On Thursday, I went to Run For Your Life after work to buy a new pair of shoes (more on them later), and it was pretty busy, partly because they had a group run that was getting ready to head out, and also because they had packet pickup for a race on Saturday, the 49er Gold Rush 5K. I looked up the race when I got home, and the 2016 version had 561 finishers, so it’s not a huge race, but they still had Thursday packet pickup. I was all set to type up another rant about the Charlotte 10 Miler not having Thursday packet pickup when I went to their website and got some news: They’ve added Thursday packet pickup. It’s about time. I don’t know for sure that I’ll be able to make it out there on Thursday, but at the very least, some people will, and Friday will be slightly less crowded.
Yeah, I kind of buried the lede in there, but I bought a new pair of shoes. I went with Brooks Adrenaline 17s. My last new pair was a pair of Adrenaline 16s on clearance, so it was time to try out the 17s. OK, I haven’t run in them yet, my current oldest shoes still have another 20 miles left in them, but trying them on, they felt good. They look OK, I guess. I think I prefer the look of the 16s, but I’ve always said that as long as they can keep my feet and legs from hurting, I don’t care if they look like clown shoes.
The actual running this week went fairly well, and while I didn’t quite get the mileage I had hoped for, I still got more than the previous week.
Weight Check: 164.2, down exactly 2 pounds from last week. OK, that’s better. I’m not sure I really earned a 2 pound loss, but I’ll take it. I didn’t really cut back on the Mountain Dew, didn’t drink much water, and ate a bit of junk food, too. Some weeks I can get away with that, but I really shouldn’t press my luck.
| Day | Total Miles |
|---|---|
| Monday | 5.51 |
| Tuesday | 5.26 |
| Wednesday | 5.01 |
| Friday | 5.41 |
| Saturday | 10.51 |
Total: 31.70 miles
Monday I got started a little later than I had wanted to, so I didn’t have time for a full 6 miles. My legs didn’t feel great when I was going up the really big hill in my neighborhood, but they felt fine the rest of the time.
Tuesday was also a slightly later start than I’d hoped. I still managed to squeeze in 5.26 miles, and my legs felt fine the whole time.
Wednesday was my weekly trip to the Y. Even on February 1, they still had the “Happy New Year! Please observe the 30 minute rule on cardio machines” sign. The treadmills were pretty empty, but after I finished and walked around trying to cool off, I noticed that all but one of the elliptical machines were being used, so I guess that’s where all the people who made New Years Resolutions are now. The treadmill is still mentally excruciating, but I ran well, and my legs felt fine.
Friday went pretty well. I may have run a little fast (for me) for an easy run, but it wasn’t ludicrous speed.
Saturday I finally made it back to Freedom Park for the first time since New Year’s Day. For some reason, the tunnel under East Boulevard was flooded, but nothing else was. Crossing East Boulevard is no fun, but I was able to get back on the greenway near the hospital, and there were no flooding issues the rest of the way. It was a lot colder than I’m used to at the beginning, around 27 degrees, but the sun was out so it warmed up a little bit. I ran pretty well, and sped up at the very end. Also, this ended up being my longest run since the New York City Marathon, and I need to work on that.
Next week will be busy, but hopefully I can not only stay on schedule, but maybe even add a couple more miles so I can run 11 miles next Saturday. We’ll see how it goes.