Weekly training summary, surgery, and training memories

This week got a little wonky because of the unexpected remove-the-wandering-elbow-hardware surgery on Friday. My original plan was to get out to Afton very early Saturday for another loop. Instead, I moved the long run to early Thursday morning and got it done before going under the knife.

Monday: Run 5.4 mi. Sunny, hot, sweaty. Notes say "not super inspired".
Tuesday: Run 4.2 mi. A little cooler and breezy.
Wednesday: Spin class at the Y with my favorite instructor, Joe. Very hot but rode pretty hard.
Thursday: Run 15.2 mi. Loops along the river.
Friday: Surgery.
Saturday: Rest. (Felt pretty good, though!)
Sunday: Run 4.2 mi. Nice morning.

Total: 29 miles.

It's been a long time since I ran long on the road. I think the last >13 miler on the road was probably when I was training for a marathon 2 years ago! Thursday was a warm day (muggy, starting temp 72 at 5:30 am, heated up from there), so I took it slow and steady.

I went up the river as far as the Broadway bridge, crossed and worked my way back down again. Then back across Franklin bridge, up to 10th Ave bridge and back. I hadn't been that far north on the river since marathon training, and it was fun to run along some of those paths again and remember all those long hot runs two years ago.

I remember one long run in June two years ago. I was going north on West River Road above Hennepin Bridge and the road was closed. A few bikers and a police car went by. Then two guys came by, running, fast. Then the dime dropped: This must be a race! Duh. It was the Minneapolis Marathon and Half Marathon, and the chase pack blazed by shortly afterward.

By the time I started to cross the Plymouth Bridge, hundreds of marathoners and half-marathoners were running with me. It was fun to feed off all that race-day energy, and all the more fun because it was so unexpected. I ran with the crowd for a few miles through St. Anthony Main, back across Stone Arch Bridge, and then lost them as they turned one way and I went the other way. Suddenly my path was quiet again, and I was back with my thoughts as company.

I think of that day, and that unexpected thrill of finding myself engulfed in a race, surrounded by people running with purpose and finding their limits, every time I'm on that part of the river. What a joy to run and to race.