The last time we heard from our intrepid hero, he had begun some adventuresome training through the YMCA to prepare for the Salinas Valley Half Marathon. He saw his running future with rose colored lenses!
Ugh.
The excitement has worn off and it has almost begun to feel like work . . . except that the improvements keep coming and keep busting through personal barriers. For instance I finally went past 8 miles for a long run and cranked out 9 solid miles on a relatively flat course. I felt strong enough to have actually regretted not going further out.
I'm learning more about fartleks and tempo runs and all that other jazz that I thought I knew. The long runs lately haven't been that great for me either. Of the last three long runs, two have been too warm and muggy to be comfortable.
The first of the three started at what the local runners call The Stumps. The county has left a bunch of tree trunks along the trail head. Now, I think my problem may lie in hydration. I never take anything with me on these long runs. What I try to do prepare for them though, is I make sure I'm drinking a bit more water than I normally do. I toss back about 3 liters of water a day. Beginning Thursday, I make it at least 4 liters. Let's just say that sleeping through the WHOLE night can be a bit difficult.
That was working for me before those warm, muggy runs. The run at The Stumps was my first fail for a long run. The pace for it wasn't too bad at 11:29 min/mile, but it's not what I was pulling off before on the previous long runs which were closer to a 10 minute mile. I walked a lot of miles 6 to 8. And I'd like to blame it on hydration. Maybe if I'd taken a bottle with me, I would'a been okay.
The group runs and track workouts during the week weren't too bad. I actually had a bit of fun on the track workouts. The group run after the workshop was a bit uncomfortable because it was hot. To give you some perspective, I live in a temperate climate. Winters may touch 32 degrees, but mostly stay around 40 to 50. Summers, we're used to seeing temperatures in the 70. They might get up to mid 90's, but not for long.
We were in a some heatwave caused by Arizona or something and we had been sitting in the mid 80's for a couple of weeks. I'm a whiny little bitch, I know. But it was too fuggin' hot to be running in this! For the Stumps run, it was already 77 degrees at 8 in the friggin' morning! The track workout was at 80-sumpin' and the YMCA group run was hitting 90!
To be fair, the coach did say to take it easy on the hot days. He didn't want anyone frying their brain. But still, I'm trying to do my best to improve here. Gotta be stupid sometimes.
The next long run was at Monterey along the Monterey Bay Recreational Trail (MBT), but this time we went the opposite direction from the last time we were here. We started at the same place near the wharf and headed off towards Point Pinos. Or for those who wanted to go further, go up to or just past 17 Mile Drive.
I wanted more and if I was brave enough, could've done more. But I let my moron-ness get to me. It's a good thing too! I, again, began flagging just past mile six because of the heat and ended up walking some. Not as much as the previous week, but some. If I had been psychologically stronger, I could'a psyched myself out to keep pushing and had a much better pace than a 10:19 min/mile.
The week before this one I wanted to increase my weekly distance so I started pushing for more mileage on my non-YMCA days. The track day were hot, but fun. Because it was the week of the 4th, we only had the one track day. Coach wanted us to participate in the local 10K race, but I wasn't feeling it. I ended up trying to do my own 10K that morning. It didn't go so well. It was too warm. I know, I'm a whiny bitch. But I was able to push out 3 HARD miles that morning.
And ruined it all with Lagunitas Lucky 13 and several shots of Corralejo Reposado tequila later that day in the 110 degree furnace of Los Banos! Family, food and alcohol! Great way to spend the 4th!
This past Saturday, I finally pushed past one of my personal barriers. I completed NINE non-stop miles! My pace was slow (10:48 min/mile), but it was still an accomplishment because I nearly turned back just past mile 3 of this run.
I started out the run okay, but my right foot was bugging me. It's been a pain for several months, but only when I walk. During a run, I'm fine . . . most of the time. This past Saturday was one of those days it was bugging me during the run. It's an annoying ache that ends up spreading up my leg to begin tightening up my IT Band. Therefore I begin running stiff legged on my right side. It's not usually a big problem because it has only happened on my shorter runs.
My leg started tightening up after the first mile and by the second mile I was doing everything I could to try to relax my leg . . . it wasn't working. I was at a snails pace at mile three and I had decided to turn around. I actually DID turn around and began heading back, then I did some mental calculations to fool myself into thinking that 6 miles wasn't that much more than 8 and I only needed to run another mile to be at the halfway point for 9. You get that?
So! I turned right back around and continued on my merry, aching way and got my 4.5 miles in and began heading back to the start of the run. By mile five, EVERYTHING fell into place and I was relaxed once more. Weird. I was really cruisin' along the last two miles . . . literally! I had a nice constant pace going at about 10:30 min/mile. Not bad. If I can cruise along at that pace for the Half come August, I could nearly pull off my goal time of 2:15. It'll be closer to 2:20, but I usually start out too fast so I might be able to pull it off.
Last night we had a track workout of fartleks and I'm a bit sore. My leg is still bugging me, but I finally got my foam roller and I'm gonna be kneading my leg as much as possible. Hopefully it'll stay as cool as it was on last Saturday for this coming Saturday's run. Gonna be another hill workout and I'm looking forward to it . . . if it isn't hot.
GD
p.s.
too tired to check. run smiley :)
