Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Runnin' for nothin'

I thought it would be a great break to just go for a run without any pace goal, distance requirement, or purpose in my overall plan. Mentally, I needed an easy run. I am very pleased with the how the Furman Method worked out for me: by reducing my running schedule to three days a week, making every run count (1 long, 1 temp, and one track session each week), and mixing in two days of cross-training the training was very efficient if not voluminous. I only felt over-trained when I got off the schedule by racing, and I never felt injured. I was on the 3:30 program and came up a little short of that, but it wouldn't be fair to attribute that to the program: I got into it in week 6 and like i said I also raced when I shouldn't have.

What the program lacks (duh!) is the relaxing, run how you feel element that all runners appreciate. So yesterday was my first chance to relax and enjoy a nice trail run.

Sounds good in theory, but in practice the muscle soreness started to come back after a couple hills, and I realized that I'm still in recovery mode. Or maybe it was the 60 mile ride with Chris and Jason over the weekend? Either way, I'm still sore and not ready for any serious running. I covered about 6 miles in Quicksilver at a decent pace, but I had to back off towards the end. good to know that I really did empty the bucket...

What a great time to run now though. It's chilly (sub 50 at noon today) but the valley air is clean, the rains have done a number on the hills, and everything is really beautiful right now. Get thee to a trail immediately.

2 comments:

  1. Helluva nice ride on Saturday. Great riding with you. I wish we'd been able to ride more when I was living there.

    Did they look any better up close in the car park? ;-)

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  2. hah. took me a second. Custom-made frame, a guy in Santa Cruz built it.... very nice.

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