Happy Trails

Work has been in the way of my running lately. With about 12 weeks to go until my marathon, my mileage over the last two weeks has taken a plunge. Tuesday, I was able to get in 8 miles of running plus 4 miles of mixed runs and fast walks with HouseHold 6. Today, with a little over an hour of sunlight left when I got home, I decided to hit my tried, tested and true trail run on the Fort Benning Fitness Trail.

My 8 miles on Tuesday really didn't feel that good, and it took more perceived effort than normal. Wednesday my legs were tight and I needed an easy (or recovery) run . Today, I was just going to go with the flow. I hoped to make 4 loops around the trail for just over 7 miles.

When I got to the entrance to the rail, I decided to alternate the direction of the runs after each lap of the trail, starting with the reverse of my normal direction. That meant I had a long, gradual hill right at the beginning. As I was running the hills, I thought this would be a good prep for my 10K on Saturday, as it will most likely be hilly at Uchee Creek where the Oktoberfest 10K will be at.

At first, the almost taper like absences I've had from putting feet to street were making my legs feel sluggish. It took me until the second lap to really get my running legs going. Once there, I was able to get in "the zone" and fight my way up and down the hills with little problems. As I completed the forth round and started to head up to the entrance, I was surprised at how good I was feeling. The last time I did the Fitness Trail four time around, the last lap was more of a fight. I think that as I have added more distance to my long runs, my middle length runs feel a bit easier. When I began this train-up in May, I had know idea that I would be saying, "It was only 9 miles."

Fitness trail (1.77 mile) splits: 12:33, 12:38, 12:42, and 12:34. Pretty even, so I'm very pleased.

Bottom Line: 7.2 miles in 54:35 @ a 7:35 pace.