Highs and Lows- Week 10

New race shoes and capri weather! I'm not looking forward to packing away my shorty shorts.

 

Double digit weeks! Now I feel like I can count down the weeks to my race. Thoughts that have been running through my mind all week:

• "I'm tired."
• "I wish my race was NOW."
• "I need to rest."
• "My entire body feels so tight!"

 

 

My training was challenging last week and I was feeling it at the beginning of this week. I think my main mistake was running too fast on Sunday. I needed more of a recovery pace after my long run. The legs were pretty tired throughout the week but I think I took my rest days when I needed them the most. I ran a few more miles than I had planned but it was still a cutback week for me (ONLY 14 miles for my long run).
I also started my freaking period and it's been making me feel like total crap. My running usually isn't affected by my cycle. For some reason, the last two months, it has been making me more fatigued and very tight.

 

 

LOWS:

• Run For the Health of It. This "4 miler" turned 3.74 miler was a spontaneous thing for me. Someone couldn't run and needed a person to represent them. I needed an easy 6 miler for training this week so used this race to do it. I really should have rested Monday but I couldn't pass up this opportunity to have some fun with Baby Boo. We did a 2 mile warm up and I was SO sluggish (10:28 avg.). I wanted to keep the race easy and ended with 9:18 average. It bothered me that the race wasn't 4 miles so, of  course, I had to run the 0.26 miles afterwards.
  

  

  #jd3 and me at the race.

• Mid-distance run. I was scheduled to run 8 miles at whatever pace tickled my fancy. I decided to do a 9 miler with Lynn and Tamara. Average pace was 9:15 starting slower and getting progressively faster. There wasn't a single moment in this entire run that felt good. It was the worst run (minus the company). I felt like complete crap the entire time (this was also the first day of my period...UGH. No wonder it was awful).
• Long run. As mentioned above, it was cutback week for me...14 measly miles. Ha! I can safely say it was the worst I've felt in a very long time. My period hit me full force during this run. Everything from mid-back on down was SO TIGHT. The weather made the run a little adventurous. It rained the first few minutes (which I typically don't mind) but there were unavoidable puddles everywhere and my feet were soaked. It reminded me of the horrible DC experience and I did not want to relive it! The girls were very encouraging throughout the process despite my constant whining. I remember, at one point, I had to stop and fix my sock because it had shifted in my shoe and was hurting the bottom of my foot. When I sat down to fix it, my breathing was totally normal. I wasn't tired AT ALL (cardiovascularly). My body just felt like complete crap. I think I need a re-do on this Powell route.
  

  

  Marion, Dani, and Theresa...the only reasons I survived that run.

HIGHS:

• Race pace run. After a rest day, I felt like I was ready-ish for this always scary run. I didn't sleep well the night before but, when I did sleep, I dreamt that me and my girls had a successful run. For that reason, I was confident going into this workout. The weather made this run more challenging but we managed to keep pace. With 2 warm up miles and 8 race pace miles, we managed an overall pace of 8:11 with 7 of 8 race pace miles being sub 8:00!
• Hilly Sunday a.k.a. My Redemption Run a.k.a. My Birthday Run. After a horrible long run, I was nervous about getting up and running on my birthday. I didn't want a bad run to set the mood for my day. I intended to run 4 easy miles before meeting up with Theresa who wanted to get 6 (including 5 at race pace). I woke up and decided I didn't want to do the extra 4 so I slept a little longer (my present to me)! We had such a great run. I felt tremendously better and was able to run sub 8:00 miles! Thanks to Theresa for surprising me with birthday hats and coffee creamer!!!
  

  

  Adults like party hats, too! Thank you, Theresa!

• Hilly Sunday continued. After the day's commitments, my boys took naps and I donned more running clothes. I only needed 4 more miles!! I was joking with some girlfriends about what I could do for my last 4 miles. After several HILARIOUS jokes (because we're funny like that), Kim's beer mile idea had me intrigued. I'm not a beer girl but I do like cider. I grabbed one and put it in my mailbox so it was ready for me. I did three hilly miles in my hood, sat in my driveway to drink my cider, and went crazy on the last mile!
  

  

  Could I have run a little faster? Of course. Would I have thrown up? Probably.
  

  

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What's next for Lisa? I have an exciting week ahead of me! I'll be running my first trail race on Saturday!! The Hocking Hills Indian Run. I'm excited to join the one and only Amanda Cooke!!! I will not be tapering because I don't plan on caring about my time. It will be my long run for the week. :)