This has been a pretty weird/rough week.  I think there are 3.5 reason why this might be the case.

0.5 –  Camping and being gone all weekend didn’t setup the week very well.
1 – Staying up an extra hour pretty much every night this week working on my list of tasks, including wading through 435 pictures from the camping adventure.
2 – Not recovering from running in 91 degrees on Tuesday.
3 – Changing the schedule around to coordinate with the race on Sunday and wanting to perform well!

Monday: 4 easy miles. 4 miles on the downtown loop from home. I did it in 31:55 in the 69 and humid weather.  This is a fairly easy loop with a lot of stop and go, due to traffic. I was a little stiff and sore from the activities from the weekend.  I think specifically walking down the river on the rocks caused a variety of stabilizing muscles to be sore!  I finished with a total of 73 push ups in Week 4 of the Hundred push-up challenge.

Tuesday: 9 miles with hills. This was a scorcher of a run at the Hyland Hills with the Marathon Class. It was 91 degrees with a slight breeze.  It actually wasn’t too bad when we were in the shaded areas, but much of Hyland is prairie so there was plenty of sun! I had spent the last several hours walking around the Minnesota Zoo with some of the kids I work with – so I was a little tired! I tried to stay hydrated before the run and felt really good until we decided to run up the ski-lift hill. According to Garmin this is over 100ft elevation gain in about a quarter mile for about a 25% grade = brutal on the quads! I made it to the top without stopping and then barely hung on for the next 2 miles. it was overall a rolling trail with pretty much a hill of some degree in each mile.  We ran about 9.5 miles in 1:15:51 so not too bad. Afterwards we all went to Majors for a Dinner Fun Night which was a good time to meet others from the class not in my training group.  I had a burger and fries, while Mark across from me ate a Colossal Burger all 2lbs of it!

Wednesday: Four easy miles. I think it was expected to wake up a little tired from yesterday’s run, but I definintely had no motivation and a somewhat early meeting made me opt out of the morning run. I really did plan on running in the evening, but it never happened.  I did bike for 6.5 miles – that counts for something right?

Thursday: Rest Day! Well since I took yesterday off from running I decided I didn’t really deserve a rest day. So I went for an easy run along the Powderhorn loop.  I still felt pretty tired and wiped out so the 3.26 miles in 27:21. It was 71 and pretty humid.  I did manage to bang out a total of 76 push-ups for Week 4 Day 2 of the hundred push-up challenge.

Friday: 9 miles at marathon pace. No excuses for not running again. I woke up lacking motivation and pretty tired still.  I biked 10 miles including 5 after the Twin game on a beautiful evening out.  It would have been a good time for a night run!

Saturday:18 miles. Wanting to race well on Sunday I decided to skip the long run today.  I think it will be ok! I might need to look at the schedule closer and not miss many more long runs though.  I would have preferred to take a day off before the race, but having already taken 2 off this week I thought I couldn’t afford it.  So I went out for an easy 3 miles on the Little Earth Loop.  It was 62 which was great but the humidty did catch-up by the end.  I ran it in 24:12.  I didn’t think I’d be able to finish Week 4 Day 3 of the push-ups but I did manage to struggle through 85 total push-ups!

Sunday: Cross-Training. 10K race – 2 laps around Lake Calhoun on a decent day for racing. It was in the lower 70’s with about that much humidity.  It tried to rain a few times but never quite did and the clouds broke right about starting time.  I finished in 41:59.  My 5K splits were pretty much even 20:55 and 20:58.  Check back later for all the fun details!

Weekly Mileage:

Running – 26 miles

Biking – 37 miles

Hal’s Running Tips: Stretching is important for marathoners, who risk losing flexibility because of their high-mileage training. Include some stretching in your daily running routine. The best time to stretch is not before you run. Pre-workout muscles may be tight; the risk of injury is increased. Instead, stretch during–or after–your run, when muscles are warmest. If you own a hot tub, do some stretching while you’re soaking.

Week 9

[tags] Marathon Training, Hal Higdon, Running [/tags]