TEXAS Paul - Out to Pasture - Healing

Slept for an hour after dinner and then Lynn went with me over to Florence HS.  We have had rain the past two days which helped cool the temps down into the 80's but the humidity was real high. 

I got in 4 miles mixing in the track and the bleacher steps.  This was a good workout even if it was only 4 miles. 

After our 24 miles on the Greenbelt and Hill of Life last Saturday I had felt a "stress" in the outside of the right foot plantar tendon, so I have held off for a couple of days just to be sure nothing bad happens.  The foot felt great tonight so I think all is well. 

Today Lynn and I drove to Bryan, TX to attend Joe B's mother's funeral (98 years old).  Karen H and Karen F drove down as well and we met Gordon there as well.  Joe was very pleased to see some of his running family in attendance at the funeral.  On the way home Lynn and I picked up 2 pizza's and when we got home I had 3 pieces and then took a 2 hour nap before running.  It was feeling really good to rest in bed but I got up anyway, dressed to run, and loaded up in the car. 

PD went with Lynn and I over to Florence HS for tonight's workout.  The temps were in the low 90's and humid so the sweat flowed well again tonight.  Once again I did the track and the bleacher steps for the workout.  This is a good mix to break up the routine of running laps on the track.  1 mile on the track for warmup at 8:25 pace.  Then 3 miles with the bleachers added in (7:35; 7:25; 7:15).  Then 1 mile cool down at 8:10. 

The right foot plantar tendon felt great again tonight.  After the 24 miles on the greenbelt last Saturday I felt some sensitivity in that right foot plantar, but it looks like all is well. 

Worked late.  Got home.  Ate supper. Dressed and went running over at Florence HS.  1 mile warm-up where my tummy was loaded and legs felt like lead pipes.  Then ran 2 segments of laps and the stadium steps.  Tummy still tight.  Need a rest room stop, no rest room.  Legs loosened up a little.  Lynn had to go to the rest room too, so we headed home.

At least I got enough of a run in to get loosened up.  Saturday will be 14 loops of the Hill of Life. 

14 Hill of Life loops, awesome run.  Met Tom at 6:15 AM at the top of the HOL and proceeded to have one of the best runs we have done in this year's Pikes Peak Marathon training.  Last week's 24 miles with 10 HOL repeats was really good, but today's 14 HOL repeats were just really good. 

We did a negative split even though the day got hotter the longer we ran, go figure.  Our descent times were running 40 to 45 seconds faster the 2nd 7 repeats than the 1st 7 repeats.  And our ascent times were running 15 seconds faster the second 7 repeats, go figure. 

Heart rates on the ascent for me were typically 155 on the first 1/4 mile where we run and then typically 145 to 149 on the next 3/4 miles where we power walk.  Tom's HR was running 168 to 170 the first 1/4 mile and then 160 the last 3/4 mile on the ascents. 

We saw the two guys who are going to run Mt. Whitney, and the guy who is going to run the Teatons in Wyoming, and the scout troop that is going to Montana next week, and Dave who just moved to Austin from Phoenix.  We didn't typically stop for more than a few seconds in our transitions at the bottom or top of the HOL, but we took longer breaks when these guys would want to talk to us about Pikes Peak. 

While we ran, Lynn hiked around and picked up rocks for her collection.  Then after the run we went down to Barton Springs where Tom and I went for a swim dip and got refreshed and cleaned up.  Again today there were adults and children and dogs swimming in Barton Springs.  Then we drove over to Maudie's and met Karen H and had breakfast, just a great start to the day.  We basically committed with Karen to run a triathalon on Labor Day weekend here in Austin, should be fun. 

We walked away today feeling really good about our Pikes Peak training.  Hopefully we will continue to get stronger over the next two weeks when we do our longest run (3 weeks prior to the marathon).