GETTING READY FOR THE 10K

I've determined I look terrible in a beanie.

My legs felt pretty good after skiing last week. Sore for sure, but nothing too crazy. There was one muscle or tendon or something in my thigh that was really sore... I don't think I've ever had something that sore before! Luckily, it is not something I felt or use during my every day life, only when I was trying to get up from specific laying positions. Weird! Anyways, that's all better now and my legs feel pretty good for the most part.

Last Tuesday I did three easy miles at the gym to shake the skiing cobwebs out. That went well, especially once I warmed up. The next day I went to PRC and didn't have plans to run very fast. Well, only five people showed up for the group run, and two were running much slower than I would have liked, so I just trailed behind two other dudes. I figured they were going to be running too fast, but they started off slower so I just kind of mindlessly went with them.

If I look cold, it's because I was.

About a half mile in I glance at my watch, thinking we are maybe doing 8:45 or so, and I am averaging 8:15. At that point I'm warmed up and begin wondering if maybe I could turn the run into a tempo run since my legs felt okay. The two dudes ended up shooting off leaving me to set my own pace. I made it my goal to maintain around 7:55/mile, the pace I'll need to pace Runs for Cookies at two weeks. I did that pace for four miles and hit: 8:01, 7:45, 7:55, 7:49. Despite some somewhat tired legs still from skiing, the run went well. Definitely more of a challenging pace that it used to be, but still a bit above what my current 10k race pace would be (probably 7:30ish). I slowed down for a cool down the last mile for a total of five miles, but I could have maintained that pace for 6.22 if I had to.

After that run it was two days of rest until Saturday, when I went to run ten miles with Sunstone again. Katie joined the group for the first time, so it was nice to have her there. Early morning long runs still aren't my favorite thing in the world, but I am always glad I did them once I am finished. This one was no different... I didn't necessarily enjoy myself, but it wasn't terrible. It was nice to have company and start the weekend off with something active. I basically did absolutely nothing the rest of Saturday and Sunday, but after Saturday morning, I didn't feel too guilty about it.