49 - can you live with it?

 I was on my way to a 5 mile race when the sun came up, 

and I was running when the sun set this evening....

 "Oh What A Beautiful Day To Run!"

 

Sat. was like a marathon.  I went to a 5 mile race, raced it hard, and then Sat. evening, I ran 14 miles on rolling hills.  Sat. evening I was adding up my miles for the week and I come up with 49 miles.  In my world, most of the time, that just doesn't work for me.  So today, I headed out for a 1+ mile walk and yes, I ran a mile to make it an even 50 miles for the week.  I feel better!  Can you end a week with 49 miles?

Back to Sat.  I raced a 5 miles race.   Race temp. would be around 27 degrees, so that means a great race day for me.  It's rough to get warmed up, but after the first 1-2 miles, this is when I am able to run my absolute best.  I can breathe better, and my legs feel totally different.  As I started my warm up, right from the start, I knew it would be a great day for racing.  I have been running and racing since....well a LONG time, but this was only my 2nd, 5 mile race.  My first 5 mile race was last Aug., 2010.    You may recall, this was a 5 mile race in South MS, and yes, I said Aug.  So my pace for the race in Aug. was just under my marathon pace.  Seriously!  (42:58 - 8:38 pace)  The name of the race on Sat.  was Oh, What A Beautiful Day to Run, and it was just that.  I finished with a time of 38:57 - 7:45 pace.    After the race, I rushed off to a yoga class.  Lunch, errands, and home around 2:00 pm.  Here's the crazy thing.  I do NOT recommend this, but I decided I would run my long run Sat. evening, after the race.  I wanted to do this, to run with tired legs, and possibly simulate miles 18-26 of a marathon.  Obviously, in doing this after racing,  I was at risk of injury, so I do not recommend it, but I went into it accepting the risk.   I needed to be out the door by 3:00 pm so I could finish before dark.  So without any rest, I headed back out the door.  I was tired, and it was hard from the start.  The plan was to run it around 10:00 pace.  The weird thing was, while it was hard, I had to keep slowing my pace.  I would look at the Garmin, and be at 9:30 pace, slow down.  I didn't want to run anything faster than 10, after racing.  The other part of me wanted to hurry and finish, so it was a constant battle.  Originally, I had planned to do 16, but while running, I found that 14 would be enough, also 14 miles would give me 21.5 for the day, which was a jump (another risky move)  in my training.   The gels kept me going, and I ended up finishing the 14 @ 10:14 pace.  As I was struggling to make it home, the last 2 miles (like always) were tough.  But then my running buddies, Eminem, Dr. Dre, and Soulja Boy helped me through.   With one mile left, Diddy with Skylar Grey - Coming Home was up next on my Ipod.  AAWWWEESOME!

Seriously, it was amazing how "the pep in my step" picked up as Diddy starts his first part of the song....

Back where I belong, yeah I never felt so strong
(I’m back baby)
I feel like there’s nothing that I can’t try
And if you with me put your hands high
(put your hands high)
If you ever lost a light before, this ones for you
And you, the dreams are for you

I’m coming home
I’m coming home
Tell the World I’m coming home

And just like that, excitement returned to my running.  I made it home.  I took and ice bath, had some green tea, and had, well let's just say, I had PLENTY of recovery calories.  eeek!  I was HUNGRY with a capital H!  

2 miles from home - new pavement and Diddy on the Ipod - I CAN DO IT!

Love me some new pavement to run on!

 Me, with my friend Dawn before the race.

Sunday walk/run to get my 50

Another Beautiful Day to Run!

This week:

Monday - 7 miles, weights, stretch

Tues. - 5.5 miles with Kelly P., yoga @ Kelly S., and planks

Wed. - 3 miles am, 4.5 miles pm - 2 mile w/u, 4 X Bent Creek hill with Audrey - (run cut short because Audrey wasn't feeling good) we walked a mile back to the car.

Thur. - 5 miles easy 10 X 24 second sprints

Fri. - 2.5 miles, .5 mile walk

Sat. - 7.5 miles am with 5 mile race, 14 miles pm

Sun - 1+ mile walk and 1 mile run

Totals - run - 50 miles, 2 yoga classes, planks, around 2 miles walking

Several times recently, I have said, "I don't recommend this!",  about my training.  For many years, I have been considered by some, to be a "smart runner."  It seems since running Boston, and getting that "out of my system" I am willing to "risk injury",  to "push the envelope."   In the MANY years of "running for Boston", I was very cautious, trying to be sure to avoid injury, and keep moving forward.  Now it seems that I want to "push the limits" to see what happens.  I do this fully KNOWING and ACCEPTING the risk.   I wanted to note this on my blog to say, I know many of the things I'm doing are NOT smart, but at this time, this is what I want to do with my training.

So these days, do not read this blog to see how to train smart. 

Read it to see what NOT to do in training. (not smart)

....Tired of running smart, and wanting to push the envelope!  Ha Ha