TUESDAY NIGHT RUN

I know it has been a while since I blogged, Pigeon let me have it last night because I haven't been updating my blog. The reason being is I never ran on Saturday. We were in Tahoe but instead of running I did the gym which consisted of some weight lifting and a 30 minute sprinting session on the treadmill which by the way, left me limping and sore the next day! It was kind of a nice change of pace though.

Last night though it was back to the same old same old. I met Pigeon out at Rio High School. I was really late getting there because Vans had been stuck in traffic. It happens and when we move out of Sacramento, that traffic is going to become a thorn in my side for sure.

When I arrived at Rio I saw Pigeon outside, in the 100 degree heat waiting for me. Apparently she was stretching because she's been super sore again with all her injuries. She is seeing Dr. Chu at Elite Spinal and Sports Care which is great and I think at least narrowing down her problem but regardless, she's still in some pain especially when it comes to breathing on a run. They are considering a possible cracked rib (ouch).

I arrived in the same "blah" mood I have been in for weeks now but immediately started gibber jabbering to Pigeon about work, the weekend whatever came to mind. I guess I just needed to vocalize all that has been running through my head lately.

At one point, Pigeon asked me if I had to use the restroom, I think she was hoping I would want to stop but oddly enough, I didn't! My tummy wasn't feeling so great which is odd considering it felt great when I left the house but I was running with a new electrolyte drink. I think it was not meshing well with my tummy but it was over 100 degrees outside so I wanted to run with something other than water. I should know by now, my tummy cannot handle anything other than water on runs. I can do Gu and SCaps but anything beverage related that isn't water, goes down hill for me.

Pigeon turned to me and said "Go.Get your run in" and I did just that. I hated leaving her but I knew she'd be fine and that I'd see her on the return. I also figured if I got my run in, she'd run less because when I met her on the turn around I knew she'd turn around with me vs going all the way down to the 3 mile marker.

I have been wanting to incorporate speed work into my runs. I know how beneficial it is and I can feel my turn over starting to really decline with all these long slow miles we've been doing. So last night I did some speed work based on heart rate. I would sprint for a full minute raising my heart rate as high as I could get it and then I started to slow down in order to get my heart rate to drop. I realized that the only way I could do that was to actually walk. I think the heat had something to do with that but whatever. So in one minute I'd raise my heart rate up (on average it went about 20/25 beats) and then in less than a minute, it would drop 20 to 25 beats and then once I saw my magic number I'd sprint again. It was a nice feeling to have it drop so much so quickly as that is a sign of being in decent shape, however it also meant my recovery walks were less than a minute. I did that the entire way to the 3 mile marker and then again on my return until I ran into Pigeon. I ran with her for a bit and then said goodbye again and did a decent longer sprint to the restroom area where I said I would meet her again.

Overall, I really enjoyed this workout. I did not like that I had to walk to get my heart rate down but again, I think the 100 degree temperatures AND all the turkeys on the trail had a lot to do with that.

We're still not sure what Thursday's run will entail or where we will be. There is a chance I might have to flake due to some family members being in town this week but hopefully not. Saturday we're planning a long slow run of about 20 miles but we're keeping it local which is absolutely fine with me considering I now have to work that evening at my old part-time job.

I leave you with some photos from Tahoe and Van's birthday . . .

Showing her chipmunk the "wild" world

of Tahoe outside our window

Gorgeous

Hiking with Daddy

Exploring the streams

Rock throwing

Look Mommy!

It was even chilly enough to break out the warm clothes!

SUPER excited about Daddy's birthday cake

(notice all the candles)