Weekend Warrior

Immediately after yesterday's long/hill workout I felt surprisingly good, and I actually thought about joining Emma on her 10 mile road run that she had planned for the afternoon. Luckily she was already out running by the time I got home so I sat down and ate and the reality of my run started to sink into my muscles. An hour later everything was getting tight and fatigue was setting it. If I had been foolish enough to head out with Emma I surely would have crashed and burnt. Later in the day I stretched and rolled, which is rare for me, but it helped keep things from getting worse.

My plan for today was a 15 mile road run, mostly because my local trails are in a dreadful state of iciness. Since I'd had such an easy week and was feeling pretty good today I decided to make this a fairly hard effort. I did wake up with a tight right calf and achilles, so I waited a few hours for that to loosen up and for the temperature to warm up. I was a little concerned about the calf since it has been on off and on issue for over two years, but I put on compression socks and that seemed to do the trick.

After an easy first mile I picked up the pace a little bit and cruised along very comfortably. The wind, as long as it wasn't in my face, wasn't too bad and since the sun was shining bright it actually felt pretty warm. When the wind was in my face it was pretty cold but luckily I didn't have too many miles directly into the wind.

Everything was going very smooth and consistent until I turned onto Hurricane Road, into the headwind and began a long climb that lasted for 4 miles. This is when I started to feel the hills from yesterday. My first uphill mile was dreadfully slow, granted it was the steepest, so I worked hard to keep the next three uphill miles at a more respectable pace. Luckily it wasn't all into the headwind. When I finally crested the hill I had about 2.5 miles to go and I really put the hammer down as I headed down hill. Mile 14 came in at 6:58 and mile 15 at 6:42. Of course this has a lot to do with running downhill with a tail wind, but I was pleased to be able to get in another good workout this weekend at a pretty quick pace.

time: 1:56:51
distance: 15.56 miles
pace: 7:31

weather: low 30's, sunny, very windy

gear: Saucony Kinvara 2, compression socks, socks, tights, 2x long sleeve shirts, gloves, mittens (off and on), hat, Fuel Belt