CIM Training Week 1, Day 7: 8.25 miles

Well, the first training week back after my injury is complete! My goal this week (and next) was primarily doing the miles. No watching the pace, no speedwork, no tempo runs. This week was building up the base mileage, then next week will be the same total distance, but shifting miles around to make Sunday a longer run.

The week was:

Tuesday: 2.5 miles
Wednesday: 5 miles
Thursday: 5 miles
Friday: 5 miles
Sunday: 8.25 miles
Total: 25.75 miles

Originally I was going to run 5 miles on Saturday, but Friday afternoon & evening, I was feeling really under the weather. A cold felt like it was setting in, my throat was itchy, and I was coughing up phlegm. At 2:30am, I woke up with a splitting headache, so I decided at that point not to run. When I woke up on Saturday morning, my resting heart rate was 64, where normally it's around 52 on average.

After resting Saturday, this morning was much better. RHR was 49, and I felt much better. So I set out to run 8 miles, with the possibility of 10. I also wanted a chance to start running the new route that's going to be used for my long runs.

The big part of the route I was unsure of was the railroad track. There's no road that goes directly between Arboga Road and Feather River Blvd, except for Grand Ave., which would add another 2 miles to my route. The plan was to run along the railroad tracks and connect the two much closer to home.

Once there though, I realized this wasn't the best idea. The railbed is raised above everything else, which is overgrown with sticker bushes and dry. Running in the middle of the tracks was hard, because the railroad ties aren't flush with the ground, they're raised. Further down the tracks, even the middle was overgrown with the stickers! I don't plan on running on these tracks again.

At 5 miles, my original plan was to turn around, but 5 miles also coincided with Ella Ave., which I knew would take me right back to Arboga Rd. I turned onto Ella, and the distance back to my house was actually less than the 8 miles I had originally planned to do. I ended up running two streets beyond the one I usually turn in on, then backtracking on Pacific to my house, making 8.25 miles total.





If you look closely, mile 3 is the one where I took the railroad track shortcut. At times I was moving as slow as 14 minutes per mile!

Splits
Mile 1: 10:20
Mile 2: 10:56
Mile 3: 13:35
Mile 4: 10:34
Mile 5: 10:41
Mile 6: 10:31
Mile 7: 11:06
Mile 8: 10:27
.26 mi: 2:37 (10:20/mi)

8.26 miles, 1:30:51, 10:59/mi average, 1060 calories burned