Running with Jack

So I just got back from an awesome long run an hour ago. I was up at 5:30 a.m., had breakfast, grabbed my stuff and drove to the neighboring town of Weingarten to run some hill loops. After some calisthenics and a 6 minute jog along the semi-flat base of the “mountain”, I turned and started tackling the first loop.

So up the hill, a steady climb for around 5-6 minutes, then some gentle rolling hills for about 20 minutes before heading back down again. Then it was a left turn and up the second major hill, about a 4-5 minute climb. The second hill is slightly steeper than the first, but I sailed over it! So after another 10-15 minutes of rolling hills I finally wound back down the mountain side to where I started. I finished the first loop in almost exactly 1:15:00.

So without skipping a beat, it was back up the hill for the second loop. As I crossed over the crown of the hill top and started down one of the rolling hills, I had a dude with a tractor and wagon stop me and ask if I had seen a pile of new logs on top of the hilltop – I guess he was picking up the logs for someone. Unfortunately, I run kind of tunnel-visioned so couldn’t honestly say that I had seen any or not – I had passed so many piles of logs already. He just kind of shook his head and drove away, probably totally convinced that I was out of my mind, crazy runners anyway!

In any case, I cruised around the second loop, again making it up the second major hill without falling apart, albeit a bit slower than the first time. My legs were getting a bit tired by that time, but I knew it was nothing to worry about – just push on – so I did. The second loop took about 6 minutes longer than the first, but I was still cruising.

So back up my heartbreak ridge a third time – last week I had to walk part of it by this time, this time I pushed myself up to the top and over! So by this time I was trying to figure out where I need to turn off to be back to the “finish” by 3:15:00, by goal time for today. I found a turn that did the job, basically a short cut to the trail that I take down the hillside.

I arrived back at the car after running for 3:17:15, mission accomplished. My legs were tired, but I knew I could push them further. I trained with walk breaks again today, roughly a 2-3 minute walk break every 30 minutes.

Before my run I ate a small breakfast consisting of a glass of tomato juice, a slice of whole wheat bread smeared with peanut butter and honey, a liter of water, and a bowl of granola with low fat milk. During the run I drank 2 liters of sports drink (from my CamelBak), ate two sports bars and peanut butter and honey sandwich.

As I write I am drinking water and just finished a cup of coffee. I am impatiently watching the clock, hoping that it will speed up so lunch will be ready soon. I’m a bit hungry – you know, something simple, like a side of beef or something…

It is a lovely day outside, warm and sunny. I believe it was 9C/48F when I left for the run this morning and 19C/66F when I came back. Despite wearing shorts, short-sleeve running shirt and a thin running vest, I was still totally drenched in sweat by the time I finished.

So today was the first day of my vacation (if weekends count), we are mostly staying home doing some home-improvement stuff and working in the garden. Next Sunday (April 30th) I am doing a slightly longer training run. Let’s see, I guess it’s about 4 weeks now until my 50K race, I can’t wait – it’s gonna be great!!!