Training 9/11 - 9/17

A bit of backwards blogging, but I wanted to get my Pisgah report done while the elation/suffering was fresh in my mind.

Onto the numbers...

9/11, Sunday: 12 - 1:39:54, Bradbury Bruiser.

9/12, Monday: 5 - 39:01, Highland Green. Good, solid recovery run. Felt a bit tight and creaky but was happy to report no issues with the ankle.

9/13, Tuesday: 5.5 - 49:29, TMR TNR @ Twin Brook. Great, easy run with the crew. Sneakily humid and the mosquitoes had us all scurrying into our cars post-run.

9/14, Wednesday: 11 - 1:21:33, River + Meadow Cross Roads. Plan was for 3 easy, then 8 at marathon pace. In the end, I averaged 7:14 for the MP miles, but that's definitely faster than my current marathon pace. It was a bit of a strange run, though, as the first 5 MP miles felt super easy, but then I felt like I got smacked in the final 3. They were much, much more difficult and painful, and the suffering came on quite suddenly. Not sure what to make of this effort. It was warm and humid, so that could be a factor.

9/15, Thursday: Off

9/16, Friday: 5 - 41:34, Homeplace + .5 around the neighborhood testing out new shoes. A cool, breezy nearly perfect day on the trails around the Homeplace Loop, which I hadn't run since I strained my calf on July 2. Normally a staple loop, it was nice to get back to it. Everything felt good, and I took it very easy. A minute or two after I arrived home, UPS delivered a new pair of shoes: Brooks Racer ST 5. They never made it into the house, and I took them right out for a short test spin. I'm always extremely nervous ordering shoes online, since very few styles/brands actually fit me, but Brooks have been treating me right on both the roads and trails for a while now. I'm happy to report that they felt great and the fit was perfect. My plan is to use these for both training and racing, specifically the MDI Marathon. That being said, I feel a bit dirty for buying road racing flats.

9/17, Saturday: 3 - 23:07, Patriot Commons. This run was my attempt at a taper for Pisgah. Instead of 7+ on Mt. Ararat as I probably would have done, I took the new shoes out for a short spin around the neighborhood. They're snappy.

Totals: 42
Trail: 23
Road: 19

A fairly uneventful, easy week. Aside from the confusion of the marathon pace run, really not much to report. And, frankly, with all my injuries and other maladies, that's a good thing. Looking ahead, the plan is to recover from/train through Pisgah and then build up some speed for MDI. Right now, I'm good at running slowly for a long time. That's not going to get it done in the marathon.