Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Happy Thursday

It's only Weds but thought I'd get a head start on this post with a prediction for tommorrow. The experiment has only just begun but from the general energy level right now, the prediction is that it will be a banner day after a series of downer Thursdays over the past few weeks. One week ago it was a Cruel Wind, two weeks ago it was Tired and Getting Grumpy, 2 weeks before that it was the Blahs; well you get the picture.

So today (Weds), the plan was to head off the blahs at the pass by getting out of the way what is considered the hardest run of the Pfitzinger program, the dreaded midweek medium long run. Feel like a free man now, with only downhill-wind-at-my-back runs for the rest of the week...'I wish ;-)' Managed to get 15 miles in over an extended lunch in just over 2:03 including a series of four downhill repeats over a 1 mile loop on a quiet back road by the golf course (at the end of Joes Point road where the view is awesome). The roads were perfect with last night's storm staying to the south and only had to contend with some wind (20-40 km/hr) and a bit of cold (-2C). Felt decent for most of the run, made a stop at home for gatorade which provided a nice boost, and then fought a tough headwind before turning for home on tiring legs.

Now, just mixed another batch of Gatorade and ready for volleyball. We'll see how frisky I am in the morning on the treadmill at 6:30am to start off another double run day....

It's now Thursday for real and here we go with a report, no waiting involved.

Volleyball was good with a nice turnout and even teams and games. My wrist was still sore causing my setting to be a little 'off' but had good energy for some jumping and moving around, although I couldn't move too quickly.

Up around 6:30 (before the alarm would you believe Andrew?) for a quick 4 miles on the treadmill. It's getting to be fairly painless, roll out of bed, grab the water bottle, set the satellite to the morning news and roll along until I wake up. Went very easy around 7-7.5 mph and felt fine, just a little stiff at first.

Nice brisk walk to work, about a mile with a clear sky and temps around -9C and no wind.

Lunch time was just an easy 6 mile loop around town with temps up to about -1C and again, no wind! The legs felt fine except for some stiffness in the achilles for the 1st mile which went away. Have to keep up with the stretching program in the evenings while watching the late news so this doesn't develop any further.

After the run, I had that 'happy tired' feeling in my legs and lungs which only seems to occur when pushing the training limits a bit. It also should mean the heavier training load is having the desired effect but is not overly stressful. And finally, Happy Thursday or Happy Groundhog Day, only 6 weeks to spring, right?

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