Highs and Lows- Week 6

I've been quiet about my life issues the past week. Why, you ask? BECAUSE I'VE CUT THE DANG DRAMA OUT! Three+ weeks after blocking some peeps and 1+ weeks after removing myself from a certain Facebook group, I am FINALLY feeling some mental relief! I should probably stop here with this topic because, as soon as I feel some relief, some kind of drama seems to pop up!

 

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Sun! Dani said she felt like a vampire coming out of the woods of Highbanks into the bright, rising sun!

Last week, I left you with a funky week of not being overly excited about running. I told you about a pain that made me fearful of potential injury. I haven't felt that pain since Saturday. As a precaution, I took the first half of my training week fairly easy. I had hill repeats scheduled for my first workout but decided to run the miles without the hill repeats. After a rest day and two easy runs, I felt ready for my race pace run on Thursday. My spirit took a 180 this week...well, maybe more like 140. I was happier and less stressed. Here are this weeks highs and lows:

 

LOWS:

• As mentioned above, no hill repeats. I like those workouts so, in a selfish way, I feel I missed out. On the other hand, I don't feel guilty at all for skipping it because it was a wise decision just in case I was injured.
• General fatigue. Even though my first two runs of the week were easy, I still felt some left over fatigue from the week before. I guess I'll take fatigue over pain any day.
• My aching coccyx (pronounced "kok-siks but I prefer "kok-icks"). I think it's an over 30 thing. I had no trauma to it which is shocking because I'm always trying to fall and hurt myself. My best guess is that it was irritated when I tried lifting a 32 count water bottle thing onto the high shelf at the self checkout.
  

  

   I think that shelf above the plastic bags is what did it :(

  I'm usually very aware of my lifting technique (it's a PT thing), but I goofed up this time. Fortunately, running does not increase the pain but it hurts to go from sitting to standing and when adjusting my position while sleeping or resting.

A little anatomy for you.

 

• Poor sleeping. I was going to say lack of sleep but that's my situation every week. This week, it was so bad that I nearly fell asleep at the wheel two different days at work. Those were probably the same two days I had afternoon coffee. Not sure what my deal was this week but I was feeling worn down in that department.

Your daily dose of truth.

 

HIGHS:

• Another successful race pace run. The fear will never cease. I will always, no matter what, get nervous about these training runs. This week, my task was to run 7 miles at my race pace....7 MILES! I was fortunate enough to be joined by Jackie and Meggie this week. The total run was 9.2 miles and 8:10 average pace with the fast miles being 8:08, 7:56, 7:46, 7:49, 7:56, 7:57, 7:44. There were some unexpected inclines but we powered through!
• Long Run. We had a group of 6 for this one and ran in Dublin (Dublin=rolling hills). We missed most of the crazy hills. That might have been strategic on Theresa's end ;). Highlights include, but not limited to: Marion jumping towards me out of fear of the dark unknown, running through the "Tunnel of the Dementors," no skunk appearances, three deer, and hugs.

Me, Caty, and Dani.

• Highbanks. It's no secret...I love this place. It was extra challenging today but I thinks it's because of my coccyx (which felt MUCH better this morning) and the fact that I was trying out some trail shoes that I borrowed from Meggie. The shoes seemed to work well for me but they're heavier than my other shoes. I'm thinking I might have to eventually buy a pair and use them regularly to get used to it.
  

  

  Meggie's shoes. Trail shoes are definitely different.
  
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  What's next? Emerald City Half Marathon in one week!! This will be my first time to do this race. Although I am not "racing" it, I'm still planning a tough workout. It is a 16 mile day for me. My plan is to try the following: 3 mile pre-race warm up, 5 x 2 mile repeats with 0.75 mile recovery. Repeats will be run, hopefully, at 8 min/mile. I think that by going into this race knowing it's a training run, I will be able to accomplish my goal. It will still give a respectable sub 1:50 half depending on the recovery pace (which I'm hoping to keep around 9-9:15 min/mile). If this plan sounds appealing to you, let me know! I would love to run with you!