Chasing my Dreams

Went out for a fairly controlled and relatively easy effort to get the legs going after the weekend. 6:48ish average. Felt pretty relaxed. The legs did feel a little tired on the uphills though. 

Tom texted me saying his calf was tight and he was going to wait until tonight to run, so I ended up sleeping another hour and a half or so. Did 4 easy miles waking up and getting the legs going, then did 3 miles at marathon pace: going 5:58, 6:03, 6:00, and then a little over a mile cooldown back home. It took me about a mile to lock into that marathon pace, but once I did it felt really comfortable, and even easier than when we did it in the downhill a couple of weeks ago. My right IT band is a little tight though, so hopefully I can get that loosened up by Saturday. The fitness is there and the hay is in the barn, now time to take 'er easy and let 'er rip come Saturday morning.

Ran over to the Canyon Road trail and ran that today. I discovered it is slightly shorter than I thought it was. Aerobically things felt really easy today, but I could not get my legs moving. They just felt really sluggish. I rolled my IT bands a lot yesterday becuase they've been tight, so I don't know if that had anything to do with it. It also just be the weird way in which my body responds to rest, but I need the rest to be ready for Saturday. I was able to pick things up a little bit the last mile and a half or so. 6:50 average.

Super windy this morning, so the first mile uphill and into the wind was pretty killer. Other than that the run wasn't too bad. Things are still a little warm for my liking. I thought my left foot might hurt a little, but my right foot ended up hurting just a little bit. I think I'm going to try and wear different shoes to work todaya nd see if that makes a difference. 6:54 average, but 6:45s after that first mile.

Got up early and ran an easy shakeout over to the cross country course and a little bit on it, then back. Ended up shaking out a second poop in the process. Took care of that, then did a couple of strides. The strides weren't crazy quick, but relaxed. My feet were a little achy at first, but things are feeling good.

Well as Meb would say, I don't know if I exactly earned my PhD in the marathon today, but I think I can at least say I earned my masters. Tom and I did a mile easy warmup and some drills to get the legs warmed up and moving. The temperatures at the start were perfect. I honestly couldn't have really asked for a better first half. Things felt good and I was nailing the splits. The rolling uphills didn't really slow me down either, and by the end of those I had passed everyone except the leaders basically. (I also got to compete against some Kenyans today, I've never done that before) I went through the half in 1:20:10, which was about as perfect as it could get. At that point my quads started to feel the downhill and I didn't feel great for the next 3 miles or so. I was also annoyed because I was planning on fruit at mile 15, but the aid station didn't have any. After that I was able to get a second wind until about mile 21 or so, and then my legs started to really tighten up. I had to walk through some of the aid stations, and it was pretty hard to keep chugging along. I also had some minor cramping in my calfs, which hasn't really ever happened before. I definitely had 2:40 fitness in me if my legs had held up. 

Take aways of the day: I need to improve my form and running economy, as well as do more strength training. I feel like that may have contributed to my cramping at the end. I could also tell that my feet were fairly duck footed again. I'm motivated to give the marathon a go next year with some added fitness, and hopefully a much stronger body.