November Heat... Not For Me

This has been one of the best Novembers in terms of temperatures that I have witnessed in quite some time. I must note that I am referring to the afternoon temps. I run at 5 am and the temps are cold. Maybe a bit warmer than usual, but I am not wearing shorts like some of the "daytime" running pals I know.

This week has gone pretty decent except some nagging sore hip adductors and lower abdominal muscles. I believe that is due to last weeks fall on the trails and hopefully the next week I can concentrate a bit more on stretching and some easy ball work. I did manage to get a massage Wednesday and that helped out a ton! (i should do that weekly)

Thursday:

Easy morning miles that consisted of Kenwood area and down to Skyline then home. Running easy felt good. I would continue to be a bit concerned for Friday's workout. Not too sure what to expect from my legs.

1:00:04 8 miles (7:30 pace)

Friday:

The plan called for one of three workouts. I got to choose whatever workout I felt I needed to focus on to get "the best bang for my buck". I picked the workout labeled strength workout. In the past I have really liked doing this type of workout, (long steady state miles 7-10 miles) and getting out there and banging consistent miles at "steady-state" pace usually felt good. I knew during the warm up that things would go differently than in the past. I just couldn't get my legs to loosen up and if I had more time I would have warmed up for another ten or fifteen minutes but I just didn't have the time. Instead I ran the first two miles a bit slow then I really tried to get on pace and hammer out the rest of the workout. Other than the first two miles I kept the chrono on my watch going and didn't lap count for individual splits. The funny thing was once I picked up the pace and really concentrated on staying relaxed the pace felt better than the slower pace I was running. Here are my splits for the workout:

Overall I was a bit disappointed in how things went, but I just chalked it up to running tired with very fatigued hip flexors/adductors. I need to get them relaxed soon!

21:18 2.7 mile warm up

16:21 2.8 miles (5:51 pace)

29:28 5.2 miles (5:41 pace)

(8 miles total at steady state)

17:54 2 mile warm down

1:25:02 12.7 miles total

Saturday:

Another beautiful day in Duluth. I made a vow last week to stay off the trails until the marathon is over but I couldn't resist. I run roads all week and the thought of hitting the trails on Saturday's in the daylight is so appealing. I did it and ran easy and managed to have a wonderful, easy run. No frills, just easy trail running.

1:17:47 9.3 miles (8:20 pace)