Where's the Donuts?

 Five days was certainly too long of a break, but I did a massive amount of yard work Saturday and Sunday. When you let it go for five months, several of them very rainy, the lawn and weeds tend to get a bit cataclysmic. So you can't say I didn't get a workout in over the weekend. On Friday and Monday I was just lazy, though.

So I came back with a small workout, after track practice tonight. Mike's daughter is running on our team, so he showed up to watch her and then we did a little work. Really windy day, so the backstretch was always a chore. We ran a mile-plus to warm-up, then 5x800 at 3:00 per, with a lap in between each. We hit that 3 almost right on every one, I think only the first one was 3:05. Then another mile to cool down.

Good to be out again, I was energized a bit after a great practice with the kids. And Mike just read 'Once a Runner' so he had some juice as well. I almost left him to do another 25 800s on his own. 

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Warren-Manette bridge loop. Been a lazy week. 38:43

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Beach Drive w/Mike, started dark and early but it was warmer than usual. Quiet out there today. Good run for my first long one in a few weeks, 7:10-7:30 pace the whole way. Only problem in the legs was rust, stopped and stretched and I felt fine. Recovered the week a bit with this one. 1:18:20

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I went to bed and woke up sore and a little achy in the left hip from the 18. Thought I'd go to the Y and do an easy recovery run to shake out the pain. But I got there, a friend was shooting hoops, so I decided to warm up with that. Two and half hours later I was done playing, we ended up running full court four on four most of the time. 

And my legs feel great right now. So maybe that's my recovery plan. 

No "miles," but a pretty good workout for an off-day.

A little stiff after Sunday's hoops, I wouldn't describe my legs as heavy, but they weren't fresh either. Just a different pounding, I suppose. Did the Manette hills loop to grind uphill a bit, kept a pretty good pace throughout and even threw in Alder Street at the end for a little extra climbing punishment. 44:01

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We had a little bonus practice for some of the Jaguars kids this afternoon. After an hour or so of drills and some sprints, this 9-year-old kid Keith wanted to keep running. And he wanted to know if we could have practice again tomorrow. This stuff keeps me going. How could I not be ready to get a run in after that? 

So I went to Illahee Preserve, had the woods to myself for awhile and wound my way around until I had done six miles or so. 43:00

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Tracyton Beach Road for a medium workout. Two to warm up, 3x1 mile at 10k pace (5:30, 6:00, 5:15), three to cool down w/5x100 striders. 58:40

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Four hours of sleep before an early long run with Mike. And I have no one to blame but myself, because I suggested we bump it up to 16 on Beach Drive. (And I set the work schedule that put myself on the late Friday shift.)

Started in a bit of a mist, but it turned out to be a nice morning to run under some clouds. Not so nice on my legs, even at our 7:20 to 7:30 pace (which was perfect), I felt sluggish and sore. Not cramps or fatigue, but just worn down and beat up. Heavy legs, but more specific pain in my hips and right hamstring in particular. I suffered (though Mike cruised along, talked about how good he felt). But we made it. Then track practice, where I did no running. 2:02:26

A decent week, I'm getting back in a groove. Need to get my hips stretched out though, they have really started bothering me.

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Brisk evening run on the 11th-Shore Drive loop. Not tempo, but a quick pace that felt good. Hip feeling better, but I'm pretty tight through there. 36:26

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Cut this one a bit short, probably even short of 6. My left hip flexor tightened up two miles in, and that seemed to put a little pain behind my knee. I wasn't hobbling, but something definitely felt off about the run. By the time I was back to Shore Drive it didn't feel right, so I headed home. Flying to San Jose now for work meetings the next few days. 39:00

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In San Jose for an editors' meeting, I took a morning jaunt through the neighborhoods to check out the city. I probably turned the *wrong* way, but at dawn there's not much trouble even in the grittier neighborhoods. I started on a trail that ended quickly, my hips were really bothering me early. But things loosened up, I finally made my way back to where I could figure out my location, and I eventually ended up at San Jose State and checked out downtown. Then I sat there in a cold conference room for a day. 43:06

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 Shorter post than this run deserves, but I need to get something up and move on. I missed runs Friday and Saturday in San Jose because I stayed up late with my editor friends misbehaving (that and the boss didn't adjourn the meetings early, as promised). I made it to San Francisco Saturday night, and after a few hours of sleep I got up early Easter morning and ran from my inn toward Golden Gate Park. Mist turned into some good, warm rain, and I wound through the Japanese garden, flower conservatory, by the museums, and eventually found a trail. Rambled downhill on the trial until I hit the Pacific Ocean, and stopped to marvel at a cold, damp Sunday morning right on the country's coast. It was marvelous. I turned around and trucked back up the hill through the park, really ran a quick pace actually. Then I wound through neighborhoods until I was back in Hayes Valley, got cleaned up and went to church. Wonderful way to explore a great part of an incredible city. 1:28:00

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A short evening run, my hips were bothering me so I cut it off and came home to spend time stretching. I'm not sure what the deal is, just very tight and sore despite how much effort I put into loosening up and stretching. The good news is that is doesn't feel like an "injury," but more an annoyance that just hangs around. 23:00

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Turned out to be a light week, but I'll pretend I'm tapering for Bloomsday. The race is Sunday morning, I was coaxed out this morning by the sun for five miles to shake my legs and see how everything felt. Much better through the hips after a few days off with just stretching, it was nice to feel normal again. Who knows what will happen in the race because I haven't exactly been diligent in training the past month, but at least I won't worry about limping through.

It'll be an early morning tomorrow. I'm picking Henry up at Sea-Tac at 8, spending at least two hours at our Jaguars track meet in Seattle, then heading east to Spokane so we can hit the expo by late afternoon. It's been cool over there as well, hopefully the sun comes out for the race.

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