Am I Back ... ?

OBJECTIVE

3 miles : no pace

ACHIEVED

3.39 miles : 27:17 = (8:03 min./mile)


It was cool this morning for my 4:30 start from the house. 47° with 54% humidity and north winds at 14 mph. It felt like the forecast cold front from the north is definitely on its way. We're supposed to have mid-30's tomorrow morning. Of course the weather conditions are completely relative. I'm reminded of this as a read the training blogs of several Utah-based runners on fastrunningblog.com. They're running in snow and freezing temperatures much of the time. I reminded myself of this as I embarked this morning after changing from a short-sleeved to long-sleeved shirt.

This has been my longest break (10 days) since last March. I am hopeful that the rest gave my legs a chance to fully recover. In addition, I've taken the intensity out of my workouts altogether for the next 6 weeks. My goal is to build a solid, strong base.

I think the rest was good. My legs felt particularly "springy" today. This is rare for the now 41-year old version of myself. I had to rein it in a bit reminding myself that I'm not pushing for a target pace like virtually all of my most recent workouts have done. I just tried to run based on how I felt without looking at my watch. ... I only looked twice and that was for distance rather than time. Although I found myself sneaking a peak at time and subsequently calculating. This new base building effort is going to require patience and discipline on my part. I'm generally okay with the discipline part of the equation but not so good with the patience. This will be an interesting mental test.

As for my legs after the run, they felt good. I didn't observe any ITB issues in either knee or hip and my right calf seemed fine.

I did 2 x 15 ab bicycles once I got back to the house but didn't stretch like I should have.

I'm eager to see how I'm feeling later today.

PRE-RUN SNACK

Immediately prior: ½ chocolate brownie Clif Bar with water

POST-RUN REFUEL

Immediately after: ¾ c oatmeal with skim milk; drink H2O; multivitamin


It's good to be back. I'm looking forward to pressing forward.