50K Training, Week 10: The Most Gorgeous Week
Some weeks are just made for running.
This past week was an absolutely gorgeous week of spring weather. The week started out in the upper 30’s in the mornings and was in the low 60’s by the end of the week — which is a pretty abrupt change in temperature. The trees are just starting to get their green leaves, the evening sunsets with a thin crescent moon were lovely, and (though I was never able to spot it) there’s a comet somewhere near the Earth. Though spring is inevitably followed by summer, my least favorite running season here in Texas, I can’t help but love running in the early springtime.
Thursday night’s attempt at finding the comet.
MON: Pace Run 9 mi – Since the rain cancelled my trail run yesterday, and the wind kept me nice and warm in my bed, Liz and I met up for a loop around the lake this morning. Though not 35 mph like yesterday, at 36 degrees we definitely felt the wind this morning. We felt good, added in the hilly path, ran negative splits, and wound up with a pretty fast average pace (9:06). Even though it was only 9 miles, I was too worn out for yoga afterwards.
TUE: Easy Run – 6 mi, Yoga – 20:00 – It was an absolutely gorgeous morning for a run on the Katy Trail. We are getting a little bored with running around the lake and it was a nice change. Tried to keep the pace more conservative, but the average was still only three seconds slower than yesterday’s. Enjoyed some power yoga later in the morning.
WED: Easy Run – 4 mi – Liz took a rest day so I did an easy run in the neighborhood. Legs felt tight and my allergies made me feel fuzzy headed and sluggish. Breezy, but another gorgeous spring morning.
THU: Hill Run – 8 mi – Met Liz and Hari a little later in the morning for a hill run around Lakewood. It was another beautiful day, though the temperatures did climb into the low 60’s by the end of the run. In another month I will be dying for runs in the low 60’s, so I’m not complaining. Liz watched a show Sunday morning that highlighted a study about friendship that says people perceive hills to be less daunting when they are with friends. This certainly seems to be the case when we run hills each week. I can’t imagine trying to run them without my friends (and I would do a lot more walking if I did).
FRI: Yoga – 20:00 – Because of running four straight days, I have been yoga lazy this week. Did some easy forward bends.
The madness that assaults my neighborhood each St Patrick’s Day weekend.
SAT: Long Run – 10 mi – One of the worst runs I’ve had in a long time. It was warm and humid, and I don’t think many of us have acclimated to the warmer temperatures yet. Also, my allergies have been pretty bad all week and, worst of all, my left ITB felt suspiciously tender. It continued during the run and early afternoon, but was never bad enough to call it painful. It was gone after an evening of relaxation on the couch — and it’s not easy to relax on the Saturday before St Patrick’s Day when you live where we do, just off lower Greenville Ave. For those who don’t live here, Greenville Ave. is Mecca to all St. Patrick’s Day revelers in Dallas. The noise of 100,000 drunk people, helicopters, sirens, traffic, loud music, and parties next door and across the alley (including yelling drunk women — why do women yell when they drink too much?) kept us up until 3am. It was a short night.
SUN: Trail Run – Grapevine – 8.7 mi, Yoga – 40:00 – Slept on the couch with the TV on until 3am to drown out the music from the party next door, then got up at 6:30am for the trail run with Hari and Susan. It was 64 deg, overcast, and humid, but surprisingly pleasant during the run. The ITB felt okay today, just a slight twinge of tenderness, so I’m not freaking out. It’s merely making its presence known. I will acknowledge and take tomorrow off. This has been the highest mileage week I’ve run since December, so I will back off. We had a fun encounter with a speeding armadillo on our run who ran right across our path, in a straight line uphill, running much faster than we were. I had no idea they could run that fast! And what kooky looking animals!
Looking forward to Grasslands trail marathon this weekend!
Stats for WEEK 10: Run – 46.3 miles, Yoga – 1:20:00
Armadillo photo courtesy of: Rafi B. from Somewhere in Texas 🙂 (Flickr) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons
RUN NATURE 
it WAS a great week for running! I’m always impressed at your weekly mileage! Nice work!
Take care of that ITB. Don’t ignore the little niggles, because they will progress (do as I say, not as I do!).
It feels much better already after a little rest.
Excellent photo of that moon slice.
Thanks! It was a beautiful evening.
The moon shot is stunning! Congrats on a successful week.
Thanks, but I wish there was a comet in the photo!
WOW! That’s a lot of people in green.
And the armadillo is so cute
And that was only one small slice of the activity on Greenville Ave. Supposedly there were over 100,000 people in our neighborhood that day. THAT’S a lot of green!
Beautiful photos. And that mileage you keep up? Amazing.
Are you running Grasslands this weekend?
Yes I am. Keeping my fingers crossed it doesn’t rain.
These are the times that I am longing to fly to Houston. It’s still freezing cold up here in Ohio. We are flying over to Houston first week of April to cheer for my friend who’s doing the ironman. I can’t wait! I want warmer weather.
Thats a nice shot of the moon btw. 🙂
My husband is from Ohio and loves winter down here. I would love more snow, but our winters really are the best season for running.
COOL Armadillo! Glad you guys are getting spring but I don’t envy your humidity!!
It’s not too bad YET. Just wait until it’s 100 degrees and 90% humidity. Ugh.
It sounds like everyone wants someone else’s winter. I would be pleased to trade an English winter with almost anything else. Here we are in March and it is still windy, wet and sub zero. Good luck in this weekend’s marathon.
I was in London one March and FROZE, even when the sun was shining!!!
Absolutely gorgeous photo of the moon. But I’d take a photo of an armadillo any day. Gotta love those crazy little guys. Always makes me smile. Those…and kangaroos…
And those crazy little guys can MOVE!
Checking in, how are you doing? Haven’t heard from your blog in a while! Hope all is well.
I fractured my third metatarsal in my trail marathon and haven’t been able to run this past month. My kids have been visiting, I had a funeral in Ohio, and have just been incredibly busy. Next week I’m off to Utah for a short vacation and hope to get back to blogging afterwards. Thanks for checking in!
Prayers for a sound recovery of your foot, and all peace and prosperity to your family.