CIM Week 2 of 14: How Did It Take Me Four Years To Do This?!?

*Gorgeous* bridge shot courtesy of Kristin. :)

For my long run last Sunday (which I was nervous about, given how last week's attempted long run worked out), Kristin took me across the Golden Gate Bridge for the first time. This was notable as I've lived in fair SF for four years now and have never been up there on foot (WHAT!?!). Basically I've been like, "Oh, I should really run the bridge sometime," but because I can do it more or less whenever, I've never *actually* done it. Our plan was to start at the Ferry Building & get in 13-14, which, Kristin informed me, would most likely take us over the bridge.

I'd brought a jacket because I'm used to it being sort of windy and miserable out on the waterfront, but as soon as I got off the BART at Embarcadero Station, it was immediately clear that I wouldn't be needing it. What a gorgeous, perfect day! It was sixties, sunny, & with a light breeze most of the way, which afforded us fantastic views like the one above.

By the time we were on our way back to the Ferry Building, it did start to feel pretty warm which made the last few miles kind of tough. I just kept telling myself that it was no worse than the last few miles of a marathon, and really, that's half the point of long runs, right?

Sure, I was tired and had a few achey spots in my legs & feet, but overall I felt HEAPS better than I have on my shorter runs recently. I think I'm probably finally really recovered from Santa Rosa and also gradually getting back into somewhat decent shape. My calf-Achilles complex (that is a fancy term I learned from this blog - perhaps somewhat more scientific than 'calf-chilles') seems to be getting stronger, by which I mean it (they?) isn't (aren't?) screaming bloody murder at me every time by mile 2. Today my legs actually felt pretty good the whole way, which is a big, BIG improvement.

In a relative sense, this was a big week for me -- my highest mileage week since May. Sure, it was a little depressing to realize that, but hey! Progress.

Grand Total: 38

* 31 easy 
* 5 tempo
* 2 speed/intervals

Monday: Karate + strength work

Tuesday: Strength work + speed -- 2 wu + 2 x (1200m @ 10K pace + 400m easy) + 2 cd = 6. My first track workout in something like six weeks. It went about as well as you might expect.

Wednesday: Karate + strength work

Thursday: Strength work + 5 easy. This was the first run I've had in a while that didn't outright suck. It wasn't great, but say 6 out of 10.

Friday: Tempo -- 2 wu + 2 x (10:00 @ 7:56 + 10:00 @ 8:14) + 1 cd = 8. This run was weird in ways I can't explain very well. The whole thing felt hard, but at the same time I had a hard time not going too fast. Also, the difference in terms of effort between 7:56 & 8:14 seemed almost negligible. I think my averages were in the right spots, but I was pretty inconsistent the whole time. Not a pleasant run, but I got it done.

Saturday: 5 easy. If most of my runs lately have been 4 out of 10, and the easy 5 on Thursday was 6 out of 10, this one was maybe a 5.5. Once again, I was just glad to have it in the books.

Sunday: 14 easy.

Next week should be more or less the same in terms of mileage--more speed, more tempo, a few easy runs, & a 15 miler on Sunday.