Covering New Ground

Slowly working my way back into some mileage this week.  I ended up with 24 miles this week which is up from 14.7 last week. I’ve been spending quite a bit of time looking through races and trying to choose which one should be my 50 miler and if I should sneak in a 50k as a trainer in the schedule.  I’m also seriously considering the Javelina Jundred in October at the 100k distance. So as crazy as all that sounds, here’s the reality of my running life over the course of the week.

Sunday I opted to hit the trails on 18 road, about a 15 minute drive from the house.  I had never run these trails and was excited to give them a whirl.  Mostly occupied by mountain bikers, I took off on the Vegetarian Trail and then circled back on the Down Uppity for 3.7 miles.

It was such a fun trail to run, especially the Down Uppity.  Like a roller coaster type trail, short up and downs, switchbacks and along ridges.  Back at the car and stretching, I started chatting with a couple gals on mountain bikes, who invited me to run club on Monday nights at 600.  Meet at the local tap house, run for a while and have a beer afterwards.  Sounds like fun.  It has been one of my 2015 missions to make running friends and do something with the local running club, so Monday night after work, I made my way down to the Copper Club, met Angela, Jenny, Dave and a bunch  of others for a few easy miles with nice conversation.  I was having some pain in my right quad and hip joint, but not enough to make me stop, especially not with a companion.  Back at the Copper Club one of the men asked if I was coming in for a beer.  “We’re all pretty nice”, he said.  I told him I’d come have a beer with them and make sure. “You’ll fit in great”, he said. “We’re really a drinking club with a running problem”. Sure enough, I think they’ll be a fun group. They’re planning  a group bus trip to Moab in December for the Winter Sun 10k.  That could end up being a blog post all its own.

Tuesday was  a rest run day, but I did do my core work. Wednesday was a run day.  Got home, did a few warm ups on the slant board, and headed out for a much needed run. The piriformis and IT band awareness has been quite irritating but with a little warm up and some good tunes, I ended up having a great 10k run.  I thought I could beat the sunset. I was wrong.  Lesson learned – always take the headlamp at night. It slowed me a down a bit for the last mile but I kept thinking it was good ultra training being out when the sun went down and then running in the dark.  A good confidence builder.

Thursday morning was strength training time.  Solid 2 minutes on the slant board in all directions, plus the moving slant board exercises.  It was a good 45 minute lower body workout, with some pushups thrown in for good measure.

Thursday night was easy run night.  I wasn’t going to go, had even poured myself a glass of wine, and then I uttered, “I wanted to go running, but guess I won’t tonight”, to which hubby responded, “You still have time. Go get it done” – and this is one of the reasons I love him.  Got 3.6 miles in thanks to a good support system.

Friday was a rest day and also a ditch day for me.  I started the day with a breakfast date with the hubs and then a 2 hour massage. If I could get someone to do that for 8 hours or more, I would totally do it.  Not many things I like better than a good massage. Wowsers. I took my daughter to lunch and then headed to the local brew pub with my laptop and every intention of having a martini. I spent my time looking at races and jobs and Twitter, and just enjoying not being a responsible adult.

Saturday morning I had made plans to meet my friend, Lisa, for a run. She had run a local marathon last weekend and was ready to get a few miles in, and I was thankful for the company.  We ran one of her favorite routes that was an out-and-back of rolling hills.  We had a nice easy pace for 6.1 miles, with great conversation, on another new route for me.

Lots of new things this week – new running friends, new routes, new races to plan for. Remember to enjoy each day and each run for what it is.  Encourage a new runner and find one that will encourage you too.

Anything new or different for you this week?