Happy belated Easter to all you Jesus freaks out there and happy belated Purim to those readers who are members of The Tribe. If you're Muslim or Miscellaneous, happy belated (insert appropriate religious or secular holiday of your choice here). Don't want anyone to feel left out! As Ralph Wiggam says, "Everyone's a Winner!"
So, it was a nice relaxing long weekend with some activities thrown in to keep things interesting. I ran on Friday morning (not super early though because I had the day off thanks to U.S. markets being closed for Good Friday). I did an easy 6 miles out to Ft. McHenry and back. It went well and, in a sign that I'm gaining more endurance, my legs were only slightly sore afterwards. An hour after I ran, they weren't sore or tired at all. Great news for my recovery times.
Saturday I didn't even bother setting an alarm so I could sleep as long as I needed. We got up and went to look at some apartments, as we're looking to move to a larger place that allows dogs so we can adopt one. If you live in or near Mt. Vernon in Baltimore and have a huge apartment you'd like to rent for like no money, I'm your guy. Since we did the viewing, though, there was no real time for running beforehand and I hate showering then running and then having to shower again. But that was fine because Sunday was going to be a busy day.
We got up early so Annie could go sing at Easter services. I got out the door and on my way for my 12 miler around 9:15. It was a little cool to start out, but the great thing about running in the early-mid morning is that as you run, the temp goes up and it doesn't stay cold for long. I'll insert my route using my Map My Run site later, but I finally got to run out the Patterson Park and surrounding areas. It's really nice out there although a little too far removed from the office to walk everyday to work. I made myself start out slow so I could build my pace and not get too tired too early. My splits (which I will also insert later) were basically negative, with some exceptions. I ate my Shot Blocs around mile 6.5 (Cran-Razz) and felt good pretty much the entire way. I only took an extended walking break when I hit the hill on Fort Ave, which lasts about a half a mile and came at about the 10.5 mile mark. Even still, I stopped only to cross the street and then kept going. Overall, I was really pleased with the run, even if it wasn't really fast. Better to complete the distance than run half of it fast and conk out.
My legs were quite sore afterwards for the remainder of the day but feel only slightly fatigued today. Luckily I've been sitting at my desk much of the day and have given them plenty of rest! I felt some tightness around my knee when I was going up and down the stairs today, but nothing terrible, just normal wear and tear after running for almost 2 hours. Annie and I drove down to Bethesda in the afternoon to meet my parents, grandmother, aunt and step-brother for Easter brunch at Benihana's. It was really good, although I could have eaten two entrees due to my run. In fact, I was hungry again by the time we were about halfway home in the car! I got home and ate a big bowl of raisin bran and a piece of cookie cake. YUM! All in all, a good Easter Sunday.
So I think I am ready for the half marathon this Saturday. I'll run an easy 4 miles tomorrow and Wednesday and that will be it before Saturday so my legs are totally ready for 13.1 miles. As for tonight, Annie has rehearsal so I will spend my evening resting my legs some more to complete the recovery and generally taking it easy. I've built my Play Money bankroll at FullTilt Poker to $17K but think I need about $25-30K before moving up to larger tables. Maybe Ill work on that tonight, although I had a bad run of cards over the weekend.
Splits:
Mile 1: 9:23
Mile 2: 9:35
Mile 3: 9:46
Mile 4: 9:53
Mile 5: 9:46
Mile 6: 10:01
Mile 7: 9:48
Mile 8: 9:34
Mile 9: 9:42
Mile 10: 9:45
Mile 11: 9:40
Mile 12: 9:34
No comments:
Post a Comment