March 19-25
Total Mileage – 23 miles
Weight – 212.2
Not exactly the week that I was hoping for with my first race since November closing in. While I set a new personal best for mileage it may come at a cost. (I was not out pushing myself to see how far I could go, just following the training plan.) The three treadmill runs were good, but yesterday’s long run took a lot out of me. It totaled nine miles and I took a course that I hadn’t taken before (which I will likely not be taking again any time soon) and between the frequent stop lights, upward inclines and a sideways slope in the sidewalk, my legs took a beating. We are battling rain here in Northern CA (we need it) and the rain kept me from going out Saturday. It looked like there was a break on Sunday so Luke hopped in the jogging stroller and we were off.
The run came to a grinding halt at about 2.5 miles in when I watched a kid go right over the top of his handlebars. Thankfully he was wearing a helmet because his head and face broke his fall. Concrete 1 – Bike Rider 0. I ran over, cleaned him up with water and a towel I had in the stroller, and called his parents. His parents asked if I could just carry his bike to the house. After I told them that 1) he is likely going to need stitches and 2) I am pushing a stroller, that they agreed to come and get him. The boy said he lived another intersection up, but it took his parents 20 minutes to get there. Seriously…
Thankfully Luke was asleep the entire time and did not wake up until well after I had started running again. At about mile 5 the dark clouds came rushing in and it looked like we would be racing the storm, but it held out long enough for us to get home. Going from running to a 20 min stop to running really took its toll. My legs are killing me today and I am not sure if I strained a muscle in my foot or just stepped on something out on the trail, but the bottom of my left foot is swollen. I’ll give it a day or two and plan the training for this week accordingly. At this point, I just need to make it through the 10 miles on Sunday.
I started looking at half marathons and want to get one done before the SF Giants Half in September. I found one in Vacaville in Mid May however it starts at 7:00 am, is a point to point, the only parking is at the finish line and you have to take a bus from the finish line to the starting line. Oh, and the last bus leaves at 5:45 am. Doing the math, I would have to leave Roseville at 4:00 am to be safe, which puts me up at 3:30 am on race day. I’m pretty sure that is not conducive to having a good run.
I decided to go with the Western Pacific Half in Fremont on the Quarry Lakes Recreation Area. It looks like the run will be part on pavement, part on fire trails. Hopefully the fire trails are pretty well worn. Good news is that my brother sent me a link last week from REI that had Vibram KSO Treksports at 70% off plus free shipping if you have it shipped to a store. (Thankfully I have a very understanding wife)
The fact that they are last year’s model / color means nothing. They’ll be in Friday, so I will have plenty of time to break them in and adjust to the KSO sole vs. the Bikila. “The Countdown” has begun: 5 days until the 10 miler and 39 days until my first half. The clock is ticking.
It appears that my increase in speed may not be a fluke. All four runs this week were under 11 min.
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