Catching up again

Photo: TNT workout Saturday. I'm in the foreground, and behind me are Kandice, Randy, and Sue.

Yeah, got busy this weekend & didn't blog. But I'm back :) for those of you loyal readers who still get some entertainment value from this blog.

Saturday we had our TNT workout, and I did about 11 miles (accidentally had my Garmin off for a bit so this is an estimate) in about 2 hr 15 min; this includes regular walking at least 4 miles with the back-of-the-pack people. They are actually getting a lot faster though - our walkers were almost as fast as the slower runners (who were alternating 8 min running w/2 min walking).

TNT workouts are interesting with this team. We have one VERY fast runner (he is shooting for a 3:15 marathon to qualify for the Boston marathon) who was doing 8-min miles to start and finished up with 7-min miles. We have a couple runners who will probably be able to do a 9-min pace for their marathons, and a few who can do 10-10:30. The rest are run/walkers who average probably 13-min miles, and our walkers, who are at about 15:30 right now (improved from 17!). So it's quite a spread and I get to do a lot of different speeds for my Saturday morning workout, which is why I need to do my long day a different day. Yes, I get exercise, but it is not MY workout at all really. But I have a good time and enjoy seeing people improve.

This past Saturday I did 1.2 miles with our fast runner at about an 8-min pace (I was running, not RW, obviously!), then a couple miles with the 10-10:30 runners (the 9-min runners were not there), and then the rest of the time with the run/walkers and the walkers.

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Sunday I took a rest day. My right piriformis was bugging me because after I did the 11 miles I had to drive 45 min to get home, and it really HATES sitting that long after a workout. It felt nice to have a morning off, oddly enough, and I felt OK despite not working out. Some days when I don't work out I feel crummy all day; sluggish, tired, etc. But yesterday was fine.

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Today I was flying fast :). The rest day must have helped. Sue (asst coach for our team, and a friend from last year's team) met me at the Porter Rockwell trail in Draper for an 8-miler. We started fast, but what the heck, it was only 8 miles and I was feeling great, so I told her we could go fast (Sue is a runner, and a good one at that, so she usually goes a bit slower for me). We did 8.04 miles in 1:22:21 for an average of 10:14/mile! My average HR was only 141, though --- that is amazingly low for that speed. If the Portland Marathon had been today, I'm sure I would have done very well. I wish I could figure out why some days are just so much better (and some worse, like Nike last year) and then bottle the good days and save them for races :). Hahaha. Maybe today it was the distraction of having someone along; don't know but it sure does help to talk with someone. Too bad Sue is doing the 10-miler in Minneapolis that weekend, or I'd try to talk her into doing the race with me. I have a couple friends doing the race, but we are not the same speed.