Until There Are No More Steps Left To Take

Weekly Recap
Total Mileage: 60 miles
3/25/12 - 3/31/12

Sun: 6 miles (Raisin Woods)
Time: 49.57, Avg. Pace: 8.19
- Almost didn't run today, because I was pretty sore. However, I figured it would have been good for me to run to loosen up my legs, but as of right now I'm still pretty tight. Hopefully my legs will thank me instead of curse me tomorrow. Just ran slow and easy. It's really nice to sit back and cruise easily and enjoy running in the woods. I was a little bummed to see that no one was at the mountain bike park riding when I arrived, come on people get out and move, perfect weather outside for it. As I was almost finished I finally saw a mountain biker. Good easy run, hoping the legs are refreshed for tomorrow.

Mon: 8 miles (Raisin Woods)
Time: 1:07.00, Avg. Pace: 8.22
- Two words, dead legs. Body is still in recovery mode from last weekends race. It took about everything for me to finish 8 miles. Tomorrow should be better. Also I ran in the afternoon which was a little more hot than I would have liked it to have been, besides that it was an awesome day outside.

Tues: 10 miles (Raisin Woods)
Time: 1:22.06, Avg. Pace: 8.12
- Felt a lot better today. All of the soreness is out of me, I was just a bit stiff at the start. Ran at a "conversation" pace, not wanting to push it. I'm going to try something new to where I only have two "hard" runs and the other runs will be around "conversation" pace. I believe it will help my body re-cooperate more with the extra mileage that I will be putting in. Ran in the evening so it felt much better outside, not as hot! Also I did not do my core/general strength workout due to time constraint (writing this when I should be studying for a physics test I have tomorrow). Also I think that I am wanting to rethink the general strength, but not sure how to go about it just yet. If only I could get my hands on some kettle bells. Overall my legs are coming back. Looking to push it a little harder tomorrow.

Wed: 15 miles (Northwest Whitfield Track)
15 X 1mile Repeats
Time:
1 - 7.22
2 - 6.51
3 - 7.02
4 - 6.59
5 - 6.58
6 - 6.54
7 - 6.54
8 - 7.02
9 - 6.57
10 - 6.58
11 - 6.59
12 - 6.55
13 - 7.01
14 - 7.16
15 - 6.47
- Trying to make Wednesdays called "Workout Wednesday's". My goal was to keep around a 7 minute mile pace for 15. Between every mile I would take a 1 minute break, and after mile 8 I took a 2 minute break to refuel up on a gel and and some water. The first lap ended up being more of a warm up lap. It started off being fairly easy, around mile 11 I could feel the tiredness starting to settle in and by mile 13 I was feeling it pretty good. Mile 14 I was dying and almost called it quits, but mustard up a 15 and blew it away. Very worn out afterwards and I'm ready to pass out. Easy run tomorrow, I have a feeling I'm going to feel it. I've got a long way to go. Running the track wears on you mentally, especially doing a lot of repeats, but I kept telling myself how bad I wanted it and finished the workout, took about 2 hours to complete.

Thur: Off
- Tired and worn out today. Not as sore as I thought I would have been, but very tired. Took a 2 hour nap after work. I figured it wouldn't hurt to take a day off since yesterday was a good workout. I don't think I recovered properly like I should have. Plan is to run tomorrow after work and head to Georgia Tech in Atlanta to watch a track meet.

Fri: 6 miles (Raisin Woods)
- This was a straight mental run today. Felt awful and just didn't feel like being out there. I like to compare it to that I would have been just as good to sit on the couch and not run. But I believe it actually was good to get out and stretch my legs. I even had periods of walking. I ran after work so I didn't get too rest in between because I had plans to go down to Tech to watch a friend run, but ended up not going due to thunderstorms. It was humid and wet outside which didn't help things.

Sat: 15 miles (Pinhoti Trail: Snake Creek Gap to Dug Gap)
Time: 2.35.43, Avg. Pace: 10.23
- Nice coolish day outside to run long. It was a great day on the trail in the woods. I can tell that I am more fit than the last time I ran this (first half: back and forth) last Fall. I hit mile 7 where I turned around last Fall feeling pretty good. I was pretty much moving along, around mile 12 I'd have to say that I was starting to feel beat up. This part of the Pinhoti is a VERY technical trail as my time shows. Lots and lots of small rocks that can beat up any type trail runner. I took 4 gels (every 30 minutes), several electrolyte pills (every hour), water (sips every 10 minutes), and a mixture of Gatorade/water (every time I took a gel). My refueling plan worked out perfectly and I plan on using it in the future on later runs.

This was a great week and not to mention a great month for running with the exception of getting a stomach virus a few weeks ago that I felt like I was on my death bed. Finally hit 60 miles for the week. I have came a long way since Christmas. Overall, I'm feeling great about my fitness progression, I haven't been this fit running wise in a long time.

January:
Total Mileage: 177 miles

February:
Total Mileage: 193 miles

March:
Total Mileage: 190 Miles

2012 Mileage: 560 Miles

Enjoy the pictures from my run on the Pinhoti!