25 to 30 percent increase

The marathon was in town over the weekend. I had some friends in the race and The Half. So I set my trusty alarm cat to go off early – actually he goes off every morning when the sun comes up – who needs clocks? But it was raining – not rain-rain but just a little drizzle – perfect maybe for running but not great for going out and waiting for someone to show up at a halfway point when maybe they’ve already gone by. So I stayed home and ate blueberry pancakes.

But the marathon did affect my running over the last couple weeks. Two weekends in a row now I’ve done the double-run thing. Start out with a nice easy warm-up run with Hil and then go out to the Arroyo to get my fill. It’s a nice way to add on the mileage. I’m not sure how important it is for me to add on the mileage right now but since the marathon was in town I thought I’d do a little extra as unseen moral support – just get that running vibe out there in the air for everyone on race day.

I was a little surprised by two things. Both the Arroyo runs, which immediately followed a warm-up run, were pretty fast. And I was a lot more tired after both extended days of running. In my mind it seems like about the same distance 10, 13, whatever. But I think that’s right around that distance/time when you hit a threshold where you really need to be more conscious of caloric intake and hydration.

I do like the Half distance a lot. I don’t think I’ll ever get around to running a marathon. It’s a lot harder than two halves somehow. But based on the speed I think my legs were ready for the half and I may try to throw more of those together down in the arroyo on a more regular basis.

Also, my current shoes are hanging on impressively. The farthest I’ve ever taken a pair of running shoes in lifetime mileage is 600 miles. “They” say shoes are expected to break down after 300 to 500 miles based on your weight and running style and surface and such. My current Adidas are at 760 which of course begs the challenge of 1000 miles. They feel pretty good so far so we’ll see. The extended mileage may be from more dirt-trail miles or my focus on shying away from heavy heel landings.