Spectacular Weather, Terrible Run, Better Ride

The weather was so bad (windy) earlier in the week that I went to Trexler and just drove home.  That meant to keep my weekly streak of running there alive, I had to make the trek out there today.  It is now 11th straight weeks of running there.  Quadzilla is just over 3 months away.

The weather was perfect for the day.  It was finally spring like.  The temperature was in the mid 50s and the sun was shining.  It was still windy and that made it cool at times, but I'll definitely take it.

I was so pumped as I drove out there, knowing that the weather was great.  I was eager to see if I could run/walk the whole loop for the first time since the Quadzilla race last July.  I decided I would start near the zoo and run the actual race course.

It starts out downhill and on pavement.  That is nice and fast and in the future I'm going to practice running this part of the course hard.  I need to get out in front of most people on raceday.  Today, I just cruised along.  After being on the stone path for a bit, I hit the trail.

I don't remember such a tough uphill at the start of the trail, but I guess it was there last year.  Familiarity was the biggest thing I needed to gain from this run.  I just don't know this area very well.  I knew it wasn't going to be a good day when I was running this first hill.  I made it to the top, but it was a struggle.  My legs already hurt and my lungs were struggling.

I battled on though.  There was some fast recovery after the uphill.  I weaved in and out of the woods.  Even the little hills were tough today.  On one gradual hill, a little over a mile into the run, I already began walking.  Looking back, it wasn't that steep of a hill and I could've battled through it.  It was just a matter of it being so early in the run that I didn't want to take a chance and use all my energy.  One of the reasons I can run so much of the course from the Environmental Center now is that I know what is coming next.  That makes a huge difference.

Even though I got to know the course a little better today, I still don't know quite where everything is.  I know there is a road crossing and bridge as well as some other sections before the long uphill, but I can't remember the order they come in.  It just all runs together.  I definitely need to run this part of the course more.

I knew that I wouldn't be able to make it up the long hill without walking and I was correct.  I was just feeling too crappy.  Again, this hill actually isn't that bad, but I couldn't tell how far the top was.  Although I walked twice by this point, it probably wasn't more than 2 minutes at the most. 

I got to the top of the hill and began running.  I knew I had a lot of flat or slight uphill coming and plenty of rolling hills.  The challenging uphill wouldn't come until crossing the road and heading to the Environmental Center.

I did struggle with some of the short rolling hills by KidsPeace.  My legs were just so dead.  I ran last evening and I don't think I gave myself enough recovery time.  I have had some rough Friday runs before in similar scenarios.  I do think the weather could've been a slight problem too.  It was such a dramatic increase in temperature that it made it kind of difficult.  I wore my GoPro camera, but didn't take many pictures.  The head strap certainly gets sweaty.  I might not be able to wear it very often in the summer.

At this point, I was struggling so much that I knew I'd never make it to the Environmental Center without a lot of walking.  Once I got past there, it is 5 more miles until the loop is complete.  I started up the hill.  I didn't get too far though and just decided to turn around and head back on the road.

The road was a nice downhill, but it was very windy.  It was blowing right in my face.  I didn't enjoy it.  I cruised along, not sure how far I'd run.  When I got to mile 4, I was at the covered bridge.  Rather than run into some more wind, I decided to stop there.

I knew even with running and some walking that today wasn't my day.  I never would've completed the loop with my legs in the condition they were in today.  In order to finish the loop, I'd really have to at least feel decent by the Environmental Center section.  Instead, I felt terrible.  Last week, I at least felt like I gave myself a good workout.  Not today though.

I guess I at least avoided some horses.  They were walking on the trail before I started.  Had I done the whole loop, I would've come across them again.  I've seen plenty of horse droppings at Trexler, but that was the first time I ever saw a horse.

I came home and decided to ride my bike.  I got a solid 7 miles it.  It was in the neighborhoods around my house.  I worked hard during the ride.  Some spots had a very strong headwind and there were plenty of rolling hills to make me work.  I'm actually tired now.  At least I got one good workout in.  I need to ride more in the future.

I was considering speedwork tomorrow, but with how beat my legs were today, I'm not sure now.  I'll probably just run easy and do a long run on Sunday.  I have a busy schedule both days, so I'll probably have to run in the morning.  I won't rule out trying the Trexler loop again on either of those days.  Most likely, that run will wait until Tuesday.  I might try getting out there 2X a week from here on out.  It isn't that far from where I work if I go right after I'm done for the day.

Although I struggled today and couldn't finish my loop the last time, I am running some good times when I do run.  I'm trying to take it easy and yet I am running well.  The two runs went over the full course and combined the time would be right around 1:30.  That is faster than I ran the race.  Obviously the hills have a cumulative affect, but I hope to be a few minutes faster than that in summer.  I just have to be able to get through the full loop and then improve upon that.

4 miles - 37:59 (9:30 pace)