This morning we had the traditional workout for a few days before a race. It was an easy warm-up followed by some fast and slow intervals around Town Lake. We ran the seven-mile loop in the cold and rain. My legs felt good, but I still have a little difficulty breathing. I’ve just got a couple days now to work that out. I did some balance drills afterwards, and that all felt good, too.
I was feeling pretty sick for a couple days, and I didn’t go running Tuesday because of it. I felt a lot better today, so I headed out for my easy run. I did my 0 to 5 to 0 loop again, and I felt pretty good. I wasn’t particularly fast, but that’s all right. I finished with some strides, and those felt really good. From there I went to the gym and got a pretty total body workout. I’m still pushing fluids tonight, and hopefully I’ll be all fixed by tomorrow morning so I can go run fast again.
This morning was a strange little workout. I arrived a little early to get some additional warm-up time as usual. There is a race this weekend, and the traditional speed workout a few days before a race is to run intervals around Town Lake. The funny thing is that almost no one’s running the race this weekend because the course is too insane. So most of us were doing this workout just for fun. The plan was to warm up for 15 minutes and then do 15 times one minute fast and one minute slow. By the end of the first interval, I found myself between groups. The really fast people were out in front of me, and the next group was a little behind. I decided I’d try to catch the group up ahead, but then they made a turn I didn’t quite understand. There was some construction on the trail, and they exited before we were forced to. When we merged back together, they were well in front of me, and I ran by myself the whole rest of the way. I felt pretty good and smooth, and I went fast enough to turn it into a pretty good little workout. I did a handful of strides at the end, and that was that.
This morning was the coldest day so far this season. I met a couple of the others for an easy lap around Town Lake. We started and stopped at Barton Springs, so it was a little under eight miles. I felt good, and it was nice to have company. It didn’t really feel that cold once we got moving. I threw in a few strides at the end and then hit the gym. It was amusing to see the extra crowds at the gym since it’s the start of a new year.
This morning my plan was to extend my easy run a little bit to make up for how much I ate over the last couple days. I had twelve in mind, but I wasn’t sure how I was going to make that. It was dark, windy, and raining when I showed up at Town Lake this morning, and I took my time getting started. Once I did, I headed west on the trail, not really paying much attention. There really weren’t very many people out there today. I warmed up after about a mile and just carried my hat the rest of the way. By then it had stopped raining, too. Over on the north side of the trail, I saw the Wednesday group heading to AHS, and then shortly after that I had to make the detour around the construction on the trail. Throughout the run today I had brief flashes where my leg movement just felt really smooth and natural, but then that would pass and I’d be back to the old ways. The good news there is I’m becoming much more aware of it, and I can recall the good stuff when I realize I need to. I decided to turn around when I got to I-35. That was five miles, so I figured maybe I would add an out and back once I got back to the zero marker. It was still pretty empty out there. When I climbed up to the street by Congress to go around the detour again I tried to make my legs move really fast going up the stairs. That seems harder than bounding up them two at a time like I usually do. When I got to the street, my legs felt perfect for a while, and it was really fun to run so smoothly down the sidewalk. When I got to MoPac and crossed the bridge, I was thinking about how an out-and-back would be a little annoying, so I decided to add some distance by running over to Barton Springs once I got to the bridge by the one-mile marker. I ran over by the pool and made a lap around the road where we used to run 900 meter laps (haven’t done that workout in a while) before heading back to the trail. It was finally light enough to see by the time I got back to the zero marker, and I still wanted a little bit more distance. So, I added a lap around Auditorium Shores, and that brought the total to about twelve and a quarter. I did a few strides, and those felt really good. I wasn’t very fast today, but my legs felt good and my heart rate was nice and low. I’ll take it. From there, I headed to the gym where I did a total body workout, and that all felt good, too. It’s nice to have a little flexibility in my schedule.
Well I guess I did something right yesterday because I didn’t feel anything at all in my legs today even after that monster hill workout. Maybe all that sprinting at the top loosens everything up. Either way, I went out and ran at Town Lake this morning. I didn’t really have an objective, and I actually ended up running about ten miles, all west of I-35. I felt smooth, and my heart rate was spectacularly low. I finished by Auditorium Shores, and Gilbert was there, so he reminded me about using a quick turnover, so I did a bunch of strides to practice that. That was better, so then I went to the gym. I did all my leg exercises, and I’ll do some core tonight. I don’t think my legs have ever felt better.
This morning it was just me and my thoughts on an easy lap around Town Lake. I ran from Barton Springs, so with the trip to and from the loop, it was eight miles. I started off feeling a bit tight, but after a mile or so I really felt good. My legs felt graceful again, and I ran around the loop with ease. It was a little bit cold and wet, but I didn’t really notice that until I finished. My heart rate was a little bit high on the run, and I’m not sure why that was. I did a handful of strides and then hit the gym for some leg exercises. Tonight I did another monster core workout, so I expect to be a little sore tomorrow.
A lot of people are racing this weekend, so we did the traditional preparation workout this morning. I’m still on the fence. I feel all right, but I don’t feel like I have enough quickness in my legs right now to do a really good job. So for now I’m not planning to race. I did get to enjoy the intervals, though.
We warmed up by running slowly for a couple miles. Heading counterclockwise from RunTex around the seven-mile loop, that put us just across the bridge at I-35. From there, we alternated fast and slow for a minute each until we were back across the river on the south side of the trail. I stuck to the front group for most of the way, but I drifted back a bit on the last couple fast sections. We had a brief run-in with the stick lady during the cool-down, but we all survived. I did a handful of strides at Auditorium Shores at the end, and by the end of those I was feeling pretty good.
This morning, I joined the group running from Barton Springs again. That adds a little bit of distance on to my run around the normal seven-mile loop. The big news is that with the time change we were actually able to see for most of the run. It was really different. I probably went a little faster than I should have, but I felt smooth, and my heart rate was all right. It was a fun little run. I had an early meeting, so I had to skip my gym trip afterwards.
This morning I ran the seven-mile loop around Town Lake. I was up late last night, so I was a bit sleepy and did not manage say “hi” to everyone I saw. I had a nice little run, though, and my legs felt pretty good. I did some strides in the dark afterwards, and I didn’t really feel very quick on my feet. That workout yesterday was pretty intense, though, so that’s all right. I stopped by the gym afterwards for some leg weights and a bunch of core. I feel really good now, so I should be all ready to run fast tomorrow morning.