Second Wind

Rest.

4 miles today and decided to add a fast mile just to see how it felt to run under 8:00/mile pace.....felt pretty good.  Everything is feeling good and confidence is good.  Calfs are still sore, need to really work on loosening them up and stretching during the day.

Decided to go a bit longer today and through in a couple of faster miles just to test out the legs and back and hip.  Other then my lack of fitness, everything seems good.  Was planning on running six today but our neighbors dogs got out so I ran another mile around our subdivision looking for them.  Turns out they ran to the next subdivision and she found them before I did.  Oh well, I needed the extra mile anyway.

Another increase in miles today and everything is well.  The calfs are still sore but they loosen up during the run.  It's amazing how much you lose in just a few weeks of time off.  I hope this soreness goes away during the taper because I really don't need to be cramping up during the marathon.

Seven fairly easy miles today.  Still just piling on the base miles to try and rebuild some fitness in the shortest time possible without re-injuring things.  All the injuries seem fine but I could tell my legs were feeling a bit of fatigue due to the everyday training so far this week and part of last week.  I imagine this is normal as I am getting back into things and hopefully the taper will bring some life back into these old muscles.

I cut back the mileage to six today to try and give the calves a small break.  Spent a little extra time stretching after the run today to try and really loosen up those tight muscles and get some of the soreness out.  I am finally starting to feel some releif but it is slow in coming.  The back and hip felt average today and I was able to step up the pace for one mile today and really get the heart rate going.  I have been trying to concentrate on my form the last few runs and staying relaxed when picking up the pace.  Sloppy form may have been one of the causes that caused all the aggravation in my back and hip so extra attention to form will hopefully pay off.  Based on my plan for tomorrow, I should end the week with 47.1 miles.  My first taper week won't be much of a cut back with about 42 miles, after that it drops to 30 and then 13 in the final week before the marathon.  Depending on the level of soreness I may cut that 42 mile week back a bit further to gain some extra recovery but at this point I can't afford to cut back too much and lose fitness.  I will just have to take it a day at a time and listen to the body.

What a great day for a run.  This is a race report but I also logged 12 miles as a long run to keep the marathon training going.  The temps were almost chilly this morning at 73 degrees and a light breeze.  It was a very pleasant change from the usual 80's.  The 12 mile run went well and I really tried to stay well hydrated today which is something I really don't do well when I run.  A rarely drink anything on runs 10 miles or under and I think my performance suffers a bit due to this.  Today I drank every 2 miles and felt really good the whole way.  Meg and I started our run about 4:45ish and ended just in time to jump in the car and drive across town to the Candlelighters 5K race at Mountains Edge Exploration Park in Southwest Vegas.  My plan for the race was to run hard but back off if anything felt out of place with my hip or back.  The scheduled start of the race was 7:30 am but due to major parking shortages and slow check-ins and late registrations the race didn't begin until 8:10.  Needless to say, it was hot and I was very worn out already from our earlier run.  I went out pretty hard for me and clocked the first mile at around 7:13.  The second mile turned up hill and I really started to feel the fatigue in my legs.  Realizing that we would be finishing on a nice downhill for the last mile I just coasted up the hill as best I could and hit mile two in 7:55.  One we started on the down hill I really tried hard to find another gear and was able to push hard with a 7:01 mile and finish time of 22:59.  I was hoping to run a little better than that but after the 12 mile run earlier I will take the time and it is a PR for me even though it is not a great time.  I havn't run enough 5K's to really figure out a racing strategy and establish a good PR.  That will be something I will work toward next year after the marathon.  Meg ended up taking 2nd in her age group and so we each took home some really nice hardware.  The Candlelighters had children suffering from cancer create paintings on canvas and then the paintings were framed in very nice frames which included a small inscription of our place, age group and the date.  It was a very fun event and rewarding to take home some hardware for once.  I doubt that will happen very often so I will take it when I can get it.  This was a pretty heavy mileage week for me after coming back from injury so I wil probably look to cut back just slightly next week and try to stay healthy for the ultimate goal of SGM.