Fourth Training Week

This week was a bit of a pull-back week; just about 30 miles, mostly easy, shorter runs, with a trail half on Saturday. It's a busy time at work and much of last week was rainy, so the pull-back was well timed.

Monday, 12/10
Rest/Yoga. I gladly took the rest day with a bit of strength training tossed in. Well, to be honest, I never take a rest day without a bit of strength training thrown in because I almost always feel too weird not doing anything. If I want to get it done quickly, I do a pyramid--20 reps upper body, 20 reps core, 19 arms, 19 core, and on down. I try to make it interesting,nit goes quickly, and I feel like I've accomplished something. It also helps to watch Jon Stewart, and my family is generally gone so I don't feel like a damn fool. I can appreciate that nothing might be worse to a teenager than their middle aged mother doing scullers in the living room. Yuck.

Tuesday 12/11
Trails
Focus: Tempo
Miles: 6
Pace: 9:53

The workout was 2 miles easy warm up, 30 seconds at 5K/2 minutes recovery for 3 miles, 1 mile cool down. H joined me and boy, we took those easy recovery miles easy. The 30 seconds on were decent--around 7:29 average--but they felt a little too easy, and I think we could have definitely pushed harder. It was a clear, cold, morning, though--perfect for a speedy run; that, and the preparations for the Rose Parade are in full swing; watching it all come together  is still exciting even after 40+ years.

Wednesday 12/12
Trails
Focus: Easy
Miles: 5
Pace: 10:00
A rainy, rolling trail run after work. Apparently my coach's reminder to take the easy miles really easy has infiltrated my subconscious. This week has probably been the slowest week in a year going by average pace. While in many ways that's a really good thing, I'm also a little cranky about how quickly my general pace has shifted. 10:00 average pace during my last training cycle, even for a 20 mile run, would have been utterly unacceptable. Feels weird.

Thursday 12/13
Rest/Yoga. Went to an early morning yoga class with Hypatia's beloved yoga teacher. It was a good practice, being mindful of my injured with whatever-the-fuck-it-is shoulder thing; the teacher (who truly is wonderful and funny) suggested an alternative way to get into handstand that actually felt fine.

Friday 12/14
Roads
Focus: Easy
Miles: 5.34
Pace: 10:09
This was perfect day for a quiet, melancholy run after work. I left later than usual due to the Newtown tragedy (I work at a school--lots of communication and discussion) and it was dark grey and misty--perfect. Again, really slow, but this felt right. What is not feeling always right these days are roads--hard and busy and stoplights and noise--I've gotten unaccustomed!

Saturday, 12/15

Paramount Ranch Trail Half Marathon!

It was cold cold cold yesterday morning, but the dark sky was full of stars when I got in my car to pick up Hypatia, so I knew it wouldn't rain. We got to Keira Henninger's inaugural half marathon at the Paramount Ranch in Agoura before the sun rose and it was very foggy and misty, silver settling on everything--my very favorite running weather. The event itself awesome--a cool course, not too hilly with plenty of single track, dips, tree groves, mountain views, and the good folk of trail running, almost always a supportive, happy bunch. Two 6.5 loops--pretty crowded with walkers during much of the first loop but then it thinned out and by the second loop we were able to settle into a nice groove--with at least three inches of sticky mud on the bottom of our shoes! When I finished, I stopped to chat for a second with RD Keira, who was putting the medals around everyone's neck (so sweet!) and I forgot to stop my Garmin, so until the results are posted I'm not sure of my official time (which I'm not supposed to care about anyway, since I wasn't technically racing, right?) So. This was a fantastic, small, well organized, very nicely supported race that I will for sure do again next year. Thanks, Keira!

Sunday, 12/16
Rest! Three rest days in one week! Supahstah!