Monday Rest Day (Ab workout at night)
Tuesday I slept in and decided to run at night, this was not a good decision. It was muggy out that night and when 8:30pm came along I was not in the mood to run. They say sometimes just getting out the door is the hardest part unfortunately this was not one of those times. My legs felt very heavy and the run was sluggish I don't think my body was quite recovered from the 19 miler on the previous Saturday. I finished 4.85 miles at a pace of 8:33 and was happy to be done but knew I had to get up in 7 hours and do my next run.
Wednesday came early as I had trouble falling asleep after that late night run and only got about 5 hours of sleep.Today was supposed to be my speed work day so I ran 4.06 miles in a "Tempo" style, this is where you run fast almost sprint speeds for short durations (1/4 or 1/2 mile in my case) and then jog for the same distance then repeat. This went well overall and I averaged a pace of 7:59 and then got another Ab workout in that night.
Thursday I was not excited about another early morning since my legs had been feeling heavy and sure enough the run was difficult. My body doesn't seem to want to recover from that last long run but it had better get on the program because my "will" is not going to wait around for my legs to catch up. It's a mental struggle when a 5 mile run feels difficult and you start thinking how am I ever going to run 50. I try my best to not think about those things run-to-run and just worry about getting in the miles. I finished the run getting in 4.16 miles at an average pace of 8:39 and a little nervous for my 3 hour Saturday Run.
Friday Rest Day
Saturday I drove down to the Eastbank Esplanade to get in my 3 hour run. The views were great and the route gave you allot to look at (It is Portland) but once again my legs felt heavy from the first miles. I enjoyed the run overall and pushed through the heavy legs and minor aches and pains to finish 19.05 miles at an average pace of 9:32. I was glad it was over but very nervous about Sunday's run. This is my heavy week it falls every 4 weeks where I do a long run on Saturday and then a shorter but still long run on Sunday. I wasn't sure how I was gonna feel or even accomplish Sunday's 90 minute run, but that is the idea of the training. In a 50 mile race you will inevitably be running on tired hurting legs and you need to have confidence that you can make it to the finish and assurance that your not doing serious damage to yourself.
Sunday's run started pretty good, I had felt very stiff and had many nagging pains after the Saturday run but as soon as I started on Sunday my legs actually felt better running then they had felt hobbling around the house for the last 18 hours. It was pretty warm out and I did not bring enough water but overall I kind of just zoned out and didn't have any struggles until about the last 2 miles. I finished 10.03 with an average pace of 9:11 and a little more confidence that even when things are daunting you just have to jump in and see if you can swim.
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