As far as running is concerned, things haven't been going as smoothly over the last week or so. The obvious reason would be that my workouts are getting harder. But more than that I think it's the inherent impracticality of trying to prepare for Ogden while in school. It doesn't really work to deal with the highest volume and intensity of training at the same time you're trying to prepare for finals. The first thing to go is sleep, and when you stop sleeping enough it spills over into the rest of your life pretty quickly. But hey, it's only a couple of weeks, right? Anyways, despite having a rest day yesterday, my legs felt tired from the start on today's run. Usually they don't start getting heavy and stiff until well into the last half of the run, but today they were there before mile 7. Maybe way before. I can't really remember. Regardless, I could tell it was not one of my best runs ever. I had already decided to blow off the marathon-pace finish that my schedule called for, and the sore legs only reinforced that. But as I ran through Nunn's Park, two runners blew by me in the low-6:00s and invited me to jump in. It turned out to be Sasha and Chad Robinson, and as I started running with them I was surprised at how comfortable the faster pace felt, even though I was having a bad day. (Believe it or not, even though I've been on the blog for more than three years and run on the River Trail many, many times, this was the first time I've met Sasha.) Anyway, I stuck with Sasha and Chad for about 3.5 miles (I think) before they turned off and headed into Orem. When they left, my motivation to run fast went with them and I settled back into my low 7:00s for the last few miles home. All in all, it was a decent workout. And it brings me to 50 miles for the week for the first time of the year. (That used to be no big deal at all, but times change.) I'm glad I ran into Sasha and Chad, and the faster miles were good for me. But it also made it painfully clear that at those paces, my legs are the limiter, not my cardiovascular system. I could chat and carry on with no problem. But my legs were stiff and sore and altogether unpleasant to be around. I'm not sure quite how to fix that, other than to run lots and lots of miles for lots and lots of years, which may or may not be practical at this stage in the game. Fortunately for me, I don't care nearly as much as I used to. I'm just happy to be reasonably fit and on track to run Ogden injury free. Give me the chance to taper for a week or so before the race, and I'm sure my legs will hold up for 26.2 miles. PS: we've recently gone public with this, so I may as well say it here. Catherine and I are having another baby in October.
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