Back in town.

Monday, 30 March
Traveling...

Tuesday, 31 March
Traveling and then back home. My legs were much less swollen thanks to a crucial tip I got to plantar flex my feet and clench up my calves to pump blood back up my legs... it worked!

When I got back, I was all tired and grumpy and messed up, but I decided I had to do a run for my own sanity. I just did an easy 30 minutes with my legs uberdead (Susan said my blood was pooled in my legs, and that's why they felt like that.). Feeling "bletchy" all over.

Wednesday, 1 April
Spent most of the day chilling and doing errands (my debit card info was stolen... d'oh!). Then did a PM track workout with Susan (awesomeness). Henry joined in the stroller - what a good track baby!
1200 tempo - 96/94/91, then maybe 90 seconds rest, then
800 (84/86)
600 (85/39)
400 (81) with very minimal (1-2 minute) rests. There were some rough spots (very dizzy on the 400 - scary!) most notably on the 800 (the 84 was a pleasant surprise, but the second lap felt long) and the last 200 of the 600 (where I picked it up - this hurt).

I did the 8/6/4 in my spikes, and they felt fine. My form was weird feeling, I think this is just from not running for a little while (and not being on the track, or in spikes).

Thursday, 2 April
This run was a little longer than I thought it would be, but I just couldn't pass up the opportunity. We waited until low tide and then my dad bike-paced me on the beach all the way down to Torrey Pines. We came back on the streets b/c the tide was coming up. I got a little tired around an hour in, but trotted in just fine (82 minutes total, about 9.5 miles). My quads were really tired by the end, but on the upside my calves are feeling totally fine. I guess the barefoot stuff over my vacay really paid off! Fun run.

Friday, 3 April
Prerace (!?!). I did 35 minutes out in the lagoon, with the only hitch being a highly active bug that flew into my eyeball. Well, that and the fact that my lower quads are hella hella sore. I'm hoping this is from Wednesday and not yesterday, because if that's true, I'll be fine tomorrow. If not... well, no worries. It'll be fun regardless.

Saturday, 4 April
PP Invite. Ran a cool 5.14 (84/89/84/56) in the 1500. Legs were still sore today, but not as bad as they had been yesterday (lower quads mostly sore). Calves still 100%, so I guess I didn't need to be worried about that. Race plan was to push the third lap, since that was traditionally a difficult part for me. So, I was happy to see that 84 split.

The 89 wasn't as bad as it looked; I think I'd slowed down at the end of the first lap, and then Stephanie gapped me in a beaut of a move I was happy to sit back and watch. There was quite a large spot in front of me in the 2nd lap, which I kind of just tried to be patient about and watch, and keep the other Caltech gals in contact with me.

When I got to the third lap, my plan kicked in, and then I got down to business. I'd forgotten how quickly that race goes! I mean... all of a sudden, it was 600m to go, and I was thinking to myself, "holy crap, I can't waste any more time!". So I worked on the gap. By my usual kicking-spot (350m to go) I was pleased to see that there was a huge bunch-up of folks right in front of me. I hopped them coming around the turn and then tried to get my position back on the straightaway, passing a few more coming around the final turn.

Simultaneously I saw Anna from Pomona in front of me, and I heard Ian say "she's a good one to get" by which of course he meant, "now is your time to avenge all those cross-country races she's served your ass by 5 minutes!". So I playfully turned on the jets to make a decisive move going around her - I didn't want to give her wiggle room to chase me down. It worked out okay. But don't feel too proud on my account, she was fading and didn't even try to get me.

Anyways, good times, especially after having a lot of doubts. I had fun, ran a great time considering, and was in good control the whole time. I'm looking forward to doing some more track workouts!

Sunday, 5 April
Off, resting up.