Monday, December 5, 2011

Trying something new

I think I'm going to try posting something each week on my training.  I see other blogs that do it and maybe it will help to keep me on task as I'm easily distracted (oh look, something shiny!).  I've been thinking about doing something like this for awhile now, so here goes.

Week of December 4th

Sunday - Didn't do squat running wise.  Instead I spent a good part of the day building a kidding pen in our barn.  Karen raises goats and a couple of them are pregnant and will need a quiet place to give birth.  We also had the hair-brained idea that it would be a good place to put our buck goats during bad weather as they really don't have a place to get out of it other than their houses.  Bad idea, they tried to tear the place up.  So they're stuck outside.

Monday - Went to the gym and did some speedwork on the treadmill at lunch time.  12 x .25mile all at a 7:00 pace or faster.  0.10mile walk in between each one.  Not as bad as I thought.  I hate speed work.  I did find a series of speed workouts that I'm going to try.  Each one is different.  One a week will take me up to the Salt Flats 100 in April.  Would have run outside, but it's cold out there and I wimp out in the cold.  I've also started to do a little bit of upper body and core work.  Started doing situps last week and that was an eye opener.  A little sore from that.  The other exercise I started today was pull ups.  I figure between situps, pullups, and swimming a couple times a week, that should be adequate for upper body work.  We'll see.  The PM workout was another four miles at the gym on the track.  Just took it easy, although I'm always trying to catch other runners.  Miles - 8.0

Tuesday - Went running with a few friends on our usual Tuesday evening run.  Met at Rainbow Garden, then went north for 3 miles, turned around and came back.  Always a good time running one of my favorite local trails.  Needed headlamps on the way back.  Kind of chilly too.  Miles - 5.5

Wednesday - Hit the trail with Aric starting at 22nd street.  We went south about 4.2 miles on the BST, taking the high trail at the split, and coming back on the lower trail.  Nice sunset.  My headlamp crapped out and was super dim.  Good thing we've run that trail once or twice.  Plus we had a pretty bright moon to run by.  New batteries are the order of the day.  Temp. was in the 20's but no wind.  Miles - 8.4

Thursday - Did a couple of indoor runs.  Went to the aquatic center at lunch and ran four on the t-mill.  Did that at a fairly easy pace.  Went back after work and ran on the indoor track.  Five miles.  The competitive juices got going when another guy started running after I had completed a mile.  He had on his 5-fingers and was sounding like a duck walking, slapping his feet down.  Anyway, I caught up to him and passed him, but he must not have liked that much, because he passed me back almost immediately.  Then, every time I would gain on him and get within a few feet, he would speed up and put almost a half lap on me.  I bumped the pace just a bit and kept it steady.  We played this game for about three miles before he slowed and I went blazing past him.  He quit shortly after while I kept going.  Kind of fun to do something like that, gets the speed up, makes me work harder and it's nice to know that I can still hang with youngsters.  Miles - 9.0

Friday - Took off from work a little early so I could get a trail run in while it was still light out.  Managed to run my familiar route from Rainbow north three miles, then turn around.  Saw Tom Remkes while I was out and we chatted for a few.  Weather was fine, little chilly, but really not too bad.  Smog was another thing.  Pretty hazy with the inversion settling in.  Doesn't really seem to bother me much, but I'm sure it's not good for you to breathe that stuff.  Oh well, that's what we're stuck with until the middle of next week.  Miles - 6.0

Saturday - Took some friends (Aric, Meghan, Emily, Ann) on a run along part of the 50K/100K course.  Only one of them had been on it before.  Started at the White Rock Bay trailhead, ran to the top of the switchbacks on the Split Rock loop, then dropped over the saddle on to the west side of the island.  Typically this is offlimits to the general public, but I had gotten permission from the Park Manager to take a few friends on this trail.  Helps to be a volunteer out there.  Anyway, had a good time, the weather was a little cool, but in the sun wasn't bad.  Still a hazy mess though.  We ended up at the ranch after about 3.5 hours.  Everyone seemed to enjoy the trip and the chance to see part of the island that most people that visit don't get to see.  One highlight was hearing a pack of coyotes just howling away in the distance.  We just stopped and listened.  Very cool indeed.  Miles - 17.2

Total for the week - 54.1 miles

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