We had some really good runs last week which all started with a 10 mile run out at Wilson's Creek Battlefield. We followed that up with what I hope will be the starting point of many good quality workouts to come on Saturday morning. We ran 6 x 800 on the Drury track. It started a little rough but we kept ourselves focused and continued to work through the struggles until the workout started to turn around. By the end, we were starting to hit some good quality times even as the rain came down on us.
Following the workout, my parents came to town to help us lay some tile in our bathroom. That made for a long day. I sure do appreciate my Dad's hard work. He did the majority of the grunt work and I don't think we would have got it done in one day without him.
Sunday morning came all too quick after our long day Saturday. We woke up an headed out to the Frisco Trail for our long run. The goal was to simply hit a 15 mile run and hopefully feel decent doing it. We headed out towards Willard for 7.5 miles and turned around and came back. The entire run went decent. We've definitely had better, but it was overall a success.
(The above portion was written last week and not published so what follows is actually a recap of this last week)
Last week was an interesting one. Our week started out strong with some solid runs. Nothing too special, but solid. On Wednesday morning, we woke up early and headed to the Drury track for 400m repeats. The goal was to run 8x400m with 400m recovery between each. We had a time goal of about 75-77 sec per 400. We started our warm-up and I just had a bad feeling for the workout based on how my legs were feeling. They just didn't feel like they had recovered from our run the day before. However, I've had days like this before and then started the workout to have it work itself out during the workout. That definitely wasn't the case on this day. We ran one repeat and it was simply sub-par. Kimi and I both felt horrible. We turned to each other and decided to simply do a regular run and give it a go the next day instead.
Thursday came around and we woke up exactly like the day before and headed up to the Drury track to attempt the exact same workout. As soon as we started this one, I could tell it was going to be better. I still wasn't sure how good it would be, but better for sure. We started out with a 78, and then it just got better from there with multiple 76's and 75's and then one of them at 73. This was exactly the type of workout I was hoping we'd have.
The weekend was a big one. Kimi and I were headed up to the Plaza 10k so that Kimi could run in a very competitive race and see exactly where her fitness level is at this time. This had to go down as one of the most memorable races I've watched of Kimi's since her collegiate days. At no point during the race were the top two runners ever separated by more than about 15 meters. They even swapped leading a couple times after the 5 mile marker. Coming down the home stretch for the final quarter mile, it was a dogfight. Kimi and Connie (the fellow competitor and our friend) pushed the entire way to the finish line. I was so excited because I love watching Kimi dig deep and drive all the way to the line. She never gave up and by the time they crossed the line, Kimi had edged just slightly in front. Kimi and Connie have a history of racing each other where either one of them could win in any given race and any given distance. Kimi was fortunate to have the slight edge this time, but there would have been absolutely no shame in losing to Connie.
It's now time to prep for our next race. In about 2 weeks, we're headed to the Roots-n-blues 10k in Columbia, MO. This has always been one of Kimi's toughest races. She has placed 2nd for three straight years and it's been to 3 different people each time. Perhaps this will be her year? Perhaps not? Either way, she'll give it her best shot and we'll live with the results! Also, I'll be toeing the line for the first time in months as well so it should be a good experience.
(The above portion was written last week and not published so what follows is actually a recap of this last week)
Last week was an interesting one. Our week started out strong with some solid runs. Nothing too special, but solid. On Wednesday morning, we woke up early and headed to the Drury track for 400m repeats. The goal was to run 8x400m with 400m recovery between each. We had a time goal of about 75-77 sec per 400. We started our warm-up and I just had a bad feeling for the workout based on how my legs were feeling. They just didn't feel like they had recovered from our run the day before. However, I've had days like this before and then started the workout to have it work itself out during the workout. That definitely wasn't the case on this day. We ran one repeat and it was simply sub-par. Kimi and I both felt horrible. We turned to each other and decided to simply do a regular run and give it a go the next day instead.
Thursday came around and we woke up exactly like the day before and headed up to the Drury track to attempt the exact same workout. As soon as we started this one, I could tell it was going to be better. I still wasn't sure how good it would be, but better for sure. We started out with a 78, and then it just got better from there with multiple 76's and 75's and then one of them at 73. This was exactly the type of workout I was hoping we'd have.
The weekend was a big one. Kimi and I were headed up to the Plaza 10k so that Kimi could run in a very competitive race and see exactly where her fitness level is at this time. This had to go down as one of the most memorable races I've watched of Kimi's since her collegiate days. At no point during the race were the top two runners ever separated by more than about 15 meters. They even swapped leading a couple times after the 5 mile marker. Coming down the home stretch for the final quarter mile, it was a dogfight. Kimi and Connie (the fellow competitor and our friend) pushed the entire way to the finish line. I was so excited because I love watching Kimi dig deep and drive all the way to the line. She never gave up and by the time they crossed the line, Kimi had edged just slightly in front. Kimi and Connie have a history of racing each other where either one of them could win in any given race and any given distance. Kimi was fortunate to have the slight edge this time, but there would have been absolutely no shame in losing to Connie.
It's now time to prep for our next race. In about 2 weeks, we're headed to the Roots-n-blues 10k in Columbia, MO. This has always been one of Kimi's toughest races. She has placed 2nd for three straight years and it's been to 3 different people each time. Perhaps this will be her year? Perhaps not? Either way, she'll give it her best shot and we'll live with the results! Also, I'll be toeing the line for the first time in months as well so it should be a good experience.
