Monday ... A Bit Better is Better than A Bit Worse

Monday morning came all too soon and it was soon time to be back at it. I got up and decided to give it a go.

I headed out for a scheduled 45 minute run for the LA Roadrunners mid-week training. I now have kind of routes depending on time due.

At the start my knee did feel sluggish; but, the legs felt better than normal. I started taking Clif Shot ROKS right after the long runs and they definitely seem to help in recovery. My calves were a little sore; but, there was nothing really hard to overcome due to Saturday.

I was doing alright, not great; but, the soreness in my knee was not threatening.

I continued along and while off the LT pace target, I was relatively comfortable, especially compared to Saturday.

I also have begun a bit of mental adjustment. I was not frantically sprinting to try to get to the magic number. The reality is I have a concern about an injury and sprinting on uneven sidewalks in the dark is a good way to add more problems. While not a great run, I was still going and trying.

I made it home and looked ...
45:56, 4.14 miles, and 11:22 pace.
Great? No.
Good? Not really.
Satisfying? In a way, yes as I was able to run at least and reality is compared to April level, those are good numbers.

Adelante!

After the Deluge

After the fun and challenge of Saturday's long and wet 15-miler, it was a return to the LA Roadrunners schedule for self-training.

One change I did was I took some Clif Shot Roks which are designed to aid recovery. I had the chocolate flavor, which was good. They come in a ball shape and are easy to bite, which was great after getting back from the run. This was the first time I used them. As with the gel, no stomach issues.

I was a bit "workout sore" but not as much as before and more in the area just above the knees rather than my whole quadriceps area. So, that was a bit of progress. Perhaps the recovery product helped with this as well?

Sunday I set out dark and early for a 30-minute run; but, the happiness of Servite winning gave a bit of a mental boost. I felt a bit of a twinge in my knee and it slowed me down. I did 2.36 miles at a 13:04 pace for 30:41. (I also did about three minutes of running where again I accidentally deactivated the Garmin 305; definitely it is not a good habit to have). It was not a great run and I was disappointed; but, I finished it and I actually had decent energy the rest of the day, which was busy. I really want to see how I react after the 16-miler and use of the Roks.

Monday was another run dark and early. I started out and did not feel like a maximum effort was coming. Still, I headed out and got three hills in, which was a plus. I also had to run a few small circles at lights, which hurt my pace times. On the other hand, my knee was a bit of a bother. The result of all of this was running for 45.1 minutes covering 3.87 miles at 11:21 pace. The good news is that is faster than the lactic pace I had been operating on; the bad news is I wanted to be at around 10:30.

I have noticed a few things though. One is my Monday runs seem consistently slower and the pace and feel gets better as the week continues. The second thing it takes about a mile or so for my knee to feel better; for some reason, it improves as I run. it is more of a bother when the leg is has not been active for a bit! Third, I am now running loner and earlier; I think I may need to start using gels or bloks on these runs. The side effect of that is I lose precious sleep time as the Clif Shot gel recommends using 15 minutes prior to starting and 45 minutes is relatively short.

Still, I am doing my best. I am hoping I can carry on and make this something special, completing the Los Angeles Marathon. It seems it may be a bit of tough route; but, may be that is the Servite way!