swelling than usual, but fingers crossed. So tired....
Saturday 08/16: 1:07:18, 5 x Arroyo Tempo Loops with middle 3 at tempo pace: 15:22, 11:40, 11:34, 11:27, 17:16 with the last cool down lap including detour to see if trail closure has been re-opened (yes) and jog back to car. Not terrible, felt good to finally make it through 3. First two breathing through nose, then last one pretty hard... harder than I would have liked, but at least it was the fastest. I think this is progress, but the issue is still mostly weak cardio.
Worked on my beautiful new commuting bike with Peter and Ian!
Training this week: 5:55:01, plus ~2:20 cycling--a pretty big week.
Goals: Need to establish a solid 5 - 5.5 hour weekly routine that's compatible with biking to work on the non-shot days. This does not come naturally to me, but I need to think sustainability.
Progress:
1) Wearing my skinny clothes for the first time in almost a year: I define skinny clothes as anything I've bought post-becoming a distance runner. Everything I wore before that are fat clothes. I now anatomically resemble an athlete, even thought the functionality is still getting there.
2) Call of the demons: I'm feeling a little bit more in my element in the past few runs. Mostly this has to do with the return of competitive instincts. It feels good to go fast. I find myself working in little surges, passing people, wanting to do more. Actually, dying to do more.
I feel a little bit more like me. Of course, that comes with pros and cons. What gives me the drive to lift myself out of being defeated and depressed is also what potentially gives me the injuries that hold me back. Keeping the demons under control will be the major challenge for this next block of training.
Sunday 08/10: 1:43:08, Monterrey to RB perimeter and back on the other side. A good solid long run. Woke up a little on the late side so it blebbed into the 8 am hour... but thankfully it remained relatively cool. Ran easy and but picked it up a little at the end. Felt good the whole way, though the first 20 minutes or so felt choppy.
Monday 08/11: Off, shots. Feeling really stressed today... I just wish that every aspect of my life did not involve QUITE so much difficult person management.
Tuesday 08/12: 1:20:52, Bailey to Connector. Due to the confluence of many inconvenient things, did my birthday run 2 days early. Woke up at 5:50 am to get out there early and it was foggy and cool and wonderful. 28:29 to camp, 47:56 to connector, not particularly fast vs. last week, but the effort level made all the difference in the world. A little rough in the beginning but felt good the whole way, breathing through nose, didn't even notice Heartbreak Hill until I was already past it. Unlike last week, I never got to the super dying horrible not going to make it state.
In other news, took a little bit of a tumble biking to work... bc I am retarded. Was standing (with one foot on the ground) at an intersection, and toppled cleanly over trying to shift my backpack. Fortunately said backpack broke my fall, but the impact managed to drop my chain. Then, somehow I decided that shifting the gears would help me get it back on, but that made the situation horribly worse because then the chain got tangled and jammed around the rear derailleur area. I try not to be a complete moron regarding bike part proficiency, but I am no Katherine Breeden... I really was rather on the boggled side as far as how to fix this situation. So instead, here I am sitting by the side of the road staring at my bike like a doofus... when miraculously a car stops in front of me, and a cyclist steps out to save the day. Bike restored, I made it safely the rest of the way. ~68 minutes round trip.
Wednesday 08/13: 47:44, Monterrey to end of Arroyo Tempo Loop. Slept in, then couldn't find watch, ergo moderately disgruntled, but run was okay. A little bit tired from yesterday, so took it real easy, but was pleased that the time wasn't that off from non-post-Bailey days. Had to drive to work today due to off-campus meetings... :'(.
Thursday 08/14: 55:59, 2 laps of the Arroyo from the horse stables to the trail closure... which is a disgruntling turn of events. Wanted to do California to Salvia Canyon, but the path was blocked off right under the bridge nearest to the RB. So had to back track and run the circuit again to add up to ~ 50 minutes. Legs felt more tired than I expected, not zippy at all, but I guess it's been a big week already. Felt better after biking to work.
Friday 08/15: Off, shots. I'm finally back to about the dose where everything went wrong... a little more swelling than usual, but fingers crossed. So tired....
Saturday 08/16: 1:07:18, 5 x Arroyo Tempo Loops with middle 3 at tempo pace: 15:22, 11:40, 11:34, 11:27, 17:16 with the last cool down lap including detour to see if trail closure has been re-opened (yes) and jog back to car. Not terrible, felt good to finally make it through 3. First two breathing through nose, then last one pretty hard... harder than I would have liked, but at least it was the fastest. I think this is progress, but the issue is still mostly weak cardio.
Worked on my beautiful new commuting bike with Peter and Ian!
Training this week: 5:55:01, plus ~2:20 cycling--a pretty big week.
Goals: Need to establish a solid 5 - 5.5 hour weekly routine that's compatible with biking to work on the non-shot days. This does not come naturally to me, but I need to think sustainability.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Week of 08/03/2008 - 08/09/2008 (Base Week 21)
Decision time
I knew that my angst about the impending XC season was starting to affect my motivation, so I had to make a choice. I decided not to train for cross this year. If I for some unlikely reason feel really compelled to race once or twice, I may do that to test it out, but I'm not going to alter my training to try to peak in a month or two.
