Running with Jack

Yesterday it warmed up from a 0C/32F frost at 6 a.m. to a more comfortable 12C/54F by early evening when I set out on my 2 hours and 45 minute hilly long run. With a little pre-planning and preparation I was able to reach my starting point at the base of our largest hill in the area, located in the neighboring town of Weingarten (11K from our house), by 4:45 p.m.

After a quick warm-up I ran an approximately 1K loop before heading up “the hill”, a 160 meter (525 feet) climb that puts me on the very top of the “mountain”. At the top of the hill I followed an assortment of dirt logging roads and crushed stone paths up and down a number of foothills before heading back down to the base of the mountain. At this point I was about a mile from my starting point, but it was on the other side of the mountain. So back up and over the mountain, this time about a 80 meter (260 feet) climb. From here it was a rapid downhill trot to where I started . The first loop took about 70 minutes.

So back up the mountain I went, albeit a little slower than the first time - over the same foothills, down the mountain, up the mountain - then I tried a new path back to my start. This added a few more rolling foothills and a gentler downhill before return to the start. The second loop took about 80 minutes.

Then it was back up the mountain, at least that was the intent, halfway up my legs told me to take a hike, so I did, walking up the rest of the way (3 minutes). By this time I had about 20 minutes left so I wound my way back down mountain taking a few new trails that I hadn’t been on yet. By the time I reached my car I had run for 2 hours 42 minutes and decided this was close enough to my goal of 2:45:00. I took 3 minute walk breaks every 30 minutes, except for the last one (when I headed up the mountain), which was after 20 minutes. I am really not sure how fast my tempo is, so I can only estimate what my mileage was, I wrote 24K in my journal, but it was probably more.

My legs provided more than enough evidence to the quality of the workout. I felt like I had just done about a zillion squats or something. This morning my legs feel great - no cramps, pain or soreness. I feel like I could go out and run another loop or two around the mountain!

So I just ran 5 out of the last 6 days for a total of 84K/52M (at least). Included in that is a 10K race where I set a new personal best. I am really amazed at how well my legs feel today!

So at 4 p.m. we have to catch the train to Fuerth where we are visiting my wife’s aunt. My running stuff is packed, as is my camera. I will do my best to get some pictures!