Monday, April 7, 2008

Week 12 - 6 More Weeks Until Marathon!

Week twelve was a good week. I had planned on cutting back my mileage some after the 18 mile long run and 39 mile week. I took Monday off because my legs were pretty well spent. I decided to run Tuesday and went out for a 4 mile run in 34 minutes. My legs were heavy at the beginning but felt better the longer I ran. I started thinking I would have been alright to run on Monday. Lesson learned I suppose.

On Wednesday I ran another 4 miles in 33:00 around town. It was a warm day and I felt good. I have started to develop some tenderness in on the top of my right leg, kind of near the groin. It actually hurts more when I walk than when I run. Possibly overuse?

Thursday I chose to go on a walk with my wife around town and we managed about 2 miles at a leisurely pace. The walk felt good and by the end I thought I had worked the kinks out of my leg. Friday I got off work early and ran around McDonald again. I had things to do that evening so I figured I would get my run in before I ran out of daylight. This was probably my fastest run of the week as I covered 4 ½ miles in 34:00.

Saturday morning I ran in McDonald in the morning as I was traveling to Washington PA to watch Kyrsti run at Washington Jefferson College. I had bought a Tom Tom GPS on Friday night and decided to put it to the test. It performed flawlessly! Once again she competed in the 800 and the 3000m Steeple Chase.


Cameron Stadium Scoreboard - Washington Jefferson College


Kyrsti Running the Steeple Chase





Kyrsti ran so fast she blew her shoe off!



On Sunday my training schedule had a 12 miler planned for me. What better place than Mill Creek on a sunny Sunday morning is there to run? I packed the fuel and liquids and headed to the park. I was actually eager to run as 12 miles would seem like a breeze compared to the 18 miler the week before. I decided to make it a hard twelve and pick all the hills I could think of. I also decided to mix in some trails and some roads (maybe it would help with my leg).

I started out by running around Lake Glacier, and then headed towards the East Cohasset Trail. I then ran up towards the Mill and was grateful to find out that these bathrooms are now opened on the weekends in April. The water fountain is also again hooked up! I made my way down the trail and crossed over the second bridge. After some trail running I got back on the road and ran all the way to the top of Big Bear. I made my way down the decking and back onto the trails. I followed the trails towards the Silver Bridge and back onto the trails around the other side of Cohasset. I was running well and felt strong.

I made my way along this trail and realized that if I headed back to the car it would cut my run short. I followed the trail and passed Pioneer Pavilion and headed towards the car. As I ran by the car I was at about 70 minutes. I traveled up the road and decided to run Bear’s Den. What a better way to end a run than by climbing some more hills? I pressed up these hills and could feel the effort. I wasn’t going fast, but I was running. I now try to run every hill no matter how I feel. I got to where it leveled off and felt myself going faster. I prepared for the next hill and climbed it fairly well. I was now thinking about the fun of running back down these hills. I went up the last hill hard and turned around at the entrance to the Morley Pavilion.

I started going back towards the car and felt like I was on a roller coaster. I was running hard and kind of letting it all go. Usually I do not run down hills hard but today for some reason I was. I smiled as I poured down the hill. I was back to the car and stopped my watch at 1 hr. 35 minutes. I am guessing I averaged about 8:30 miles as I know a few points on the course I ran that are a mile but I try not to get all caught up in that.

Overall it was a good week of running. This upcoming week my long run will be 20 miles but I may go longer (22) if everything feels right.

The numbers:
Total Miles = 32
Long Run = 12 miles
Pace 8:00-8:45
Weight = 198 (but my pants are loose now!)
Fuel Intake (2 Hammer Gels on the 12 miler plus a bottle of Succeed) I had dried salt all over my face at the end of the run. I may need to start taking salt tablets on these longer runs with the weather heating up.

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