Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Heading to the Mountains

I'm really enjoying the first week of my taper and am celebrating by skipping my 5 mile run today. Actually, my lower legs are feeling pretty tight and sore so I decided it's best to just cross train instead. There are a couple key runs later this week that I want to complete, so this was the easy one to skip.

I'm heading up to Montana on Thursday for an extended Thanksgiving visit and I can't wait to do my runs there. My dad will probably join me on his bike for most if not all of my runs and that is just the coolest thing. I love being able to share something like that with my dad, plus he's great company! Nothing kills the time like a long dad story, hehe.

Before I head out, let me get caught up on the workouts of the past few days:

Sunday
14 ish miles mountain bike ride
We rode the 3 miles or so up to Forest Park. At the trailhead we ran into Emily who had just finished up an awesome run. We rode up to the 4 mile marker on the trail and turned around. It was very busy in the park and we had a very fun ride.

Monday: Intervals
8.0 miles/1:11:43/8:58 average pace
I was feeling pretty good heading into this run but wasn't putting any pressure on myself since I'm officially in taper mode. Turns out the "no pressure" runs are often the best!

Started out with 2.5 miles very slow as my legs loosened up. Then I did 4 x half-mile intervals with quarter-mile recovery intervals in between. My times were:

3:24

3:31

3:26

3:25

Followed by another 2.5 miles at a very slow pace to cool down.

I was so happy with my times, 6:54 average pace! I'm supposed to be doing these at "5k pace" so I was a bit faster than that. It's possible I could run a 5k at that pace but I won't be doing a Thanksgiving Day 5k to find out- bummer! The last few years that we've been going to San Diego for the holiday, the turkey trot was one of my favorite traditions. This year since we're going to MT and there is no race. Instead, I think we're going to do a one-mile time trial. Not as festive (should I make me and Zach T-shirts? hehe) but should be fun. There's a nice track at the middle school right by Zach's house.

Tuesday: xt
As I mentioned, no run today. I went down to the workout room in my apartment for the first time and it is really nice! I did a weights workout and 20 minutes on the elliptical. Now I'm icing my legs and might take a couple Advil after lunch.

Have a great week everyone, I will post from Montana when I get a chance and will definitely have lots of cool pictures. Prepare to see me bundled up like it's the Arctic. :)

18 comments:

Unknown said...

Very nice interval session! I think you are going to run that marathon so well.

Have fun in MT!

Amy - the gazelle said...

I hope you have a great trip to MT - you are a brave woman. I refuse to visit my family between October & April because of the cold (they're in South Dakota).

Awesome intervals!

Anonymous said...

Hope you have a wonderful trip! I can't wait to see pictures. I think it is awesome that your dad will be with you on your runs.

leslie said...

You are going to do a fabulous job at CIM! I'm jealous of your intervals. There's NO WAY I could run that fast. (In my dreams, I am a Kenyan!) :)

Kelly said...

Have fun on your extended holiday! Enjoy your runs and your taper. Go you, Miss thing, skipping a run.

Rebel.

Petraruns said...

Wonderful times - looks like the taper is coming just in time for you to relax and enjoy your running! Have a great weekend in Montana and have a lovely time with your parents and family.

Ewen said...

Dad has ridden with me on some runs, but his stories tend to extend the time (but don't tell him I said they were boring).

A T-shirt would be good... the "Me 'n Zach do-it-yourself 1 mile PR run". I'll take a guess at 6:47.

Have a great holiday!

ShirleyPerly said...

Have a great trip. Look forward to seeing photos of the winter version of Montana. I'm sure it'll be quite different from what I saw last summer.

Chris said...

That's awesome that you're heading back to Montana for Thanksgiving. I haven't been back in an entire month and I'm itching to go again. We're heading to Lincoln and Hamilton for a week around Christmas so the grandparents can spoil the grandkids. That's also going to be my second "official" week of Boston training, so I get to start off in style! Have fun!

jahowie said...

I can't wait to see those pictures. Nice job on the intervals.

Mir said...

Happy tapering! Thanksgiving in Montana sounds great. Enjoy the time with your family!

Aron said...

you totally rocked those intervals!! awesome job! and way to play it smart with taking tuesday easy :)

have a great trip to montana... by the time you get back it will be race week!!

Bob - BlogMYruns.com said...

Sweet Intervals Jen...Have a fun safe trip in MT !!

Judi said...

Nice 800's. I just did some today too. Will you do me a huge favor and go over to my blog and look at my times and tell me what pace they are? HELP!

SavvyFitChica said...

Great interval run! I'm heading out to do one of those tonight actually...

Have fun in Montana and enjoy your time w/ the fam! Sounds like a wonderful trip!

KK said...

Sweet intervals!

Have fun in Montana. It will be a nice break from intense training and great to do your taper runs in a change of scenery.

N.D. said...

Oh have fun!! enjoy the taper time!

Marathon Maritza said...

Have a fab MT thanksgiving trip!!! Send me some picture mails!!! (remember, send them to my email!)

Miss ya!!!