Saturday, November 03, 2007

Friday Saturday and Week 8 summary

Friday 10.0 miles/1:24:21/8:26 average pace

I put this run off until after work so that I could run on the soft dirt trail instead of the sidewalk that I'm forced to run on in the pre-dawn morning hours. I felt a bit rushed after getting out of a meeting a few minutes after 5:00, but I was on the trail running by 5:30. I doubled back to the house and met Zach who rode his bike along side me with his bright headlight and I was able to complete the 10 miles mostly all on the dirt. I ice-bucketed my lower legs again and they are still feeling allright. I'm going to continue to baby my legs though... I really don't want to have to miss any runs.

Saturday 17.0 miles/2:31:16/8:54 average pace

So just over 12 hours later I was back out on the Iron Horse Trail for my long run. I chose to run there again because of the soft dirt trail that parallels most of the paved path. I ran from Dublin up to Walnut Creek where Zach met me for a breakfast feast at our favorite crepes place. The run was good- no major complaints. I guess I would say it was pretty boring, and I was a bit tired, but mostly just bored. It's not just that I run this trail all the time, but I just couldn't manage to "zone out" for any length of time. I was constantly looking at my watch and counting down the miles. Legs felt good though and I"m feeling fine post-run. I am glad to report my body is feeling good although I admit my motivation and energy is lagging a bit. Oh well, I will push on and not stress out. I've got four weeks to get excited about running the marathon. :)



(TOTAL miles for week 8: 50 on the nose!)

I got home and watched my recording of the Men's Olympic Qualifying Marathon in New York City, and was horrified to hear that runner Ryan Shay had died during the event. Here's a link to the news article. He was only 28 years old. :( I'm just heartbroken to hear about that and my thoughts and prayers are with his family. I did manage to enjoy the race recap though and although my favorite Meb Keflezighi faded to 8th place, it was pretty exciting to see Ryan Hall cruise to a huge victory followed by Dathan Ritzenheim and Brian Sell for third. Everyone that competed out there is an amazing athlete and I'm sure they were all very saddened to hear about Shay. What a rollercoaster day.

The main event in NYC is tomorrow, which is of course MARITZA'S goal race of the year! She and her bf flew out last night and I know she's probably anxious and excited right now, with only hours left before her race. I might be as excited :D She's worked very hard and I hope she has the race she deserves. I'll be following her progress online so I'll probably post about it- I am sure she wont' mind. :) GO MARITZA!!!!

5 comments:

Ewen said...

That's sad news - so young.

Good to hear that Ryan Hall had such a great run. He's a beautiful runner, and in the interviews, sounds like a down to earth guy. He should do well next year.

You're doing well. Look after the shins and calves. Only 4 weeks to go!

Irish Blue said...

The news about Ryan was so tragic it's hard to believe.

Sounds like your training is going well.

Arcane said...

Good to see you're healing up. Sad news about Ryan Shay.

Mir said...

I was SO excited after watching that race--I had to work hard right afterwards to keep myself from running 10 miles as hard as I could instead of 2.25 at an easy pace. When I got home, I heard the terrible news. You're right, a roller coaster day. The spectrum of emotion this weekend was unbelievable. :(

Bob - BlogMYruns.com said...

ya was very sad news about Ryan...thats why we have to keep enjoying our lives & do what we love like Ryan did.

was a great NYC Marathon...Paula is so strong and what about Lance Armstrong, pulled out a 2:46--wow