The Prodigal Run

Holy screaming baby cows Batman! It feels as if I have just sent my fatted calves to slaughter. I have never run two days in a row before, let alone three. Just over thirteen miles in three days! That is huge for me. Just think, in a few more weeks, I will be running that distance in just a matter of hours, or die trying. While I wouldn’t necessarily go as far as to say that this was a total ‘prodigal’ run, it was a bit reckless. Perhaps I should have started by running two days in a row before jumping right into three, just because it was how my plan was laid out, but instead I decided to stick to the plan and fortunately things turned out well. It was evident as soon as my Vibrams hit the pavement that my muscles were still a bit sore from the runs the previous two days and so I decided right then-and-there that if I was going to keep this run as long as I had planned, I was going to need to take it very slow.

Sadly, the toll on my body this first time running so much over consecutive days was greater than I had previously anticipated, so I think I will have to forgo the strength training that was on the agenda for after today’s run. Perhaps this week I will add a bit of strength training for tomorrow instead of just being a total rest day. I will keep it light however, as I have seen again today, my body has its limits and I will need to continue to introduce it to the ever increasing distance and muscle work at a gentle, yet steady, and challenging pace.

Cooler winds blew in off of the lake again today after the past several days have been over eighty degrees. While the warm weather is very welcome, easing into the warmer temperatures with a throw-back to fifty degree temps for my run this afternoon was very refreshing. Wanting to stop and capture the sights around me (and definitely not at all because my legs were tired from running both days prior, nope... Not at all.), I took a few shots of the world around me.

Up next: two much needed days of rest, then out for my long run on Sunday!