This isn't the way I wanted it to be, but I think I've had some setbacks along the way and this is the right decision for where I am. Originally I was supposed to start doing more tempo work by now, and be on my once a week shot routine so I could phase in the 6 day week again. Instead, I'm over a month behind on my shot schedule now due to the outbreak of hives, and also missed 2 weeks of tempos. The lengthening process for the duration of my tempo runs has gotten hopelessly stalled at 3 miles, and I've yet to solve the mystery of why... so, all in all, I'm kinda shaky on even completing a 5K on rough terrain, without it degenerating into painful jogging by mile 3.
I think my runs ARE getting stronger though, and maybe I'll have a good shot at some late in the year road races if I just patiently keep at it for now. I think I can work in 1 medium hard day in addition to tempo day, hopefully that will teach my body to accept longer periods of high HR existence. Patience has never been a virtue of mine, but I try to remind myself that everything I've forced or rushed into with running has ended up a disaster. So far, nothing BAD has happened, I'm still on my feet, I'm still slooooowly making progress, I haven't made my foot completely better ... but at least it's not worse. As long as I'm still running, I'm still in the game. It's still the longest I've ever been able to train, in terms of # of weeks though not in # of miles. I guess I can be happy about that.
Sunday 08/03: 1:28:42, California backtracked to the stables, before heading out to once around the RB. Legs felt inordinately tired and sore from yesterday's adventures... but the run was fine. I realized that I'm so much happier if I can wake up and run at 6 am than 7 or later. Not sure why it makes that much of a difference, but something about that early dawn goodness makes me feel calmer and peaceful. Realized that going uphill was fine, but going DOWNHILL was the most painful thing ever, I think my quads are pickled with lactic acid from yesterday. Felt loads better after about 20 minutes of jogging, but unfortunately the soreness returned after I got back from the run and legs got a chance to cool back down. Darn.
Monday 08/04: Off, shots. Soreness continues... I'm either getting old, or maybe my legs didn't need that many miles yesterday.
Tuesday 08/05: 41:44, Huntington/Virginia/stairs. A pleasant short run with Stephanie, Sedona and Sarah. Legs were still feeling a little bit heavy and sore, but felt okay on the run.
This was also the first day of Bike-To-Work, a new fitness increasing/money saving initiative. I was only moderately terrified for my life... which I suppose exceeds expectations. ~80 minutes round trip, including getting horribly lost on my way back. It's only about 8.75 miles each way but somewhat slow going due to the traffic and heavy backpack. All in all it was not bad, I'm hoping to do this on the non shot days to supplement my meager running schedule. Toe a little bit tweaked out in the PM, maybe from pavement or from biking, or both.
Wednesday 08/06: 1:02:36, Monterrey to RB and back. The run in which I meet a golf ball named "Juice". No jokes. Ran really easy out, but pace crept up on the way back. Felt pretty good. I really enjoy the early morning. Bike to work went much better today, in which I had zero near death experiences and zero stopping to correct being losts. Hooray for improvement. ~70 minutes round trip.
Thursday 08/07: 1:01:39, RB perimeter plus the section to the yellow gate near JPL. Slept in until 6:30 this morning and it totally threw my whole morning off... Felt tired in many senses, legs felt heavy, and the temperature was creeping up. Somehow, it all started feeling a lot better after about 15-20 minutes, so I was able to finish strong, but basically ran pretty easy the whole way. I wonder if the extra biking is wearing me down... Felt much, much less zippy today both on my run and my commute. Hopefully my body will adjust... ~71 minutes round trip today, getting more comfortable with the route, but I rode much less aggressively than yesterday due to more tired.
Friday 08/08: Off, shots. It's amazing how quickly one adjusts to things. Felt really strange not to ride to work. I realized that I really enjoy riding to work.
Saturday 08/09: 54:42, some moderate tempo work in the Arroyo. 4 x Arroyo Tempo loops with the first and last warm up and cool down. There were supposed to be 3 tempo ones in the middle... but apparently it wasn't meant to be: 15:50, 11:51, 11:23, 14:23 plus jog back to car. Woke up with a stomach ache and felt pretty awful on the warm up lap. Surprisingly the first tempo lap was really good, a good clip but breathing only through nose, but for some reason I just freaked out on the second one. I think I was anticipating a slowdown and overcompensated. Then I had to sprint to pass an enormous (like, 50 kids) patch of HS cross country-ers, and at the end, I kinda felt like I was done. It bugged me for a while afterwards that I didn't do the 3 laps... but I decided that there'd be other days, and that I learned from this run that I do think I have 3 sub-12 minute laps in me right now. I was really worried about not clearing that hurdle, so I guess this exceeds expectations.
Training this week: 5:09:23, plus ~3:40 riding to work
Goals: To be able to descend a staircase without wincing.
