Last Week

It’s interesting to see what keeps us from blogging.  Most of us notice if someone who regularly posts suddenly slows down or stops.   We wonder what happened to them.

I’ve been lacking creative juices lately.  Every ounce of mental power is used figuring out new ways to massage my tight muscles, ways to strap on the ice pack without looking weird.  You know, the important stuff.  I stare at a blank screen and my mind suddenly evaporates.  This is exactly where I’m supposed to be on the fatigue scale, but it definitely wears me out.  

But I have still been running.  Last week was great:

Sunday- I biked 6 miles to Matt’s work.  I stopped for some groceries on the way.  Riding with my iPod in the sunshine that day reminds me how much I really do love bike commuting.  This summer, I think I’m going to make a goal to go one week a month completely sans auto (with a couple exceptions, like band rehearsal that is 25 miles RT on the freeway and end well after dark).

Monday- Run 5 miles.  Untimed and moderately easy.

Tuesday- Run 10 mi, 8 at MRP.  This run was awesome because it has many gradual uphill/downhill portions.  I’m definitely getting better at knowing how to pace myself on more undulating terrain.  Here were the MRP miles: 7:55, 8:02, 7:57, 8:13, 8:05, 8:12, 8:08, 8:10 (goal: 8:12).  You can see which miles were uphill and downhill, but I didn’t let things get out of control and burn out.  That is a pretty huge victory for me!

Thursday- Run 5 miles, 3 at tempo pace.  I was feeling a little off all week with digestive problems.  Matt ran with me on a beautiful sunny afternoon.  Tempo miles: 7:36, 7:32, 7:32 (goal: 7:40).  My tempo (originally wrote "tempoo" haha) runs have to be on pancake flat terrain (and on a dirt trail to reduce pounding) in order for me to hit those paces.

Friday- Snowshoe on Horse Mountain! (replaced a 10 mile run)

Saturday- Run 20 miles.  I’ll write about it tomorrow, but here’s a preview….in the form of the elevation profile (those little baby hills weren’t the issue though, for the record).

Total: 40 running miles.  

I was a little too fast in both my pace-oriented days.  Gains are being made for sure, but I can’t let myself go crazy and peak too early.  I’m planning on two more 40+ mile weeks with drop-back ones in between, so it is still time to rein myself in a little bit until the taper.

So that’s what I’ve been up to. How are you guys doing?