It's 60 Minutes!

The LA Roadrunners have changed phases in the training for the Los Angeles Marathon from Begin Building Intensity to ... Building Intensity.

So, this morning, I set out on the new more intense plan, 60 minutes! I also worked on a new route to account for more time, one I am dubbing M2.

I fairly quickly realized my knee was having a bad knee day ... again. So, I slowed down; but, I did keep going.

I headed west towards the ocean briefly, turned around and headed towards and then briefly into Los Angeles, turned around again and went towards Santa Monica Airport.

I am trying to be a bit more careful, especially in the dark, as some of the Santa Monica streets now have very large potholes after all the storms. These are not quite as fun in the pre-dawn!

I was struggling but going and continued.

I keep reading about having fun; but, this morning was just hard. I could not find a cadence. I could not find a comfort level. It was just a hard one.

I did make it back eventually, just a lot slower than hoped for at the start.

I do think there are some steps I will need to do:
-resolve the energy issue as I have been going straight from wake-up to run; with the distances now, I may need to wake up, eat, go back to sleep, and then run.
-just keep treating my knee and hoping for the best
-water up more the night before
-complete breaking in shoes (as recommended by the pace leaders, I got two pairs; so, Pair II got its baptism by fire today); right now, they do not feel totally comfortable. A few more runs though and they should be alright and quite good.

On the plus side, what in the old days was a long, long run is now just a mere training run. I also managed to finish today. Also, the arch on my right foot did not cause problems; so, hopefully, it is back to normal. Finally, the most important thing ... made my head steam again.

Wednesday will be a good test.

60:19 of running
11:53 pace
5.07 miles