Sunday, January 29, 2006

Pushing Real Hard

Awoke this morning mildly sore from yesterday's gym workout and my 1.5 hr deep tissue massage. I should've hydrated better too!
I headed up to Nimitz trail again, and being in an adventurous mood, I veered off the beaten path and discovered a new trail ( and no, I didn't get lost this time!)
The gradual climb along the single track led to more gorgeous green pastures. While wet, the ground was in pretty decent shape the first half mile or so, then things started getting slippery. I scooted over to the farside of the trail trying to stay on the grassy parts, which seemed to work for awhile.
It was so beautiful, the sun shining and the air crisp, it was by far the best part of the run. This trail seemed to go on forever, and without my watch and my not so trusty pedometer I wasn't sure how far along I was. According to the marker on the main trail I had already gone 2 miles , (and that was before I ventured off the main trail) I checked again on the single track it showed that I had only gone 1.27. Whatever!
The trip back on the single track was interesting, as I focused primarily on not slipping.
I had zero traction in some spots and my main concern was avoiding falling into a cow patty!! lol.
I read up a little on speedwork this week, and one of the things I tried to do today was sprint on hills. Let me tell yah, it kicked my ass.
Back on the main trail, I focused on my form (no rounded shoulders!!) and attacked the short but steep hill just around mile 3. A long slow recovery proceeded until around 3.4 (according to the spray painted marker on the asphalt), where with, alot less gusto I ran as fast as I could up a much longer, though not as steep hill, I didn't get too far before needing to slow down.
I now know what it means to feel your lungs burn.....holy shit!
I continued on, passing the 4 mile marker and went just a bit further to the next cattle crossing and then turned around.
Again with the sprinting, ovey.......I was petering out fast. I stopped to walk at mile 7, and then picked up again the last 1/2 mile, cursing, out loud I might add, the last little bit of incline. I accidently hit the wrong button on my pedometer, erasing all of the , albeit dubious information......but I estimate I ran a solid 7 miles..........With speedwork....... On hills!!!
The last pedometer reading read 5.27 miles in 1:49:00 and with no watch I have no idea how long I was actually out, I'm sure it was close to 2 hrs. With the walking, stopping to get the rock outta my shoe and stashing my jacket and water bottle off the trail.
Hey, I went long to boot!
My ass is whooped.
Today, T and I celebrate our 11th anniversay. Mom will be here soon and our date will include a trip to Home Depot to check out sinks and later dinner at Sea Salt. Phase One of the remodel is complete, the new cabinetry and island configuration turned out really nice.
Phase Two will commence this week. I've changed my mind at least a dozen times regarding the counter tops. How is one suppose to come to any kind of conclusion based on those 2x2 tile samples? So far the only thing I'm sure of is the granite for the island, to cut costs we're going with Corian for the rest of the counters, plus T has worked out a trade for this with our friend Dwight, an artist/Corian installer extroidinaire.
Looking forward to Miami race reports!