run 20k per week

...off the couch. One more reason to get out of bed on a dark, wintery and cold (did I say cold? maybe freakin’ freezing is more appropriate) morning and out on the streets. The nice part of all this is how quiet the streets are at 6am.

Should be on track to run 5-6k Mon, Wed, Fri and a longer run on either Saturday or Sunday…

An alternate workout today. Instead of the usual, long slow run around the neighbourhood, I headed over to a near by field for a shorter, high(er) intensity workout. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Things I learned:

• running hard for 150m, with only short breaks is tiring
• grass is cold, wet and slippery at 6am
• anyone who says running on grass is softer than the road hasn’t run on a soccer pitch that bakes in the sun
• you can’t turn, or even stop for that matter, on we grass (see the part about slippery)

That said, it worked out pretty well, followed by a short jog around the neighbourhood to cool down. Now, if I could only get the muscles to stop complaining…

PRB

...to start. I’ve taken most of the summer off and so will be taking the introduction to running quite slow, only 2-3K per day to start so the muscles have a chance to even out.

Today was a walk/run alternating workout. .5K walk to warm up, 1K fast run to get the bod moving, another .5K to keep things warm but not overdoing it, followed by a final 1K+ fast run. Wrapped up with a short cooldown and then yoga.

I’m hoping to start alternating mornings with weight training and judo—that should be interesting.

PRB

This one’s on hold while I take the summer off. I have/had a persistent hamstring issue with it cramping after about 6k (give or take). Given I was running about 10k at a go previously, this was kind of annoying—that 4k walk back does give one lots of time to think about just how annoying it was.

Anyway, after a number of ART visits and physio, I came to the conclusion that I had overdeveloped my quads and the resulting muscle imbalance was not doing my hamstrings any favours. That, and my running technique sucked. You wouldn’t think that such a simple thing as running could have a technique, but it does. Mine, on the other hand, doesn’t.

So, I’ve taken the summer off to allow things to recuperate, before I start running again in September. Once I do start, it’ll be a lot more short, faster runs instead of the longer, plodding 6min pace I was running at before (long and slow…)

More as things develop.

but the knee started complaining. Probably time for new shoes (it’s been a year) and really should check with the foot guy (preventative maintenance)

...24k again this week – 8, 10(!) and a short 6 to wrap it up. Today I get to take off :-)

Well, last week anyway – ran 24k in 3 8k chunks. Now I just have to see how many weeks I can go for…

...and is making the run a whole lot more fun. Still felt like I was dragging parts for the last half though. 7k down, 13k to go

and I can start to run without having to worry about the choice between wearing 15 pairs of underwear and boiling or just enough to keep from freezing in the first k before the bod catches up… That and the snow—running on snow is like running on sand with none of the upside: there’s no nearby lake, no heat, no… well, you think of the third one…

Something distinctly unmotivating about cold, wet and rain mornings. Soon enough the snow will get here – that should make things interesting….