*Week 337*
Greetings, 50+ers! No preamble today, since there's a bunch of stuff at the end. It was not a good week, as I continue to sputter (putter?) along. Managed a meager 15+ miles and it wasn't pretty.
Sun: Off
Mon: 2.6 (~8:20/mi) 2x1.3 Running to/from work w/light pack
Tue: 5.2 (9:03/mi) Easy XC running
Wed: 3.2 (7:44/mi) Tweaked my knee again (dammit), opted out of the T-day race. :-(
Thu: Off, worked the race, on my feet from 6am-1pm, knee got very stiff
Fri: Off, spent the day trying to coax my knee into behaving, semi-successful
Sat: 4.1 (7:15/mi moving pace) 2x1+2x.6
This is not good. My left knee is not healthy. Maybe running XC was not a good plan on Tuesday, the tall grass and mole tracks meant there was a lot of unnatural lateral movement. I'll have to address this at some point. It does feel better when I run with some pace, so Saturday, I ran faster than I can maintain until I got gassed, then would stop for 30s or so, then run some more, hence 2x1,2x.6 (averaged 7:00 pace for those sections.) By then it loosened up enough that I could at least run the last mile home easy, but it immediately stiffened up when I got home. In two weeks you'll be seeing me on the course bringing up the rear, probably limping into the finish, but I'll be out there.
Speaking of the course, here's a brief preview (you know where to find the maps.) Lot's of rolling hills, but no monster climbs. The whole course lies between elevations 858 ft and 912 ft. We'll need to climb roughly that elevation difference (or a few feet fewer) 5 times during the course of the race, once steeply (>7% grade), 4 times more gradually (3-5% grade). We do the longer white loop first, followed by two red loops. The race starts and finishes at the pinnacle of the course, so it's gonna be a fast start as we head down the hill to the lower soccer fields. Around the soccer fields is flat and should be fast, assuming it stays dry, because if it's wet, it will be slick on the south side of the fields. After leaving the soccer fields, we'll hit a section that has a decent left-leaning slant to it for the next while for all three loops. Near the end of this section, on the first loop, it takes a jog back up a fairly steep hill to the start (this is the one steep climb) only to turn back to the left to zoom back down the hill to the lowest point before heading over to the back loop (more on the back loop later.) For the other two loops, it doesn't jog up the hill but will veer left then right down an outward sloped sharp right turn that is dirt and may be slick. If there is a spot on the course where there are wipe-outs, this is probably it. Once negotiated, though, it'll be flat and fast all the way until it meets up with the white loop with a sharp right turn for the long undulating climb (there will be three of them) back up to the course start/finish. On the back loop, there is a fairly long steady climb up along the park's edge that reaches the same elevation as the start and it could be slick in spots if wet, but the footing is generally good. Once you reach the peak nearest the prison hospital, there is a nice long downhill section where you can make up some time before meeting up with the red loop for the climb back to the start/finish. So if the course is dry, this will be a fast course (but not for me, lol;) if it's wet, though, there could be a lot of slipping and sliding in spots. Finally, there are a few section that are riddled with mole tracks, not sure how that'll affect speed, but it is something to be mindful of. OK, that's my course preview. Hope it's helpful.
What's happening in your world this week? Props to MikeL on winning his series AG with his TT race. Any more turkey trots to report?
All the Best!