Pace Run / Recovery Run

I've switched this week to the fall marathoner's weekday schedule, with slight modifications, due to scheduling issues with the kids' school. I won't be doing the full 7 mile recovery runs right away on Tuesday/Thursday, but 30-45 minute runs on those days will do just fine for now, maybe going slightly longer on Thursdays. And on Saturdays, I'll still be adjusting the length of that run to suit my needs until Freescale training starts. So, my new schedule should be Monday pace run, Tuesday 30-45 minute recovery run and weights, Wednesday speedwork, Thursday 40-50 minute recovery run, Friday cycle and weights, Saturday long run. The main trick for this week is getting myself to the gym on the scheduled days. We'll see.

This morning, the marathoners had a nice and easy 7 miler scheduled, after their 22 miler on Saturday. My plan was to start out with them, "nice and easy," and then maybe pick up the pace a bit for the last 3 or 4 miles. I met up with everyone at 5:45am at RunTex. It was good to see some of my old running buddies after being sort of segregated from them when they moved to the different schedule. Gilbert again told everyone to go out nice and easy for the 7 mile loop, and then we were off. It stayed dark for most of the run, until we hit the last couple of miles, but that was fine with me. Alex got "promoted" to a faster group by Gilbert, so I guess that's the last that I'll get to run with him. It was nice while it lasted, I guess. I ran with a pack of 7 people, including Jason, Thon, Richard, Jan, Kim, and one guy that I didn't know. We cruised along, truly easy, testing our night vision as we negotiated the obstacles found on the trail. I nearly got taken down by a cardboard box on the I-35 bridge, and decided to leave a little more room ahead of me to see such things coming.

We stayed right together until we got to the water truck at Mopac. The whole gang stopped for a quick drink of water (yes, it was hot and humid), but all the coolers were empty. Jan and I got a sip of water at the fountain instead, and took off for the last couple of miles. I don't know who decided to do it, but we really picked it up over the last two miles. It felt just fine, though, and made for a fun end to the run. I felt strong, and happily I wasn't stiff or sore from Saturday's run.

The splits? 9:52, 9:32, 9:52, 9:10, .76 miles at 9:46 pace, then 1:30 water stop, and last miles at 8:03 and 8:04 pace. Overall, 9:09 pace for just under 7 miles.

We knocked out 10 x 100m striders on the grass there at Auditorium Shores, and those went well, too. When we got to RunTex, Gilbert wanted us to do situps, and I was going just fine after 3 sets of 20, but then he made a slight adjustment with my feet, pushing them closer to my body, and I couldn't do any more. Amazing how something that minor can totally change an exercise! Instead, he had me do 30 seconds of static leg raises, where you hold your feet slightly off the ground for 30 seconds. Really tough exercises. This was another sign that I needed to return to the gym. Hopefully, tomorrow?

Finished the morning off with the full stretching routine with Alex, and I felt great. Some more conversation with Paul and Jan, and it was time to get home. With the strides, it was a total mileage day of 7.6 miles. A good start to the week. Next Monday, the marathoners are scheduled for a 10 mile time trial (zoiks!). Perhaps I'll do 7 miles instead? We'll see...