Weekly Jog Log: September 10th-16th

Although I have been lax about updating the training on this blog, I am able to keep track of stats via my trusty Garmin. I never thought I would be so in love with a piece of technology. Between that thing and my phone I would be quite lost. I do want to continue to update training stats on here more so for my own sake so I can look back over it from time to time. It's always fun to reminisce about past runs, both good and bad. Maybe that's the history geek in me. Nice thing is my running has been consistent all summer. Many 4 am wake ups to run through what I hope is public land. There are jeep trails that weave all around a chunk of property about 4 miles from where we are currently living and these have become my outlet of physical exertion for the summer. They are pretty rugged trails in some spots so I have torn through my shoes this summer but have recently purchased a pair of Montrail Rogue Fly's and then subsequently won a pair of La Sportiva Vertical K's. Yay Me.

I have been increasing my mileage at a pretty steady pace as I'm hoping to be in good shape this fall racing season. I have been running twice a day most days. My AM run is typically 1-2 hours and then the PM run is about an hour with my wife! My philospohpy aon run tracking has changed quite a bit. I no longer pay too much attention to mileage but rather run for time. I do this by simply running out for X amount of minutes and then running back to the car. This has made my runs more enjoyable becuase I am no longer trying to hit some arbritrary number but rather just run for a certain amount of time. Anyway...here is the breakdown from this week.

Monday 9/10/2012
Bike Ride down 163rd-8 miles (47 mins)
Was going to take today off completely but got a little restless in the house. Took a leisurely spin around the neighborhood with the wife.  

Tuesday 9/11/2012
AM: Mile Repeats+Barefoot-7 miles (55 mins)
Woke up late this morning and it looked as if it was about to storm so I decided to stay around home. First mistake. Second Mistake was deciding I would try to do some mile repeats. Did 3 x mile with full recovery in between. This amounted to about a 1/2 mile slow jog. Miles went like this: 6:23, 6:06, 6:40. Added on about 20 minutes of barefooting in the grass around the neighborhood. The reason this was a mistake is because I am writing this about 3 days later and I haven't run since. I tweaked both calves somewhere in the workout and have turned this week into a down week thanks to my over zealousness on this run.

PM: 163rd Ave with Patsy-5 miles (47 mins)
Went on the nightly route with Patsy. Calves were not hurting yet. Didn't hurt until the next morning.

Wednesday-9/12/2012
OFF-Calves were on fire. I'm dumb.


Thursday-9/13/2012
AM: Ride to Library-19 miles-77 mins
Legs were still a little sore so I decided to be smart and not run. Rode my bike into town to return some reading material instead. Wind was at my back on the way in. Always spells misery for the return leg. Will go out for a run tonight with Patsy. 


Friday-9/14/2012
AM: Jeep Trails+Pinnacle Hills-3 miles (33 mins) [600']
Left Calf still a bit tender. Lesson learned. Ran a mile to the hills and then slowly hiked up to the top and watched the sunrise. Hiked back down and ran the mile back to the car. I expect to be back in action tomorrow. Guess a down week is what the doctor ordered. Moon was rising just ahead of the sun this morning. It's starting to cool down here finally and it was quite windy this morning forcing me to don a shirt for the first time in months. Quite restrictive.

Saturday-9/15/2012
AM: Constellation Road-Unnamed Ridge Trail- Buckhorn Rd.
Due to the ever cooling weather we are having in Arizona I thought I was due a trip out to Wickenburg while my wife slaved away to put bread on the table. What a good woman! Figured I would also do some exploring/geocaching so I had no agenda with this run. Being as my left calf was a little dodgy still this should've suited me well. Parked my car at the end of Buckhorn Rd. and then ran into the ghost town of Constellation. Took a few detours along the way. On the return trip I picked up a ridge trail that linked up with Buckhorn and then ran/hiked easterly in hopes to find another cache (unsuccessful) and then ran back to the car. Was a very good run. Took it real easy and once again, found my legs had plenty of energy but the rest of me seemed pretty zapped by the time I was done. I'm guessing this was because of lack of food intake other than a few pretzels and about 4 hours of sun exposure. Here are some pictures of the mine as well as some of the views. This will definitely be something worth doing again. 

View from the top of the first climb of the day

Abandoned Mine

Hey look at this artistic photo I took of a flower and the sun!

Little did I know I would be running up the ridge on the left. You'll see that road again!

Monte Cristo Mine

Tempting

Not as Tempting

View from the Top of the Ridge Road. That road under the gnarly rocks is the same one at the bottom of previous picture.

PM: 163rd with Pats-4 miles (39 mins)
Normal nightly run with the wife.

Sunday, 9/16/2012
OFF. Apartment hunting. ugh.

All in all a down week. I think it was much needed as I have been ramping up the mileage the past few weeks. The early week soreness prompted the down week. Looking forward to getting back after this upcoming week as the weather gets colder.  

Jog on mates!