Monday
I can tell you what my Garmin data can tell you about this run. This is terrible, and unusual, but I don't remember it at all! Five miles easy. I remember that I cleaned the kitchen when I got home. Does that count?
Tuesday
To get hillier hills, Shannon and I ran near her house, which is ~7 miles east of me in a much less densely developed community. There aren't streetlights out there--just her headlamp, which means we had a dark, star-filled sky at first.
Somewhere in the first mile-ish, she was about 20 paces ahead of me flying down a hill in the middle of nowhere and I'm yelling, "you run downhill like an asshole" into the pitch black night. You know, you just don't really expect your Valentine's Day to start like that. Or, maybe you do and you're not sure if you're proud of it or not. Anyway, she ran down this grade like my 8-year-old skis: like they're unaware of the potential implications of gravity.
By the end of our 6 miles, the sun was on the horizon, streaked in beautiful color. As a hill workout it was a success: 300 feet elevation gain. I've since told her that next time I'd opt to turn around at the halfway point and run it all the other direction to almost double that elevation gain. She said she'd ride her bike if I want to do that. At least she wouldn't be leaving me alone with the neighbor's not-at-all weird bear statue. Which wouldn't at all make you jump if you didn't have a headlamp and couldn't see it properly. AT ALL.
 |
| Happy Valentine's Day, Shannon. |
Wednesday
Office yoga! I've been slacking on cross-training. As in, I've done zero cross training. I know guys. I know all the things you want to say about this. I'm aware. But it's not on my schedule and I haven't pushed myself to add MORE to my schedule.
 |
| Not the greatest picture, but you get the idea |
Thursday
I went to bed early and slept late. Got this pace run done at the gym at work instead. My penance: treadmills are so f-ing boring.
Friday
I woke up feeling like I'd been hit by a bus. I helped with the kids, then went back to bed until 10:30, which never, never happens. I finally laced up around noon and headed out for an easy 6. I took a guess on the distance of one loop near here and it worked out just about perfectly. We've all been dragging a bit--maybe fighting something? Not sure. Glad I got it done before it was late afternoon, knowing the distance I was facing the next day.
Saturday
Laurie and I met at yet another new (to me) trail head on the Towpath Trail, this time farther north. We were both feeling intimidated going into the run. 18 miles. And like so many other Saturdays, I would not have gotten out of bed when my alarm went off had it not been for friends.
We ran 9 miles south and turned around. These miles weren't fast, but they were relatively consistent. We were both stiff in places and knew it would be a grind to get it done. The turnaround came somewhat as a relief, since it meant we would have to finish. There was no other way to get home but to finish all 18 miles.
The second half was rough. We ended up walking parts of a few miles. To distract Laurie for a while I started telling her stories about my ancestors. That got weird fast. My favorite line came in our discussion about diets though. Laurie: "one good thing about Whole 30 is no alcohol." Me: "That's a good thing?!?"
 |
| At the finish. 50+ degrees and sunny! In CLE! In February! |
Weekly total: 39 miles
Favorite run: The hill workout. Funny. An actual hill. Beautiful sunrise.
Next week is essentially more of the same, adding a few more miles.
No comments:
Post a Comment