Highs and Lows- Week 5

It's amazing how the things going on in your life affect your running. I was in quite a funk this week. It didn't necessarily show in my numbers but my heart wasn't in it. Things took a positive turn this morning when I got to meet lots of awesome friends for our Sunday hilly run.

 

 

Total miles this week: 45.11 (goal 43)

 

 

LOWS:

• The funk mentioned above. If you've ever cried while running, you know it's not easy. I tried to make my stroller runs therapeutic but seemed to struggle through both of them. If I hadn't had the pleasure of hearing James talk to me the entire time, I would have hated every aspect of these runs.
  

  

  How I have mentally felt all week.

• I decided it was a good idea to run a double on Wednesday and take James out for a 5k. The double part was fine...it was the fact that I ran only a few short minutes after stuffing my face with Whit's Frozen Custard. I had the side stitch from hell but was determined to get a sub 30 minute stroller 5k. I started off not caring about my pace but then I got annoyed that I was still in a funk. My splits were 10:04, 9:44, and 8:47. HA! That last mile was awful! I was pushing James with one hand and pressing the other into my abdomen where I had the side stitch. Wish I had a video of that one. (side note: my mood contributed to me finally calling the cops on the repeat offenders who leave their cars parked on the sidewalk. Yes, I'll do road running when appropriate but its unsafe in this specific section. If it were just me, that's one thing, but I'm pushing my baby. They were forced to move their car which pissed them off but made me give the mental middle finger...I'm just speaking truth. Confession is important, right?)
  

  

  Post stroller run. Neither of us look happy.

• Hip Hop Fitness. I never thought this would be a low for me but it's my own fault. I didn't want to miss another week of Hip Hop (missed last week due to travel). I made the mistake of doing it the same day as my long run. I just hadn't recovered from the run yet so I was DRAGGING.
• A pain scare. At some point on Saturday, I noticed throbbing pain in my leg. Soon afterwards, I noticed a similar pain in my other leg. In honor of my 7th anniversary of being Dr. Lisa, I self- diagnosed myself. It seemed like a shin splint situation. Maybe I over-did things on Friday by doing Hip Hop?! It wasn't a severe pain but annoying nonetheless. I actually woke up in the middle of the night with this throbbing pain. I made the decision to skip my run in the morning just in case it still hurt when I woke up. When I got up, I felt perfectly fine so I changed my mind, yet again, and met my girls in Delaware. (FYI: no pain while running or even afterwards but I did feel tighter than usual...and more fatigued)
  

  

  Putting the "I" of R.I.C.E. into action

  

HIGHS:

• I had a successful tempo run with Dani and Amber this week. After feeling like poo the day before, I was NOT confident about this one. The run was 7 miles and it took me 4 to feel mostly warmed up! The first two faster miles were not easy. Oddly enough, it was the fastest splits that felt the best. I was so proud of us when we finished! (tempo miles were 8:33, 8:16, 7:55, 7:31)
  

  

  My tempo partners for the week...Dani and Amber! You might not recognize me with my shirt on.

• My always enjoyable Wednesday easy run. I spent the entire run unloading my troubles on Dani! Poor girl ;) She was a great listener. I honestly don't remember the run because I spent the entire time talking my face off. We ran, right, Dani?!
• Long Run. Major highlight of my training week!!! I had 16 miles planned but had to incorporate some race pace miles in the second half (4x1mile with 1 mile recovery after an 8 mile warm up). This was my longest run since Flying Pig! I haven't done more than 14 miles in over 3 months! I can't say I was nervous about the increased mileage because 14 has been feeling easy. I was, however, nervous about doing some faster miles in the second half. Especially after feeling awful during the warm up. The weather was PERFECT outside. It was so cool that I kept my shirt on for 5.5 miles! That's about the time I had to make a pit stop at Creekside (you runners know what I'm sayin'?!). I practiced fueling during this run as well. I took a gel at 5 miles and 11 miles. It must have helped because I felt an extra boost soon afterwards. All I was able to eat pre-run was a few pieces of watermelon. Miles 9, 11, 13, and 15 were 7:45, 7:32, 7:25, and 7:12, respectively. Yes, faster than marathon race pace but I felt really good so I went with it. When I was running my last mile, I remember thinking "I feel like I could run a marathon right now." If the hubs didn't have to get to work, I might have been tempted to run more!
  

  

  That's pretty much the best picture EVER minus a few people. We had quite the group in Delaware this morning!

• Sunday Hilly Run. I know I just said that my long run was a major highlight but today blew it out of the water. Between my craptastic week, my aforementioned pain, and lack of sleep the night before, I sent Marion a message saying I was going to skip this run. Not meeting these ladies was just icing on the stupid cake that was my week. I was totally bummed. Being the great friend that she is, Marion said, in a more kind way, "Get your boo-tay to Delaware and run the second half of the run with us!" Being the easily peer pressured chick that I am, that's all it took to get me up and going. I laced up my shoes and headed to Delaware, fully prepared to strip my shirt for an awesome, humid, hilly run. The down side is I didn't get as much time with some of the ladies who did 8 miles but I at least got to say HI. I WANT YOU LADIES TO UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU DID FOR ME TODAY. JUST SEEING ALL OF YOU TURNED MY ATTITUDE AROUND. I WAS OBVIOUSLY AN EMOTIONAL MESS WHEN I ARRIVED AS EVIDENCED BY THE 2 MINUTE SWEATY HUG I HAD WITH MARION.

 **********

What's next? I decided to rest tomorrow rather than do my hill repeats. In fact, I'm skipping hill repeats all together this week. I'll do a couple of easy runs leading up to my race pace run on Thursday. Emerald City Half is in two weeks! I'm turning that into a 16 mile long run with some race pace intervals (If you have any interest in being paced, we can talk details!)

P.S. If you ever want to join on a Sunday hilly run, don't hesitate to ask! I try to think of everyone but it's sometimes impossible.