Training May 7 – 13

Monday, May 7: GEHC Trails – 8 miles – Started the day with eight miles on the GEHC trails. I’ve been running this run under an hour pretty consistently over the last week or so, but I think all the running around we did this weekend with Amanda’s sister in town took a little something out of my legs as I came in a little slower today.

PM Run – GEHC Trails – Three miles - Started on the homesite up to the creekside, to the Cherokee, through the treetop course and finishing up with the sweetgum. Slow going as it’s starting to get hot. Upper 80s/low 90s. Got this run in despite Amanda and I planning to go see the Avengers tonight. I’m glad I did, even though we’ve been good and skipped the candy and popcorn for both the Avengers and Hunger Games it still felt good to get something in before sitting in a chair for three hours.

Tuesday, May 8: GEHC Trails – 8 miles – Identical run to yesterday morning. Slow going, but got in a solid eight miles. I probably need to get in a workout this week with Mt. Tabor in a couple weeks, but I’d like to feel like I have my legs under me a little bit more. I might need to take a day or two where I only run in the morning and take some time to relax.

PM Run – GEHC Trails – Same loop as yesterday. I think the couple of late nights are taking a toll on me. I’ve been really tired on my morning runs and had absolutely zero motivation for my afternoon runs.

Wednesday, May 9: GEHC Trails – 8 miles – Just went with one run today. My typical eight mile course, GEHC loop + the greenway out and back. I’ve seen a ton of rabbits lately. Today I saw a fairly large and unnerving snake. Someone dropped a huge rock on it but it was pretty sketchy looking. I see the big black rat snakes every once in a while but this guy was desert camo and looked an awful lot like a copperhead. I’m not one for killing animals in their habitat, but I gotta say I was glad that this one was dead. I’m not looking forward to running into any of its relatives though. With that said, it was probably a water snake or something harmless, but for story purposes it was a huge copperhead.

Thursday, May 10: GEHC Trails – 8 miles – Normal morning route, I finally seem to have broken out of my little funk. I think taking yesterday afternoon off to hang out and play video games was a good idea. We also stayed home from trivia so I got a chance to get a little more sleep, which I desperately needed. No workout this week but right now I am good with just getting runs in. I will probably pay for that come Mt. Tabor, but I’ll take a bunch of quality runs over a depressing workout right now. However, I do need to get back to getting in a tempo run each week, at least to finish out the Dirty Spokes series.

PM Run – GEHC Trials – Normal three mile loop, uneventful. Just trying to get the miles in.

Friday, May 11: GEHC Trails – 8 miles – Today is going to be a one run day with mini-camp starting at work for the rookies. I won’t get home until around 7 and Amanda is out early so I’m taking it as a one run day. I hate feeling like all I did was wake up, run, work, run again and then go to bed. I need some down time in there somewhere. Anyway, this morning I ran the typically eight mile run and checked in at 58 something, which I was pretty happy with. I think taking a couple of the afternoons off and getting back on my sleep cycle has helped my legs bounce back a little bit.

Saturday, May 12: GEHC Trails – 5 miles – Originally I hoped to be able to go over to Ft. Yargo to get in a long run before heading into the office but had to change gears when I found out I had to be in earlier than expected…then “disaster struck”…I forgot that today was Saturday and didn’t set my iPhone’s alarm. I woke up and 6:30 and scrambled to get clips done to be able to get out for any run at all. I managed to get in five on my out and back GEHC trail, but I was seriously depressed to only get in five. I did run 3 or 4 minutes faster than usual on this run, so that was nice, but now I’m going to have to get another five in tonight and I won’t be out of work until around 7…balls.

PM Run – GEHC Trails – 5 miles – Same route as the morning’s run. I ran it a shade faster than this morning, but I also stopped for a few minutes to mess around on the little kid’s treetop course. I got through most of it but I got a little nervous on one section that didn’t look like it would take my weight so I dropped down. You are definitely not supposed to do that, but there was no one out there at 7:45 at night…if they can’t take a joke.

Sunday, May 13: GEHC Trails – 8 miles – This was what I like to call a Rambo run. 90 percent trails in substantial rain and mud. After doing a run like this all I want to do is watch Rambo First Blood. I don’t know why, I guess it’s being in the woods in the gray, rainy weather. It just reminds me of that movie. Good thing I picked up the Blu-ray for five bucks at Target a while back. As for the actual run, it was pretty solid. I ran at a good pace for most of it with a slight slacker section about three quarters of the way through before picking it up for the last 10 minutes or so. I have definitely gotten back on track with this run as I’m getting it done under and hour again. Good end to an up and down week.

Weekly Totals: 67 miles on 11 runs – After tallying everything up and seeing that I ran 11 times last week and only got to 67 miles I was a little bit discouraged but at least I am running with some more consistency. Having to work this weekend meant no longer days on the weekends so I will live with it. I have been really up and down recently and if running eight in the morning and then adding three in the afternoon is what I am able to do with the time that I have then that’s what I will have to make work. The afternoon heat is starting to get to the high 80s, which makes it tough to get in quality miles in the afternoon and now that I am running my morning runs a little faster I am happy with what I am getting from them. I’d like to be able to have a couple days a during the week where I can get in a 10 or 12 mile run after work, because I’ve still got a few weeks before the temperatures get really oppressive, but as long as I can come in around 65-70 miles a week for the next two months I’ll be happy.