Thursday, February 25, 2016

Same Old Thing

Another crappy weather day means more of the same old thing.  I could've run in the dreary, cloudy and windy afternoon.  However, the temperature wasn't going to drop much after dark.  There was light rain sprinkled throughout the day.  My plan was 10 miles again.  I thought about going to Mill Race Park, but that out and back would only get me 7 miles.  It was on to the neighborhoods again.

It was in the upper 30s throughout the run.  I wore tights and my shell over a long sleeve shirt.  I kept my gloves and headband on throughout the run.  I was a little sweaty.  As usual, it was hot with the wind at my back and a little chilly during the other half of the run.  The wind was heading in the normal direction today though.

I was thinking of doing the main loop first, with out any of the branch off loops.  That would get me halfway through the run.  I run a lot of the same areas, but at times, I try to switch it up a bit.  I change the routes on the fly.

Once I got out to the normal second loop, I changed my mind and took it.  The long part of it was brutally cold, into the headwind.  It was good to get done with it.  Without a headlamp again, I didn't look at my watch much.

The legs were very sore yesterday.  That might be because I wore shorts and had no compression on.  I think the tights kept my muscles in place today.  That's what I'll tell myself anyway.  One thing I am happy with now is that my quads aren't an issue.  I strengthened them a lot with all the elevation I did over the last year.  I need to get some more of that.

The first time I actually looked at my watch was well over 3 miles into the run.  That was good.  I continued on and did the loop over the road with the big hill.  I even added a short out and back to the road this time around.  I was trying anything new to add distance.

When I got to the normal 2 miles from the finish point, I was only at 4.5 miles.  I wasn't feeling terrible, but hoped to feel a little better at that point.  I cruised on up the hill.  It seemed like a lot of the cars driving around did see me today.

I thought about going into a small old neighborhood.  I did end up changing and going into another old section that I don't use much.  That would give me the mileage to be over 7 miles when I got back.  The old and uneven pavement seemed to mess with my legs a bit.

After that, I decided to do the same longer loop from earlier.  This time, I went the opposite direction.  That would split the running into the headwind part in half.  That helped a lot.  By the time I finished this loop, I was over 7 miles.

I thought I'd be content to head back to the start and loop around the school.  Then, I made another change.  I went out into a newer section.  Part of it I run regularly.  The first part I rarely go on.  It has a big hill.  A small dog barked at me as I went up it.

Somewhere in part of this small loop, I hit mile 9.  It was good to be almost done.  My feet were sore though.  I looped around to the 3rd road, Gable Drive.  I now knew I'd be close to 10 miles at the school.

I ran back to the school.  I finished the loop and hit mile 10 just past the start of the school loop.  If I felt a little stronger, putting in another mile would've been great.  All these miles this week are wearing on me though.

I was glad to get it done.  I keep pushing myself out there and pushing through.  However, I'm only going to be able to loop around these neighborhoods for so long before I lose it.  At least it will be getting warmer and lighter soon.  I think the only way I can keep up 60 mile weeks is with almost a 50/50 split of roads and trails.  That way I won't go insane.  Big miles could at least be easier when my body is used to it too and no longer sore.

I'm not sure what I'm doing or where I'm going tomorrow.  It will be cold again.  I'm hoping to get on some trail.  Maybe I'll travel a little.  My body and mind both need some trail.  I need 21 miles over the next two days to get to 65 for the week.

10 miles - 1:29:09 (8:55 pace) 232 feet of elevation gain

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