Christmas Running

My goal was to have a high-volume week last week leading into the "12 Runs of Christmas" challenge.  Unfortunately, I started the week with a 12-miler on Wednesday that turned into an 11-miler due to a strain in my left calf.  It started tightening up around the 10 mile mark, and I thought I could pound some water and slow down to get it to subside.  It kept getting tighter and tighter until I was sure it was going to cramp hard, so I stopped at 11 miles.  I was thinking that since I never let it actually cramp up I could massage it a bit when I got home and maybe ice it a little in the evening and it would be a 1 or 2-day deal.  I did all of that, and was feeling pretty good the next day.  It was sore, but I thought I might be able to head out for a slow jog and it would loosen up.  Once again, I was wrong.  About a mile into the run my calf started hurting worse than the day before.  Rather than doing what I always do and try to run through it, I decided to walk.  I walked the last 3 miles of a 4-mile "run".  It felt odd to be walking on a trail I've run countless miles on, but I knew that running was only going to lengthen my recovery time.

As a result of the injury, I took a couple days off with hopes of being running again for the Christmas Challenge.  I was going to take a "test" run on Saturday, but my wife surprised me with a super secret mega date.  Her mother is staying with us, and we had the rare opportunity to go out...OVERNIGHT!  Our son is almost 1 1/2 and this was only the second overnight trip we've ever taken without him.  I figured, even though I love running and was anxious to get back out there, this would be way more fun.  My wife booked us a really nice hotel in downtown DC with a hot tub in our room, we drank whiskey and cokes (my favorite adult beverage :-)) in the back of a town car as it drove us around to see the monuments at night, we ate at Charlie Palmer Steak House where I had a filet mignon that practically melted in my mouth, and we ended the night with a soak in our own personal hot tub.  To cap it off, she arranged a couples massage the next morning in our room.  The weekend was absolutely incredible and I didn't think about running one little bit.  We spent the two days captured in each other's company and it was beautiful.

During my massage I realized that my legs were much more sore than I had thought.  Not just my strained calf, but my quads, my calves, my hamstrings, everything was sore.  I'm still relatively new to running and I think I overlook how long it takes to recover sometimes.  I decided to give myself a Christmas present this year and not run until my legs don't hurt.  As I write this, I think I'm there, but today makes an entire week off.  I'll probably get back to running tomorrow or the next day, but I think my strained calf was my body's way of telling me it needed a break.  I'm glad that I was actually able to rest for a bit, and not turn this minor injury into one that I'd be milking for 3 or 4 weeks.  Now I'm excited to get back to running and try out some of my awesome new Christmas gifts!

Training Summary for Last Week:

Monday:       Off
Tuesday:       Off
Wednesday:  11.00 miles; 1:42:35; avg. pace 9:20/mi
Thursday:      4.16 miles; 57:20; avg. pace 13:47/mi
Friday:          Off
Saturday:      Off
Sunday:        Off

Total Mileage:  15.16 miles
Total Time:       2:39:55
Average Pace:  10:33/mi

Happy Running!

The Calm Before the Storm

I took it easy last week, following the Gar Williams Half Marathon.  I took Monday off after the half marathon, and then tried to run on Tuesday but I was hurting.  Not like an injured hurting, but more like an "I just ran 13.1 miles faster than I ever have before" kind of hurting.  I called it quits 2 miles into my run on Tuesday and figured I'd just sort of run for fun for the week.  No pace or mileage goals.  I'd just run to run.  I think I earned that.

The one longer run I did on Saturday was 8 miles, and it was absolutely beautiful.  I ran along the Potomac River on the Mount Vernon Trail.  It was slightly breezy, incredibly sunny, and a cool 50-ish degrees.  I love running past Gravelly Point Park (here are some pictures) where planes take-off and land literally right over your head.  You can also look across the water at the monuments in DC, and on a clear, sunny day the colors are so vibrant.  The contrast between the dark blue water and the sparkling white monuments, with trees intermixed, can be quite a scene.

I plan to approach this week with a little more intensity.  I don't have anymore races lined up before we leave for India in January, but I am going to attempt the "12 Runs of Christmas" challenge.  That will be some big volume for me and I'm a tad bit nervous about it.  I figure that I can have one more tough week, and the first week of the challenge will almost be like a recovery week; however, the second week of the challenge will be tough.  Oh well, here's to trying new things!

Training Summary for Last Week:

Monday:       Off
Tuesday:       2.00 miles; 20:00; avg. pace 10:00/mi
Wednesday:  4.06 miles; 36:05; avg. pace 8:53/mi
Thursday:      Off
Friday:          4.00 miles; 34:15; avg. pace 8:33/mi
Saturday:      8.02 miles; 1:11:10; avg. pace 8:52/mi
Sunday:         Off

Total Mileage:  18.08 miles
Total Time:       2:41:30
Average Pace:  8:56/mi

Happy Running!

The 12 Runs of Christmas

I stumbled onto Mark's great idea on Twitter the other day (@ marathoner #12runsofchristmas).  The 12 Days of Christmas, runner style.  Mark clearly welcomes all faiths in the challenge, so don't think you need to be Christian to take part in the running festivities.  The challenge is to start on Christmas Day, December 25th, and run at least 1 mile, the next day at least 2 miles, and so on until you get to 12 miles on January 5th.    This doesn't sound like that much running, but it actually works out to 78 miles in 12 days, and 63 of those miles are in the last 7 days.  I've never run 63 miles in one week or run everyday for 12 days straight, but it sounds like a fun challenge and I'm going to give it a try.  Hopefully I'll even find some crazy runners in the DC area that would like to run a day or two of the challenge with me.

This will be a pretty big bump in weekly mileage from my current training schedule, so I'm going to try to put in a couple big weeks in preparation for the challenge.  I like mixing up my training routine to keep things interesting, and I'm excited for a new challenge that I wouldn't have thought to try on my own.  Let me know if you plan to attempt the challenge, or one of the variations listed on Mark's blog!

Happy Holidays, and Happy Running!