Run 5 of 5, but a little late and a little short

Today I completed the 5th run of my series.  The idea was to run 100 miles or 160km within the space of one week.  To complete this aim I would have had to run 32km yesterday, and then the target would have been met.  Yesterday Anny and I had various plans though, and I didn't want to spent 4 hours out running and leave her alone to prepare the dinner for our guests.  So I decided to stay and help her, and to do the final run of the series today instead.

The first 5km I did along with Anny and Negrita.  Anny is following an 8 week 10km training plan, and is currently in her second week of the program.  She was meant to complete a distance of 5k today, and she decided she would like to do it in 30 minutes.  I acted as her pacemaker and made sure she was on track to get the time she wanted.  She was pretty good with the pacing, but I helped to give her that little extra bit of motivation in the final stages when she was tired.  In the end she did it 11 seconds under her target.

After that I put on some warmer clothes and then headed out on my own.  I ran down to Seefeld and then along to Tiefenbrunnen station.  From there I headed up towards the Zollikerberg and then into the woods.  As I got higher up there was some snow and I was able to do a little bit of running in soft snow.  The gravel paths were pretty slippery and icy and I had to be careful of my step.  It was easier to stick to the dirt tracks as at least they had some grip.  After running around in the woods for a while I headed back towards Zurich along the route of the S-Bahn (S18 to be precise).  As I reached Rehalp I I saw tram 11 heading towards Zurich and decided I would race it.

The woods near the Zollikerberg

A snowy field to run on

I was able to keep the tram in sight for about 6 stops, but the tram didn't get stuck at any lights and there was hardly any traffic, so it was much faster than I was.  All the same it allowed me to do a very fast couple of kilometres in the middle of my long run, and to break up the pace a bit.  I kept up a decent pace as I entered Zurich itself, and along the Limmat towards Central.  After that I eased off the gas a bit and took it easy till I reached the apartment.  By the time I got to the apartment I had done 25km.

In the middle stages of the run I was flagging a bit, and I can tell that the "almost" 100 miles in "almost" a week has taken a toll on my body.  This coming week I will ease off the mileage and do some extra cross training in its place.  I have 2 Pilates lessons booked, and would like to fit in some gym, swimming and yoga.  I will still do some running, but not as much as this last week.  Then next week I can up the mileage once again.