Week 15 Summary: 18 miles, baby!

Mileage

Scheduled: 40-41 miles
Ran: 41.4 miles

Cross training

Push-ups: 80
Crunches: 100
Rock climbing
Bike ride around the neighborhood pulling Kaija in the pram.

Week notes

I've been running outdoors almost exclusively now since the weather has warmed up. I discovered that my estimations for distance based on a 10 min/mile have been a little off, most likely because I haven't been taking into account the 5 minute break to stretch after warming up for 5 minutes. I've since started using Google Earth to plot out my routes for more accurate mileage.

I've also decided that the first 4 miles or so are the hardest to get past. I'm the most sore during this time... usually ankles and shins... and am likely to run slowest then. After that, however, I get my second wind, feel fine, and can pick up the pace a bit.

Team in Training group run

About 45 minutes before the run:
Ate 2 eggs and ham on a whole wheat bagel.
Drank 1 cup water.

Weather: Warm. ~55 F. Sunny.

Attire: Yellow & white Supernova Classics, short synth running socks, cotton boxer briefs, black mesh shorts, white TNT synth short sleeve t-shirt, green GoLite synth wind shirt, blue bandana, bandages, orange mirrored sunglasses.

Arrived on time. Stretched during group announcments. Stood in circle, announced name, event, planned mileage for the day, current pace.

Met up with Kim and Sue since we've determined we run approximately the same pace two weeks ago. Warmed up by running a slow pace the first mile.

Ran the extension road to the nature center, which added 3 miles to the loop.

Stopped for water and PowerBar Gel at mile 5.75. Took off the green wind shirt and gave it to Coach Ken to take back to the start of the loop. Stopped again to refuel and a potty break at mile 9 (full loop). Ran another loop without the extention to the nature center (6 miles). Refueled again, then ran 1.5 miles out and back (3 miles) for a total of 18 miles.

Approximate time to complete was 2:55 (9:45 min/mile), or approximately 2:40 (8:55 min/mile) not including the 3 pit stops. Sue had a stop watch and noticed we were doing a sub 9 min/mile pace quite often.

Cooled down by walking in the parking lot and stretching by the picnic table. Drank a lot of water. Ate just one bagel. Tried a PowerBar Recovery drink mix after the run. I didn't get very sore afterward, so it may have worked, though I was a little reluctant of the formulation. Need to investigate the ingredients.

People met:
Didn't meet anybody new, though some faces looked new, likely because they were no longer bundled up!

While running, discovered Kim's brother is good friends with a guy I went to high school and played in the band with. Also, one of the TNT staff members passed along a message from one of his co-workers who recognized my name and was one of my trip leaders for Alternative Spring Break back in college.