Training Week 8/22 - 8/28

Another week of rolling with the punches. No major hurdles this week, but I am battling another cold. It's not a bad cold, but it has annoyed and lingered all week. Seriously, do they dip the girl in a vat of virus wash at daycare? I blame that one little boy. He's a little troll. After all, there's no possible way it could be this one's fault.



Can something that cute carry that much disease? (Actually, yes.)

Onto the numbers...

8/22, Sunday: 5 - 44:51, Homeplace Loop. D's parents were up visiting for a few days, and they offered to watch the Little Lady while we went for a run. Thanks! Nice morning on the trails, and especially nice to run with D.

8/23, Monday: 14 - 2:28:16, Bradbury Mountain State Park (Bruiser course, then a small loop on the west side trails.) Once again, with D's parents visiting we took advantage of the babysitting offer. As I said to D, it was great to feel a little "normal" for a couple hours. D wanted to run the full Bruiser as well as a few extra miles, and I was anxious to redeem myself after my poor long run last week. I didn't have a distance or time goal, and just went with the flow. As it turned out, I felt great the whole way, although I could definitely feel my quads by the end. All in all, a great run, even though I thought I felt a cold coming on.

8/24, Tuesday: Off. Precautionary rest day due to the cold, which had become real. That being said, I probably would have taken the day off anyway.

8/25, Wednesday: 5 - 38:39, Highland Green Road Loop. The cold felt much better today, but it was pouring down rain all day. I really debated taking another day off. Glad I didn't, as I actually had a really good run. The rain was mostly a steady wall of mist by the time I headed out, but it was warm so I didn't mind too much. Polished the loop off surprisingly quickly for how easy it felt.

8/26, Thursday: 10 - 1:21:47, There's a Black Fly in My Eye course. Since I'm still feeling a bit lost without my forced speed/work, I decided that a longish tempo run would fit the bill and be even more targeted training. Looking at the race results, I figured that a tempo effort would be around 1:30. Due to the rolling and technical nature of the course, an overall time was a more realistic goal than a per mile pace. Even with the lingering cold, this run went far better than I would have expected. I felt relaxed and comfortable the entire way. This run was a huge confidence booster.

8/27, Friday: 5 - 42:46, Homeplace Loop. Easy shake out run after yesterday. Pretty uneventful, except that it was quicker than normal.

8/28, Saturday: 3.25 - 25:06, Powerlines. Just squeezing in a couple miles in a short time window, and in anticipation of a long run the next day. Nice morning: 58 degrees when I left the house. Fall is around the corner...I hope.

Totals:
Miles: 42.25
Trail: 37.25
Road: 5

Despite the cold, I managed a really solid week, and felt good on all my runs. A little sluggish and few creaks here and there, but they generally faded away within a mile or two. Another "real" week planned, then my quasi-taper for Pisgah. Well, a taper with a race in the middle. Again, it's a flawless plan.

TUNES!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXEOESuiYcA
Just seeing if anyone if paying attention.