G'day again hope everyone is feeling good and HEALTHY. From what I've read here and there online, this has been a pretty tough Flu season in many different areas of the U.S. Having just (finally) recovered from what I believe to be my first bout with it, I can attest that it indeed sucks! That being said, I'm happy to report that I'm about 99.99% healthy again. The last .01% will come through once I completely clear the last bit of a cough I've still got, thus giving me full use of my lungs again.
This was my first full week (kinda "full") back. I started off with a very tentative run on Sunday. It's traditionally my "long run" day, but I knew I was still in no condition to go far, especially when I had barely made it through a 45 mins or so run the day before. I went out and of course my legs felt great, but I was still coughing up pretty badly. I took it easy and decided to give it another go on Monday. When I headed out the door that very next day I felt almost completely back. I had a bit of a spring to my step and covered the 1st few uphill miles a lot quicker than I had expected. I just floated along with the effort and thus ended with a 14+ mile run at a pace in the mid 5:40 range. In hindsight I think I may have over done it with some of the flat and downhill sections as well as the hill drills/bounding later on, because I was feeling pretty sore the next day (workout day) and every day since then.
Tues workout (mile repeats on the road) went well. I hadn't spoken to Lorraine -who was busy in New Zealand- so I didn't really know what pace to hit. I just knew that she'd want me to progressively get faster, which I did. I still didn't quite feel 100% (lungs wise) while running them, which bodes well for when I'm truly back @ 100% capacity.
The rest of the week (till Saturday) just saw me doing a series of easy-ish and slower runs, as my quads were really feeling both Monday & Tuesday's efforts. Saturday's workout was a good one. I just have a real problem w/ how windy the track can get, but we (fellow Boulder runners) all know how that can be @ Fairview High School. Here's the view from the track , I guess the wind just tends to sweep down the front range mountains. Anyways it's got beautiful views that the small picture can't quite do it justice.
Well that's more or less it for this entry. I'm happy to be back to training, and hoping that in another few days I'll have my lungs 100% back. The weather has been pretty nice lately (relatively speaking for this time of year) and running in just shorts and a t-shirt has somewhat started shifting my mind towards OUTDOOR TRACK. I hope to take a stab @ the Olympic Standard in about 2 months or so, probably out in California, so I'm definitely getting a bit antsy, nervous and excited as well. There's still heaps of work to be done (interval training, ect...) so I must remain patient, for now...
Below is my week in more detail. Cheers to all for reading, and feel free to post any questions.
Week (#37) February 17th - 23rd
Sunday: Distance: 8.00 miles @ 3:15PM, Pace: 6:30 Run Duration: 52:00
Monday: Distance: 14.5 miles @ Wonderland Lake (hilly trail run) @ 4:10PM Pace: 5:45 Run Duration: 1h23mins30sec
Tuesday: AM: 30 mins @ 8:20 AM (1st morning run since Feb 9th), PM: Workout @ North Boulder. 4 x 1 mile Road Repeats. Terrain = Uphill, Flat, Downhill & Flat. Did it solo as Lorraine was in New Zealand. Avg pace = 4:41.75 Fastest: 4:35 (last one) Slowest: 4:46 (1st one) Distance: 17 miles total for day
Wednesday: Distance: 14.50 miles @ 8:15AM (33 degrees), Pace: 6:24
Thursday: Distance: 4.00 miles @ 8:40AM ( 41 degrees). Felt too sore (quads from Hill Bounding/Drills) to run in the afternoon as planned.
Friday: Distance: 7.0 miles @ 8:15 AM, Pace: 6:24, Distance: 10.50 miles @ 4:40 PM, Pace: 6:15 pace
Saturday: A.M: Workout @ Fairview High School: 6 x 800 meters (600m jog recovery) . Solo @ (Once again very windy) track before picking up Lorraine from New Zealand trip. Avg pace = 2:15.50
P.M: 10.50 miles @ (Rally Sports Gym) 6:00PM Distance: 21.50 miles total for day
Week's Total Mileage: 97.00 (avg: 13.86 miles per day)
Peace & Love