New Mexico Running

I ground out 9 miles in 2 workouts today. I did 5 miles on the treadmill at 8:30 pace on a 4.5% grade this morning. I followed that with a weight room workout that included 30 incline situps, 10 pullups, 2×20 chest press, 2×20 curls, 2×20 triceps, 2×15 shoulder rotations and 2×20 rows. Tonight I did 4 miles around the neighborhood in 3 1.3 mile loops. I devised the longest loop that didn’t involve crossing a major street. Neighborhood running is slow running. Anyway, this starts me out on track for another 60 mile week. Tomorrow is yoga and the Run Fit workout.

I’ve decided to run a 20K on July 30 at Sandia Pueblo (on the North side of Albuquerque). This is a cross country run, so I won’t be so focused on time. I’ll run my guts out just because. Anyway, it’ll be a good shakedown for the Chips and Salsa half marathon in September that my Run Fit program is pointing to. Hopefully, somewhere between those 2 races, I’ll run that fast 5K.

I had planned a 16 miler, but I ended up doing 18 along the bosque. The plan was to run 3 miles hard, cruise for 7 and then do the last 6 at marathon pace (what that means right now, I’m not sure). I took the first mile easy, then ran the next 3 hard, from the Bio Park to the Nature Center, like a 3 mile tempo run along the bike path. After that, I went back into cruising mode and moved over to the dirt road. A few miles later, when I was almost to Paseo del Norte, I heard some heavy breathing coming up from behind. A man pulled up along side me. I continued running with him, and he gasped “You’re running 6:17 pace” (according to his wrist gadget, I suppose). He had been using me as a rabbit to pull himself ahead of his 2 training buddies following behind. He was working pretty hard and I didn’t have the heart to tell him that we weren’t going that fast. Sub-7s maybe, but not 6:17. We ended up talking and I decided to continue running with him all the way to Alameda just to help him keep the screws tight. That’s where the extra miles came in. This course is an out and back, so there’s no shortcut home.apples apprentice approach appropriate approval apricot apron apt aqua aquatic aqueduct arch archer archive argon aristocrat army bases around arrest arrival art artery article artifact artillery artisan artist arts asbestos ash asher ask asleep asp asparagus aspect asphalt aspiration aspire aster asterisk asteroid asthma astral astronomer asylum athlete athletic athletics atlas

He’s part of a training group of over 40 guys trying to do the same thing I’m doing - get in shape and run a marathon. They are going to do the marathon in Phoenix, which is one of the ones I’m considering as my Boston qualifier.

He stopped at the Alameda bridge to wait for his buddies to catch up and I turned around and headed back. I decided to do my 6 marathon pace miles from there, and go easy for the last 3 back home. I accelerated until I became a bit anaerobic, then backed off a tad and held on. This method has worked well for me in the past. I maintained it with surprising ease. I didn’t time the six miler by itself, the distance wouldn’t have been very precise anyway, but I hit 16 miles at 1:54, a 7:08 pace. That’s pretty good. I cruised home with a couple of 8:30 miles to finish it off. I finished the week with 62.5 miles.

Afterwards, I weighed myself. The first number I saw on the scale was an alarming 133. That couldn’t be. I checked and the zero had been reset, way off. I’d originally set this scale to read the same as the one in my doctor’s office. I reset it by memory and got 145, about 4.5 lbs in a week. This number is still a cause for concern. That’s too fast. I think it had more to do with dehydration than anything else, though. It’s been really hot lately. Also, the scale is now zeroed differently, so I’m not going to worry yet. I’ll have to wait another week to see what my weight loss rate really is. It should never exceed 2lbs a week, and 1 is more like it when I’m training hard like this.

However, even allowing for some dehydration and a possibly more optimistic scale, I’m taking this as my warning to back off on the training a bit. I was planning on going from 60 to 80 mile weeks in three weeks, but after I hit this weight so quickly, I’m going to stick to 60 miles for another week at least. I’m feeling really good and I don’t want to mess around with extreme weight loss. Slow and steady is the way to go, as far as weight loss is concerned, anyway.

I ran an easy 6 this morning around Kit Carson and down the bosque trail and back on Mountain road. Unlike yesterday, I was really feeling the effects of Thursday’s effort. I started slow and felt better as I went along. I drove 500 miles to Las Cruces and back to pick up my daughter who has been staying with my brother and sister in law in Tucson. Las Cruces is the halfway point.anemone angel anger angle angry animal animate animated animation animator ankle announcement announcer annoying annual annulment anomaly anonymous another answer ant antelope anthem anthology antibiotic antibody antigen antique antiquity anxiety any anything anywhere aorta apartheid ape apex apocalypse apogee apology apostle apostolic apothecary apparel appeal appearance appendix appetite applause apple

I just got back, so I’m a little fried. I’m still on course to do a 16 miler tomorrow with some tempo/marathon pace miles thrown in. This will be a bit more challenging than last week’s steady pace 16 miler.