Summary – This is getting to be the norm: there were good aspects to this week of training and yet again, I failed in other areas. This is largely the theme of my life but I’ll save that for another time. I didn’t run as much as I’d like, primarily because I didn’t do any really long runs. I got in a few good 2 hour runs but nothing over 2.5 hours. However, we got in lots of core work and minimal walking for a change. The stretching has been good too and I’m feeling healthy and strong again.
It may be stupid optimism but I am actually feeling pretty good about the 100 miler coming up, even though my longest run has only been one 4 hour run so far. However, my feet and joints feel way better now and a 2 hour run, which used to have my achy and sore rarely has an effect on me anymore. I just hope that translates out well over 15 hours instead of just 2.
Total running time: 504 minutes (8 hrs 24 mins); Walking: 132 minutes; Core: 118 minutes; Stretching: 130 minutes; Tennis: 145 minutes
Saturday –Walked for a half hour with Julie on the beach and then played tennis with Jeff under the lights for 55 minutes. I was definitely running around on the court tonight.
Friday – Ran for 1:52. Ran the first 81 minutes with Julie (and Jeff for 30 mins). Julie wasn’t feeling well and we walked for 7 minutes before getting going again. After another 9 minutes, she was finished so I took off to get the car. It felt good to run fast and with a purpose. I was likely running between 6 and 6:30 pace for the next 22 minutes. Overall a good run, though disjointed. I was glad that I could crank it up after going a slow pace for over an hour and a half.
Walked 25 more minutes in Pensacola to and from dinner. I then did 16 minutes of core at the hotel and 20 minutes of stretching to finish up the day.
Thursday – Ran for two hours with Jeff and Julie at our trails. When we got to the end of the trail we hit the road for a little over a mile to a bike path where we continued to do an out and back run. Jeff and I went a bit faster for part of the run because Julie and her hamstring were hurting her. I felt good despite not eating or drinking much before the run.
Did the Ab Ripper X workout for 16 minutes with Jeff and Julie. Julie and I then played tennis for around 45 minutes in the evening despite it being a pretty rainy day.
Wednesday – Ran two hours around 9:30 am on the trails in Gulf Shores about 5 minutes drive from the condo. It’s awesome running and about as close a simulation as we’re likely going to get for the 100 miler. Julie and I ran a comfortable pace and repeated the trails twice to get in our 2 hours. We also just beat the rain as we were poured on during the drive home.
Jeff, Julie, and I then did the P90x Stretching routine for an hour at 4 pm. We are all really sore from yesterday’s workout. My butt, hamstrings, and back are especially sore, I think primarily from the various lunges we did.
Tuesday –Julie, Jeff, and I ran for 92 minutes at the trails near our condo for the first time. It was raining a bit but in the 60’s so very comfortable. We were very pleased to find a good trail system that with one time through, gave us 90 minutes of running. It was good on the legs to get off the roads after the many weeks of concrete running.
We did the P90x Core Synergies workout this afternoon for an hour and got rocked. This is a tough workout and neither of us are able to do the entire workout. I think we’ll all be sore from this one.
We then went for a half hour walk after dinner after the rain stopped. We had hoped to play tennis but the rains kept coming down most of the afternoon.
Monday – We arrived in Alabama around 10 am after a 15 hour drive from Findlay. We rested up and then went for an hour run from the new condo. We did about 12 minutes on the soft, sandy beach before heading to the roads. We have nice flat roads to run on near our condo which will be nice with very little traffic. Beautiful weather in the high 60’s.
We played tennis for around 45 minutes, one set with Julie and one set with Jeff. Jeff and I did the P90x Ab Ripper X workout for 16 minutes and I proceeded to do about 50 minutes of stretching and another 10 minutes of core during the 49ers game.
Sunday – Walked for 40 minutes with Julie before the family Christmas party but then took the rest of the day off. We left around 8 pm for our drive to Alabama. Only ate one full meal today.