Man,
this run was rough. REALLY rough. Last week's 3 miles wasn't easy, but it
wasn't rough. This one jut plain hurt. It was more than the hills, my legs
didn't want to cooperate. Portions that were suppose to be easy were so
difficult, I couldn't even slow my running pace. I had to walk. I don't want to
walk on a training RUN.
I
was demoralized.
What do I have up my sleeve for next week? Add on
to weekly mileage and hill repeats in Mount Lee on Saturday. I'm also doing
something this race- I'm weight training and cross-training. I had started
weight training in the winter to build strength and definition. Finally, after
months of prodding from friends "what's your next race," I found this
one. There are easier halves for sure, but I kind of like
doing something
that scares me a little bit.
It
was so rough, I was running 100-200 yards before I had to walk 50 yards. Bleh.
I'm better this.
Well,
I wanted to be better than this. Not every run can be great and I've had my
share of rough runs, but man. This was not fun. I want to get back to
where 10 miles feels great. These training runs can't keep feeling like
this.
In
training, you don't want to increase your weekly mileage more than 10%. But, at
some point, often early in your training, you're going to have to make more
than a 10% leap. That was going to be this week. It was my goal to run 4
miles... jumping a mile from last week's 3. A 10% jump would put me at 3.3
miles. I ran 3.5 with a 3/4 mile cool down. (The cool down was up a quarter
mile from last week to compensate for my shortcoming.) I also rationalized that
.5 is .2 more than a 10% jump, so really I was doing okay.
Part
of me is wondering how I'm going to accomplish the 5,000 feet elevation gain in
my trail half this November. The course looks a little something like this:
The
other part of me, the wArrior part tells the worrier to simmer down.
I'm 25 pounds lighter than I was at my college heaviest. I might not have the
cardio stamina after my first marathon, by I'm the fittest I've ever been.
Hell, I SURVIVED BRAIN SURGERY (and recovered so well because of running)!
Logically, I know I can do this. There are 5.5 months to train and prepare.
And, on days like this Saturday, on the slow days, I'm becoming better at
reading a trail... looking out for potential hazards and learning how to move
my feet. (Yes, you can't do a fancy road race shuffle/grape vine thing to
dodge objects). FOCUS ON CORE. Core strength and solid low arms (where I
don't scrunch my shoulders) will help get me through the 13.1 miles.
"Running on tired legs is good," I remind myself. "You'll
certainly be tired by the end of any race.... and this race in
particular."
At
this point, I'm not training for time; I'm training to finish. (Looking at the
history of this particular trail half, most finish times are north of 3 hours.)
I
did get an ego boost when I was half way done with my run and turned around to
go back to my car. Running was easier because I was running DOWN HILL! That
flat I was running on was not flat at all. It had a grade that was slight and
un-forgiving. Then I remembered; I was running in Reseda. I was on the portion
of the road that would take me to the Nike
Missile site. One of the many Nike Ajax projects that
was defense during the Cold War. This particular location contained
ground-based radar that was designed to detect and track hostile aircraft, and
to guide the anti-aircraft missiles that would be launched from nearby
Sepulveda Basin.. So yeah- If it's high enough to launch missiles, you
better believe there are hills.
Granted,
the hills I was on had a low grade and weren't as steep as the ones closer to
the site. These low hills are nothing like I will face in November, but as
mileage and endurance increase, you better believe I'll be taking
advantage of the merciless hills on the way to the site and all that The Santa
Monica Mountains Conversancy, Topanga Park and National Parks offer.
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