Mileage Reporting 39th week 2013

50 gloriuos mins run on windy but sunny conditions and 65 degs at a good clip.
 
Great run today, did 12 miles at one of the metro parks. I havent done that much on a weekday in a long time, and right after my race on Saturday (seems my feet/legs can handle them fine now without much recovery). Averaged 8:24 mm pace for the main 9 mile part (3 miles were warmup and cooldown). Going to take the rest of the week a little easier, prepping for a good long run this Sunday. Going to try for my last high mileage week before I start tapering... its 26 days left until my 26er. :nailbiting:
 
I am back, allthough I ran last week, I did not take enough time to report !!!

last week, overall I managed to squeeze 50km/31mi

This week I started with a slow 11.5km/7.1mi, the weather starts to be really nice

Kudos to George Carter who finished the Sydney marathon, barefoot, well done !!!
 
8km with the social runners from work. 4 sprints at the end, one of them was on grass so I had a good go at that. Felt great. One was on a wooden boardwalk which is horrible to run on - I gave that a miss. I said I wouldn't do them on concrete this time, but a guy bolted away in the last one and nobody tried to chase him, so I couldn't help myself. :) I couldn't catch him though.
 
7.7km tonight around Prospect Park. Started in vff; did the last 3km barefoot (mostly uphill).
Body feels off from messing up my sleep schedule after an early morning on Friday to get in line for new Apple shiny gadgets, but it felt really good to stretch my legs.

Calves are a bit tender tonight; I'll have to check my stride and landing (right?). Otherwise, feet feel fine...not sore like early last week.
http://runkeeper.com/user/346874908/activity/246586753
 
chris, few days across the pond and already with the gibberish?

6.6 mile on the trail today. took the two dogs and i had to keep checking for them so i got over a mile less today than on saturday. i ran for maybe 1/4 mile when i noticed they weren't following me. i ran back and they were sitting at the last trail head. lucky there was no one out today.


edit - forget my watch told me it lost signal so i may have had slightly covered more ground .
 
Ran 15 km barefoot Sunday, nice morning for it. :) Longest run I've ever done, tight calf on the left leg, tender spot on the ball of the right foot. Still kept my usual pace though. My breathing seems to settle into a nice rhythm around the 5 km mark, felt like I could go for a long time after that.
My wife did text me near the end, hadn't expected me out that long and started to worry... :)
 
Sunday afternoon, no run, but nice boat ride on the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers, perfect weather. By later afternoon I missed my run though.

Monday 1.5 mi run-commute, .5 mi walk-commute

Monday afternoon, bench press fest. I don't normally have goals for free weights, but I'm really starting to get bummed that I can't stabilize at 225 on the bench press, so I spent a lot of time pyramiding down in 10-lb increments, and blew off the rest of my upper body workout. I usually just go up to max weight on the bench press and then move on to the next exercise. I'd like to be able to do 3-5 reps of 225 by the end of the year. Then I'll try to hold there for as long as the aging process allows me to.

Tuesday morning
10.75 mi / 17.3 km
59 F / 15 C

Woke up a bit before 3am, and my thoughts immediately turned to deciding on which route to run this morning. So no use trying to roll over and sleep another hour or so. I ate a protein bar and drank some water while limbering up, and then headed for the river. It was perfect running weather, clear skies, bright waning moon, Orion beckoning me south.

Got a bit lost on the twisty, hilly streets of the neighborhood just before the river, Prospect Park, because I stayed on the UofM busway one turn-off too long. But otherwise it was a completely uneventful run. It was great having the streets all to myself, especially the River Road. Just one car and 3-4 cyclists with headlamps the whole time I was on it, so I could stay out on the street away from the tree debris on the bike/pedestrian path.

At Ford Parkway Bridge I stopped for a brief stretch on the chest-high guard rail and enjoyed the moonlit view of the dark Mississippi below, with the glow of downtown Minneapolis off in the distance beyond the bend. Coming off the bridge, onto the East River Road, I accidentally treed a raccoon and scared a few more a bit later into the bushes. Runlite01 would be proud.

Leaving the River Road I decided to avoid a big hill and went through a light industrial area. I wanted to hoof it a bit at the end. That was kinda dumb. All the truckers were getting an early start on the day, and the noisy commotion totally took me out of my dream-like state of mind. Worse, there were small rocks, pebbles, and asphalt shavings everywhere. I recorded more than a half dozen direct hits, mostly on my right sole for some reason. It seems like the pain only lasts a couple of steps now though, so I guess I'm adapting to running in dimness and obscurity.

