So I ran another six miles today: over to McKinley Park and around four times before coming back. It was the same route I took last week. It was pleasant out. I am enjoying the cool weather while I can! I took walk breaks every six minutes and sipped Zip Fizz from my CIM finisher water bottle.
For over a month now, I have held to a similar running schedule:
- six miles on Monday
- three miles on Wednesday
- six miles on Thursday
- six miles on Saturday*
I have liked this pattern. For one thing, four days a week of running gives plenty of time for rest. It also builds space in for other physical activities (I swam twice last week and did a yoga class).
For another, the amount of running I’m doing still feels substantial. After all, I’m running over twenty miles a week. And six miles is enough to feel it afterward, something I was reminded of on Saturday when I ran six miles on the treadmill at the gym (not an easy thing, especially since I’m still getting used to using the machine for run/walk intervals).
So I am being stimulated by the amount of running, but it is nice not to be putting out enormous amounts of energy, especially for the weekend run. Case in point: on Saturday, after my 6-miles on the treadmill, I was able to function normally. I cooked a nice meal for my wife in the afternoon, then we went to a play in the evening. I enjoyed myself at the play without being concerned about tiredness. Yesterday morning I awoke feeling no drowsiness or lingering effects from a long run, because I hadn’t run one!
I am starting to think ahead to bigger things. Today I got excited by the prospect of training for the Urban Cow Half marathon in October.
But the mellowness is still nice, because that is what fits for me right now.
*The exception being the Saturday I ran the 5k. That day I ran 4 miles in total, including a warm up mile.