This last week built on everything I did in the previous week. I have continued to recover from the marathon I ran two weeks ago and build on the routine I want to follow through the summer. I was able to get in two good workouts this week, a good progression run( which was supposed to be just an easy run but somebody wanted to race) and an easy/controlled long run all while maintaining my weight routine, leg strengthening exercises and medicine ball work.
I got in a run each day this week and for most days I headed out for two runs. Aside from my workout on Monday I did all my runs from my house which cut down on commute time and saved on gas. Tuesday I had a decent workout considering I was ready to do something different that day and most likely quite a bit easier, however I ran 1600x1200x800x800x1200x1600 off 3 minutes rest. I split 4:39/3:26/2:15/2:13/3:22/4:36.
Thursday I got out for 6.5 miles in the am and in the afternoon I headed out for 10 miles. I ran both runs at an easy pace and was satisfied to just accumulate a good mileage day.
Friday I had planned on another workout and to keep it simple I just started from my house. The plan was a fartlek with a good warm-up and cool down. The workout was 12x 2minutes on and 1 minute jog. I was able to cover 11 miles in 66 minutes and I was starting to feel stringer towards the end of this workout and the end of this week.
Saturday was the day where I may have got carried away a bit but in my defence I felt good and I ran the first half at a controlled pace. The run was a 12 mile run, 6 miles out and 6 miles back. I had some company for this run, Karen biked along with me, which made the pace seem easier at the quicker pace and being a week end she was able to ride up ahead and get people to move out of my way as I ran past. The first half of the run I ran out at a 6:11 mile pace and just before the turn around Karen and I past two people doing the same thing we were, one guy running and a girl riding along on a bike. They said something to us as they went by in the opposite direction that I didn’t quite catch but it didn’t matter the chase was now on.
When I hit the turn around I could just see the two off in the distance going around the corner so I picked up the pace, but just a bit , and decided to see how long it would take to catch them. Along this trail there is a road that follows the trail basically the entire way but it is shorter than the trail; I know because I have run both and measured both and I now stick to the trail because it is nicer to run on and I’m out there to run further not shorter. As I got to the trail gate I noticed that the two I was chasing were taking the road which was good because it would by them some time and make the chase a bit more interesting. The chances that these two were running the same route as us were slim as well. It would take 2 miles till I finished the trail section and was back running on the road 3.5 miles from home. Back on the road Karen said that I needed to pick it up if I wanted to catch those two, I didn’t see any one but two sharp corners later they were back in my sights. I put in a surge and could feel them coming back to me. Half a mile later I had pulled even and not long after they were left in my dust. With two mile left to get home the catch was a bit anti-climatic and I reeled back my pace a bit and finished the second 6 miles in 5:49 mile pace.
Sunday I was determined to run a bit longer than I did last week and get in 15 miles with the pace feeling as comfortable as possible. The weather was overcast and a bit wet in the morning and a few miles in the rain started to pour. I was going to have Karen ride this run too but instead She and Ari drove along side with the car and I opted to run 15 miles straight out. I did my usual long run route but made one change and ran along a Dyke that comes about 200 meters from a main road but the trail led to an old farm house and there was an old sign that said keep out, I considered running through for about half a second and ran back to a road access a few hundred meters back. Better to be safe then end up pig food on some farm out in the boonies. I ran back and when I hit the road I had a mile left so I ran straight out on this road i was on and ended up running just into the outskirts of Abottsford. So my run took me from Walnut grove to Fort Langley and into Abottsford, not bad for a Sunday Long run.
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