NEW 10K ROUTE AND INJURY ALERT

So yesterday my mission was to find my new 10k route from the house. Since I enjoyed my 5k route so much, it seemed natural to just extend the 10k off the 5k. I could always just do the 5k twice, but that would be BORING. Plus, it's fun to plan new routes!

The one has me starting at the usual place and then cutting through on Flagstone Drive to Rigert Road. I could just go all the way up 155th to Rigert and it would be about the same distance, but I like a little adventure!


Today's 10k adventure.



I turn up 170th after going west on Rigert and then head back east once I hit Bany/Hart. I make a little foray in one of the powerline parks to add a bit of distance then back onto Hart. Hart hits 155th, I head south, turn on Sexton Mountain, and am now on my 5k route.

I still needed to add a little bit of distance so instead of just heading down Murray like I do on the 5k, I decided to cut through the neighborhoods and two parks. Sounds pretty, right? Well the parks are there for a reason... they are each little steep hills that couldn't be developed.

After trudging up and down those (including about a minute of getting lost) I decided I didn't want to do that again. My route had enough hills and these were steep MFers. Eventually I hit Beard and resumed the 5k.

So injury update. My left calf is definitely strained. It was the one that cramped up during my 15.4 mile run and was giving me a bit of grief on my 5k Tuesday. Well, I stretched it out extra good before this run but it started giving me trouble about three miles in. It really only hurts and feels strained when I am running uphill, so I was reduced to a slow trudge up the hills. Any bigger stride and it felt like my muscle would tear. I could run the flats and downhills pretty much unaffected, so it's not too bad. I'll just keep stretching and taking it easy on the uphills and hopefully it'll heal up quickly.



Modified (final?) 10k route.

Since I wasn't a huge fan of those hilly parks, I need to modify my route a little bit the next time I run that 10k. I fiddled around with the area around those parks for a while, running through the neighborhood streets instead of the parks, but in order to get the distance I wanted I had to take too my illogical turns, long ways around loops, etc. It just wasn't working. Then I realized I could make up the distance anywhere I wanted, it doesn't have to be there.

After a quick tweak I added a little bit around the powerline park detour and then forgot the whole neighborhood/park detour. It's a simple change, gets the distance I want, and makes the Sexton Mountain/Murray part easy again. In fact, I run the whole entire 5k route except the stretch of 155th from Flagstone to Sexton Mountain, maybe 300 yards or so. As you can see on the map, if you cut it down 155th, there are two distinct little 5ks, but they blend together nicely into a 10k.