Week 7 of 24 Recap - May 6 - June 12

Monday - 5 miles - Trails with Karma. Legs felt good.
Tuesday - Rest - Weezer concert Monday night, Needed the sleep more than the run.
Wednesday - 7 miles Trail - 1 mile with Karma, then 6 miles with Cindy on the Greenbelt. Legs felt great.
Thursday - 6.5 Miles - Road.  Ran with a whole new group of runners that run a thinkg called the Dice run.  About 15 of us in total.  i ran with the front pack, which meant that this was a 6 mile tempo run for me, before i shut it down with 1/2 mile to go to cool down.  Low to mid 7's up in the hills above Zilker and Travis Heights.  ouch.  Fun group to run with, but tough run on 4.5 hours of sleep due to Improv class and post class beers at Dog 'n Duck.
Friday - 10.5 miles- Roads - With Cindy and the Paul S crew.- 1 mile with Karma prior to.  Legs were pretty tired from Thursday's hard effort.
Saturday - Trails - 17miles
Sunday - 10 miles - Trails


Goal : 50+
Total Week 7 : 56


Weekend plan was to run 4 hours Saturday, then 2 hours Sunday making it the toughest weekend so far since my return.   I couldn't round up anyone to run with Saturday so i was on my own.  The problem with that is I am not disciplined to start the time I should start, so my intended 5:30, turned into a 6:30am start.  First 30 mins were rough, almost decided to just run back and call it a day after an hour. Everything felt tired, tight, and achy.  45 mins in tho, things loosened up and the running improved.  yet again I started getting minor cramp spasms around 3 hours, even tho I hydrated well. I gutted it out and picked up the pace a bit and ended my run at 3 hours 45.  I was at the car, and just didn't feel like going for an 8 minute out and back in hot weather, sun beating me down, crampy calves, and tired.  3 hours 45 minutes with about 2,000 feet of climbing will do.  2000 isn't dramatic, but since I've stayed away from hills as much as possible, this was clearly exponentially more climbing than any other run.  (Zion is 45 miles and 10,000 ft of climbing so i have a lot of work to do to be ready by Oct 15.
Sunday the goal was to run 45 mins with Karma, which he loved, then go back out for the rest of the two hours at a much faster pace, speeding up every 20 minutes or so, ending it with 15-20 of full out sprint.  My legs weren't anchy at all from Satuday, but they were pretty dead as soon as I picked up the pace and attacked any uphills.  My all-out across the powerline was brutal, but I gave it every ounce i had left in the tank which was the goal.

Pleased with my week.
Next week: Going to aim for 50 - 55 miles again

17 weeks till Zion.

This is part of the first 11 miles along the Kolob Finger Canyons.

(Joe Braun photography)