Marathon Training Week 2 Results

I knew this week was going to be a little challenging.  We flew home on Tuesday and jet lag reeked havoc the rest of the week.  I did have a good long run today, so all things considered this was a successful week!

Sunday:  Rest Day
Result:  Rested, kind of!  Les raced in the Dick Evans Memorial Road Race on Oahu.  112 miles with about 100 of his closest Hawaiian friends!  I volunteered to work one of the feed zones and I'll do a full write up soon.  Everyone should volunteer at a race sometime, it's a fun experience.  I should have worn my Suunto since I was on my feet from 7:00 to 10:00.

Monday: 4 Miles Easy (pace 10:04)
Result:  Hiked 2.8 miles in 1:05:31
This was our last day on Oahu for a while, so we decided to hike the trail to the Makapu'u Lighthouse Overlook.  Over 400 feet of climbing later and the views were spectacular.
Also walked 4.1 miles

Tuesday:  5 Miles Hills (no planned pace)
Result:  Ran 4 miles in 39:56, 9:59 pace.
I went for flat and fast, then it was time to pack and sit.

Wednesday:  Rest Day
Result:  Rested.  We got in bed about 1:00 a.m., which was only 10:00 p.m. Hawaii time.  But mornings are tough when you travel east.

Thursday: 5 Miles Easy (pace 10:04)
Result:  Ran 5.03 miles on the trail in 59:05, 11:44 pace
Still feeling sluggish, but I was glad when I finally drug myself out of bed and hit the trail.

Friday:  5 Miles Easy (pace 10:04)
Result:  Rested, I just needed one more day to deal with jet lag.

Saturday:  12 Miles LSD  (pace 10:04-11:04)
Result:  Ran 12 miles in 2:04:27, 10:27 pace
I was so pleased with today's run!  We were out late last night and I didn't sleep very well.  I told Les, "I am going to run 12 miles, no matter how long it takes me!"  My splits for the first 8 miles were amazing.  I was averaging about 10:10.  Miles 9 and 10 were tough, then I finished strong.
Mile 1 - 10:27
Mile 2 - 10:09
Mile 3 - 10:12
Mile 4 - 10:00
Mile 5 - 10:05
Mile 6 - 9:55
Mile 7 - 10:04
Mile 8 - 10:14
Mile 9 - 11:03
Mile 10 - 12:13
Mile 11 - 9:53
Mile 12 - 10:20

Total planned miles: 31
Actual:
Running:  21.03
Walking:  4.10
Hiking:  2.80
Total miles:  27.93

Weekly Review

I'm happy to report that this week was better than last - not great, but better.  And we've already finished the first month of 2014, how about that?

Sunday - Rested
We hike 5.7 miles on Saturday, so my rest day ended up being a little more adventurous than planned.

Monday - Ran 4.01 miles in 47:37, 11:53 pace
Also walked 2 miles

Tuesday - Walked 2.2 miles

Wednesday - Walked 2.2 miles
I had planned on running Tantalus, but we had some car woes on Tuesday night after Bible study, so I spent my morning getting a new tire and two flats repaired!

Thursday - Ran 8.01 miles in 1:36:26, 12:03 pace
Finally - a run up Tantalus!  If this wasn't my last run on the mountain, it was my next to last.
Also walked 2.6 miles

Friday - Walked 7.26 miles
I purchased an annual membership to the Honolulu Zoo when we arrived last January.  It expired on Friday, so I made one last visit.

Saturday - Rested
It's a wet morning here and I decided to sleep in!  Which means I was awake at 5:30, then went back to sleep until 7:30.

Running 12.02
Walking 16.26
Total 28.28

Total for January - 143.55.  Last January my total was 105.96, so I'm off to a much better start this year!

Weekly Review

I had a very unusual week.  I only ran three times, but each of those were awesome!  We did quite a bit of exploring on Christmas day and again yesterday.  So while my miles were down, I was very active.

Sunday - Ran 5.02 miles in 52:14, 10:25 pace
I wasn't sure how I was going to feel - I was flat the day before.  I ended up feeling great!  I earned two PRs on a very short run.

Monday - Rested

Tuesday - Ran 8.03 miles in 1:23:12, 10:22 pace
This was an amazing run!  I have been running to and around Diamond Head for almost a year.  It is two miles from our condo to the base of the crater.  Two very flat and boring miles.  I decided to drive to Kapiolani Park (at the base of the crater) and run around Diamond Head twice.  The first time I went around counterclockwise in 41:56, 10:29 pace.  The second time I went around clockwise in 41:14, 10:15 pace.  I was really proud of that negative split! I also earned three PRs. I'll be doing this run again!

Wednesday - Hiked 1.48 miles in 1:25:23
Les and I had an adventurous Christmas day.  We hiked up Koko Head Crater (all pictures on this post are from that hike.)  The only way I can describe it is UP, UP, UP, then DOWN, DOWN, DOWN!  I've read there are approximately 1,000 railroad ties.  That is equivalent to 1,000 lunges going up and another 1,000 lunges going down!  Oh my aching legs and knees!!  It was a strenuous hike with incredible views at the top.

Thursday - Walked 2 miles
My legs were SO sore!

Friday - No recorded miles
Les had a floating holiday he needed to burn, so we were out exploring once again.  We visited the Battleship Missouri Memorial.  We took the Heart of the Missouri Tour, which is a private tour that goes beyond the norm.  It is advertised as 75 minutes, but ours ended up being 2 hours.  That's 2 hours of walking, climbing ladders, stepping over obstacles and navigating narrow doorways.  It was so interesting!  I have no idea how much we walked, but it was a lot.  We were both still sore from Koko Head, and this was probably the perfect activity to get our muscles moving again.

 

Saturday - Ran 4.1 miles in 42:29, 10:22 pace
My legs were still a little sore this morning (yes that's three days post Koko Head!) but I wanted to get out.  I started running and my legs started warming up and feeling better!  I had my second  best time on the two segments that I PR'd on Sunday.  I think some days you just have to get out of bed, ignore the soreness and just run!

Totals
Running 17.15
Walking  3.48
Total 20.63 miles 

Hiking the Mist Trail

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend.  Lots of eating, lots of fun and laughter with family, and a major hike. Yosemite National Park is practically in Fresno's backyard.  Just a short 60 miles gets you to the park entrance and another 35 miles takes you to the valley floor.

Les and I have made many trips to Yosemite in the past 22 years.  He proposed to me there on November 3, 1990 and we've been going back ever since.  When Les proposed, we hiked the Mist Trail to Vernal Fall.  This time we continued another two miles to Nevada Fall.  3.5 miles, with 2,000 feet of elevation gain!

The hike is described this way:

Medium, but bordering strenuous if you go all the way to the top of Nevada Fall. The stretches beside Vernal and Nevada Falls are both quite steep - in fact, the last few hundred meters up the Vernal Falls trail are stairs cut into the cliffside.

Those stairs in the cliff are killer!  Many were so steep, my hand was touching the ground as my knee was bent.  But the views from the top make it worthwhile!

Both of our Garmins had trouble tracking with the tall cliffs, and mine died completely on the way down, so I don't have complete data.  I did see my heart rate hit 162 as we were climbing the final steps to the top.

At Nevada Fall the trail continues on up another four miles to Half Dome.  The cables are down for the winter, so even if we'd been prepared, we couldn't have gone.

We made our way down, via the Muir Trail.  It was four miles, as opposed to 3.5, which made it just a little more gentle.

I had very little soreness on Saturday and none on Sunday.  I guess running hills has helped!