Week 6 Totals

3 runs totaling 19.9 miles.
1 Sufferfest.

Saturday January 12: Long Run

I spent ten minutes scraping ice off my car this morning. The first two miles off run my feet were painful and then numb. Frost on all the plants, a little slick in spots on the path. I ran 4 loops around the 2.75 mile Lafayette Reservoir path. Total  11 miles with a time of 1:41:47 or 9:14 pace. My first loop was too fast as I always run too fast when I am cold.

My hip flexors were a bit sore as the route is hilly. Strava claims only 476 of gain but garmin says 1300. Guess which one I like better.

My toe was pretty good - I didn't even feel anything around around mile 9 and I think it went away. Which is good because the chiropractor worked on it last night and got it working pretty well. It seems some of my metatarsal bones like to move.

My arch didn't start hurting until around mile 6. I am worried that it will keep getting worse, and I hope my body worker can solve that problem this week.

At one point my lower back started hurting, I think from running down hills in the cold so I could not really feel any feedback from my feet and was probably landing too hard.

Other than all my aches and pains, I felt pretty good about the run. Cross your fingers that my body holds up!

Thursday January 10: Hill Run

Same TNT workout as last week, only list time I remembered to record my run home as well. In addition, we ran two of the hill loops in the opposite direction, which turns out to be much more difficult. It kind of puts the hill all in one place rather than spread out.

4.87 miles in 45:09 for a 9'16" pace.

This is my second run with my new shoes. My right big toe has not bothered me (it was previously causing me discomfort in my old shoes), but my left arch is a wee bit painful. I have a chiropractor appointment tomorrow and bodywork next week, so hopefully I can nip these problems in the bud.

Wednesday January 9: Speedy Demons

Coach Al invited me to his Wednesday morning track workouts, Speedy Demons. I showed up for the first workout of the new year, which was an easier "comeback" workout with tempo pacing. After a mile warm up we ran 400, 800, 1200, 1600, and every lap had to be the same pace as the first 400.

I fell in with a couple of other runners and ran a 1:55 400m. We proceeded to knock out nearly every lap exactly on clockwork. We finished the 800 in around 3:50, the 1200 in 5:45, and the 1600 in 7:34 - we were allowed to go faster at the end, just not slower.

That's probably my fastest mile time every (at least in my adult life), but alas, I forgot my Nike+. I don't do well mentally speaking at 5:30 in the morning.

It felt pretty comfortable, and I should hope so. If I can hold 7:54 for 6 miles, I should be able to go much lower for a single mile.

I will ignore the fact that I was one of the slower runners in the group.

Monday January 7: Cross Training

I purchased and completed Angels from the Sufferfest. This is an hour long hill-climbing workout with three 8-minute climbs. I enjoyed it, although I definitely didn't suffer as much as in the Downward Spiral. I also have no idea how to pedal 100rpm while standing. I think this might be a core problem. I enjoyed the video variety though, and I think I can push harder next time.

I also walked home from work - 3 miles.

Week 5 Totals

3 runs totaling 22.1 miles.
1 ice skating session.

Saturday January 5: Long Run

TNT workout at MLK Shoreline in Oakland. According to Nike+ I ran 9.2 miles, but according to the map it was 9.6 miles. Time was 1:26:08, so 9'21" per Nike, or slightly under 9 per mapping. I might have to start wearing a GPS. This was faster than I generally like to do my long runs, and I could feel my legs tiring toward the end. I need to stop following peer pressure and run at my own pace. I don't need to be ahead of nearly everyone.

Also 1.5 hours of ice skating.