Decent week, all-in-all. Getting a bit frustrated by the on-again, off-again ache in the outside of my right knee. Weird how it comes and goes on a given run, even on a long 32-mile run. There's nothing consistent about the pain. It just comes and goes.
Sunday - Off - taking it easy after the PP50K the day before. 1.5-hour Bikram (hot) yoga session in the a.m. New sweat volume PR. Felt markedly better after this session than I did pre-yoga. Growing more and more convinced of the recovery value of yoga following a hard run (provided, of course, one doesn't push the body too far stretching-wise). Best of all, JP and I do the classes together. So great to see her in action. She is the star of the classes...strong, steady and so flexible the teacher looks at her with envy. I'm happy to be the "before" example to her "after," when it comes to yoga (and so many other things).
Monday - Soda Creek Loop - 8:01 miles; 1:14; 1,234 feet o' elevation gain. Squeezed this one in before picking up the kids. Pleased to feel very solid after the hard run on Saturday. Right knee - good.
Tuesday - Off - schedule
Wednesday - Treadmill - for the first-time ever, all the treadmills (and even the elliptical machines) were full. I wandered around trying to decide what else I should do. Finally a 'mill opened up and I hopped on. 2 miles@8:00 w/u; 1 mile@5:52; .5 recovery; 1 mile@5:49; 1.5 mile c/d. Was planning on doing 3x1-mile but the first two wrecked me. On the second mile repeat, I was literally counting steps, ticking off the 1/100ths over the last 3/10s of a mile. Couldn't believe how hard these were. One of those sessions, I guess. Knee - quiet.
Thursday - Mt. Sanitas - 6:38 miles; 1:09; 1,571 feet o' elevation gain. Lunch run from the office to the summit of Mt. Sanitas via the backside. An easy 21:38 from trailhead sign to summit marker. Lots of people out on the mountain today dressed as if it were summer. Knee - quiet until road run back to office, then a few pains.
Friday - Off - decided I would run the Southside 50K Fat A** on Saturday so opted to dodge the stress of squeezing in a run on a crushing workload day and conserve some energy for Saturday.
Saturday - Southside 50K+ - 32.35 miles; 5:19; 3,319 feet o' elevation gain. Got the tip early in the week from SY about this run. A group o' folks was planning to run a 50K route through the open space around Superior and Boulder. With 60+ degree temps forecasted, it wasn't a hard decision to make this another long training run to bookend last Saturday's PP50K. A nudge from fellow Evergreen-er Jason P. was all it took to seal the deal.
The run was a lot of fun. Wind was a bit of an issue through the rolling grasslands of Marshall Mesa, but not too bad. The run had a bit of everything...rolling, flat, hills...dirt, mud, snow, ice, rock...you name it.
Jason and I arrived just before the 7 a.m. start. Met a bunch of new folks from the Boulder/Lafayette/Niwot/Longmont netherworlds. Even managed to lure GZ out for a few miles. Funny moment...when I walked up to the start area, a burly looking guy steps out of a group of runners and marches straight at me with a very angry look on his face. For a few anxious seconds I was working hard to remember who I might have pissed off. In no time, I realized the burly-ness was actually a down jacket and the anger was a charade pulled off with great skill by non-other than GZ. Got the bear-hug rather than a smack in the kisser. Great poker face on that cat. Beware.
Ran pretty steady for the whole 50K. Had more than a few minutes the last five miles or so where I got to wondering what the hell I was doing. Running a long time doesn't always feel all that whippy. I found myself questioning whether it's worth it. A few hours later, I decided it was...for now.
Knee was solid most of the run, but barked a bit on the steady flat stuff that comprised the final 5-6 miles. Annoying.
For the week: 52.75 miles; 8:48; 6,123 feet o' elevation gain.
Good seeing you out there. I tried the same shtick with Bob and he just came back at me with a swing rather than a hug. Back at the Custis trail this week?
ReplyDeleteWas on the Custis Trail Monday night. Last night was at the Washington & Lee High School track. Great workout, mostly. I love running hard at sea level.
ReplyDeleteThat track is awesome ... one of my favorite tracks of all time.
ReplyDelete"Running a long time doesn't always feel all that whippy. I found myself questioning whether it's worth it."
ReplyDeleteThis thought hits me on almost every long run beyond 25. I feel like the more I encounter it, the more prepared I am to overcome it. When it hits at mile 70-75 during Leadville, you're completely raw, depleted, and facing another 25-30 miles. It's almost impossible to come up with a rational answer, so I always punt the question until the race or run is over.
Woody - reading between the lines of your comment, I came up with "expect to feel like it ain't worth it, plan for it, deal with it and then forget it a day or two after the race." In other words, keep doing what you're doing. :-)
ReplyDeleteYup, I think you read it correctly. Your experience may be different, but I'm sure my pacer can attest to me saying, "this is just plain STUPID. Who runs 100 miles for fun. This is not fun. I don't need to prove anything. If I stop now, this madness will be over and I can move on with my life and it won't include running."
ReplyDeleteI can't see any situation where that voice in your head will win. But you can be certain it will try to be heard at least once or twice.