Good Saturday morning everyone! Hope you are having a great day. After working 12 days straight, it’s nice to finally be off. And the weather is going to be beautiful this weekend; temperatures here in Middle Georgia will be in the 70s. A welcome change to the cold weather we have experienced this week.
Today’s training consisted of an 8 mile long slow distance run. We normally meet at 7:30 for group training however 3 members who are also training for the half opted to meet at 6 am due to other obligations later in the morning. I decided to join the 6 am crew. It has been a very long time since I have exercised that early in the morning. The temperature was around 37 degrees. I wore my running pants, fleece, light jacket, gloves, and my reflective vest (it was still dark at 6 am). Forget the winter cap, I knew I would get hot in it! It was a great workout that incorporated some hills (including the Goliath). Here is a photo of part of our route:
It was right here (about mile 6) where I was burning up that I had to take off my outer jacket and wrap it around my waist. I took off my gloves 3 miles earlier. I even had to push up my sleeves on my fleece. That is one thing I haven’t really mastered yet is how to properly dress; I either overdress or underdress..lol. One nice thing about the morning run was that I probably saw about 15 other runners. On the way back to the church, before the Goliath climb, it got cold. I felt like I entered a polar vortex. I had to push my sleeves down. Maybe because I was in the valley and the sun was being blocked by the trees. Here are a couple of pictures of the Goliath climb:
By the time I got about halfway up Goliath, I noticed that i have hit 8 miles. I probably could have stopped and walked the rest of the way but I decided to keep going. After my workout was complete I ran a total of 8.66 miles. I had a good comfortable pace of 10:30. Considering all the speed work I have doing this week, I decided to slow it down a bit. By the time we got back, the 7:30 group waited on us to return. No I could have gone home and went back to bed. But I didn’t. I was pumped and full of energy that I decided to go run with the 10K group. Not only that but I wanted to run with them to give them some encouragement; for many, this is their first 10K race. Before we started, I put my gloves and outer jacket in the car. Kind of wished I didn’t do that because we ran into the polar vortex again and it felt colder than when I ran in it earlier! During our run, I ran with a guy who is from Melbourne, Australia. He is in the Australian Air Force and is stationed here at Robins Air Force Base. We talked about the military and what we do; it helped make the run go by quicker, especially for him. Along the way, I kept encouraging him and others that they are doing great and to keep going. He was recovering from a cold and hasn’t run all week. The 10K group training was a 4 mile run. After we were done, I looked at my app and I was at 199.2 miles total for 2014. So what did I do? Yes, I had to run another mile so I could be at 200 miles for the year. Even though I did 3 separate runs, the total mileage for today was 13.69 miles – the most miles I have run in one day!!! Oh, did I mention that I did all this on 5 hours sleep??? I was excited on what I did today. I felt great. I felt energized and had didn’t feel any pain. That reminds me – after I ran 8 miles on the treadmill last month, I experienced some pain in my knees, especially when I tried to bend. Today they are not causing too much issues. Also, for the third time this week, I have not run with athletic tape or a knee brace on my right knee. I have been doing at least 20 minutes of strength training every day this month so that may have helped.
Well that’s about it. Fixing to go to a wedding shower shortly. Tomorrow, I am heading to Atlanta with two of my friends from Run for God who will be participating in their first Spartan race. I am just going for moral support. I would have participated however I am already committed to several races this month and as you know, it get’s expensive! Enjoy the rest of your weekend and happy running! Thanks for reading.
Cheers,
Troy
Run with Troy 3.0 