Week 1 of training is over, and I survived. After working from 12am-8:30am and sleeping from 10-2:30, I was finally able to get out to the NCR Trail and start running at 4:15pm. With sunset at 5:00 and the last bits of light disappearing at around 5:15-5:20, I knew I would be finishing in darkness especially with the lack of lighting on the trail.
After feeling absolutely horrible for the first 5 miles, I hit a really nice groove for the last 10 and put together a really solid run.
Splits: 7:22; 6:45; 6:35; 6:42; 6:43; 6:41; 6:35; 6:38; 6:43; 6:51; 6:23; 6:19; 6:18; 6:15; 6:13
With about 6 miles to go, the sun dipped below the horizon and I could see the sky slowly darkening, with the orange light around the horizon dissipating. It was actually quite peaceful on the trail. I could really only see clearly maybe 20-30ft in front of me and could only see the mile markers when I was right next to them. I couldn't read my watch anymore either. Cruising through the darkness like that was just awesome. It certainly made the whole week worth it.
Equally importantly, my hip and knee are 100% again. My knee is occasionally stiff starting off but within 30 seconds of moving around it clears up. Furthermore, my left leg in general feels strong again. I don't have anymore of that nagging pain that had been plaguing me for most of 2010.
This run, combined with the results of the Celtic Solstice 5 Miler and the 5K Resolution Run prove to me that I didn't lose a single step over my recovery month and I'm right where I left off after the NCR Trail Marathon. If anything, I'm stronger now that I feel no lingering pain. I'm sure something is going to flare up in the future (it always does!), but I'll take what I can get!
Total Miles for Week: 59
That's pretty awesome how you sub split your last 6 miles.. I've always had some pretty nice runs on the NCR..grew up on it.
ReplyDeleteI really like this blog and your reasons for keeping it!
I think the next tie we race we'll both PR.
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