Week 5 - Into the home stretch 10 miler training

WHOA!

What a fun surprise! I just logged on to post and see that Iceman has been busy sprucing up our little blog!! Very nice and well done, Iceman! :)

But back to business...

I RAN 9 MILES TODAY! IN 1 HOUR, 26 MINUTES!

I am feeling it, it will probably take the next week until the race for my legs to recover. But it went well. E is in the middle of the 3 day GA state swim meet and the last two mornings we have had to be at the pool at 7am, so I wasn't sure how I was going to get this 9 mile run in because I can barely tolerate the heat/humidity when I run at 7:30am, I would never consider running in the middle of the day when we get home from the meet session.

But today I had the genius idea to call my girlfriend with a gym in her basement and asked her if I could come over and run for a very, very long time on her treadmill. Wow, what a difference an indoor treadmill run is compared to the rugged outdoors, the weather elements, changing elevations and raw, pounding asphalt and concrete! I have worried that I am not much of a runner as each outdoor run is different and I never know if its going to be hard or easy when I head out.

This climate-controlled (air conditioned room with ceiling fan), 0% incline, smooth running surface with a tv in front of my face, towel for wiping sweat, and jumbo water bottle within reach run was like a filet mignon run compared to the bologne on wonder bread sandwich outdoor summer runs I have been doing. Not to say it was easy...I mean, I ran 9 miles people. It took me almost 1 1/2 hours. That is a lot of running. I was dripping with sweat, my legs felt a little crampy at the end and my toes were bothering me.

But I was very pleased with myself. I ran at 6.5 mph for the first 6 miles, then I slowed to 6 mph for mile 7 and then I was wanting to get finished and felt good so I kicked it up to 7 mph for mile 8, then down to 5.5 mph for 1/2 mile and then 6 mph to finish out the last 1/2 mile. And the treadmill told me I burned over 1,000 calories, can that be possible? No wonder you can eat whatever you want when you run!

Now, if I can only hope for a smooth, relatively flat run course in Stillwater next weekend, I should be able to get through it. However, I hear Stillwater is pretty hilly. That will be a killer for sure.

Didn't Shred even once this week, just couldn't make it happen I guess. One more day of state swim meet tomorrow, and then Monday morning bright and early I am hitting the road with the girls for a 1000 mile road trip up to MN from GA. Luckily I am supposed to take it easy this week...I think 2 days sitting in a car qualifies. I am only supposed to run a 3 and a 2 before the race next Saturday.

Have I mentioned that H did wrestle me to the ground and convince me to sign up for another sprint triathlon with her in September? So I guess there will be a new countdown ticker on the blog after the race next weekend. But that is it!! That is all I am doing until the spring...I will get into an easier groove of normal 3-4 mile runs and work on some new strength training through the winter.

So this weeks workouts...

Monday: OFF
Tuesday: 5 mile run, abs and pushups
Wednesday: 3 mile run with my biking sidekick, Sarah, abs and pushups
Thursday: 5 mile run, abs and pushups
Friday: OFF
Saturday: 9 mile run
Sunday: OFF (maybe shred, but I doubt it)

Next weeks update will be about the race!

Goose Out