3 weeks 'til SJ RNR

Last week, due to work, plus wedding bookend weekends, E's broken foot and necessary trips to urgent care, and a quick 30 hour trip to Disneyland with my Bro, Niece and K, my mileage took a serious hit.  I substituted some cross training (including 50 bicep curls that left me unable to straighten my arms for a few days), but the running was nothing to write home about.  Total miles:  15.  Quality? Not much, most of it was just miles on my feet in the slow lumbering pace range.  Saturday, I did manage to fit in some treadmill intervals at target race pace: 1.5 miles, 0.75 miles, and 1 mile all at 9:05/mile pace w/0.5% incline and 3 minutes recovery.  But really, it was a lame running week.

This week was also less than stellar, but somehow, it managed to help my confidence quite a bit.

M: 5.6 miles @ 11:07 pace.  These slow paces are the result of the broken garmin and running with the audiobooks.  I just relax and go at whatever pace feels easy.  Part of me comes home and calculates the paces and thinks?  "Why am I so slow?"  But, part of me knows that there are multiple training plans that call for training miles at much slower paces than I usually settle for, so I tell myself, "Relax."  You're training without a pace watch for this segment.  It's science.

T/W -- 30 hour disney trip.  OFF running, although I think I may have walked up to 7-8 miles with all of the various park activities (including some unplanned speedwork chasing and racing my niece to various rides).

Th: My track group was doing the Cooper Test on Wed in my absence, so I decided to do it by myself.  So, I busted out a 2 mile 10 min/mile w/u, then 1.46 miles in 12 minutes (8:13/mile pace), then 10 minutes walking cooldown.  I was pleasantly surprised.  I figured I was in 8:10 mile pace for a full mile, so to realize I was close to this for 1.5 miles made my day.  Maybe there is something to this run by feel approach after all...

F: OFF.

Sa:  I got up at 5:20 AM to drive and pick up C, so we could drive to Jen's and then all drive together to the Zoom Point Pinole Half.  I was disappointed in my recent running, so my goals were quite simple.  Run the whole thing.  That's it.  So, I headed out conservatively and slowly stepped it up throughout.  I only stopped at aid stations, I ran the whole thing, and I did a great job of pushing myself the last couple of miles because I'd passed a woman I'd been jockeying with about 2 miles before the finish and I *really* didn't want her to pass me.  Overall, it was a great day. 2:09 half on a trail course with hills (albeit in perfect overcast chilly weather).  No complaints.  The post-race breakfast at tacubaya was to die for. BEST CHILAQUILES I'VE HAD IN THE US. (Oh, and FYI -- that Blue Bottle Coffee is not fucking around -- I had the jitters and was slightly nauseous  after half a cup with cream.  Be Aware!)

Su: I was worried about fitting my run in today.  We had a big, full day.  My bookkeeper was showing up at 9, we had brunch at 11, we were buying E a new suit after that, and then I had a huge chore/to-do list centered around taxes and general family administrative stuff.  But I woke at 5:50 (thanks to the day before's 5:20 AM wake-up call, I'd wanted to go to bed around 11 PM.).  I went back to sleep, but when I woke again at 7:20, fully rested, I took advantage.  I headed out for a *very* slow 4 miles (11:33/mile) plus another 0.5 mile walking cool down.   But I got it all done, plus a shower before my bookkeeper showed up. This, my friends, is how I define my own personal version of success. 

Total this week: 26.85 miles.  Most important -- a solid half and good cooper test have led me to believe that perhaps limiting my speed concerns to a couple of workouts a week is best....  I'll let you know.