End of Week 12 - fighting the burn

So, I had such a fun time going on my walk/run with Ana and her horse last week, I decided to make it a regular Sunday event. It gives us a new activity to share, and it helps her keep her horse trotting in a "collected" manner (i.e., as slowly as I can run).

We slept in a bit, and then did barn chores before heading out, so my normal "fast before running" method was getting its envelope pushed a bit... normally, it means I'm out walking/running by 9am or so, but we only got "on the road" by 11. Oo, I was an 'ungry lad!

The walk down the back trail was a bit treacherous; a number of mini plateau areas had served as a collection for warm weather run-off, and had subsequently frozen over... Ana had to get off Patches and walk him around the more dangerous areas. But, we survived the trail and hit the dirt road with enthusiasm and pep. Then, I turned around... The first half of the road (up to the deer farm) is up hill, gaining probably 20 feet of total elevation. That's not an awful lot, but it's the equivalent of a two story building, and obviously running up hill requires more work. I was feeling good, though, and made it up to the farm without stopping. Like I said, then I turned around... and all the lactic acid I had accumulated coming up strong up the hill was now happily having a holiday vacation in my quads - they burned!

I kept up the run, but as I neared the 3/4 mile mark, I finally had to walk for a bit. Took about 100 yards for my muscles to flush the acids out sufficiently, and then I picked the pace back up. In the end, I got my best time for the mile to date: 12:39.6! Yay! Still well off a world-class pace, but I will definitely take the progress as progress and be happy.

I'm starting to rethink my distance estimate for the back trail, too. I walked it (up hill) in under 8 minutes, so it can't possibly be 400m... because I walk my 400m loop in about 4:20 tops. So, I think I'm going to take about 100m off the estimate, bringing the Sunday Adventure with the Child to a total distance of 3km.

Lap Times
Phase 1 (walk) : 7:16.6 (trail)
Phase 2 (jog) : 6:19.3 (up to farm)
Phase 3 (walk/jog) : 6:20.3 (down to trail)
Phase 4 (walk) : 7:50.7 (trail)

Total distance: 3 km, Total time: 27:46.9, Best mile: 12:39.6
Weekly weigh-in: 310
Average power: 677 Watts
Heart rate following final run: --
Heart rate five minutes after cool-down walk: --