Weight Loss

Sunday, September 5, 2010

I'd Rather Be Running...

Oh boy.  Everything was going really well.  Until the beginning of this week, I was battling a hard case of fatigue.  So I dialed back the mileage.  Plus, it was a recovery week.  Work was stressful, so I think this magnified the fatigue.  Yesterday, I felt the fatigue moving out.  I was excited to tackle my highest mileage week.  And then I went to the Air Force football game.  Getting out of my friend's car, my knee turned funny and I've been hobbled since then.  I'm not freaking out.  Yet.  I'll let my knee be my guide as to when I can return to running.  So long as I can get in my uber sandwich runs this coming weekend, 22 on Saturday and 12 on Sunday, I'll be good for the race.  But I do dream of getting in this week's long run tomorrow.  Fingers crossed.

Here's pictures from the Air Force game yesterday - specifically of the parachuters who opened the game.  Knee aside, it was great to hang with my friend and be part of Air Force's opening game (they crushed their opponent - 65 - 21).  So much tradition and activity - plus it was Parents' Weekend and it was sweet to see all the proud parents. 



Way up there are 3 of the 5 parachuters!



They come down so quickly, that it can hard to capture a good shot...



Even the Mascot is hard core...



And here's some running catching up...

Last Saturday's run was incredible.  Incredible in that it was demanding and kicked my butt.  The views were spectacular and it was almost all on trails!  We rarely have a running group run all on trails.  What a welcomed relief - especially with 20 miles on the schedule.   Our run took us to the Bluff Regional Park and the Backcountry Wilderness Area of Highlands Ranch.  Total elevation gain was 2,001 ft.   Here are some pictures taken by the fabulous Ms. Kari. 

Sun is rising later and later...


A faster pace group on the trail above...


Beautiful morning...



But be sure to be careful...perfectly placed aid station!



This was my best 20 mile training run ever.  Not that I've had too many 20 milers.  But I never got frustrated, I kept my focus and I had a blast.  My hands tripled in size.  I'm not sure why.  I took 4 e-tabs each at the 1.5 hour and 3 hour mark and that maybe have been electrolyte overload.  So I'll back it down to 2 tabs every 4 miles.  It could have also been the heat and not enough sodium.  I thought I was doing well with hydrating with gatorade, so I'm not sure it was that - but it did get quite hot on the second part of the run.  Well, I won't worry too much about it.

I think I picked up the most dirt I ever have on a run - here's what my feet look like.  I know, I need a pedicure, but when I saw the dirt, I had to laugh. 



And then I had a 10 mile run on the schedule for Sunday.  Wow.  30 miles in one weekend?  You bet.  I went out to the Bear Chase course.  I knew that Saturday's effort didn't leave much left in my legs, so I opted to keep it flat and skip Mt. Carbon.  Good choice.  I started later than I wanted to after I could not decide whether to hit the trails or stick to the asphalt.  Glad I hit the trails.  I felt quite accomplished after a 30 mile weekend.  And exhausted.  Along the trail, I came across a large flock of these birds...



I have no idea what kind of bird he is...

Here are last week's stats:

Monday: 6 miles
Tuesday: 0 miles
Wednesday: 8.37 miles
Thursday: 6.03 miles
Friday: planned day off
Saturday: 20 miles
Sunday: 10.01 miles
Weekly Stats: 50.41 miles

I ended up with 175.87 total miles for August!  Woo Hoo!

Here are this week's fatigue & injury impacted stats:

Monday: 0 miles, unplanned day off
Tuesday: 0 miles, unplanned day off
Wednesday: 7.05 miles
Thursday: 8.27 miles
Friday: day off - unplanned, Advil PM haze
Saturday: 4 miles
Sunday: Hobbled.  Invited to join Happy Trails out at Bear Chase - very sad to not be able to meet up with them!  Not that I could keep up with them!
Weekly stats: 19.34 miles

Wish me a speedy recovery!

Laura

3 comments:

  1. Hi Laura! We had fun out on the Bear Chase course today! We really enjoyed it - very different type of running than what we normally do in that it wasn't constantly up and down, up and down and not technical. It was nice not to have to watch where the feet went too much. The water crossings felt great - woohoo! I preferred the area along the creek with the trees - the long, open, "straight" part after the crossings and golf course got a bit hot. I bet it is nice out there in the winter (if the wind is not howling!). Now I can can rehab my "issues", I should be good to go for the race. Hope your knee gets to feeling good so you can hit your runs next weekend. Thanks again for the detailed directions - it helped a lot! :-)

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  2. BTW, the bird is a magpie - one of the smartest birds around. Supposedly, they have a photographic-type memory - they can memorize your face and recognize days later so talk nicely to them!:-) They are neat to watch.

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  3. Speedy recovery, Laura. I'll be ready to run with you for that 12 miles on Sunday.

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