Week 2 brought changes and the realization that my body really, really needs an easy, warmup mile before attempting to run fast. After a really crappy 10 mile run on Saturday and an easy 3 on Sunday, I was totally refreshed and ready to go Monday am. I felt great running the waterfront loop. It's a 5.5 mile loop that sometimes can feel like forever. This past week, it was the perfect temperature and my running partner and I just talked and talked the whole time.
Tuesday was an early morning spin class because I had an event after work. On Wednesday, Jessica and I met for a sustained hard effort run. I don't want to say tempo because I'm not at the point where I can run a sustained tempo pace. I wanted to run 7:20-7:30s for 20 minutes. However, I started off with Jessica and allowed her to set the pace. Full disclosure - she is faster than me. I did the complete opposite of what I wanted to run - running faster and then having to slow down. I prefer to get faster each mile or sustain. After the warmup, I did a 7:07 and then a 7:30 mile. It was rough - I would have prefered to run the opposite times but lesson learned.
Thursday was my strength training day. Friday was my rest day. On Saturday, I tackled the Terwilliger hill for my 12 miles. I'm definitely a long run person because the first two miles felt terrible! I actually felt better running uphill on the 3rd mile. I stopped and took a picture at the top, got water, refueled and prepared for the downhill. Sunday was an easy 4 miler.
One of my favorite aspects of running in Portland is the fact that there are water fountains everywhere. Terwilliger is popular route for runners, hikers and cyclists. It's a great route with sidewalks, bike lanes and water fountain
s. I was disappointed to see runners littering. It's not hard to put the empty wrappers back in your pockets or run over to the garbage can that was about 100 feet away. Respect where you run and pick up after yourselves. Of course, I know that none of our friends or clients would litter :)