Marathon Training Week 7

The 7th week of training has come to a close and I completed what I’d consider my first true long run (16 miles). At the outset of my training I told myself that I wouldn’t be a slave to the plan and I’ve by and large kept up with that sentiment. As you can see below, I skipped a moderate length run on Thursday. This past week was my first week working on Thursdays again in a long time. I thought at least I’d get some miles in after work but after eating dinner, the motivation never materialized. I still managed to get out and do 16 the next day so it wasn’t all a failure.

Here’s a summary of last week’s running.

( ) = # of miles on my plan

Tuesday – 3.1 (3)

Thursday – 0 (6)

Friday – 16.02 (16)

Saturday – 3.07 (4)

Sunday – 5.05 (3)

Weekly Total – 27.24 miles (32)

The rain has subsided for now so I was able to get outside for all my runs. Tuesday’s run was a fairly quick one that I did after work in the dark. I enjoy running in the dark on occasion as it is a whole different feeling.

I decided to head upstream on the American River Parkway for my 16 miler. The day turned out to be beautiful if not a bit chilly. I think it was around 38 F when I headed out in the morning but it warmed up into the 40s and was perfect for a long slow run on the bike trail. Because of the previous rains, there were a ton of people on the trail either walking, biking, running. At one point I found myself either being passed or watching these fast ladies speed down the pathway. I have suspicions they were either from the nearby Sac State college team or possibly from the NorCal Distance Project. These ladies were fast and definitely in awesome shape. It was fun to see how quick they were. I had a guy jogging in the opposite direction of me joking if I had fallen off pace (after some ladies had passed me). I just laughed as I was going probably as slow as he was.

It was interesting to see what the recent weather had done to the trail and all the stuff around it. There were quite a few trees that were downed.

Near this tree there were a few of the orange traffic cones. I ran by one and noticed that there were some keys sitting on the top just randomly out. Of course I didn’t touch it but needed to grab a pic of such a strange occurrence.

I do wonder what those keys may open.

Lots of wildlife were out enjoy the beautiful day as well. First I noticed some of these turtles sunning themselves on a log in the river. Now I do know there are quite a few invasive turtles (mostly red-eared sliders) but I don’t know if there are native turtles on the American River.

And then there were some turkeys. They were making quite a ruckus with all their “gobbling.” The male also puffed its tail feathers at me at one point warning me off his lady friends.

And then further down the trail there are some larger areas of quieter water where lots of different water fowl were hanging out.

I made it to my turnaround point at William Pond Park. This is the same park that hosts the Run The Parkway Half Marathon that I did last fall. This was a good place to use the restroom and get some water and take my first gel.

I then headed back downstream.

Overall the run was good. I felt like it was a much bigger struggle to do my long run from the previous week, which was only 10 miles. I definitely started feeling sore and tired in my legs as I passed the 12 mile mark. But I soldiered on and completed the task.

After getting home, I definitely stretched and foam rolled. For the rest of the day, my legs were fairly sore. Even the next morning my legs were very tired. I managed to do a slow 3 that next day and then the day after did 5. I will say that while I was still sore for my Sunday 5, the legs started feeling better midway through the run even if I wasn’t going too fast. And today (Monday), my legs feel completely fine. I think that semi-sticking to my training plan is actually getting my body accustomed to the mileage.

I’m not done with my February running (probably will do one more run tomorrow), but I’ve already surpassed 100 miles for the month. And (*knock on wood*) my body seems to be holding up okay so far. I had just a little bit of right knee soreness after the long run but nothing that stayed.

Here’s my uber slow 16 miler:

-StewsCat

Marathon Training Week 1

So my first week of marathon training (Big Sur International Marathon at the end of April) is done. It did not start off well. We’ve been getting some pretty crazy rains and rainfall totals here in northern California lately. My first run was supposed to be last Tuesday. We had some historic rains last weekend that continued into the early part of this week. My original plan was to run after work on Tuesday. By the time I left work, the rain was still steadily coming down and I was just tired. So I skipped it. I definitely want to follow a plan more closely this time (considering I’ve never followed one before), but I am not going to be a slave to it. I am going to listen to my body as well. Overall I’m still happy with my week.

