Wow, what a great week of weather we have had!! The months of struggling though snow and ice
makes the spring is even sweeter now as I’ve enjoyed a really great three days of
running this week. Luckily I’ve been
able to cut the mileage back with the nice weather, I have a tendency to over
train and have been trying very hard to put more self-control into my training
and especially with the big weekend ahead.
Sunday I will tackle my first ½ marathon of the year with a
goal to hit under the 1:30 mark, a 3 minute improvement over my PR in the
Galena ½ last year. I’m also running the
first 6.5 miles of a marathon relay team with some friends so that is an added
bonus! Since I’m doing the first leg of
the relay the race directors are giving me two bibs and letting me continue the
½ after my transition point for the relay.
I really enjoy doing relays as they bring more of the team aspect to
race, I’m very much looking forward to this event.
MONDAY – 7.1 Miles at the Mines of Spain
It was a beautiful evening at the mines, the temps were high
enough I was able to run shirt free and the sun felt great! I started at the first parking lot through
the main gate on the lower end of the park, from there I ran Catfish to Calcite
to the Prairie up top... it had been too long since I had visited the mines and
I felt energized with every step. Over
the years, the Mines of Spain has become my favorite running spot and a place I
often visit for my solo runs. There is
something about leaving the technology in the car(except the garmin, gotta
total those miles up J
) and just enjoying a run in nature… many times on my long runs through the
mines I will reach a meditative relaxed state to the point I will literally lose
track of 3 or 4 miles at a time. This is also a spot where I can hit the reset
button internally… I have so many runs and workouts where I am trying constantly
to hit a number or break a barrier… when
I hit the trails I instantly remember how much I love to run and suddenly my times
and goals fall short in comparison to that awesome feeling you get from feeling
the breeze as you whip through a wooded valley… thank goodness the trails have
dried, I needed that run this week.
TUESDAY – 5 miles – Mile Repeats at the track
So after such a nice relaxing run on Monday afternoon, I
turned up the intensity on Tuesday with an evening of mile repeats with Bill. I was a little nervous going into this one as
I’ve never done straight mile repeats on the track before although I am
familiar with mile fartlek workouts. But
the miles were not near as bad as I
anticipated.. I did three and had a goal of 6:30 which I did not stick to very
well.. I ran a 6:10, 6:18 and 5:43. It
was a good start but I need to work on consistency on the next go around. I think next time around I will put a goal
time of 6:10 or 6:15 and stick to it. The
best take away I had is that I was running my miles just as fast as my 800 sets
last year but I was feeling a lot better, in fact on the second 6:15 mile I did
not feel winded at the finish which is awesome.
This is the first of many track workouts to come as Tuesday Run Club’s
will move back to Hempstead for the spring/summer.
WEDNESDAY – 4.5 miles – Mines of Spain
I was planning on skipping the run today however with the
temps soring to 70 degrees and the fact I am getting my new road bike Thursday,
I decided to have a nice easy run and enjoy the weather at the mines. Scott met up with me and we explored the
trails going to E.B. Lyons nature center… again we were pleasantly surprised at
how dry it was out there, I’ve covered the majority of the park this week with
not so much as a soggy sock! Not much
else to say about this run as it was pretty short and sweet but it was nice to
get out for a bit and I’m glad I did not run any further than I did.
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