Hurdle the Dead, Trample the Weak

4:07 pm: 4 miles + Leg strengthening

Overall anaylsis:

Legs are still pretty tight. I did some stretching and rolling this morning and that helped a lot, but I'll for sure be doing some more tonight. I could feel the tightness in my left calf as I ran, but the more I ran, the less I noticed it. Also for some reason I had a bit of trouble (minor) towards the end aerobically. Don't think it was anything serious, just the circumstances of the day. Overall I felt great. Was able to run with the elevation set to 1.5% the entire time. Walked a half mile as a cool down. After the run did some squats and calf raises to help strengthen my legs. Probably could have gone heavier with the weights, but I wanted to keep it light for now.

Running thoughts:

Had a guy next to me try to race me. Anytime I moved my speed up he did the same. Not sure why he wanted to do that since he came after I had started running and then also left before I finished so I guess I won? People are very interesting at the gym.

4:34 pm: 5 miles

Overall Analysis:

Body wanted an easy day so I gave it one. Brought my pace wayyy down and let my legs glide on the treadmill. The incline was set to rolling hills so it varied as I ran, which I enjoy a lot. My legs are sore from yesterday and definitely tired. Starting out was a bit challenging, but as I got into the rhythm then it was alright. Gonna do some core, stretching, and calf raises tonight.

Running Thoughts:

Had a long day at work and I wanted to take my mind off of the unsolved coding problems that awaited me after the run so I watched a Nat Geo documentary called "Sharkatraz" while I ran. It's a documentary about the sharks that hunt around Alcatraz and how the guards would use rumors of shark attacks to scare the prisoners into good behavior. Granted, It's not as great as the title, but I learned some interesting things. Apparently the guards at told the prisoners they had tamed some great white sharks and trained them to hunt prisoners who tried to swim away from the island. They would even say they had caught a great white shark (they named him Bruce) and cut off one of his fins so he could only swim in circles around the island waiting for an escaped prisoner to jump into the water. There are even reports of prisoners claiming to see this "one finned shark". Thought that was kinda interesting.

Wasn't able to find time to run, but I played in two soccer games (Total play time of 1 hour and 15 min) so I'm gonna say that's about of 4 miles. Really tried to keep moving the entire time, even if I was jogging in place, but was able continuously run up and down the field.

9:07pm: 4 miles

Overall Anaylsis:

Had a pretty good run. Wanted something hard, but kinda hard so I set the incline to 5% and didn't touch it until the end of the run. Was able slowly increase the pace from 6 mph to 7.5 mph on the last mile. Felt pretty good, but during my last half mile I thought my dinner was gonna come back up. After the run my left shin had some small pain, so I'm going to have to watch that. 100 calf rasies, core, and stretching before bed.

Running Thoughts:

Not many thoughts today. Head was empty and was just enjoying the treadmill. Got a camping trip coming up and so I've been trying to figure out if I can still run while camp out there. Gonna have to pull up some maps. 

5:58 pm: 5 miles

Overall Analysis:

Had a great workout today. Decided to take it to the track and try to work in a little speed, so I ran the Prefontaine. 1 mile warm up, 3 miles (200 m sprint, 200 m jog), and 1 mile cool down. After the first couple of sprints my lungs were hurting, but I was determined to finished so I put my head down and ran it out. Legs felt great the entire time and had no problems with any shin today. Calf raises, core, and stretching tonight before bed.

Running Thoughts:

Relied a lot on positive affirmation today. Really wanted to walk on my recovery jogs or even cut my sprints short, but I kept telling myself that I was strong enough to do it. I really believe that, that's what got me through the workout. Really shows the importance of training your body AND your mind.