I knew that my angst about the impending XC season was starting to affect my motivation, so I had to make a choice. I decided not to train for cross this year. If I for some unlikely reason feel really compelled to race once or twice, I may do that to test it out, but I'm not going to alter my training to try to peak in a month or two.
This isn't the way I wanted it to be, but I think I've had some setbacks along the way and this is the right decision for where I am. Originally I was supposed to start doing more tempo work by now, and be on my once a week shot routine so I could phase in the 6 day week again. Instead, I'm over a month behind on my shot schedule now due to the outbreak of hives, and also missed 2 weeks of tempos. The lengthening process for the duration of my tempo runs has gotten hopelessly stalled at 3 miles, and I've yet to solve the mystery of why... so, all in all, I'm kinda shaky on even completing a 5K on rough terrain, without it degenerating into painful jogging by mile 3.
I think my runs ARE getting stronger though, and maybe I'll have a good shot at some late in the year road races if I just patiently keep at it for now. I think I can work in 1 medium hard day in addition to tempo day, hopefully that will teach my body to accept longer periods of high HR existence. Patience has never been a virtue of mine, but I try to remind myself that everything I've forced or rushed into with running has ended up a disaster. So far, nothing BAD has happened, I'm still on my feet, I'm still slooooowly making progress, I haven't made my foot completely better ... but at least it's not worse. As long as I'm still running, I'm still in the game. It's still the longest I've ever been able to train, in terms of # of weeks though not in # of miles. I guess I can be happy about that.
Sunday 08/03: 1:28:42, California backtracked to the stables, before heading out to once around the RB. Legs felt inordinately tired and sore from yesterday's adventures... but the run was fine. I realized that I'm so much happier if I can wake up and run at 6 am than 7 or later. Not sure why it makes that much of a difference, but something about that early dawn goodness makes me feel calmer and peaceful. Realized that going uphill was fine, but going DOWNHILL was the most painful thing ever, I think my quads are pickled with lactic acid from yesterday. Felt loads better after about 20 minutes of jogging, but unfortunately the soreness returned after I got back from the run and legs got a chance to cool back down. Darn.
Monday 08/04: Off, shots. Soreness continues... I'm either getting old, or maybe my legs didn't need that many miles yesterday.
Tuesday 08/05: 41:44, Huntington/Virginia/stairs. A pleasant short run with Stephanie, Sedona and Sarah. Legs were still feeling a little bit heavy and sore, but felt okay on the run.
This was also the first day of Bike-To-Work, a new fitness increasing/money saving initiative. I was only moderately terrified for my life... which I suppose exceeds expectations. ~80 minutes round trip, including getting horribly lost on my way back. It's only about 8.75 miles each way but somewhat slow going due to the traffic and heavy backpack. All in all it was not bad, I'm hoping to do this on the non shot days to supplement my meager running schedule. Toe a little bit tweaked out in the PM, maybe from pavement or from biking, or both.
Wednesday 08/06: 1:02:36, Monterrey to RB and back. The run in which I meet a golf ball named "Juice". No jokes. Ran really easy out, but pace crept up on the way back. Felt pretty good. I really enjoy the early morning. Bike to work went much better today, in which I had zero near death experiences and zero stopping to correct being losts. Hooray for improvement. ~70 minutes round trip.
Thursday 08/07: 1:01:39, RB perimeter plus the section to the yellow gate near JPL. Slept in until 6:30 this morning and it totally threw my whole morning off... Felt tired in many senses, legs felt heavy, and the temperature was creeping up. Somehow, it all started feeling a lot better after about 15-20 minutes, so I was able to finish strong, but basically ran pretty easy the whole way. I wonder if the extra biking is wearing me down... Felt much, much less zippy today both on my run and my commute. Hopefully my body will adjust... ~71 minutes round trip today, getting more comfortable with the route, but I rode much less aggressively than yesterday due to more tired.
Friday 08/08: Off, shots. It's amazing how quickly one adjusts to things. Felt really strange not to ride to work. I realized that I really enjoy riding to work.
Saturday 08/09: 54:42, some moderate tempo work in the Arroyo. 4 x Arroyo Tempo loops with the first and last warm up and cool down. There were supposed to be 3 tempo ones in the middle... but apparently it wasn't meant to be: 15:50, 11:51, 11:23, 14:23 plus jog back to car. Woke up with a stomach ache and felt pretty awful on the warm up lap. Surprisingly the first tempo lap was really good, a good clip but breathing only through nose, but for some reason I just freaked out on the second one. I think I was anticipating a slowdown and overcompensated. Then I had to sprint to pass an enormous (like, 50 kids) patch of HS cross country-ers, and at the end, I kinda felt like I was done. It bugged me for a while afterwards that I didn't do the 3 laps... but I decided that there'd be other days, and that I learned from this run that I do think I have 3 sub-12 minute laps in me right now. I was really worried about not clearing that hurdle, so I guess this exceeds expectations.
Training this week: 5:09:23, plus ~3:40 riding to work
Goals: To be able to descend a staircase without wincing.
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