Running Going Well

I've been a little paranoid about building up my running, since it's the most likely thing to get me injured, and having already done 2 IM's this year, I have just been careful the last few weeks.

This past Monday, I was too tired from my IMWI spectating to swim in the morning, but I didn't really sleep in as my internal alarm clock is set for around 5:30 lately. Still, I was beat from riding and hanging out on the run course, but I didn't want the day to go to waste, and I started out by lifting (which I can almost always do when tired), and then I needed to decide whether to try and run.

I wasn't muscle tired--just sleepy tired--and I've run after lifting before, so I figured I'd go ahead and give it a shot. Well I had put some hurt to the legs lifting, but managed to run just fine and even further than I had scheduled. This made me reconsider how much running I could get done in the week, and I cautiously thought I could do more on the remaining running days.

Tuesday I swam in the morning and biked about 2 hours mid-day because it was so gorgeous (again), and is usually the case when I ride LGL, I rode pretty hard and felt sort of trashed afterward. No worries--I've been sleeping like a champion, which is the real secret to recovery!

Wednesday morning I swam again, and when it came time to run, I thought I could do more than I had scheduled. I ran slower than I thought I would, but it may have been that I reintroduced jump rope, am swimming harder and using the paddles again, and rode hard on Tuesday. Whatever, I still ran farther than originally planned, and hoped that another good night of sleep would work magic.

It did. On Thursday, I only rode for 1:30, even though I only wanted to go 1:15, but it was another gorgeous day, and one thing led to another and I ended up at 1:30. I finished up my lifting later on (about :30), and got another good night of sleep.

Friday morning I swam 3500 (I'll start bumping up the Friday swims next week), and thought that I really didn't need to run at all if I didn't feel up to it. I thought I'd been taking in enough carbs, but as soon as I started to run a bit after noon, I could tell my glycogen stores were low. So here I am bonking right at the get go, but I've run bonky before, so I just kept going on another gorgeous day, and despite my bonkiness, I was running at a pretty good clip! I thought that was a good sign that I am adapting to the higher running load and feeling pretty well recovered from ROTPM.

Based on how much I'd run during the week, this morning I thought I'd try for a 1:40 run with some walking/hiking afterwards. Well, wouldn't you know, it was another absolutely gorgeous day, but a little cooler than last weekend, which would be perfect for running. I headed to Greene Valley, with the intent to do the same first hour on the flats, then run up and down the hill twice, and then walk up and down it twice.

I ran the flats about the same pace as last week, but it felt better today, partly because it wasn't as hot, and partly because I'm just getting used to running more. I got up close and personal to a red tailed hawk that had just made a kill and was jumping up and down excitedly right next to the path! It was so absorbed in its prey that it didn't care that people were running, walking and biking right past him! I love hawks, especially the red tailed and rough legged, because they have such nice feather pants! Later on while running I was thinking what feather pants would feel like and I thought pretty neat!

I was excited to get to the hill running part, as I really don't like running pure flats, since I hardly do that in training since there are hills no matter which direction I go from my house. I ran the hill a little slower than last week, but I tried to go slower since I ran up it twice and then down. I have to say I really enjoyed it!

Then I did my walking repeats up and down the hill, and there was another red tailed hawk perched atop a light pole right off the path, and he was there for the first 3 times I went by! I figured he'd already had his lunch and was just hanging out surveying his territory.

While I was going up and down the hill, there were a few cyclists using it for training intervals, and one guy even towed his young son behind him! That impressed me!

I ended up getting in about 11.5 miles of running and 4.5 miles of walking/hiking, so a good outing. It will be key to see how I recover from this today, because tomorrow I want to run about 7 and walk/hike 3, same place.

It's become fun to do my long runs on the weekends now so that I can take advantage of Greene Valley, since the hill doesn't open until 11AM, so I get to sleep in, and it's completely sunny in the flat prairie area as well, of course, up and down the hill, so really great for early fall. I wish the hill were open during the week, because I'd sneak over there and do a few repeats, but I need to keep my weekday runs shorter since I'm swimming M/W/F and running the same days and like to have it all done plus work by 5:30PM.

I'm basically seeing how much running I can cram in before the 50-miler next month and not get hurt. I've been stretching a lot, but haven't had a massage in 2 weeks...that is key in my overall training, but I am working extra on my quads and lower back which are the things that will cause me grief in my knees and hips, and so far so good. Thankfully, I'm getting a massage next week!

I am going to keep my fingers crossed that I feel just fine tomorrow and can get in 7+ miles running and some walking/hiking, then I get to go to a wedding!

Oh, and it's International Talk Like a Pirate Day! My favorite day of the year!

Arrrrrrrggggggggh! Hope your weekend is wonderful!