You Light Up My Night. . .

Spartan_Jbob overlooks Santa Clarita, CA.I’m really glad I went for a run tonight.  I had been feeling pretty drowsy and run down on the commute home. . . so the thought of just flopping down on the couch and vegging in front of the TV seemed a lot more relaxing than the thought of lacing up my running shoes and setting out on an 8 mile run.

[YOU]:  “How could watching TV be more relaxing than an 8 mile run?”

As strange as it might seem. . .motivation was low. . .but then I reminded myself that I had a veritable GAUNTLET of events coming up and this is my ONLY training window to get ready for all of them. . .AND I skipped out on my long run this past saturday!

[YOU]: “You SKIPPED OUT on your long run?”

 

What?  Sorry. . .you’re breaking up. . .I’m going thru a tunnel. . .the important thing here is that I DID lace up my running shoes and I DID go for a run TONIGHT!  I even decided to break out my Petzl REACTIK headlampIt’s starting to get dark earlier again and I’d LIKE to say that I was taking it with me for SAFETY reasons. . .but in reality I just really like it!  It senses the amount of light around you and changes its output to match your needs. . .so when I go thru a pool of light from a street lamp it dims down, then brightens back up as I re-enter the dark!  Oh, and it’s been cooling off a little (. . .fine. . .cooling of for Southern California. . .still warm, just not SUPER HOT) and when I run with my headlamp I can see the moisture of my breath when I exhale!  Either that or I spit a lot. . .whatever. . .it adds some fun for me.  I WENT FOR MY RUN, OK?  🙂

My training schedule called for an 8 mile INTERVAL run, so I set out at a brisk pace keeping my heart rate in Zone 2 for the 1st mile (113 bpm – 132 bpm).  At mile 2 the real fun began!  For the next 6 miles I used the street lamps and power poles to mark my intervals as I would alternate back and forth between running hard and slowly jogging. . .every time I came to a street lamp or power pole I would switch.  Run.  Jog.  Run.  Jog.  Run.  Jog.  I switched it up slightly when I got to mile 5 since I was going to be climbing up and over a ridge. . .gaining approximately 330 feet of elevation in about 1.25 miles (might not seem like that much, but it FEELS like it is).  During this section I modified my pattern to:  Run. . .Jog. . .Run. . .Walk. . .repeat.  By the time I finished my run I had actually logged 8.57 miles!

Petzl headlamp is OFFICIALLY more powerful than the MOON! It’s science. . .

Tonights run was nice.  I’m really glad I went for a run tonight.  Having missed my long run on saturday I had been feeling a little guilty. . .for some reason whenever I miss a scheduled run or training event I have this fear that I’m going to lose all my progress. . .but tonight I felt strong when I ran and calm when I jogged. . .my heart never felt like it was racing and I didn’t ever feel out of breath.  Don’t get me wrong. . .sitting here writing this blog entry my legs feel tired and my feet have a slight ache to them. . .but my ENGINE feels good and overall the rest of me does to.  I only have 3 weeks left to train before I enter my Hydration / Carb Load week leading into the Spartan Super in Brooklyn, Michigan. . .so no more skipping my long runs!  However, tonight helped me realize that it’s ‘ok’ to take a training event off of your schedule from time to time. . .it’s probably even healthy if you’ve been training hard!  My 16-year-old son and I had been gifted tickets to the Texans vs. Rams game. . .so that’s what I did instead of training. . .ok, so HE didn’t skip HIS run (show off). . .actually we were in direct sunlight for about 4 hours, so I’ll just call it HEAT TRAINING!  🙂

Average_Jbob

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2 Responses

  1. HDFLHRC08 says:

    Nice post … Makes me more that slightly jealous because of my messed up schedule this week. As is the case more than desired, I am hoping for a return to a more rigorous training routine next week.

    • Average_Jbob says:

      I’m sure that you will have LOTS more time next week! You’ve got 4 weeks until the Spartan Super in Brooklyn, MI. . .I’m sure you’ll get in plenty of training between now and then!

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