Boston minus 2 weeks now. Heading into the week a little banged up after Big River, but fortunately it's a taper week.
Monday: 0
Stood in the pouring rain in West Greenwich watching Mark's first ever high school meet. 3rd overall in the 3K in 10:49. Only freshman to place in any event for Westerly - not bad.
Tuesday: 0
Haven't taken a double zero in a while, but the legs are still sore.
Had a local sighting of a FiveK on a bike - could it be? Yes, indeed. Right after Boston, I need to get into the bike and swim and start my tri season prep.
Wednesday: 4
Went out for an easy paced road run. Soreness/stiffness in legs are gone, but still have that mild left knee pain. Was hoping it would dissipate into the run, and it's pretty minor and not stopping me from running; just frustrating. Run felt terrible; couldn't wait to finish it.
My highlight today was my bird's eye view as timer for the first WMS meet of the season (thanks also to Mike Crutchley for volunteering, especially so cold and windy!) and getting to watch Matthew run the 3K. He ran most of the race in 3rd place, then by the 5th lap he took 2nd. He hung just behind the leader for the next two laps, and on the bell lap he had enough in the tank to surge ahead and win the race in 10:56 and handily beat the state qualifying time. He was stoked as his first race win ever and the high school track coach was watching him and came up to him afterwards to tell him that was just a few seconds off his brother's 3K time from Monday. Them's fightin' words!
Thursday: 4
Misquamicut slog. Very slow, flat, and easy. Uncomfortable, but less pain than yesterday.
Friday: 6
Legs felt best so far this week. Led the WMS distance runners on a 4-mile loop run from WHS. Knee didn't bother me until about Mile 2. Since I had to wait to pick up Matthew anyway, after a rest I ran 2 miles on the track: 6:14, 5:53 - felt really good on the track surface.
Saturday: 0
Decided to take another day off running to rest. I did take my bike out for the first time since September. Literally wiped the cobwebs off the bike. Bike about 12 miles total, mostly in measuring the "Clamdigger 5K" course, and painting start, finish, and mile markers on the road.
Sunday: 6
Race directing and running Clamdigger 5K. 6 miles includes warm-up, the 5K race, and leading the Kids 1K run. Fun day; separate report to follow.
Best news of all: it's the first time since Big River that I ran completely pain-free! Huge confidence booster for me heading into final week of Boston taper.
Weekly mileage total: 20
Week recap: This is much less mileage than I was looking for this week, even including the taper. I had a really tough time recovering from the Big River Half. Not sure if it was a one-time issue, or just everyone recovers differently depending on surface, distance, pace, etc.
Anyway, even though I didn't have a good week running this week, I'm thankful to be feeling completely better. Next week should be a really easy week - other than some strides mid-week, I'm looking at running just 4 or 5 days, and avoiding speedwork, hills, and trails. Weather for the next week looks fantastic!
I think we're all nursing Big River battle scars. At least it's during your taperin'!
ReplyDeleteThe track meet was fun (and cold)! I'm in for the May meet as well.
ReplyDeleteJeff, I'm glad you recovered by the end of the week. I feel guilty for talking up the Big River race to you and FiveK. Obviously, our bodies react differently to different surfaces. I'm glad you'll be at full strength for Boston. Can't wait for that result!
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