Week 18: Training Update

ORN [Obligatory Running Note]: Sunday's workout called for 9 miles at Marathon Pace (8:48) with a 2 mile warm up and recovey. I ran an inspired 8:38 pace run (Holy Hell!! I was on F-I-R-E!!). I also nearly ran down my client who lives at Lake Junaluska, but that's another story...!

This week was a virtual grab bag of highs and lows.

But first, the numbers:

Total weekly mileage: 62 miles
Average Intensity Factor: .901
Total Hours: 12:05
Long run: 13 miles
Miles run on trail/ dirt: Approx. 6
Average weight: who knows
% body fat: hopefully still 16%
Average hrs. of sleep: 7.5
Number of Humans Run Down: 1


Here's a recap:

The good: I have found my "perfect" training and racing shoe (for now) all in one. Ladies and gents, let me introduce the Saucony Grid Type A3. BEST. SHOE. EVER. It's awesome. One of the best flats I've ever worn, with some nice features - namely pull loops on the tongue and heel and a smooth (suede-like) insole. The cut is great for me (it's on a VERY curved last. Nice roomy toebox. Overall, a fantastic flat. I'm sure it's not for everyone (it's a very minimal shoe). But for me, this may be the nicest shoe I've ever worn. I couldn't be happier.


And did you notice? It says, "Kiss This!" on the bottom of the heel! Awesome!(Makes me want to run in soft packed dirt just so I can leave little "Kiss This!" messages all over the place).

The Bad: In my over-excitement to wear them, my IQ fell faster than the landslide on I-40. I ran a few too many miles in them and ended up nursing some sore baby cows (and by baby cows I mean calf muscles- get your mind out of the gutter!). I had to take Thursday off to rest the baby cows, so I did Thursday's Intervals on Friday, Saturday became a recovery day, and Sunday was my long day instead of a rest day. So now I don't know what day it is or whether I am coming or going! I'm sitting here at my desk on Monday wondering why I didn't run today...Oh, yeah. Monday's my new day off.

The Good: I really worked on perfecting my posture this week, with great results. Felt more efficient, etc. I especially noticed that I have problems with the glutes not firing if my posture is bad.

The Bad: All the tinkering with my form has left me with niggling aches and pains that has undermined my confidence.