going the distance -- May 25 medium run

Out in the darkening evening in muggy late May, looking to get some miles on the clock. Not feeling particularly with it or zippy, but ready to try. Went to GeoHannum, then back into railtrail and followed that all the way to 181. Back up 181 to town and home round the front way, back into GeoHannum. Stopped the clock at the entry to DW. Pace varied, with a fast first mile (6:01) and a slow uphill sixth mile coming up to the common (8:51). The rest pretty standard:

Time: 56:17
Speed: 8.00 mph
Distance: 7.50 miles

Comment: nothing to get excited about, but it's a step in rebuilding strength. That's what I felt I lacked most on the run: just felt flimsy, except for the first mile (when I still felt tentative) and the last 1.5 or so, when I was just about beginning to flow a bit. Little by little, then: it looks like right now I can expect 7:30 pace, and once I've gotten a bit more distance comfort, I'll need to do some speed training and push up towards 7:15 and below. Still so busy, but maybe Saturday I can get a longer run...

May 23 - a saddle sore 5K

Well, just sore, really -- calves, achilles, back of knees, thigh fronts, and hip/groin. A month really was too long. Still, little by little. After wrking lateish last night I ended up going out in the dark, a moonless night cool enough to warrant a hat. Did a reverse local 5K, starting past Stop and Shop and then Rt 9 and down to the dump road and back up the hill. The reverse run is prery nice, as you're making a good pace by the time you hit the hil, and you want to fight to keep it up. Here's how it turned out:

Time: 22:43
Speed: 8.47 mph
Distance: 3.21 miles

Comment: well, the figures are nice, but it felt *sore* on my calves and achilles area. Makes me realise that I'd been really plateauing back in the early spring -- no pain, no gain. Well, I think adding speed is probably not quite that easy, but I'll take this reintroduction to soreness not as something to overcome but a reminder of what I'll need to feel if I'm to increase speed average to 8.5 mph -- actually, I want to revise that down a bit, aim for a pace of not 7:00, but 7:10. I think I can do it, even for a half marathon. That's a target of about 1:34. Yosh!

Saturday May 20 - back in the saddle again

With the enthusiasm of 1970s Aerosmith, I set off after choiring at the 4pm for a "wake up" run. It'd been almost a month since the last real run, and only one other jog since. So a mid-distance, mid-pace, exploratory, intention-setting run was my goal. A mix of road and trail, open-ended. I took a direct road route (Stop and Shop, Rt 9) to back of Tilton's and then up onto the old rail bed. The first bit's hard to find, and a bit overgrown, but I followed it with stops and starts till it joins M and M, then followed that out to Holland Glen. Felt fine, took a break. Called F and she drove over--we both strolled by the brook a while (lots of rain recently, so it looked mighty fine). Then I ran back the same way, stopping just short of home and cooling off. I had no GPS with me, but I'd timed it, and I estimate the distance here using the old string method:

Time: 55 mins
Speed: 7.4 mph
Distance: 6.8 miles

Comment: it felt like a much longer run, but partly that was the long interval between the two halves. Felt _very_ tired the next day, and sore in forgotten places. やっぱり、a month is too long to keep any useful condition: two weeks is about the limit. But never mind: I'm back into regular multiple runs a week mode, inshallah, at least through September.

thought for the new season

To run a half-marathon at a good pace -- target for me, at least -- I'd need to extend my 10K pace to that distance. Say, 8.5 mph as a target. That's about 7:05/mile, something I know I can easily do on a good 10K day.

So for the pre-Hokkaido weeks, goal is to get in shape again and post at least a couple of 8.5 mph runs at 7 miles or longer. Yosh!

backpost: May 9 short run

Wow, end of the semester and time slips. Feeling in very poor shape right now, but about to start getting back on track. Classes are over and somehow I'll find time. Managed this shor trun with Mark, celebrating his return from southern parts with a stretch around Amethyst Brook's trails.

Time: 34 mins
Speed: 7.05 mph
Distance: 4 miles

Well, it was hilly and a bit of a case of finding our way. The GPS couldn't keep track at one point, but I think it got it all back. That was all ten days ago almost. Wonder if I'll have any legs left at all. . .