So I’m more than half way through my training cycle, and things are going well. I missed my 8-miler due to a late night out at a concert during week 9, which is fine. We all need some respite. This week, however, I ran all but one mile, hitting 46 miles for the week.
The week’s workouts
Along the trail by my sister’s in Virginia
Sunday: Easy 5 miles, which I ran on a trail by my sister’s house in Virginia. I have no idea what the pace was since I forgot my Garmin. I used my iPhone’s timer and kept stopping it by mistake. I’m guestimating I ran around 53 minutes. Not sure. How liberating is that!
At one point a small white dog ran by with a doggy smile on her doggy tongue. She acknowledged no one on the trail. I assumed her owners were the two people walking a little bit behind her. I was wondering why they were letting her run leash-free like that. I thought, “They must really trust her! She must be a really well-trained dog!” A few minutes later down the trail, a guy on a bike was looking frantic. He stopped and asked me, “Did you see a white dog run by?”
Monday: 9 miles with 3×1.5 miles at 10k pace and a 800 jog rest interval in between. I ran this on the treadmill in the afternoon with my music blasting through my headphones. Despite the “dreadmill’s” reputation, I actually enjoy these workouts.
Tuesday: This is my day off. I did a strength session during lunch at the gym. Hot salsa’s. Ouch.
Wednesday: 7 miles with 4 miles at my goal half marathon pace (7:41). I did this on the treadmill again. I do both my speed and tempo workouts on the treadmill. If it sounds wimpy, it’s easy on my injury-prone ligaments. And the bathroom is right there. During the whole workout. Just in case.
Thursday: Easy 5 miles around the hilly route from my house. See that picture over there on the right? Isn’t that pretty? I run there.
Friday: “Easy” 8, except I cut this run to 7 since I went too late in the morning and ended up running in 90-degree weather. It started to feel dangerous. I began to have a mild anxiety attack so headed straight home, hoping I wouldn’t pass out on the side road where no one would find me. Not one of my better ideas.
When I got back to my house, my dad was there picking up my son. When he saw me approaching, dripping excessively with sweat, he yelled at me for running in the heat like that. “What did you do that for? It’s stupid to run in this!” Despite the “stupid”, I was smiling inside from the affection of his fatherly worry. And I was smiling because I remember him running in the same weather when he was my age and I was a teenager.
Saturday: 12 miles. I ran this with the local running club on the trails by a river at a local national park. It was nice, but the danger of going on a group run is you can end up pacing with someone who’s either too slow or too fast for you. I ended up running with neither. The person I ran with thought he was trying to run my pace, and I thought I was trying to run his pace. We both ended up running too fast. True, 8:30-minute miles may not seem terribly fast to many, but with my tired legs, it made TODAY’s workout that much harder for me. I need to learn to run my own pace regardless. It’s so easy to get caught up in a run and it can be great fun when you’re running with other people. So, okay, I guess it was worth it to run too fast.
Today’s workout: The start of a new week
Yesterday was my Sunday easy recovery 5-miler, which was very enjoyable. It was a very cool 80 degrees (compared to 90, it felt down right indulgent) and I took my time, even taking pictures here and there to post on this page.
This morning, however, I ran my strength workout on the treadmill at the gym at my work. When I walked into the gym, it was like a wave of warm air hit me. Yes, it was warmer inside the gym than outside. It was around 75 degrees outside at 6 a.m. when I arrived.
The trainer said she called facilities to get the air fixed. In the meantime, I had my workout to do and I wasn’t going to let a bit of warm and stuffy air stop me. I hastily claimed a treadmill in front of one of the big fans. Pfew. I did 10 miles with 3×2 miles at 10k pace. My legs were killing me.
Near the end I was focusing on one spot above the tallest tree outside, one tiny cluster of leaves that blurred into a dark blob in front of the blue sky. It reminded me of when I was focusing on one tiny red light on the ceiling when I was 10 cm dilated in labor with my fourth child. I was too far dilated to get an epidural (that’s what they give you if you want to stop the pain during childbirth!), so I was going all natural, baby! Granted, this treadmill workout was nowhere near as painful as being 10 cm dilated with a small human being being pushed out of a very small part of you, but it was still pretty darn painful.
The only thing that kept me going was my mantra: “Suck it up baby!” Everytime I wanted to stop, I’d say this to myself. (Luckily for those working out near me, I only said this quietly in my own head. Because how creepy would that have been to hear someone on the treadmill next to you screaming: “Suck it up baby! C’mon! Stop your crying, you wuss!” *grunt*grunt* )
For my battle scars, I get to sport chafe abrasions under my armpits and around my sport bra area. How I love running! Seriously, I really do.
Run for the Run 