Monday, June 28, 2010

Monday Mario

I have been meaning to share this photo for ages. Clicked it in the parking lot after the Napa Valley Marathon in March:

I think it is so awesome they make bunny stickers for this type of thing.

Running-wise, the last week has been pretty frustrating.

I was surprisingly not sore after the double. I guess taking things slower than usual has its paybacks. Because of this, I got back out there running pretty quickly again. Did a 3 and 6 miler the week after the races which is more than I'd usually do the week after a marathon. I felt a little tired but nothing terrible.

This week I dove back into marathon training. My next marathon is the Santa Rosa Marathon at the end of August. I actually have 10 weeks of training before this race. I decided I'd do a regular training cycle and my goal is to push a little. The weather may be warm for me this time of year, but I'd love to run something between a 4:19 and 4:23.

That said, here are my runs for the past week:

Sunday: 7 miles @ 10:02 pace; First day back on a training plan! Started off with tired legs but the last two miles felt good and pushed a teensy bit.

Tuesday: 7 miles including 4 miles @ 8:51 pace; This was supposed to be a 5 mile pick-up. At mile 2 of the pick-up I had to take a 1 minute walk break to bring my heart rate down. Something was definitely off. I rallied and got another two miles done but decided to cut out the last mile. I felt the power meter depleting rapidly and didn't have it in me to fight out that last mile. In my mind I rationalized that the double was only one week ago and my legs were probably still tired. They can't all be great runs, right?

Wednesday: 6 miles @ 10:16; My legs were very heavy and I struggled through this.

Friday: 16 miles @ 10:58; I went into this doing a 0.1 mile walk break every two miles. With the week I had I knew my legs were still tired from the double and I figured this was a good way to make the run mentally more easy for me. I really struggled the last two miles. Blargh.

I was looking at my paces going into the double and my paces coming out of the double. It is pretty obvious to me that while I wasn't too sore after the races my legs are definitely fatigued. I hope they get their zip back soon!


Also, HUGE congratulations to my pal, Ron, for becoming an Ironman last night. A bunch of us had a twitter party tracking him and cheering him on. SO SO proud of you!

11 comments:

Marlene said...

10 weeks probably feels like a really long time between marathons now!

Awesome that you felt so good after the double. My legs feel fantastic after my race on Saturday - slowing down realyl does make a difference. Of course, I only ran ONE marathon. ;)

dawn @ running the dawn said...

I find that legs are fatigued long after they "feel better". Even when the soreness is minimal and there's no limping or reduced range of motion, there's still repair that is taking place. I'm just now (three and a half weeks later) feeling like I have the snap back in my legs.

10 whole weeks? Oh man! That's like an eternity for you...

Hef's Mom said...

I always see those things and wonder if they make bunnies, very cool!

Ann (bunnygirl) said...

Love those bunnies. I wonder where I can get one?

RG said...

My window is too small!

I bet your whole self is still rebuilding your energy fuel in your muscles and blood stream and even fat cells after that workout.

Maybe a week of short (30 minute) runs at high speed for good aerobic maintenance and let the distance wait a bit.

Iron man -- whew! (Starting to think about that are you?)

Erin said...

So cool! I didn't know they made bunny sticker! I kind of want them now... :)

cliff said...

wait a minute here... are you trying to substitute the bunny stickers pic for mario's picture?

RG said...

Hey - Cliff is right. We want Mario. we want Mario - everybody now ... WE WANT MARIO. WE WANT MARIO...

The Bunns said...

Hush RG ... (OMG we are SO embarassed.)

Mica said...

I'm not surprised that your legs are a little off right now! I hope you get your speed and OOMPH back soon though. :)

Marathon Maritza said...

Awesome week of training! It was so fun to stay up "with" you to watch Ron finish!