Time flies… and when you look at a training calendar, it can certainly fly by even faster. I kept my miles fairly low in April. I ran frequently, but nothing further than the half marathon at the beginning of the month. I decided to let my body rest a little bit and enjoy some down time. Well, that was fun… time to build back up.
Last Friday, I joined the November Project (SF) tribe for some hill repeats in the morning. Since they were meeting in Golden Gate Park and since I take public transit into the city, the only logical choice was to run there. So I added in 3.5 miles before my workout, ran some hills, then of course had to run back to work… which was another 4 miles. Nothing like starting off a Friday with 10 miles and some hill repeats up a waterfall, right?
Then of course, I emailed a friend to see if he wanted to run Saturday morning. I was looking to get in at least 16 and he was running 18… PERFECT. Let’s run 18. About 15 or so miles into it, we started talking about some races coming up and what we had been up to recently. I then realized that this would be the furthest I had run since the Oakland Marathon, which was at the end of March. Come to think of it, this would be the furthest I had run since the half marathon at the beginning of April.
Strangely enough, my legs felt pretty strong. Sure, they were tired and I needed a nap later in the day, but all things considered I jumped right back into an 18-miler and felt pretty good, not to mention the day after a 10 mile run. I’m going to give 90% of the credit to the company. Running with friends is an amazing thing. I may have been able to finish an 18-miler on my own, but it wouldn’t have been easy and I most certainly wouldn’t have had a smile on my face afterwards.
Next weekend I have the Bay to Breakers 12k and the original plan was to try and be all speedy and run it as fast as I could… well, I just realized that I’m in the middle of getting ready to run the San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon (oh ya, you know, that little thing) and I have a 22 miler scheduled for Saturday, the day before Bay to Breakers. Since RnRSD is less than a month away, I want to get in the 20+ run well in advance to recover, so it looks like I’ll be running 22 miles on Saturday and 7.5 on Sunday. Of course, the pace will be much more controlled on Sunday and not as “speedy” as I had once hoped for, but I’m excited to be running high miles again… I kind of missed it.
If you are still looking to register for Bay to Breakers, the race is this Sunday and you can save $5 with code: pavementrunner5
I’m still trying to figure out what I’m going to wear, but I’ll be rocking red shoes and red Pro Compression socks… I just need to figure out the rest of the outfit. Plenty of pictures to come.
Do you enjoy running high-milage weekends?
i enjoy(ed) them once they were over haha
Ha! Perfectly said!
ahh i miss them. Maybe i’ll get there one day
I enjoy long runs on the weekend, but it’s been so long since I’ve been able to do it. Hopefully I’ll work my way back up soon!
I used to enjoy them, but after an injury of doing them TOO much I haven’t done them in quite a while! :)
I SO SO SO COVET YER LOVE OF THE HIGH…
I know, its crazy how time flies isnt it! Glad you are back up in the miles, I LOVED being high miles, well I LOVE I guess, but right now I am definitely on my way down, on my taper in fact, and I miss my long runs! I am racing this weekend, so we will see how that works out, but I feel like all the volume I did will help me this weekend. We will see! Enjoy your miles, you never know when they will be taken away :)
So glad to hear that you’re back to the high mileage. I was getting a little worried about you :-)
On another note, can I tell you how badass all the November Project photos are? Looks like super fun.
I guess I’d say I love high mileage weekends once their over. :-). I’m running Rock and Roll too (hope we get to meet!), my first marathon in 8 years, so the high mileage has been a bit of a challenge for me, especially combined with the heat of the desert. We’re headed to San Diego for the weekend to get the last long run, 20-22, hoping for a little cooler weather and to get a taste of the higher humidity.
I’m happy to hear that it feels so good to get running long again. You were very smart to take a little time to recover. Your body will thank you. :-)
I haven’t had a long run in the double digits since I finished training for a fall marathon last year. After that, I’ve been focusing on shorter distances (10K) and trying to manage some niggles, so I haven’t done high mileage. I really miss it though. I love zoning out and just pounding away the miles.
I love those weekend long runs – especially when everything falls into place like it did in your case. Time flies and you simply have a good time. For me those runs are stress-relieving and I feel totally energized afterwards. I did 20 on Saturday and will run the Colfax Marathon here in Denver this Sunday.
You are my running hero! You’re always so positive and excited!
This weekend I did 8 Saturday and 9 Sunday and it felt great. I have pulled back a bit on the long runs, but will start hitting double digits again pretty quickly and I am excited about it minus the FL humidity, seriously it sucks the life out of me :)
I’m so jelly of some of the places you get to run…can’t wait for the SF full to see GG park. I’ll have to agree with you that running with friends is almost always better. And props to you for getting your runs in around your work schedule. That’s some dedication B.
Nice scenery for hill repeats!
I am a HIGH MILEAGE GIRL, EVERY SINGLE DAY – because… Well, I am just a BAD A$$! LOL!
So jealous of your November Project fun. As if I didn’t already wish I could live in SF. JEEZE!
You love these miles and ROCK at them! I’m happy to run 4 miles at a time, so I live vicariously through you homie
All you pictures here and on Ig make me want to go to San Fran so bad. And run run run the city.
I’m actually nervous, scared and excited for high mileage again. I just hope to do a lot of the miles on trail :) I hear so many fun things about Bay to Breakers but have yet to participate. I don’t have many running friends to go with, but it’s always fun when running with someone else.