Monday; March 21: Off to Atlanta for instructor meetings produced the weekly day off from running. Spring in Atlanta is just beautiful. Everything in bloom, not too hot, not too muggy...yet!
Cherry blossom tree in Fayetteville, GA.
Wow...color!!!! We sorely miss this in Colorado.
Tuesday; March 22: Up at 4am in Atlanta...ouch! With a meeting til about 230pm and then the commute home, this was the only way running was happening today. (Sometimes we just have to do crazy things to get the job done! And the key is planning....I went to bed at 8pm and even remembered to bring my headlamp since it was going to be dark for the entire run.)
After a 2 mile warmup, it was 6 hill repeats that left the lungs screaming and hands on the knees huffing and puffing. There is a HUGE hill right near my parent's house and as a young kid, it was always a goal to avoid running up this thing. Now as an adult, I find all opportunities to challenge myself to run the entire hill at a nice clip. After the hills, it was a quick trot back to a flatter section of road and then 3 tempo sessions of about 5 minutes each. A cool down back to the house and the day was done. A total of 5 miles, a bit low on mileage for this ole girl but at least it was a quality workout and the rest of the day went better for it. (Although during the meeting amongst about 600 of my closest pilot buddies, I was able to secretly nod off for a recovery nap. The two fellas on either side of me didn't say anything about snoring or falling out of my chair!)
Wednesday; March 23: Home late, this run was a basic 7 miler at the house. Traysen had a great time barking at his "squirrels." The bucks are losing their antlers now so it is time to go on some hikes for stray antlers to decorate the house!
Thursday; March 24: Can't believe it's Thursday already...where does time go? Anyhow, up early for a weight lifting session in the basement gym and then out the door at just barely daylight. Traysen and I buzzed along for a nice 9 miles and then this ole girl was fizzling. After depositing Traysen at the house at the 10 mile mark (oh, he could much farther, but he just gets bored.), I took off for another slow, slog fest 2 miles. A total of 12 miles for the day.
It does seem that the last few runs, last couple of weeks have had a good share of slow run, tired runs. This is clearly an indication of over training and needing a rest. The key is to recognize this and take the break. Personally, while the break is needed now, the break will happen next week due to the easy work schedule this week plus the very long run this Saturday.
Friday; March 25: The very long run tomorrow should yield a day off today....but that's not me! Out the door at almost daylight for a 2 mile warmup and then 6 x 3/10ths of a mile intervals. The first interval was ugly to say the least...guess it slipped the brain cell that running intervals at 8500 feet and on a slight uphill produces rather slower intervals..opps......The next 4 were good efforts and the last one was a bit sluggish with tired legs. A 2 mile or so cool down ended the day at 8 miles. A good effort despite being a bit tired right now.
Saturday; March 26: What an awesome day of running! Started at 630am at the beginning of Gold Camp Road and trotted to Cripple Creek...No really!...trotted to Cripple Creek, about 36 miles away! The rest of the Team CRUD folks were starting a bit up Gold Camp and starting at 8am. For this run I had two goals: trot 90% of the distance to Cripple Creek and not let the Team CRUD speed demons catch me for at least 1:45 into their run. Both goals accomplished!
Highlights of the adventure: Trotted very strongly for the first 5 hours, legs and energy felt fine for most of the run, was able to take in 5 gels and plenty of water, only took one wrong turn that added just over a mile, the Team CRUD guys caught me at 4.5 hours into my run (3 hours into their run), had a good run on a beautiful day!
A couple of "things" about the course: Gold Camp Rd climbs...that is all it does from Colorado Springs. Not a steep haul, but a steady climb with only a brief 2 mile or so section of gentle downgrade. Early in the run, prior to and even after the gate that closes the road to cars, there were several spots where I was overlooking Colorado Springs, only a little farther south from where I had started. My first thought was, "Great, I have been running awhile now and have gone NOWHERE!" I actually had concerns that I had a missed a key turn and was ending up in New Mexico. But once the Team CRUD guys came along, all was well as for as the proper course. The other key highlight that I somewhat knew of was that the tunnels along Gold Camp Rd were haunted! I thought about this with the approach to the first tunnel and said to myself, "Well, ghosts you had better move out of the way because I am coming through." Although there were no ghosts in the tunnels, each darkened area had an erie feeling and as I came out the other side of each, I had to check my pace...which had quickened a bit!
Overall, a good run and this one is now classified as my longest training run ever! Thanks to Jim, my best half, for hauling my fanny down to the start and then picking same tired fanny up at the end!
Tunnel 1 on Gold Camp Rd.
The closed off Tunnel 3 on Gold Camp.
Google: Gold Camp Rd for more haunted tunnel stories.
Sunday; March 27: Off to work today with an easy recovery run of 6 miles after a weight lifting session of upper body and abs. Legs are only a bit sore but I can tell the ole bones need a rest, feeling quite tired all over.
Summary: An awesome week of running! Two good speed session, two weight lifing workouts and one really long run! The quality of training was good...verses great....this would be reflected in the overall tired feeling and the need to cut back on the miles for a week. Remember, it's all about listening to the body and knowing what it can handle and when it needs a rest. Total miles this week: 73.0.
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