Workouts

After all those months of nothing but easy running I am actually relishing running a few workouts, even though (or maybe because) this is all still rather mellow and never to the limit. Having said that, the heavy legs from the last 2 days are clearly showing that while the individual workouts themselves aren't that tough, the overall load on the system is pushing it.

I was pleasantly surprised that there was no noticeable DOMS after Wednesday's hills workout. I certainly expected at least some extra discomfort. Is it really feasible that my legs have adapted to hill running so quickly? I know I'm not exactly training on flat roads throughout the year but those hill workouts are definitely on a different scale.

"Cat ate my homework" - for real!

Anyway, the legs felt just a tad heavy on Thursday but certainly a lot better than expected. They felt perfectly fine again on Friday for my Fast Friday workout, with the "fast" bit being rather relative. This time I was back home in Kerry and the wind was howling, so the conditions were a bit more challenging than last week but once you get going you barely notice it. I started off a little bit too fast and it took a while to adjust and slow down but once I got into the zone I really got into the zone. I was so tuned in that I didn't even notice that the 6 miles had already passed and kept going for another 2 or 3 minutes when it finally clicked that I was supposed to be in the cool-down mile already. Overall it was a bit quicker as well as longer than planned but once I tuned into the effort it just seemed to feel right.

For the first time in years we missed the local St. Patrick's Parade. Maia had an altercation with a boy in school the day before and seemed rather reluctant as a result, and when the weather was so miserable on the day itself I wasn't trying too hard to persuade her otherwise. We'll try again next year.

I did pay a price for my slight exuberance during Friday's run in the form of fairly heavy legs on Saturday, which is what happens on back-to-back days when you're getting a bit ahead of yourself on the first day. Mind, it wasn't that bad, I've certainly felt worse. It was just a case of putting one foot in front of the other until it was all done. The legs didn't seem to get any worse during the run though they didn't get better either.

It was still much of the same on Sunday, except for a few miles less. If those gale force winds keep going for much longer I think I'll go nuts, though.

16 Mar

7 miles, 54:53, 7:50 pace, HR 146

17 Mar

9+ miles, 1:08:04, 7:21 pace, HR 151

   incl 6+ miles @ 7:11 pace (HR 157)

18 Mar

11+ miles, 1:25:33, 7:44 pace, HR 147

19 Mar

7+ miles, 53:52, 7:38 pace, HR 146