Last week was a BUSY week for me. I missed 2 days running because I was out of town on business. Then when I got back to running, I felt I lost all my speed. I ran about a minute a mile slower than I have been running on both Friday and Saturday. Honestly, I think it was a combination of two things…
First, I drove much of the time I was away. Just sitting in a car for days on end, I am sure didn’t help my legs at all.
Second, I eat junk food for 3 days. It was like I could feel the food weighting down my stomach as I ran. It was horrible.
Sunday I had a great run! I did my mountain run which is normally 8 miles. Being that I am running the Country Music Half Marathon at the end of April, I figured it was time to begin upping my mileage a bit. So I parked at the same place for my run, but rather than running left to the mountain road, I ran right. This took me up and down a large hill. At the bottom of the hill I turned left and ran up to a parking lot that @BigBigGeek and I used to park at last year while running together. I then turned around and headed back. By the time I got to where I started I had 3 miles under my belt. So from there I kept going and ran the mountain.
I felt great by the way. My legs felt good, my speed was good, my strength was good. By the time I got to the top of the mountain, I could feel my legs were noticing the extra 3 miles. When I finished I had 11 miles completed and I was ready to stop. I was shot. Even this morning, just walking up the step I could feel the burn in my legs. What a great workout.
Also, I made it to 100 miles this month. This was the first 100 mile month since my marathon in September. Neill and David and I are on Nike+ together. Over the past year I have had the higher mileage of the three of us – of course, I have been running longer. Here is the breakdown as of yesterday:
Looks like I’m the looser this month. Neill asked me yesterday if I was going to run today (being the last day of the month). I texted back, “That is for me to know and you to find out”. 🙂
Honestly I am amazed at Neill and David. They were nowhere near 100 miles just a couple of months ago, and now I can’t keep up. Impressive.
So running is going good – and I forgot to say that I ran my mountain run just over a 9:00 pace, which is one of the fastest paces I’ve had doing the mountain.
I guess all that junk food is finally out of my system. 🙂
Tom
278 to Boston 
Thing is you don’t know how far I’m running today. LOL
True, but you run in the morning and I run in the afternoon. 🙂
I wouldn’t consider running 100 miles being a “looser” 😉 Congrats on huge successes!!
Thanks!! I can’t wait to get back to 200. 🙂
Yay! Just an all around good news kind of post. Made me smile!
It was a good week/month. I’m glad to make you smile!!!
That is an awesome success! Congratulations to you!
Thank you!!! It is great and encouraging to hit milestones.
Well this is probably the only time I will beat the both of you. So, I’m going to enjoy it while it lasts. Haha.
That is a great accomplishment. Congrats.
Great effort. So glad to see you back strong and fast and getting the miles up!
Thanks Bernie. Not marathon distance yet, but hopefully soon!
Congrats! I’m secretly looking forward to the end of triathlon season so I can run more miles. 🙂
I hope one day to do a triathlon. That is so cool. I have no idea how you do it.
That mountain is making you strong! It’s reminding me that I should embrace the hills more often.
I think you are right. I do feel so much stronger then even during my marathon training. It is so harsh running up and down that mountain, but the results speak for themselves.
As the Boston Marathon approaches, I’ve read a lot about the importance of training on the downhills. That’ll come in handy what with your mountain. 🙂
Those downhills can be much harder then the uphills. Running 2 miles down a mountain road each week has really helped my strength!
Awesomeness! For me having a little competition makes me step things up a notch, well done and you will get them next month! 🙂
It is more fun that way. I love technology. It does keep me pushing harder. 🙂