Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Weekly Summary: May 16-23

5/16/2011
Mon- AM: 9 miles (1:05) Seacliff-Nisene, 635'
Couldn't wait to head out this morning. After yesterday's run, I was looking forward to another great day with only mild soreness in my achilles. It's still swollen, but not as bad as last week. Ran in the Cascadia's with superfeet which seemed to help.
PM: 11 miles (1:18) West Cliff, 338'
I wasn't planning on an 11 miler this afternoon, but after all the rest (the whopping 2 days!) I've been getting antsy, so I decided to extend the run. Felt solid until about the last 3 miles...lots of frustrating wind/ my achilles started acting up. Ran in the DS Trainers with superfeet...seemed to make things worse.


5/17/2011
Tues- AM: 11 miles (1:21) Seacliff-Nisene, 310'
Legs were a little stiff this morning, and the overcast weather made it difficult to motivate myself. I knew once I got out there my mood would change, so I laced up the Green Silence's and hit the roads. My achilles (right side) felt pretty good throughout the run...before I left I taped it using a new method, which seems to be a winner!

PM: 8 miles (1:03) Pogonip, 507'
Decided to test the achilles on some hills, so I headed up to Pogonip. Although my legs were a bit sluggish, I felt good so I threw on a few extra miles and a small amount of climbing. The achilles only gave me issues at about 6 miles in, so I'm remaining hopeful! I really don't have much pain tonight...

5/18/2011
Wed- AM: 8 miles Seacliff-Nisene (1:02), 501'
Legs felt a bit sluggish upon heading out, but loosened up. It's been a while since I've put in this many miles, so to be expected I suppose. Overall, a relaxing, mellow run.
PM: 10 miles (1:20) Nisene, 1807'

Got off work early, so I decided to toss in a few extra miles. Ran to the top of the incline in Nisene...not a particularly fast run, and I didn't feel spectacular, but I think some mellow miles are just what I needed. So glad the sun is finally back!

5/19/2011
Thurs- AM: 9 miles (1:10) Seacliff-Nisene, 501'
Legs are still feeling sore/sluggish, but it feels great to get back into my daily running routine. Achilles was pretty much pain free.
PM: 6 
miles (:45) Pogonip, 235'
I've been so drained since this morning! I'm thinking I didn't get enough sleep/haven't eaten enough today...I've been rushing around since this morning and have only managed to put down a (fairly huge) salad. Nice little shake-out run through Pogonip before intervals at the track tonight. Hopefully I'll bounce back once I get some fluids and grub in me! Achilles didn't hurt at all =]
PM: 1 mile w/up, 3x1mile @ 10k pace +10sec w/ 1min recovery, 1 mile cool down, Track
5:38, 5:44, 5:39
After much deliberation, I decided to head out to the track for 3x1 mile repeats at tempo-ish pace. I wasn't feeling completely up to it, but after my shake-out I ate about 4 pieces of toast with jam (yum!), so other than being bloated, I felt pretty solid. I took a few warm-up laps to test out the achilles, and although there was some residual soreness, I decided to go ahead with the intervals. All-in-all, they were pretty much what I expected. I haven't done any running at this speed in quite some time, so my legs responded accordingly for the first few laps. After the cobwebs shook off, though, the efforts felt smooth and controlled, especially number 3. Interestingly, my achilles only really acted up on the recovery portions...otherwise, a really great workout! Now I'm off to class until 8:30pm, then it's dinner time! I made an enormous pot of soup with black beans, tomatos, sweet potatoes, and ground turkey the other night, and I've yet to put much of a dent in it

5/19/2011
Fri- AM: 13 miles (1:40) Seacliff-Nisene, 909'
Overall, a pretty mellow run. My legs were super stiff this morning when I woke up, but after walking around a bit to get coffee, etc. they loosened up. The run itself was fairly uneventful...just sauntered around Aptos and into Nisene. I was completely dead the last 3-ish miles...glad I had that half banana with peanut butter! ;]
PM: 5 miles (:41) Seacliff, 218'
I wasn't really planning on my shake-out being so close to my morning run, but my girlfriend was heading out for a jog, so I thought I'd join her! It was a super mellow pace and felt good to give the legs a break. Overall, a beautiful day on Seacliff and lovely afternoon with my lady. Now time for a nap and some relaxation by the pool!

5/20/2011
Sat- AM: 13 miles (1:41) Seacliff-Nisene, 892'
Just a pretty mellow run before work. Nothing really out of the ordinary or really any different from the previous runs this week.
PM: 3 miles (:23) Nisene, 242'
Decided to head out on my lunch break for a quick shake-out. The sun is out and summer is here! Just a really relaxing trot through the trees...

5/21/2011
Sun- AM: 13 miles (1:41) Seacliff-Nisene, 881'
Hmmm...almost an identical morning to yesterday. A little more difficult to rally myself together this morning, but like always, I was glad once I got running. Off to work!
PM: 3 miles (:24) Nisene, 285'
Legs are pretty trashed today. I'm betting it's because I logged most of my miles this week in the New Balance Minimus and the majority was on hard-packed surfaces. It still feels good though to finally have tired legs after what has seemed like a few weeks of down time!

Totals
-Miles: 127.3
-Time: 16hr 21min
-Vertical: 8,283'
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Well, it seems like ages since I've posted anything on here, and even longer since I've gotten in any quality miles. After the WTC 50k I took it easy the following week and tried to gradually build my mileage again for AR 50. I logged a solid 127 miles the week prior to AR, which left me feeling confident and strong. The week of the big race, I was rested and somehow landed 13th place overall in a time of 6:49:17. (!) I completely surprised myself, and although my race was far from perfect in terms of strategy, I do think I ran it close to the best of my abilities. Most likely, I went out too hard on the paved bike trial early on (thanks for setting that awesome pace, Jacob!!) which left me with a pretty weak kick in the hills. However, I also think that I wouldn't have necessarily pushed myself harder in the hills had I been fresher. Who knows though! Anyways, the week after AR hit me pretty hard, as I constantly walked the line between having a cold/being dead. I took a few days off and got a lot of food in me, which seemed to do the trick!

After a couple of recovery weeks (about 75-80 miles) I tried to ramp up the running again, hitting 131 miles then 118. The second week left me with a bum achilles which I babied for the next couple days and only managed to log ~45 miles. I'm glad to say that everything seems to be functioning normally now, and the training is back in full-swing for Vermont! It's incredibly unnerving and a bit surreal that in only 8 weeks I'll be attempting to complete my first 100 mile race. Who knew that so much could happen with only one year of running experience? Never in my wildest dreams...