Week in Running 9/13

Kind of a step down week for me...
Distance- 42.7
Time- 6:24:32
Pace- 9:00/mile

M: off

Tu: 5.5 mile run on the West Bloomfield Trail after work. Turned dark by the time I actually hit the trail, so I wore my lights. Felt odd after all this time.

Wed: 6.1 Run with the group. Started slow, picked it up about half way. Felt pretty good to cut loose a little. Though I wonder if I'd be better off trying to keep up with some of the guys. I think I have it in me to run faster. Of course, it also might break me...

Thurs: 4.0 mile run around Pontiac Rec's West bridle loop. Nice and muddy, froggie, turtlie, and the odd turkey. Didn't see any big animals, though. In five fingers.

Friday: 9 mile run around Pontiac Rec's Bridle loop. Five finger run, which was also a lot of fun- thought not quite as fun as Thursday. Forgot my Garmin, so I just ran by feel.

Sat: 5 mile run at Indian Springs. It was supposed to be a nice, easy shake out run to keep the blood flowing for the race on Sunday. Went a little harder than I probably should have. Still, don't think I sabotaged myself... much. :)

Sun: Romeo to Richmond half. 13.1 miles in 1:42:43 (according to Garmin) The race was good, though I kind of wish it would have been Richmond to Romeo. That way, the wind would have been at my back *and* the sun wouldn't have been in my eyes. I was promised a rainy and cloudy day! How dare it be sunny and breezy?!

All in all, a good week of running. Next week, the goal is 54 miles, and to run four races at Run Woodstock . *Really* looking forward to this one. Love trailing, love camping, am looking forward to the whole experience!


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Some thoughts while on the trail...

I love running in the rain.

Frogs are really kind of weird looking. I'm really glad I didn't step on one of the dozen or so I saw hanging out in the puddles.

Saw a rock about the size of a dinner plate. Realized it was a snapping turtle. Happy that I didn't scream like a little girl.

I live running though mud, as long as I'm in five fingers. I still shy away from doing it from time to time, and I have no idea why.

I stopped in the middle of the run, thinking of all the things to be thankful for. Wind on my face sand between my toes. A niece with a new liver, and that the surgery went well. A mom with cataracts being removed, and that that surgery went well. Being able to run four miles without a second thought. A job that I enjoy most of the time. School, because learning is fun on a lot of levels.

Toys like an iPad and contact lenses. Enough food that I have to worry about overeating. Shelter that keeps me warm when it's cold, cool when it's hot, and the power to change things around if I so desire.

The world is a far less threatening place during a run. And it's easier to be grateful when in motion.

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One thing...

... that annoys me about high mileage running is, of course, having to take two showers a day.

It gets tedious.  Worse is being to tired and going to bed all gross feeling.  Hopefully I won't have to do that more than once at woodstock.

On the other hand, if that's all I have to complain about, life is pretty good...

Week in Review

Summery:
Distance: 51.6 miles
Time: 8:41
Avg. Pace: 10:07/mile

M- Nice run on the West Bloomfield Trail. Ran with L~ with whom I haven't run since last October, and whom I sadly didn't recognize until she reminded me of her name. I was feeling the effects of the Labor Day 30K, and so may have pushed it a little bit harder than I should have. But I'm okay with that- beautiful days deserve nice runs, right? :) Fell in the first couple of hundred yards. Bled quite a bit, and I still have the scrape as well as a minor war wound. Good times!

T- Pontiac Rec, in Five fingers. I was originally going to do speed work at the WBHS track, but there appeared to be a game on and it was too busy to really be of interest to me, so I scotched the plan in favor of doing the bridle trails. I wish it were a bit muddier. It would have made it more fun. But they've done some trail maintenance, so everything was dry on only moderately fun to run though.

W- Group run from the store. Was pretty good- ran fairly easy. I may have to ramp up the Wednesday store runs to a tempo/threshold; there are a number of people who run at that pace. I like to keep my easy runs easy, though. Hm...

Took Thursday off.

F- ran the mountain bike trail at Pontiac Rec in Five Fingers again. Nice, but I may be happier running at Island Lake in them. Less technical, and I need to get used to watching my feet in them again. Earlier in the morning may be the way to go, too.

Sa- WB group run at the trail again. Ran with C~, and had a good time. Definitely fall type weather, and quite beautiful for all that, but I'd like to not have to leave to go work at the store quite so quickly. Glad, though that I'm not like the assistant manager having to flee to the store after running the Crim. He was kind enough to do that for me, because there's no way I could have run the Crim and gotten back to the store in time to open.

Su- Brooksie way half marathon course, minus a mile or so. Nice easy pace, and the terrain didn't seem nearly so bad as Labor Day 30K. I'm looking forward to it!

All in all, a great week of running. I'm grateful to be back in the 50 mpw world; and I'm not certain if I'm going to stay in the 50-60 for the next few weeks (minus a step down) or bump it up to the 60s. I think the former would be the wisest, but the latter might be more fun. Ah, decisions, decisions...


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Week in Review

Week went well... 44 miles, seven hours, seven minutes. Getting back into some nice milage again!

Monday's group got me poison ivy, which I'm still dealing with to a lesser extant. Been a while since I had it. Pretty miserable experience. :P

Wednesday group was kind of hot. Ran a decent chunk of it with J~, who suggested we sprint to the end- I found myself working out some left over angst. After I stopped I felt both my pecs and lats cramping up, unused to the exertion.

Think I'll have to do something about that- maybe add arm swings with dumbbells into my regimen, or something.

Thursday was a nice five finger run around Pontiac's bridle loop, though I switched over to the bike path at mile five. Felt nice to be doing some decent miles in five fingers again, though I wished there was more mud.

Saturday was the Labor Day 30K, which may be my favorite race. definitely going to have to see about doing that one as many times as possible. :) I'd love to be able to run it when I feel in top shape, and see what happens...


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