Must....keep.... running....!

02/07/2010 - 02/13/2010

It was definitely easier to rely on the OCD aspect of running every day. Now without this goal that is independent of being fast, it's a lot harder to motivate myself to train properly. I remember that getting from grossly out of shape to kind of having some basic fitness is much easier than going from there to competitive race shape. To be completely honest, getting to competitive race shape took me ~1-2 years from the day that I started running. Having been away from that for a few years now, I feel like I've reverted back to square one. There's something really demoralizing about knowing there's such a long road ahead. Nevertheless, the alternative would be permanent retirement, so I guess I just have to suck it up and keep running.


Sunday 02/07: ~10 miles, 1:27:27 (unclear pace/distance) Fire roads in Hesperia w/CMS team and alumni
Had to drive an hour and almost ran out of gas but well worth it for this awesome run! Basically an unlimited supply of muddy fireroads across undulating terrain, so that nowhere was ever very flat. There was one or two significant climbs, but everything else was basically rolling. 40 degrees out and mildly at altitude (4,000 ft) but felt great! Maybe I'm well trained from suffering through Colorado... passed all of the women and kept pace with Jennifer Tave on the way back. I hate miles... why don't they have the Alumni 5 mile hill climb?

Monday 02/08: 5.3 miles, 47:35 (8:59 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Holy crap, sore and tired. I guess it was a big (~20 mile) weekend for me, way more than I've run in recent years. Trying to keep the momentum going for regular training runs to happen though, so I forced myself to do this jog. The bridge underpass is flooded near the horse stables too, which means that you kind of have to trundle through the hovel under the bridge.

Tuesday 02/09: 5.3 miles, 46:17 (8:44 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Gah, not improving (my legs nor the level of the puddle under the bridge). Another morning, another jog. Felt a little bit better, but pace is still not so acceptable.

Wednesday 02/10: Off, okay I've succumbed to the inertia... gah.

Thursday 02/11: 5.3 miles, 44:38 (8:25 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
On the way from my car to the trail, somehow I managed to lose my footing and wrenched my R hamstring in an effort to not fall on my face. It kind of hurt through the first half of the run, but I kept thinking it would loosen up if I kept going. Still kind of felt lousy at the end but stretched it out really good, think it will be okay.

Friday 02/12: Off, ugh... no shots but lots of work. Maybe this is a good thing for my hamstring.

Saturday 02/13: 8.8 miles, Workout with Susan (mile, 2 x Oak Groves, mile)
Figured I should mix things up a little bit, seeing as that speed is especially deficient right now. Started off with a mile at the track, Susan paced it at 6:40, which actually felt pretty easy, definitely loads and loads better than last Saturday. Then we ran down to Oak Grove and did two loops (1200m) in 5:08, 5:16. Felt pretty toasted after that, and kind of blew up on the last mile in 7:10, sad! Cool down to Susan's place and back. Actually didn't feel too wiped out, now I just have to build some speed endurance.

Week Total: 34.7 miles, hmmm... really need to fix this two days off a week thing