Cursed Realm of the Faceless Ghost

Today is a rest day, which is convenient, because I could use a rest, although my legs aren't nearly as sore as I expected them to be after yesterday's run.

I was fasting yesterday, so a tempo run was obviously not in the cards this morning. Instead I ran easy for an hour on the treadmill (of course, though I really should take my running outdoors).

I haven't yet decided what my training will look like this week, but whatever I do has to ensure that I finish Saturday's 10K in less than 40 minutes. I think I'll do some tempo tomorrow, then take it easy on Wednesday and really easy (if not off) on Thursday. On Friday, I'll do some short intervals at my target 10K pace, which I hope will leave my legs ready to race the next day. 

Because I felt better this morning after eating a lot yesterday and sleeping reasonably well last night, I did the tempo workout that I would have liked to have done yesterday.

• 15 minutes at an 8:13 pace
• 30 minutes at a 6:35 pace
• 5 minutes at an 8:00 pace
• 10 minutes at an 8:27 pace

My ankles/lower legs have been feeling sore since Monday. It's strange, because I can walk and run without problem, but I feel some tenderness when I'm standing or sitting around. I set out to do five easy (9:00 pace) miles on the treadmill this morning, but I could tell that my legs were not going to feel any better if I kept running, so I cut my workout off at 20 minutes and lifted weights instead. Tomorrow I think I'll go skiing at Mountain Dell, and depending on how I'm feeling I'll go for a short run on Friday. With a little rest, I hope to be good to go on Saturday.

The weather foiled my plans to ski this morning, but I wanted to spend at least one more day away from running (my ankle feels much better, but I don't want to push my luck). Instead of sitting around, I decided to spend 45 minutes on the elliptical trainer (and yes, it was as fun as it sounds). The computer says I went 6.2 miles. I'm not sure how it comes up with that number, and I know the machine is not the same as running, but I'm going to go ahead and credit myself with 5 easy miles today. It's my blog, and I'll do what I want.

Edit: My wife says that because the elliptical machine is not running, I shouldn't count any miles for today. Fair enough. 

My calves are so sore from the elliptical machine yesterday. I guess I should have seen that coming. There's nothing I can do about it now, though, and my ankle is feeling much better, so I decided to run again this morning. I did 35 minutes at a very relaxed pace, with a couple of 5-minute intervals at my (theoretical and hopeful) 10K pace to loosen the legs up for tomorrow. I have no idea what to expect tomorrow, but I won't be eating Grape Nuts 3 hours before the start. 

Me and the Cap'n made it happen. Or did we make it happ'n?

Anyways, I learned from the 5K Grape Nuts fiasco, and when I woke up for a 6:30 breakfast this morning I feasted instead on delicious and nutritious Cap'n Crunch (with Crunch Berries, because you can never eat too many fruits and vegetables).

My original goal for the race was to keep it under 40 minutes. Based on my 5K time, the race calculator predicted a 39:20 finish for me, so I decided to shoot for a time under 39 minutes. Obviously, my actual time of 37:55 was much better than expected. Go me. Woo.

There's still room for improvement, though. If I had shown up early enough to warm up, and had the discipline to do so (jogging from registration to the start doesn't count), I probably could have run a little faster. Also, although I didn't go out as hot as I did at the 5K, I didn't hold back as much as I should have on the way out and I spent the return trip paying for it. Still, I only added one or two seconds per mile to my 5K pace from two weeks ago, and to me that seems like solid improvement. I'm looking forward to the 15K.