Monday; June 6th: Well, not a day off but a slog fest on the treadmill. Waking up in St. Louis, the forecast was for temps to be in the mid 90s with plenty of humidity. Wandering down to the gym at 730am, it was 80 degrees in the gym! No kidding...80 degrees! Unfortunately, the hotel had locked the thermostat control behind a plastic covering. In some hotel gyms, those of us that frequent these places have learned to get past the plastic covering and turn the thermostat down to the mid 50s. This one was not one of those I could get into without a hammer. So, after some weight lifting it was to the treadmill for a basic 10 miler while pouring sweat from every pore! At least it wasn't like Ron White, the comedian, who says if he were to ever engage in exercise, he would sweat scotch from every pore.
Tuesday; June 7th: Ok, now a day off due to work.
Wednesday; June 8th: Out the door at 530am with Traysen. This was actually quite a nice 12 mile run. As I have mentioned before the first day home after a trip is usually not a very good run but for whatever wonderful reason, the ole bones were feeling great and we trotted through the effort with ease.
That's one of the great things about running ...or any kind of exercise/sport....some days we are very surprised at how well we are able to perform, even when we are tired or when we might usually expect a poor performance.
Thursday; June 9th: With the hardwood floor installer showing up at 8am, it was up and at 'em quite early this morning. (The carpet in the house is finally making an exit....!!!! Oh yeah!!!!) In the gym by 445am( with two dogs!), for back, shoulders and abs and then out the door. A nice 6 mile warm up and then 8 x intervals, ranging from 3/10 of a mile to 4/10 of a mile. These went well, so a good day of 9 miles.
Friday; June 10th: Another epic run on Pikes Peak today! Starting at 530am in Memorial Park in Manitou, it was a nice climb into the overcast of clouds. Into the lowest layer around No Name Creek (about 4 miles from the start) and then out of the thick layer around Barr Camp. Running in the misty fog was amazingly beautiful and gave the green trail a whole new look. Continuing up through the technical section to A Frame, the clouds thinned and I could see face of the Peak through the trees. Being about 10 miles up the trail, it was a turn around and the long downhill back to Manitou.
This was a good effort, not too fast, but all goals were met: run nonstop from Memorial Park to Barr Camp, mostly run from Barr Camp to A Frame (one total stop to regain some oxygen, about 11,000 feet MSL), and the ole bones stayed upright the entire run (no tripping or falling...oh, there was that one rock that my big toe collided with....Owwwwwww). Much stronger than last week's effort on Barr Trail, so progress is being made.
Barr Camp with an overcast layer.
A Frame; almost at tree line and about 11,000 feet MSL.
Saturday; June 11th: Sleeping in late to 545am, it was a late start for a nice and very easy 7 miler at home. Traysen and I started out with a walk and cup of coffee and after the coffee cup was empty, we just kept walking. At three miles into the walk, we were stopped by a neighbor....about 20 minutes later, we continued our walk; then we came across the husband/dad and talked for about 4 minutes; and then! Susan (neighbor) stopped us.....about 15 minutes later, we pressed on toward home! So, not much of a run or even a walk, but a welcome break from the hard efforts and based on tomorrows plan, this was good.
Sunday; June 12th: At the visitor center in Mueller at 530am for an early start to hopefully a cruiser 30 miler. It is hard to describe how this run went since some parts of it were good and some parts really sucked! The first hour was rather slow, consisted of two stops to unload clothes and then unload coffee but the next 2 hours were great....Since the usual route through the Cheesman Trail was closed I ended up running a section I had not run in a couple of years (trail numbers 13 and 14). (The Cheesman Tr. was closed due to elk calving season...now, did anyone tell the Momma Elk to just have their calves in this particular area?) The climbing on these two trails was good and a nice easy effort back to the truck to drop yet another light weight fleece top. Off onto some new trails I have never run (trail numbers 2 and 21) proved to be quite the challenge of the day. Lori and Lynne: Remember trail number 3? That was easy compared to number 21...this sucker went up very steep hills for a long time! And then there were these little bitty short downhills for the recovery....and then....another steep uphill....anyhow, I made it. Blazing by the truck and back out for another couple of hours proved to be the worst part of the run. It was hot, the legs were trashed from Pikes Peak on Friday and from trail numbers 2 and 21, and most likely there are several other excuses on the table, but nevertheless, the run was completed at about 26 miles today. The remaining four miles would not have been productive.
This week of running has brought a couple of things to light: 1. The runs on Barr Trail/Pikes Peak are definitely making the lungs and legs stronger; however, with the hard effort produced by that run there is not enough recovery prior to attempting a hard 30 mile run. So, the fix is to back off the hard efforts of Barr Trail for a week or two and get those 30+ runs in. 2. The other thing has come to light is this: Even though the last two weeks, the long run has not been what I had hoped for, the overall conditioning is improving. Last week after the Barr Trail run (16 miles), the legs were very sore and the long run was only 20 miles. This week, after the Barr Trail run (20 miles), the legs were not that sore and the altitude gained was higher than last week. While the long run this week was not the effort hoped for, it was at least a 26 miler on a very hilly course and the best part of the run was the beauty of Mueller State Park....so slowing down, even a bit of walking allowed me to view the scenery better!
Wonder if she knew to stay in the blocked off area?.
Summary: A descent week of running but the training needs to be adjusted. As we all know, our life pursuits/goals/dreams sometimes need a revision. The key is to recognize this and then act upon it. If a new plan doesn't work, then we often have to analyze what isn't working and/or maybe we need to readjust our goals to something that is realistic. So, next week the training will be structured a bit differently. Let's hope it works!?
Total miles for the week: 80-82?
Congratulations on a tough week, Sarah! After two hard efforts, be sure to give your body rest with an easy(er) week. Active recovery, letting your body build through rest, will pay off in the form of injury prevention. I do remember #3, and can't imagine steeper terrain AFTER those crazy-beautiful runs. You go, girl!
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