Journey to Kona Day 54: Running Again!

It's been two weeks since I last ran, due to popping a rib out of place.  I did 10 push ups yesterday, so the rib is fine.  I was actually going to run yesterday, but never had the time, so just went out first thing this morning before life got in the way of doing anything else.  I put my heart rate monitor on so that I could get some data.  Put my shoes on and was out the door.  Decided to run 6 miles with a 1 mile steep climb and descent in the middle.

From the moment I put one foot in front of the next today, I felt great!  My legs felt fine, my heart rate was fine, and I just ran comfortably for the first two miles until I got to my favorite (for the last several years, thought this will soon change with my imminent move) climb.  One mile average 8-10% grade.  I ran easy up this climb today, never pushed, never really raised my heart rate.  The climb took me 13:49, but my average heart rate was 146, which is quite fine for me going up such a hill.  I had no intention of really exerting myself up this climb, because I'd already decided to run as hard as I could on the way down!  Which is what I did.

I basically ran as fast as I could downhill, while feeling in control and running pretty smoothly, trying not to pound too much.  My HR gradually increased to about 160 and when the hill flattened out a bit towards the bottom, I just put my effort into a higher gear and ultimately got my heart rate up to about 168, which would be just above my lactate threshold. 6:21 for the downhill mile.  Not too bad.  I then "cooled down" with a very comfortable final two miles, run right around 9:50 pace, but allowing my HR to come back down into the 140's.

My quads felt a bit sore for several hours after, but I was moving around while helping my daughter move some more today.  By this evening, the soreness was gone.  I don't expect it to come back tomorrow, and in fact, I'm thinking of doing a long trail run on Sunday.  Somehow, taking off two weeks doesn't seem to have affected my legs whatsoever.  We'll see what the next week brings.