Mid-March running update

I finished up my easy week with 4 runs of 2.3, 2.4, 4.7, and 3 all done completely easy just concentrating on my form. Mostly flat except the long run on Mt Sanitas. I had an additional mile with Hannah who hiked the whole mile. It was pretty impressive, heading uphill out of the S Mesa TH.

Second week of March was almost 21 miles with a 9 mile long run over Green (Up Bear canyon, down Greenman to 1st flatiron trail, back to NCAR).  Saturday long runs with Abe for the past few months have been great. Here's Abe near the top of Green mountain from the west.

I would love to keep up 20-30 mi/wk through the next couple of months, while just working on building the 1 long run each week. I'm at the point where, in the past, my body would breakdown. The key for me right now seems to be staying consistent with daily short runs. The distance is pathetic, but the point is to keep legs loose, continue building strength and not overdo it. 2-3 miles seems to be just about the right distance for achieving all of those points, although it's too short to warrant driving to a trail. Thus most of those are around home late at night after the family goes to bed.

So the next few weeks should tell whether I'm building up correctly, and can attribute success to the surgery. I usually feel twinges and aching pains in the same spot where my IT band was irritated, but it hasn't increased at all during runs. I hope this is a good sign, as these aches are easily tolerable.

Hoka Bondi.B

I got a chance to try out the new Hoka Bondi.B. I was immediately corrected when calling them "bond-ee bee" that it's pronounced "bond-eye bee".
On first glance, Hoka has only slightly improved the look. They still have plenty of neon colors but the upper is neutral gray.  The tread appears to be not as aggressive as the Mafate, if you could ever call that aggressive.

Having just run in my Mafates I slapped on the new road shoes (again these run a half size small, I normally wear 11 in everything, 11.5 in Hokas) and took them out on the road. They feel to me just like the Mafates. Although the sole is supposed to be firmer, it felt the same.
I opted to not buy them right now as they're still $180 and do not seem substantially different than what I already have. I haven't come close to the miles that runners claim Hokas can stand up to, so until then I'll stay with my Mafates, and maybe by that time, I can find a pair of the mauna kea's.

An easy week.

I guess I've never really run consistently enough to follow the running plans that advise an easy week every third week. But here it is. I'm looking forward to next week feeling rested and better.

Jan 2011 was 19 runs with weekly milage of 7.5, 9.9, 14.1, 13.6

First week of Feb I was sick and that constituted my rest week. 

Feb 2011 was 19 runs with weekly milage of 3.9, 14.2, 16.9, 18.7 (long runs of 5.5, 8, 8)

My monthly mileage equates to weekly mileage of many others but I'm happy with it. The "easy week" plan is to take an extra day off this week and run my weekend run ~6. This should give 10-12 on the week and leave me ready to start slowly building up to over 20/wk.

Yesterday I felt tight all over and today I feel a little looser but mentally feel some odd pain around my right knee. I ran 2 miles easy today and it felt like more might have caused some pain. I suppose it's common to not feel good on rest weeks, similarly to taper weeks, so I'll just hold tight and hope things relax.

It's fun to spot local speedsters on the trails. I spotted George Zack coming down Fern Canyon on Saturday and today passed Gerry and Jennifer Roach.