Week 1 of training is relatively easy, assuming I've been running as much as I normally do. The week is somewhat wacky with soccer and such, but I'm certainly confident that I can get in the miles I need without too much trouble. Three miles doesn't make a lot of sense to me - but then again, with a "rehabbing ankle", maybe it's a good idea! So, with that in mind, here's the plan.
Monday - Cross TrainingUpdate: Cross training this week is for my fingers only. That means knitting. I'll scout out the pool tomorrow when I run over lunch and see if it looks interesting. I think it's kinda small ... but then again, it's free.
Tuesday - Run 3 miles actual: 5 milesHooray - I managed to run over lunch at work. Today's route is described
here. It's pretty similar to a route I used to run while working at
Apple so I had a good idea of where I was going. The shortcut through McClellan Park was a happy accident - there's a hash in there some day. The showers at the pool are great. It sure looked inviting.
Wednesday - Run 5 miles actual: ~5 milesWednesday is soccer day! Tonight is a U14G game (that means 35m halves) that should be pretty interesting. I don't usually get 5 miles of work out of an AR slot, but we'll see how it goes. The GPS is in my running bag, and NOT my referee bag, but I'll focus on running harder and side-stepping as opposed to my usual "conservation of energy" idea. I suspect this will count as my "cross training" for this week. Tomorrow will be a challenge since I've got meetings scattered throughout the day and therefore finding a good block of time to run will be challenging. If I get to bed early enough tonight, I can run in the morning and still get to work. Just need to pull my butt out of bed.
Update: The referee who was supposed to be in the middle graciously traded with me so I got to spend a LOT more time running than standing. Once I told him that I'm working on upgrading this season, he immediately put me in the middle and said, "Have a great time!" And I did. 70 minutes of running, rather than back and forth, certainly counts for a workout.Thursday - Run 3 miles actual: 0 milesUpdate: Thursday is a day of rest. Knitting and a glass of wine does an ankle good. Run tomorrow instead.Friday - Rest actual: 4.5 milesWent for a loop in one of my favorite parks, Pulgas Ridge Open Space. There's a trail that's been "under construction" for about 18 months (ok, so I've been hopping the fence and running on it anyway) that I've not been on for a while. Given that it was such a beautiful day, I had to spend a little time on the dirt and in the hills. Much to my delight, the trail is now officially open! Then again, it's kinda fun to be naughty. >:) Regardless,
Saturday - Pace Run 5 miles actual: ~6 milesAnother full day of soccer - this time rather than two lines, I got one big center on a hugeHugeHUGE field! Spent lots of time making sure I covered the whole field so I definitely was up in the 6ish range. Lots of fun ... maybe I should start posting the money earned versus yarn bought total! :-) Looking forward to tomorrow for a nice, relaxing long run.
Sunday - Run 8 miles actual: 8 milesWow - what a beautiful day. I took advantage of a
very late soccer game to sleep in a bit and then go for a run on the trails along the Bay. It's easy access from the house and always quiet, scenic and very relaxing. I did a simple 8 mile out-and-back paying close attention to landmarks so that I can use this for runs later. When I've done this loop in the past, I've gone to the end of the trail and thought it was 4.5 miles to the turnaround - I now believe it's closer to 5. Whatever. So, a solid 8 miles in the morning at a roughly 8:30 pace. Good.
Later on, I had a soccer game and boy, did I ever run for that one. Still a little soreness in the ankle, but overall, it was ok. A good friend/mentor was running one of the lines and suggested I try a "Wide-S" style of positioning rather than a more standard diagonal. The downside is that it take a LOT more running. While I wasn't wearing my GPS, I'd say that I easily ran another 6 miles here. That would bring me to 14 on the day .. but I'll only take credit for the 8 in the morning.
Regardless, it's been a good week.
Total Scheduled Mileage: 24Actual Mileage: 28.5I'll go ahead and put up the post on Mondays and just update it as the week goes by. Saves me from posting every day on this topic and (hopefully) keeps down the clutter. I don't think I'll add a sidebar tag either ... just too many. In general, follow the "Bizz Johnson" tag and you'll find all these posts.
