Last Week in Running: November 24, 2019. BACK at it Edition

I got back into it this week (pun not really intended).

Monday: Started slowly with three laps around the park at a mid-9s easy pace. It was a chilly 32 out, but not really too bad once I got started. 3.76 miles in 35:40 (9:29 min/mile pace… I said I started slowly!!!).

Tuesday: went a little faster, but I still didn’t push it in terms of speed. I did go a little further though. It was a mildly eventful day, as when I went downstairs to go run, I heard beeping in the basement. It turns out my sump pump had died AND the backup sump-pump had died. I went running, did a little work, and then fixed the pump…

Since the sump pit was full and there was no repairing the main pump, so I knew I was going to be out to get another. I got it installed and running and focused my attention on the backup pump. The pump itself was not dead, but the battery was over-discharged (it was down to 6.something volts (out of 12 volts). I had it unhooked while working on the main pump and it came back to 11.4 volts so I plugged it back in after giving it a day to charge, it was up to a full charge (12.4-ish volts). Note to self: don’t plug the battery charger into the same GFCI-protected outlet as the pump!

Anyway, the run was 5.18 miles in 46:15 (8:56 min/mile).

Wednesday, I took the day off. I took my FIL to a medical appointment in the morning and did some work and then went out (with him and my family) to dinner. Pizza. Carbo-loading for tomorrow!

Thursday was an identical route and distance to Tuesday, but a minute faster. Today was warmer, and it was calm until the last 1.5 miles or so when the wind picked up. I had some odd outlier miles – mile 2 was 8:34 and mile 5 was 8:26… I didn’t think I was going that fast. Overall, 5.18 miles in 45:21 (8:45 min/mile pace).

Friday was still a long run, and I did 8 miles. For the first time since the back injury, I branched out of the park and into the subdivision next to it. My paces were all over the place, partly because of hills, partly because my legs felt tired. I got it done, though – 8.02 in 1:11:15 (8:53 min/mile).

That’s the week. 22 miles, which is a long shot from what was actually intended (35 miles for this week, based on Pfitzinger’s recovery plan) and a looong ways from pre-marathon training. Next week I’ll be back up to 5 days a week and getting my legs back into it. 🍻