This week has been going great so far, only Sunday can top it off to being awesome if I can get that 20 miler in.
Thursday I took the dogs out on the trails for 6.2 miles, then I took Dorian to John James Audubon State Park that afternoon for a hike. We took the backcountry route, as we got off the road and onto the trail it was pretty damn muddy and Dorian lost one of his shoes at one point. Those first .4 miles had me wondering if we should've turned around, but I am glad we didn't. We ended up run/hiking 3 miles in 1:18:40, with an elevation gain of 331 feet and a loss of 326 feet. It was 54 degrees, it felt nice but was starting to get really windy towards the evening and the sun was going down as we got to the lake which is where Dorian decided he wanted to stop and watch the ripples in the lake caused by the wind...... we still had like a mile to go and the it was getting dark... fast. Let's just say I had to carry him a lot of the rest of the way - piggyback style which he just loved that.. my back didn't on the uphills lol.
Friday I woke up wore out and just dead, which normally isn't a big deal but there were winds of 15 mph and gusts of up to 20 mph. Let's just say I went back to sleep, the whole day got worse. The temperature was fine, around 65 degrees but we had winds up to 28 mph and gusts beyond that. It didn't start calming down until late in the afternoon, my mom came out and watched Dorian and I went for an 8.4 mile run. I had also received my new Nathan Intensity (for women) hydration pack and was excited to try it out on this run. I filled up the 1.5L bladder, stuck some gu's in the pack and my phone. I had an 18 oz Nathan bottle with some Gu Fizz tablets but ended up leaving that in the mailbox as the fizz tablets made the water demonic and it was spouting like a water fountain (not cool) so I stuck my phone where the bottle should've been.
I just want to say, I love this pack already. It has one snap on clip in the front and the hose/spout is attached to the right side clip (the hose comes out of the pack on the right side). I just unsnap and slide my pack right off, it is so quick I could have my phone in the back pocket and be able to reach it quickly if I were getting a call or needed my phone. My UltrAspire has to snaps in the front and the hose goes across the top/front of the pack from the right side to the left so I have to unsnap the two buckles then unsnap the hose before I can take it off... it can be very annoying. But I still love it, it's been good to me for the last 3-4 years. My new love is going to accompany me on (hopefully) tomorrow's 20 miler and at the LBL.
Back to the run, it was still 9 mph SSW winds and 61 degrees that evening but other then that it wasn't too bad. The warmer temperature definitely had me sweating, but other than that it felt great to be wearing shorts and sweating again. I ended up running 8.4 miles in 1:20:12 with an average pace of 9:33 min/mile, with an elevation gain of 162 feet and a loss of 163 feet. I tried to keep it at an easy pace, but heck I really wasn't breathing hard at all so I didn't worry too much.
Laps/splits
Mile 1 - 10:10
Mile 2 - 10:07
Mile 3 - 9:44
Mile 4 - 9:43
Mile 5 - 9:26
Mile 6 - 9:04
Mile 7 - 9:11
Mile 8 - 9:16
.4 - 8:52
Saturday morning I woke up, tired as I didn't get to sleep until close to midnight but I decided to head to the gym first for back day. I worked out for about an hour, it was a great workout and then I changed into my shorts and running shoes. I went with only 3.6 miles, that way I've got 36.6 miles for this week before my long run, and if all goes great... that should give me 56.6 miles of running. I did my best to take it easy for this run - 3.6 miles in 34:40 with an average pace of 9:38 min/mile, it was 45 degrees but thankfully no wind AND my gym workout warmed me up plenty.
Later this morning I took Dorian for another hike at Audubon, it was 70 degrees and sunny, the parking lots were packed and the trails were pretty busy too. After 1.5 miles Dorian started goofing off, stopping to mess with branches, bushes and whatnot... then he would try to go off the trail and "bushwhack" it.... yeah that was a big no no. It too a lot longer to finish this hike, we hiked 3.2 miles in 1:27:34... he was such a punk. Elevation gain of 357 feet with a loss of 346 feet.
All in all, I've got 43 miles of being on my feet.... if I can get those 20 miles in tomorrow.... I'll have my highest mileage for this training cycle - at 63 miles, during my peak week just before the taper.
Cross your fingers for me.
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