Mileage Reporting 41st Week 2013

easy 30 mins run, some back/hips
 
10km lunch time run with a group that's been forming at work. Beautiful day. The first half was at a very relaxed pace, and then a few people dropped off and the pace picked up. After about 7km most people were heading for home and one lady who is a 'proper runner' said she was going to do 10km if anybody wanted to go further. I said yes straight away. I have to say I'm quite surprised by how much I'm enjoying running right at the moment - I'm actually looking for ways to run further, and I always find myself running further than what I originally plan once I get going. I guess that sounds like famous last words from a guy who is about to pick up an injury. :)

Speaking of which, I did feel a bit of a stretch in what I think is my plantar fascia - not near the heel, but more in the middle of the foot. It was right near the end of the run, and not a problem, but I'm assuming it is just my body's way of telling me not to get too carried away with myself.
 
Monday: 9 miles in my Moc3's at just above 6000 feet elevation in Jackson, Wyoming with my adventurous husband (I live at just under 3000, so this was significant). There were quite a few icy patches on the ground. Route mostly asphalt, but some trails up the side of a muddy hill near town. Definitely maxed out around mile 9 and decided to walk when my heart threatened some palpitations. However, I can't be in desperate straits if it happened after that many miles at nearly the same (comfortable) pace that I had been running at home. Also, I was able to run a bit more for the last bit. The construction workers saw us a couple of times and one commented at the end of the run that we looked very healthy! Saw what we think is a young eagle on a nearby fence post. Will have to post pix in a bit, as computer is being finicky.
 
Oh, and I forgot to tell you that I seem to have run 505 miles so far in 2013, which is a landmark for me. About 400 hundred of them were pure barefoot. :barefoot::D The last photo is of the ranger barricade that we had to get through to go pick up our daughter. My husband was a bit concerned of my reaction should they tell us we were not allowed. They weren't happy about it, but somehow decided it was the best option to let us drive in to get her.
Wyoming young eagle.jpgWyoming accidental illegal run.jpgWyoming trail.jpgWyoming above Jackson.jpgWyoming barricade.jpg
 
Monday: 9 miles in my Moc3's at just above 6000 feet elevation in Jackson, Wyoming with my adventurous husband (I live at just under 3000, so this was significant). There were quite a few icy patches on the ground. Route mostly asphalt, but some trails up the side of a muddy hill near town. Definitely maxed out around mile 9 and decided to walk when my heart threatened some palpitations. However, I can't be in desperate straits if it happened after that many miles at nearly the same (comfortable) pace that I had been running at home. Also, I was able to run a bit more for the last bit. The construction workers saw us a couple of times and one commented at the end of the run that we looked very healthy! Saw what we think is a young eagle on a nearby fence post. Will have to post pix in a bit, as computer is being finicky.

Hubby and I found out the hard way last year that Mocs are useless on ice. :( Be careful!
 
tues am: thought I was going to sleep in, my body needed it, but my brain wouldn't shut back down, so I got up and did a later that usual (not out of the house until quarter to 6 or worse), 3.5
just a few abs and weights, then gotta get ready.

tues lunch: good ~45 min swim. time went by before I knew it and it was time to go.
 
Hubby and I found out the hard way last year that Mocs are useless on ice. :( Be careful!
Yes, I am very aware of this. That is why I entertained the people on the main street with various deer-like leaps from dry spot to dry spot in necessary areas. :p
 
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Monday played tennis for 1.5 hours...first 45 mins were barefoot then felt blisters forming on both big toes so changed to minshoes...no other abrasion anywhere else on my feet.

Today did strength training bench press/push ups and chin ups.

Plan another tennis day this week...some guys at work have talked me playing 1 - 2 times a week for a few weeks. One guy is wearing vibrams...I may try those too but will go barefoot again as soon as the blisters heal enough.
 
Monday was rest.

Achilles is still being nasty, so.....
Tues. 7.5 miles on bike, 45 minutes.

I hate the bike. I want to run, but I'll wait.... don't want this ouchy to turn into a major stumbling block.
Very wise. We've all been there with something. You will enjoy your running more if you heal right.
 
Sunday: two miles run-commute

Sunday afternoon: “Front ST” -- Chest & Bi’s. Good pump.

Monday: two miles run-commute. Starting to pick up the pace a bit on these daily mini runs. Legs chomping at the bit for a longer run.

Monday afternoon: “Bottom ST” – Hips, Glutes & Legs. Good pump.

I seem to be solidifying the maxes on my bench presses, deadlifts and squats; they're getting more reliable and easier. Almost strained my knee on the deadlift though. I lost concentration and lifted with poor form. Felt it some on Tuesday's run.

I then extended the workout, à la HSB, by helping our carpenter lift a second story window into place. Just then a pretty young thing ran by, overstriding a bit, but with a nice relaxed form. Forty minutes later, while heading out to pick up my son at daycare, I saw her out on Larpenteur Avenue, running alongside the U’s experimental fields, coming back towards our neighborhood. This section of Larpenteur is a staple of my eastern routes too. “Wow,” I thought, “she’s been running a long time.” Then I thought, “wait a minute, that’s just a normal mezzo run.” Kind of like catching yourself in a window's reflection before you realize who you are, I got a somewhat objective sense of this amazing thing we do called running.

Tuesday morning: 1-mile run commute, some stretching, incline sit-ups, and mobility exercises with ankle weights in my office, then

Tuesday afternoon, 11.5-mile run home along both banks of the Mississippi River.

13.10.08 Marshall-Stone Arch-River Bank.jpg
(Final section into my neighborhood not shown)

It had been 10 days since my last macro run, and five days since my last mezzo run. It felt like forever. As Dama Beija-flor says, these longer runs can be addicting, although there’s usually some point around the 3/4–mark where I try to wish into existence a shower-shaped saucer that could come wisk me away, returning me home with enough time in-flight to clean up and towel off.

That was the case yesterday, my legs felt pretty heavy for the last few miles. I don't think it works for me to go more than two days without a proper mezzo or macro run--the legs stiffen up. Still, overall it was a pretty solid outing. Beautiful weather and 77F temps. This route is neat because it has so many different surface types and there's about 1000 feet in elevation gain/loss. Don't laugh mountain trail runners, that's unusual for an urban route in the Twin Cities. Another attractive feature of this route is all the attractive UofM female track/cross-country runners who populate it at the end of the afternoon. One speedy one in particular gave me the biggest shit-eating grin I've yet encountered.

I ran down close to the bank for the final river section, coming down off the bluff. It's pretty cool down there. The path was strewn with autumn tree-debris and often covered by a colorful canopy. I should have brought my camera. One section is actually a bridge that parallels the bank where there isn't enough purchase to construct a path on the bank itself:

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I hit a lot of rocks down there, hidden under the fallen leaves, but the worst was on a sidewalk coming back towards my neighborhood, on University Avenue. A sharp rock near the construction of a light-rail station had lodged in the crack between sidewalk sections, and got me right under the mets. Ouch! It stopped me dead in my tracks. First one of those in quite a while. I had thought I had built up callused immunity to such bruising. It took a good 30 seconds to shake off the pain, but after a few blocks it was mostly gone, and what was left of it turned into masochistic pleasure.