A Pretty Good Week Or So of Running

Sunday March 22, I got back into town after a week of watching my daughter in the National Christian Homeschool Basketball Championships in Springfield, MO. Her team won their first seeding game easily, and then lost the second seeding game by 3 points in overtime. That meant they got into the "A" bracket rather then the "2A" bracket if they had won both games. Wednesday they had the day off from basketball, and Thursday they played their first game that really counted. Unfortunately, they narrowly lost to the team that ultimately won the bracket. Sarah's team easily wonthe next 2 games, but losing that first game left them in 5th place. Oh well, it was a fun week anyway.

When I got back Sunday, I headed to Turkey Mountain and ran for about an hour and a half or so, and then happened upon Ken and Dana, so I ran with them for another hour or so. I don't have a Garmin, but I'm guessing I did about 12 miles.

Monday was a rest day, but Tuesday I got in five miles. Four miles of it was a tempo run at under an 8 minute pace. I felt pretty good about that run.

Wednesday I ran 3 easy miles at noon, mixed with some push ups and pull ups on the soccer goals at Veteran's Park. Wednesday evening I got in about 5 miles on Turkey Mountain. I did the yellow trail in a few seconds over 36 minutes and felt pretty good about it. I think the yellow trail is about 4 miles, so that would make a 9 minute pace, which is pretty quick for the terrain. Afterwards I ran an easy mile or so on the red trail and some other trails.

Thursday I did 4 easy miles at noon and another 6 and a half or so with our Thursday night group. I ran with Mary (I think that's her name), who was new to our group, and we ran a pretty slow pace, which I was ready for after Monday and Tuesday's fast runs.

Friday was a rest day and Saturday was supposed to be a 20 mile day. But the weather was too much for me. It started out cold and rainy, but the first 5 mile loop wasn't absolutely awful. On the second loop, the wind picked up, and it was absolutely awful. As I got to Veteran's Park at the end of the second loop, there was no tent and no timing clock, and Kathy was bundled up in her truck. She told me most everyone had gone home. But I set out anyway for a third loop. I at least had to make it to the bathroom at 21st & Riverside. Fifty yards more, and I would have messed in my shorts. Okay, that was probably too much information. While I was in the bathroom, I wrung out my gloves and used the blow dryer for a few minutes. Then, when I came out of the bathroom I was pleasantly surprised to find that the rain and wind had stopped. Instead there was just light fluffy snowflakes gently falling. The next three and a half miles were a delight. As I crossed the pedestrian bridge, I decided to stop in the bathroom there and wring out my gloves again because my fingers were getting a little cold. When I came out of the bathroom, I was shocked by what must have been 20mph winds, and by a snow and sleet mix that stung my face. The run from there to Veteran's Park was pretty miserable, but the worst part was my frozen hands. I knew I had an extra pair of dry gloves at the car, so my plan was to change gloves and then do the fourth loop. But when I got to my car I had a lot of trouble getting my key and opening the door. My fingers just weren't working. When I did get the door open, I tried putting on the dry gloves, but my fingers were so numb, they just sort of fumbled around, and I couldn't get the gloves on. At that point I decided to quit. Fifteen miles was good enough for that day!

Sunday church was cancelled. So, I went out to Vetern's Park to run again. I got started at about 11:25 and finished two loops before the group showed up for the make up run at 1 p.m. The weather was very pleasant and the paths were mostly clear of snow. I did one more loop with the group and stopped at 15 miles. I figure two 15s back to back is at least equal to one 20 miler.

Monday I was in Poplar Bluff, MO, and I ran about 4.5 miles with Carlos. Today Carlos and I were in Mountain Home, AR, and we ran 5 miles on the trails at Pigeon Creek along the shore of Norfork Lake (we did trails 104, 105, and 106 on the attached map). I think I remember Carlos saying his Garmin said we had 499 feet of ascent during those 5 miles. Took us exactly one hour.

My mileage for the past seven days is a little over 58, which is more than I have done for a long time. My legs feel remarkable fresh, except that muscles or ligaments by my shin are hurting again. I think I will take a rest day tomorrow (Wednesday).