Long Run – StewsCat

Another week down, another 100+ mile month. This is the first time I’ve ever done this much mileage two months in a row. I’ve never had more than one 100+ mile month in a year prior to this year. I’m happy to report that I’ve managed to do this high mileage while avoiding any major injuries. I’ve had a few days of some soreness in my right knee and also left calf, but overall nothing that doesn’t go away after a day of rest. So I’m pretty happy with how my training is going thus far.

Now for the not so great news. My longest run (20 miles) was set for this past Friday. Of course Friday was the one day we were supposed to get rain for most of the day. I also altered my plan during the early part of the week and ran Tues-Wed instead of Mon-Wed. Seemed to work out okay.

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

( ) = # of miles on my plan

Tuesday – 2.5 (3)

Wednesday – 4.5 (9)

Friday – 16.07 (20)

Saturday – 3.2 (4)

Sunday – 3.0 (3) – treadmill, walking.

Weekly Total – 29.27 miles (39)

I woke up on Friday and wasn’t really feeling all that motivated. The weather wasn’t helping matters that much. Normally I’ve been starting my long runs around 9 am so that takes me anywhere to 12 or 1 pm usually for anything over 16 miles. The morning started kinda hazy with a very fine mist sprinkles while I was having breakfast and coffee. I continued to kinda of mozy around and get myself psyched up to go on my long run. I stepped out of the door around 9:30 into some light rain but with some decent winds that were quite chilling.

Luckily for me I have a loop in my neighborhood that is almost exactly 1 mile (slightly over 1 mile) from my house. With the way the weather was, I decided I’d just run this 1 mile loop for as long as I could so that I had somewhere to take shelter if the rain got really bad. I also like it because that means I have bathroom access (not just at my house but there’s a park about 1/2 mile into the loop as well). The only downside with loop running is that it can get boring and you want a new view of things. I made it to 3 miles and then took off on another path to do 2.5 additional miles. My tummy had not been feeling the greatest before I started running and I ended up having to make a pit stop at the house. Soon I started to bargain with myself. I told myself I could stay out in the cold rain for 10 miles and then do the last 10 miles on the treadmill. I also didn’t want to spend too much time on the dreadmill because it too can also be boring for too long.

I knew it was also good for me to be out in the rain because it is a possibility for my race in about 6 weeks. I need to learn to run in different types of temperature and weather. This year has been especially wet in California so who knows if it may be raining on race day.

I ended up making it to 8.75 miles out in the rain when I called it quits (had to make another pit stop) and switched over to the treadmill. I started my run there and soon realized I’d rather be out in the rain. I made it about 3.25 miles on the treadmill and then decided to go out into the rain again (the rain was heavier than it was during my first 8 miles). I pushed and persevered and hit 4 miles (I had told myself that 4 miles was my minimum up to the 8 miles to complete the 20 miles). I had recently read that one theory for marathon long run training is not to exceed 3 hours because beyond that the benefits do not outweigh the risks (i.e. injury). So that’s where I came up with 4 miles minimum on my 3rd leg to have a final of 16 miles.

So the end result was just a tad over 16 miles. I’m happy with it, especially given my lack of motivation and the rain.

No pictures on my runs this week with the rains.

Sunday morning I woke up with a lot of sneezing and a constantly dripping right nose. I do have pretty bad allergies in the springtime but this felt more like maybe I was getting sick. Even though I thought maybe I was getting sick I still wanted to get some miles in. So I compromised with myself and did 3 miles of walking on the treadmill (~3.5 mph so I still broke a sweat).

Overall I’m still happy with my training thus far and hope to keep it up and be ready for the race in Big Sur.

We also went to a pizza joint we used to go to a lot (Hot Italian). Since I’ve been making pizza myself we haven’t gone in awhile. I do like their cocktails though, and Saturday was decently warm so I had a Negroni.

-StewsCat

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

StewsCat

Running, baking, cooking, drinking

Tag: Long Run

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