Back to training? Oct 6th-12th

After the TC 10 mile effort I knew I'd require some careful decision-making regarding training for both recovery and building up mileage. The last thing I need at this point is an injury or setback from reckless training. Yeah, I know the 10miler could've been run harder and left me more taxed, but it didn't, or at least I thought I was fine.

10/6 7.5 (52:33)
Monday after the effort I went conservative; slept in and settled for an easy 7.5 miler on mostly gravel trails around Pleasant Lake. The legs felt a bit heavy to start but loosened up and the miles went by rather effortlessly.

10/7 10 (1:06:54)
Tuesdays I've started running with a group from the RnF shop to get some company and keep my motivation up. I've decided I hate running in the evenings (most of my runs are in the am's lately) but the chance to run with this group is worth it. Typically we tick off about 10 miles around St.Paul at about 6:40 pace. It's a little faster than I usually feel like going but for now this day serves as my 'up-tempo' day. It will be a great chance to recover and get some strength once I start bumping up the volume on Sunday long runs.

10/8 10 (1:12:39) end HR (140)
Wednesdays are a good day for slow recovery and I like doing these on the trails at Tamarack Nature Center, especially while the leaves are changing color. Anything to get my mind off task or minor aches/pains is good to have mid-week. My left calf/Achilles is still a bit bothersome but it doesn't tend to feel any worse if I take it easy on the grass trails.

10/9 10 (1:09:34) end HR (132)
Thursday I went to an old stand-by route that was always noted as a 9 miler in previous logs with times around 64-65 min(although mile splits always were around 6:25-6:35). I re-measured it finally with a dependable cycle odometer and found it's actually 9.96miles(oops). Obviously my legs were recovered as I was holding back and running around 6:50 for most of the run.

10/10 10.5 (1:15:59)
Friday I waited until late afternoon to run because I knew I'd be down in Northfield where I could run the nice grass and gravel trails on the St. Olaf campus. I felt like shit for some reason and struggled through just over two loops of the 8k collegiate course thinking I'd be going long on Sunday...

10/11 0 miles
Saturday I was lazy and tired; couldn't drag my ass out of my sister's house in Faribault to plod out even 4 miles. What a waste of a training day...

10/12 0 miles
Same feeling as Saturday. Two late nights of a few beers and eating like junk will do that. I gotta start using my head and set myself up to get my runs in now. Mistakes are great tools for learning...

Total 48 miles in 5 sessions
Goal for this week is 60-65 miles in singles. I have a wedding to attend in KS on Saturday but will try to get the runs in regardless.