Impromptu Long Run

Thursday mornings Erin and I normally run from The Fargo Running Company.  They sponsor Tuesday and Thursday morning runs, and as you accumulate miles you can get some stuff. The marathon training plan Erin is following called for 4 miles this morning.  Thinking that was shorter then what I wanted to do I planned on running to the store by myself, meeting Erin and running 4 with her.  It would be about 8 miles total.  This morning when I got up Erin was sick and told me she wasn't going to run this morning, so I changed my plan a little.  I ran 4 miles to the store, 3 with the group, and back home for a total of just over 11 miles this morning.  The weather was perfect, 24 degrees and calm wind the entire way.  I over dressed a little because the previous morning I was under dressed as the temperature dropped on us and the wind picked up. I was very hungry when I got home and I think I should have brought more calories with me. Having my long run out of the way this week is nice.  I shouldn't have to run any bonus miles after the group run on Saturday.

Last Saturdays group run was in the Dome because of the cold weather we were having.  It was the first time I've run in the dome and was concerned that it would be very boring, but was pleasantly surprised by how quickly the time passed. The smaller loops meant that I could run with people that don't normally run my pace, and with people running both directions there was always people around.

Feeling like I'm in a bit of a rut

The end of 2010 was rather busy for me.  Between Thanksgiving and the end of the year I was working between 10 and 20 hours of overtime a week, with most weeks being closer to 20 then 10. Since the first of the year I'm back near 40 hour weeks.  In addition to the extra hours at work I was involved in a challenge on the daily mile going from December 15th through January 15th.  The competition was about who could put in the most time doing cardio activities.  I put in 49 hours, averaging about 100 minutes a day throughout the challenge.

The past week I've been feeling a little odd,which I find unexpected because I'm not as busy as I was a month ago.  Most of my workouts now are geared around the marathon training program, with some biking thrown in to aid in recovery and keeping my non running leg muscles in good shape. I've lost some of the fire I had when I was in my cardio competition.

I'm not sure if I'm burned out from so much activity, or if it's more related to the sudden slow down and losing some of my routine. Following my own advice for dealing with burnout I rested last night and this morning.  This afternoon I'll run at least 4 miles on the treadmill at the gym and see how it goes from there.

First week of marathon training

This week was the start of the marathon training group.  We had a loosely organized fun run on Saturday.  There was about 20 of us that ran from the downtown Y.  The full marathon group was shooting for around 7 miles.  Erin ran with Rick and Carolyn(We just met Carolyn this morning), while I ran a head with a group of about 6 runners.  I was able to get in a bonus mile after I returned to the Y by going back out to look for Erin.  The weather was nice and most people I talked to said they had overdressed for the conditions.

This morning I got up early and ran 5 miles by myself.  I really enjoy running with friends in a group, but every now and then it's nice to go by yourself.  It was -7 out, but the wind was very light.  Since it was early on a Sunday morning I was the only person out and the only sound was the soft crunch of the newly fallen snow as I cruised around the neighborhood.  The first 3 miles I has some tightness in my legs and felt pressure in both of my calf muscles. I've felt this a few times in the past weeks, generally when I'm tired.  Hopefully I can figure out what is causing this and how I can adjust so it doesn't happen.

Later this morning Erin and I are going to the gym to workout with one of Erin's coworkers and her husband.  They're new to the whole going to the gym experience, so Erin and I are going to do our best impression of personal trainers and show them how things work and get them started.

This coming week I'm going to focus on what I eat and keeping my activity level up.  I think I'll also try to work in some intervals on the bike at the gym and see how that goes.

Getting Started

I thought I'd try to share some of my adventures here as well as information about my training and planing that goes into them. I'm not sure I'll stick with this, but I'll give it a shot and see how it goes.

My latest adventure was Friday night. 8 of us went running near Hawley after work in some nasty weather.  The temp was around 5° F with the wind from the north at between 15 and 20 mph. Erin and I picked up or friends Rick and Kristi and then headed over to Maggie and Cory place to meet up with them, Rachel and Tim. by the time we got out to the church it was dark and light snow had been falling for a while leading to small drifts on the rural gravel roads. Tim who was still nursing an injury did not run, but brought his snowshoes along and stayed near where we parked.  At first when we started running we were all very quiet, I suspect we were all thinking how crazy it was to be out running in those conditions.  After a mile or so we started to warm up and got a little more talkative. Conditions improved when we turned East after starting the run traveling straight into the north wind. At the 3 mile mark we turned around and headed back to the church we had parked at. Rick, Kristi, Erin and I had only planned on running 6 and heading back to town while Cory would drive along with Maggie and Rachel as they ran 12 more miles.  Tim got a ride back to town with us as he didn't want to wait for Rachel and Maggie to finish their run.  After dropping Tim, Rick and Kristi off Erin and I headed over to Applebees for half priced appetizers.  We ate more then we probably should have and headed home exhausted after a long day and hard run.