WEEK 36: 32 Miles and a trail 5K

Monday
7 miles in Pisgah with Greg and Griffin, South Woods loop from Horseshoe, not railtrail but "flat for pisgah" (YAH RIGHT, GREG!). Felt tired but good.

Tuesday
Spin + core; GREAT spin class, 75 minutes

Wednesday
Elliptical + core+upper+TM; log 3 miles

Thursday
Yes, I had planned a longer run but I barely got out the door! I haven't taken a day off since the half, my body is annoyed and plantar fascia's on fire. You know it's bad when you check out the river to see if there's enough rocks to make it across and take a mile off your loop! Log 4 miles...kicking and screaming the whole way.

Friday
Railtrail, KSC to Sawyer's crossing bridge, positive split. Gettin' tired....log 6.

Saturday
Jaffrey Firefighters 5K, fun course: railtrail then 1.5ish miles in childrens forest and back on railtrail. 24:15. 2 mile warmup and the course in reverse cooldown...log 8 miles

Sunday
Pisgah with Griffin, 4 unorganized miles....

WEEK SUMMARY
I'm feeling pretty strong, but not exactly fast.  I kinda got creeped out on the Kilburn Loop today and turned around halfway down one side and came back around and down the other side a little.  Just couldn't get into it...maybe it was the dark, chilly morning or the big splash in the water.  Griffin seemed ok so I don't know why I was worried.  In any case, I puttered around a little, hit some of the hills (legs felt good) and called it a day.

Saturday morning I raced at the 1st Jaffrey Fire Department 5K.  It was a really neat course that used rail trail and 1.5 miles of  single-track in the Children's Forest.  I was happy with my time- 24:15- and raced smarter in that I didn't blast out at 7 minute pace....although I didn't get my splits. I let things settle and all of a sudden I was passing people who went out too fast and after 3/4 mile I didn't get passed the rest of the way.  The trail part was fun- I gained a lot of ground on the leaders, but ran out of real estate- especially when we got back to the flat railtrail.  I almost got caught in the forest, but it was right at the top of a climb and I dropped him on the downhill and didn't hear him again.  Small race and not very competitive times, but fun to win my age group and be able to pay better attention to the people around me.  I had done a 2 mile warm-up and then Karen and I did the course in reverse afterward, so it was an especially good day for mileage and a good workout. 

I am excited for Pisgah on Sunday! I am going to rest more this week than I probably need to. I will do some spin classes and short runs during the week. My goal is still sub 2:30. Then I need to concentrate on Baystate! Overall, the legs feel good (except for the constant right hamstring pain) and the feet feel quick (probably because my plantar fascia are on fire).  I guess that's running.  It's a process...and I love it!