When it comes down to it, the long run is the most important workout for marathon preparation. So after having skipped a few of these in the last couple of weeks, bronchitis or not, I urgently needed to bag a good one.
On Sunday morning, I dragged myself out of my weekend torpor and ran outside. No excuses, no questions, it was going to be long.
I decided to tackle the dreaded Suncrest climb, figuring that if it were a bit more hilly and intense it would feel shorter and more interesting.
Turns out I was right. From my house, the Suncrest hill is a 3.5 mile climb with a 10 to 20% incline. I ran it up, then back down on the other side of the hill (about 4 miles steep downhill), then back up, back down (return close to home), then back up again and back down home. 20.3 miles total... Pfew!
Lots of climbing and going down, but my legs held on surprisingly well.
The next day however, I did feel a distinct soreness in my legs and I think the spinning class never felt so hard. Those 2x20min in zone 4B really were excruciating.
Last week I also went the Sandy's Life Center Athletic club to check out their Masters' swimming program. I swam about 1800yd (what?). Yeah, I've never swum that much and it didn't feel too bad. Turns out swimming with a group is a lot more motivating. Consequently, this week I am seriously considering joining the program. (Yeah, that would be a 3rd gym membership!).
I figure that in fact swimming is where I need the most external help, so getting into a specific program seems worth the $250 per quarter...
Other than that, I spent more time relaxing playing the piano ;)
On Sunday morning, I dragged myself out of my weekend torpor and ran outside. No excuses, no questions, it was going to be long.
I decided to tackle the dreaded Suncrest climb, figuring that if it were a bit more hilly and intense it would feel shorter and more interesting.
Turns out I was right. From my house, the Suncrest hill is a 3.5 mile climb with a 10 to 20% incline. I ran it up, then back down on the other side of the hill (about 4 miles steep downhill), then back up, back down (return close to home), then back up again and back down home. 20.3 miles total... Pfew!
Lots of climbing and going down, but my legs held on surprisingly well.
The next day however, I did feel a distinct soreness in my legs and I think the spinning class never felt so hard. Those 2x20min in zone 4B really were excruciating.
Last week I also went the Sandy's Life Center Athletic club to check out their Masters' swimming program. I swam about 1800yd (what?). Yeah, I've never swum that much and it didn't feel too bad. Turns out swimming with a group is a lot more motivating. Consequently, this week I am seriously considering joining the program. (Yeah, that would be a 3rd gym membership!).
I figure that in fact swimming is where I need the most external help, so getting into a specific program seems worth the $250 per quarter...
Other than that, I spent more time relaxing playing the piano ;)
