Sun 9/15: Rest
Mon 9/16: 40 min base/easy run 4.25 mi, 49:07 + 1 hr sweaty vinyasa yoga
Tues 9/17: Hill repeats x 7 (eep) 5.46 mi, 1:30:42
Wed 9/18: 50 min recovery run 4.13 mi, 48:38
Thurs 9/19: Strength training (with 10 min elliptical warmup)
Fri: 9/20: 1 hr base + strides 3.14 mi, 35:33
Sat 9/21: Tour des Fleurs 20k 12.4 mi, 1:04:45
For some reason, on Monday I had 50 minutes in my head. Hey, I don't think clearly early in the morning! Tuesday's hill workout was tough, but we got through it!
Thursday night, it stormed. When I woke up Friday morning, it was still storming but there was no lightning so I braved the elements and did (part of) my run. I really dislike running in the rain. I had to bribe myself with the promise of Starbucks just to get out and do half of my run. (And then I was running late for work, so I didn't even get my Starbucks... I owe myself.)
The good thing about the rain was that it brought cooler temperatures! On Saturday morning, we had clear skies and it was only in the upper 60's. My friend Stacey picked me up for the Tour des Fleurs race. I was doing the 20k, which started at 7:00 and Stacey was doing the 10k, her very first, which didn't start until 7:40. We got to the Arboretum just after 6:00am and parked on site because I'm a member. (Otherwise we would have needed to park in remote parking and taken a shuttle to the Arboretum.) The Arboretum was all decorated for fall with pumpkins and gourds everywhere!
(My visor has a reflective logo on it, I was not headed into the mines.)
I hung out with Stacey until about 6:50, when I headed to the start line. We were off just as the sun was coming up! The 20k course ran along the east side of the lake, then up a big hill to Mockingbird, then back to the lake. Not long after we got back to the lake (at around the halfway point), I ran into Heather from my training group. We ran together and chatted for a couple of miles until she had to slow down.
Around the 10 mile mark, we turned off the trail, onto a bridge that leads to the Santa Fe trail. I actually would have missed this part of the course had I not seen other racers coming back on the bridge. I would have thought there should have been a volunteer or some kind of marking to tell us to turn onto the bridge. After this switch-back on the bridge, we finished the lake loop to end up back at the Arboretum. As I got to the finish line, I saw my parents had come to cheer! It's always fun to see them at races, they can't always make it but always have fun when they are able to.
We headed into the Arboretum so I could meet up with Stacey and our other friend Patrick. I was anxious to hear how Stacey's first 10k went, especially because she had been having foot pain in the week leading up to it. As soon as Stacey and Patrick saw me, they gave me a thumbs-down. I immediately thought Stacey hadn't been able to finish, but as it turns out the 10k route was very short, by over a mile! TDF sent out an email to participants that evening, but the lead motorcycle police escort had missed a turn and accidentally cut a mile off the course. Stacey and Patrick were very disappointed, they had trained for 6.2 miles. I remembered the part on the 20k course that would have been easy to miss and I think it was a similar problem: not well-marked and nobody to direct runners the correct way.
The good news is that the after-party was lots of fun! There was live music, food, beer and of course a beautiful day to be enjoyed!
The weather is finally starting to cool off and feel like fall! I am really looking forward to some beautiful running weather in the coming weeks.
This week's plans:
Sun 9/22: Rest
Mon 9/23: Base/easy run 3.83 mi, 42:54 + 1 hour vinyasa yoga
Tues 9/24: 6x800 speed workout
Wed 9/25: 50 min recovery run
Thurs 9/26: Strength training
Fri 9/27: 1 hour base + strides
Sat 9/28: 16 mi long
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