Despite the mild bruising, I was able to push the pace a little bit towards the end. Still, overall it was a very slow, leisurely run. Great way to start the day.

10.jpg
 
I met up with a friend to run last evening. Together we did 2 loops of the park at an easy 10mm pace. I was still feeling good, having just run easy for the week prior and having not done a long run since the end of last month where I had peaked out around 4.75 miles on length. I ended up running 5.5 miles and still had spring in the legs when done. Did get a small blister on the ball of the right foot though. Other than that, everything feels good this morning. So I guess next time I try to stretch out the length it will be something north of 6 miles and 1 hour.

On the third loop, I heard some yelling off to my left and coming from the road. A school bus passed by and I think a couple of kids were waving from the windows and yelling at me. I couldn't make out what they were yelling.
 
Sunday - 35 mile trail run/hike (shod). The weather finally was good enough to get this one in, barely. 3 miles in and 1000 ft up from my starting point it started snowing. If I could just make it to the next trail head I could wait it out in the toilets. No need, it stopped a 1/4 mile from that point. The wind was brutal with a cold front approaching and a tree falling on me was a real risk. Tough going along the ridge, but once I dropped into the forest it was manageable and even worked to my advantage for the rest of the run. Cool while moving and I kept moving. Stopping was too cold. One more sprinkle near the end of the run, but otherwise partly cloudy and even a patch of sun on Cedar Breaks (sorry, google images)

images


I did a big loop around Brian Head Peak (elv. 11,307) and Cedar Breaks National Monument (low elevation pt. 7,500 ft). It is a really neat place, similar to Bryce, but no people. I only saw three others all day. When you see more deer than people, bonus.

One of my best long runs. I am really getting the hydration and fueling figured out (went to a seminar last week on the subject). Two strategically placed water and food drops the day before also helped and real food, bonus. Paced myself well. Nice and slow on the technical trails, hiked the steeps, and did not push below 10 mm even when the trail was smooth. It worked, no lows the entire run. Journey time 9 hours.

Edit: images not loading for Cedar Breaks (I must be a computer virus). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedar_Breaks_National_Monument
 
Great run today, did 12 miles at one of the metro parks. I havent done that much on a weekday in a long time, and right after my race on Saturday (seems my feet/legs can handle them fine now without much recovery). Averaged 8:24 mm pace for the main 9 mile part (3 miles were warmup and cooldown). Going to take the rest of the week a little easier, prepping for a good long run this Sunday. Going to try for my last high mileage week before I start tapering... its 26 days left until my 26er. :nailbiting:
So is it going to be a 26er long run this weekend?:nailbiting:
 
  • Like
Reactions: Owlrun
Lee, sounds like a lovely run except for the bruises and truck noice.

Rick, awesome view of your running grounds and nice mileage. Shouldn't you be harvesting instead?:D
Ok I am just jealous that I haven't done any long runs as lately:( but I'll get to it sometime in the near future:barefoot:
 
  • Like
Reactions: Owlrun and Bare Lee
Sunday - 35 mile trail run/hike (shod). . . . Journey time 9 hours.
Sounds like an awesome outing Rick, spectacular scenery, and quite an achievement to be able to run comfortably for so long at those altitudes. I'm green with envy on both counts!

Lee, sounds like a lovely run except for the bruises and truck noise.
Dama, yes it was lovely (and next time I do that route I'll know better not to avoid the hill!). And I needed a 10+ mile run to go well after last week's struggles. Now I can confirm that I've definitely adapted to the greater distance. My legs felt nice and loose throughout the run, and the post-run stiffness is minimal. I feel great, not wiped out at all. I've definitely entered into a new phase of running fitness. Still wish I could run faster, but I think that will come in time. Thanks again for all your encouragement when things weren't going so well.
 
Dama, yes it was lovely. And I needed a 10+ mile run to go well after last week's struggles. Now I can confirm that I've definitely adapted to the greater distance. My legs felt nice and loose throughout the run, and the post-run stiffness is minimal. I feel great, not wiped out at all. I've definitely entered into a new phase of running fitness. Still wish I could run faster, but I think that will come in time. Thanks again for all your encouragement when things weren't going so well.
Lee, put the speed issue on the back burner for now if you continue to run long as you're doing it now you'll be surprise when all of the sudden you're running fast wihtout even trying.
Speed comes on its own(at least it did for me) and I am sure is the same for other barefooters.
I remember when I was transitioning my only goal was to cover distance so I concentrated on that and when I accomplished what I set out to do I realized I had become faster. You know how much I dislike speed workouts right? So don't worry about it at the moment, just continue doing what you're doing at this time.