Oxygen Deprived

Where does the time go? I've been so busy with work, work, vacation, work and well... just life. Last week was my 3rd official week of training for my early September marathon and here's how it went.

I ran a total of 35.5 miles in roughly 5 hours and 45 minutes with an average pace of 9:43/mi.

Monday: 5:45 miles at an easy pace though it didn't feel all that easy. Struggled to stay on pace and had pain in both my left shin and my right upper hamstring.

Tuesday: 4:25 miles with 3 sets of intervals (8:42/mi pace for 1000m (.57mi) with 3-min rests) in between a warm up and cool down mile. I'm loving the speed work - it feels so good to run faster!

Wednesday: 4.74 miles at an easy (hard) pace. Left shin was really hurting, stomach got really upset and both nipples ended up bleeding again (same shirt as last time - shirt has been demoted to a garage work rag now)!

Thursday: 5.02 miles at easy pace. Went back to bed in the morning due to rain but made time in the afternoon for my first run on vacation in Pagosa Springs. Found some good back roads, a nice high school track and made my way down a county road for a bit. Elevation is just slightly higher than home at around 7100 ft. My left shin and right upper hamstring still bothered me at the beginning of the run. Overall a good run and the hot springs are excellent!

Friday: 5.06 miles at easy pace. Lots more rain but was able to get my run in the morning between rain storms. Good run, tried to explore the area a little more in preparation for my long run but quickly realized I had already found the best spots to run at. Turned back along the San Juan river and looped through the previously found territory.

Saturday: 11+ miles of mixed (tempo & easy) running. I was really excited about the workout I had scheduled and thanks to the hot springs my left shin and right upper hamstring felt great. The workout called for 2 miles easy (10:11/mi), 5 x 5-min at 8:12/mi with 1-min rest, followed by an hour of easy pace running. From my previous runs I had it all figured out, I would run my first mile down to the high school with the good track, then I would do a half mile up into a neighborhood and back so as to be back at the track at two miles. Then I would do the speed work portion of my workout on the track. Afterwards, it was off down the county road (CR) for my hour of easy pace running.

The 2 mile warm-up went well. I arrived at the track, hung my fuel belt over a fence post started off. Since I was running for time I didn't figure the lane much mattered and ended up running in #4. This was actually my first time on a track and I loved it. It was an artificial track, kind of spongy and it felt really good to run on. Holding this faster pace for 5 minutes wasn't too bad at first but by the 4th and 5th set it was getting pretty tough. Focusing on my stride rate seemed to help quite a bit. While heading down one side of the track with the breeze at my back I really could notice how humid it was from all the recent rains. It was a pretty area to run at though, quiet with mountains off in the background and surrounded by rolling hills covered with Pine and Aspen trees.

Once finished with the track I grabbed my fuel belt, gued and headed off down the CR I found for my hour of easy running. Since my easy pace is roughly a 10 minute mile, and since I was 1 mile from the hotel (in the opposite direction), I decided to do an out and back of 2.5 miles down the CR. That would put me back at the high school at 5 miles and then with 1 mile back to the hotel I should be just finishing up my hour of easy running by about the time I get there.

Almost as soon as I started heading down the CR it started to lightly rain. It felt good and didn't really bother me though it did look like it could get quite a bit worse. I was determined to get my full workout in so I keep on going and going and going... The CR wound around through some private land. It was all uphill and I thought it would stay that way for the entire time but then I crested a ridge (7400+ ft.) and started to head down into a valley.

By the time I was almost to where I needed to turn around the sky opened up and it started to downpour. Within seconds I could feel my socks and shoes become wet and heavy with rain. I decided that was close enough to my turn around point and that I had probably pushed it to far anyway and headed back. I found myself running harder than the easy pace my workout called for but I felt like I was so far out in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of a downpour that I just felt the need to pick up the pace. Then the lightening started to strike all around. And as I came back over the ridge which, due to a rather large clearing, I found myself to be almost the tallest thing around. At that moment lightening crashed within a couple hundred yards of where I was. I almost stumbled and fell down from it as the booming thunder erupted. I found myself fighting the urge to stop and kneel down as far away from the tall trees as I could. Then another strike hit almost as close as the first. I honestly started to fear for my life at this point. You hear about runners or people doing stuff in the mountains getting hit by lightening and now I could see the headlines: "Runner Struck Dead!" or "Stupid Runner Killed In Rain Storm!"

I didn't have anyway to get a hold of those I was on vacation with and they didn't know exactly where I was at either (there's a lesson or two there somewhere). So, I did the only two things I could do, I prayed and I ran faster with my only goal being to drop some elevation and get back down to a lower spot in the valley where I was more familiar with the area and where I wouldn't be such a target for lightening. The worst part was the anticipation of waiting to hear when and where the next lightening crash would happen. I kept this faster pace up for miles and needless to say my pace wasn't easy but I was definitely getting a good workout, that's for sure. As I got close to the high school the rain started to let up and the lightening subsided. I finished my run, completely drenched and with 1 bleeding nipple but I made it back safe and sound and that's all that matters.

Sunday: Rest