( ) = # of miles on my plan

Tuesday – 0 (3)

Thursday – 4.2 (4)

Friday – 8 (8)

Saturday – 4 (4)

Sunday – 4 (4)

Weekly Total – 20.2 miles

Injures/aches – mild right Achilles pain after the last run of the week. Some mild soreness of right knee also present.

My first run on Thursday I purposely ran over to the American River to see how it was looking. Various parts of Sacramento have been flooding with the recent rains. I know it is very unlikely for the American River to flood but I wanted to see how much it had risen with all the water we’ve been getting. Boy I was impressed. Here are some pictures of the river.

img_20170112_104219 — Normally there’s a lot more air underneath that bridge

img_20170112_104212 — The water plant (structure) typically has many more feet of white building underneath it

img_20170112_102528 — There’s supposed to be a dirt pathway you can walk on at the bottom of the greenery

00002img_00002_burst20170112105037_cover — Flooded golf course across the river

-StewsCat

Run Addendum

I forgot to mention a few things in my last post.

That free hat that I received for the 2013 race? It served me very well. It was one of two hats that I used on a regular basis for training races. Over the last 3 years I used the hat on hundreds of runs. However, as with most good things, my time with the hat came to an end when I was washing it one day and ripped through it. Much of the previous sweat absorbing material had already come out so I knew it was on its way out. But this was the last straw.

IMAG2819 — 😥 R.I.P hat – you treated me well

On my run on Friday morning I was stung by a bee. About a mile into my run I felt something land on the back of my hat. I used my left hand to swipe at it thinking it was a fly. I felt a sharp pain on the inside of my left ring finger. When I looked at the finger, I didn’t see a stinger as I expected. The pain continued though seemed to subside to a little bit of a throb. I’ve been stung about 3 times prior to this so hoped that I wouldn’t have a severe anaphylactic reaction as I know can happen when you’re stung for a second time. Usually the first sting is a freebie but sensitizes your immune system. That 2nd sting is when the body mounts an overwhelming allergic reaction causing people’s throats to swell and people to not be able to breathe. Since I was only at mile 1 and planned to do at least 5-7, I figured I’d keep running and see what happened (I don’t recommend this to others). I could see a small round white area on my finger, probably where I was stung. Overall aside from some pain in my finger, I felt overall fine so finished my 5 miler. To be safe, I took an anti-histamine after I arrived home. The pain dissipated but then the itchiness began. The entire inside part of my left ring finger was itchy. There was also some mild redness. This continued for the next 48 hours. My wife looked up some things and suggested I take my wedding ring off because it was tight on that finger and actually trapping the histamines I think. Once I moved the ring to my other hand, the itchiness subsided almost instantaneously. Lesson from this run is that if something lands on you during a run, let it be as it will almost 100% leave on its own without causing any problems. I feel bad though if it was a bee because bees die after they sting something.
We’ve been having some great weather for Sacramento. It’s been in the 80s here and so has allowed me to get some good runs in. This morning I did either my last run or second to last run with my good friend KP. She’s moving to Portland in August for work. She will be missed. We were just in Portland and I still need to post an update on that trip – it was a blast.
There’s a new race coming to Sacramento. This one will be a 20 miler, half marathon, 5K, and untimed 3K. The host organization is the Sacramento Running Association (SRA). This is the same group that puts on the California International Marathon, which I ran in 2013 (race recap yet to be published). I think I may sign up for the half marathon and consider switching over to the 20 miler if I’m at that stage of training. Check it out here: http://runtheparkway.org/

-StewsCat

StewsCat

Running, baking, cooking, drinking

Tag: American River

Marathon Training Week 7

Marathon Training Week 1

Run Addendum