Saturday (Oct 29)
Running: (18-Mile Long Run) Our group had planned to run the 11.2-mile main drive in Percy Warner Park at 6am, but my schedule called for an 18-mile long run. To get in the extra miles, I started just after 5am with some easy miles around Belle Meade. This was by far the coldest morning since last winter with a starting temp of 28 degrees.
My goal today was to maximize the amount of time spent running in the aerobic zone as I work toward at least a 3 hour 15 minute run in preparation for Rocket City. With this in mind I kept the pace very easy all day (9:00min average)
Nathan and Paxton joined me around 5:25am, and then we joined the larger group in the park at 6:00am. One loop in the park has over 1,200’ of elevation gain so this was also a run that helped to build leg strength. I was surprised at how well I felt on the hills, and even pushed the pace up most of the more significant inclines. The group decided to take an alternate route during mile 4 down “Shell Road,” which is a beautiful but difficult section. This also reduced the total distance in the park slightly.
When I finished in the part, I had completed around 15.25-miles, so Paxton and I ran another 2.75 miles through Belle Meade to finish. I felt really good throughout most of this run, but began to feel some fatigue after mile 16. Paxton pushed the pace a bit for the final 1.5-miles, but I held back and just tried to finish smoothly.
Overall I’m very pleased with this run, especially considering the difficulty of the route and the cold temperatures. My total time spent running was just over 2 hours 42 minutes which is right around what I was looking for today.
Sunday (Oct 30)
Today was my normally scheduled rest day, which is good because it was a busy day. We had morning worship service, followed by Sunday School where I teach the “Young Married’s” class on the book of Philippians. After brunch, I then had 4-hours of practice for a drama production of Joshua and the Wall of Jericho for evening service and Trunk or Treat. After completing the drama and evening service, we then had Trunk or Treat in the parking lot with almost 1,000 kids from the community.
Monday (Oct 31)
Running: (7-Mile Recovery Run) This morning I did a solo recovery run using a modified version of our normal “Nature Center” loop in Edwin Warner Park. My legs felt very lethargic for most of the run, and I kept the pace pretty easy for the first 5-miles (9:00 min). For the last 2-miles, I tried to pickup the pace and finish on a positive note. Mile 6 was 8:15, followed by mile 7 at 7:39.
I hope that my legs come back before the Ragnar Relay this coming weekend. I had a dream last night that I blew my segments of the relay and couldn’t push the pace any faster than 9:00 min miles (my goal is to do them all below 7:00 min pace).
