Slump Buster

I know recently i have been saying that I was in sort of a running slump of sorts. I wasn't too motivated to get out there and bust out some fast miles and my ankle wasn't feeling the best either. Well, last week was a very easy week. I only ran 3 days (I think) and I took off Friday, Saturday, AND Sunday. I actually went camping again with a friend so that worked out to be a good excuse.

Today is a new week though and time to ramp up the mileage once again. It was also a Volleyball night so I got to the courts 1 hour and 45 minutes early and off I was on a 9 miler. I knew right off the bat that this was going to be a good run. I could feel it and with the 3 days off, I felt so good. I did my usual route from Volleyball and mile 1 & 2 were at 8:20 and 8:29. Still felt good. Had water at mile 3 and felt good. Turned around at mile 4 1/2 and felt good. Picked it up some and had more water at mile 6. Feeling really good. Pushed the last 3 miles and made it up the big hill with 1 mile to go and dropped my average mile pace to 8:10 by the end. My shirt was drenched with sweat as it was very humid and in the 80's. But all in all it felt really good.

This run brought back some confidence I was lacking the past few weeks and the motivation to get back to training hard. I am trying my best to not let the ankle get in the way of training hard. I do need to get the the Chiro again for and adjustment there so ti will heal, but no complaints.

I am not sure how many miles this week calls for but I do plan on running a long one this Saturday. I I may meet up with Chaz for the Lapham Peak Run as we call it. It is a run from my old house in West Allis out to Lapham Peak Park in Delafield, up the observation tower once, and then 2 more miles to the park & ride lot for a total of 23 miles and a net uphill climb to the tower of over 500 feet with over half of that in the last mile to mile and a half before the tower. I really like this run because it is so difficult and it simulates a marathon well. The hills at the end really make you work when your legs have had enough. I hope to maintain a good pace but have not figured out what that pace ought to be. I hope to recruit a few more runners to join us. I hope Mike and Paul can join us even if it is only half way.