My second run on Wednesday felt good and my legs didn’t feel any ill effects after the steady state in the morning. This was a great sign because my calves were really tight after the last time I did the workout. There was also no soreness the next day which I guess means that my legs are getting used to the 20+ mile days I’ve been putting in and will be continuing with for the duration of my marathon training. I was a little tired the next morning at the bagel run for my 80 mins easy and that run was more about will power than anything else. I was going to cut the run down to 60 mins and do 60 mins in the evening (I had down 80 mins and 40 mins for the day) but the way I got around this was constantly thinking about the last few miles of the London marathon. Imagery like this really helps on those long tiring days when it is cold and miserable and its hard just to put your shoes on to get out the door. The run finally ended and I drove to the gym with the intention of doing my weights and circuits but I only got through my core and upper body circuit before I called it quits. I tried my hardest by blasting a live set of Tiesto’s but to no avail, I just wasn’t up for it. This wasn’t a huge problem as I could either do the workout later that day or the next morning. I settled for getting back to the house and making a breakfast burrito and taking a nap. After waking up and having a coffee and a long shower to try and get of my sleep inertia I quickly packed and got on the road to Phoenix.
The drive to Phoenix takes just over 2 hours and its quite scenic but I tend to zone out on the trip now as I have done it so many times. You pass by the red rocks of Sedona and then as you get to the steepest part of the road (just after Sunset Point) you get a gorgeous view of the mountain range just north of Phoenix (I’m not sure what they are called). And then I hit something that I didn’t take into consideration when I left Flagstaff – Rush hour! I thought I had missed it as I had got through a good portion of the trip through Phoenix with minimal traffic but as I turned the corner by the airport we came to a stand still. This added an extra hour onto the journey but the sunset was nice and I found a radio station that was playing Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci. This was the first time I had tried out some Opera on my cars stereo (I have a Mitsubishi Eclipse that came with a Rockford Fosgate stereo which is incredible) and I really enjoyed it. This got me through the end of my journey and I was warmly greeted by Julie’s parents when I arrived in Ahwatukee.
I quickly got changed and headed out the door to get my second run in before it got colder (the sun had set and the wind had picked up). If I had any thoughts of running quickly this evening they quickly disappeared as when I got out to the reservation I had to face 3 miles one way into a strong headwind. This was just what I needed as my legs and glutes were tight from the drive down. I got back from the run just as Greg (Julie’s dad) had started making some lovely Ribeye’s for the 2 of us. After that we just settled down in front of the tv for a few hours and then I headed to bed as I knew the next mornings training was going to be long.
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