Monday, February 18, 2008

Training - Week 10, which is actually week 11...

Well, that was a good week, but apparently I can't count too well...

As I was doing my long run today I started trying to figure out the rest of the training schedule in my head, and I couldn't make it fit. I thought I had a week left over. Now that I'm writing I checked my schedule, sure enough it's week 11 rather than 10. I'll have to go back and see where I lost a week. However, this week coming up is a drop back week which I'm grateful for.

I'll be out of town next week and have to leave this coming Saturday, meaning I'll have to do the long run in a different place and do it outside. I'll be at an airport hotel just south of San Francisco International. There's a nice running path along the water (about a 4 mile loop), it's quiet, and just a little on the cool side in the mornings. I'm looking forward to it.

Yesterday I mentioned I was postponing my long run until today. I finally got it in, and my mantra today was "Who cares?" Not as in 'who cares whether I run this or not?', but as in 'who cares about time, about how many walk breaks I take, what my pace is...'

I decided to give myself the grace of just finishing and not worrying about any other metric that I usually go by. Oddly enough even with more breaks for water, walking, etc., my per-mile pace was only about 5% above what I expect race pace to be. So, pretty darned good.

Oh, and one other thing--I tried my first ice bath today. It's pretty simple--fill the tub with cold water, add ice, jump in, and shiver until your legs are numb. Sounds bad but it helps reduce the swelling, micro-tears, and pain in your muscles after a run. I sat in the tub with a jacket over my shoulders holding a cup of hot coffee, and it OK. It got painfully cold after about 5-10 minutes, but it was just enough to do the trick.

Tomorrow is a rest day, then back at the schedule. And of course, this will be week 12... (C;

P.S.--I plumb forgot to record my mileage for the week...here it is. My ORN, if you will (what's an ORN? See my blog pal Joe's explanation here):

Wednesday - 6 miles (scheduled for 4)
Thursday - 8 miles
Friday - 6 miles (scheduled for 4)
Monday - 16 miles

For a total of 36 miles this week. I also caught up 4 miles on my defecit, so now I'm only 5.5 miles behind schedule.

3 comments:

Rick said...

So... if this week's last week's next week and, next week is this week's next week, which week are we running in? I say half.

Nicely done on the run and the grace-filled nature of it. I decided last Saturday that I need to do that with my runs, especially the long ones, as well.

Yea... the ice bath... I just haven't mustered the inner gusto to attempt one yet, though I have heard nothing but positives as to their effectiveness. Makes me think of that Seinfeld episode too.
:-D

Sara McCarty said...

Hi Jim, glad to hear that training is going well...no matter what week it is. I've started utilizing the ice bath as well. I took one last week after my 18 miler and I wasn't a bit sore the next day! Very pleasant surprise! Although I think the ice hurt worse than the run! A fleece and a cup of hot tea helped a lot. And you definitely need something to distract you from the pain...I spent that 15 minutes watching my cat bat at the ice cubes in the bathtub while trying not to fall in. And the dog desperately wanted to eat the ice cubes (we give them to her as treats). She was so confused. :)

Jim said...

Rick...so now last week's "last week" is week before last, so the next week from last week would have been...oh heck, now I'm getting a headache. (C: Thanks for your comment. I've decided my runs need a lot more grace to them, and I need to be a lot less harsh on myself. I'm not training for the Olympics (well, I am, but only in my mind). RE: ice baths--on the, uh, "Seinfeld effect"--you know that goes away after a while, right? :-D

Sara I agree with you, the ice hurt more than the run did! My cats didn't come in while I was in the bath, but they both wanted to jump in the tub and lick the water afterwards. EEEEEW! I wonder why the water in the tub or sink or whatever is so much more attractive than the water in their WATER BOWLS...maybe it's a forbidden treat or something. Who knows.