Last week we headed to Austin on Thursday for a concert and spent the following day there for the Austin City Limits Festival which totally kicked my butt. I don’t know why this year seemed different (both sold out crowds of 75K people) but last year’s festival was not nearly as crazy. I woke up Saturday morning feeling like someone had the air let out of my tires. I felt sooooo exhausted. And gross. I ate too much crap. Ugh! It was awful. I stayed on the couch almost the entire day.
Trying to push through the overwhelming feeling of crappiness I vowed to get off my butt on Sunday. I was going to go out with my regular Sunday morning group ride and then follow that up with the four mile run I should have ran on Saturday but didn’t.
Well, Sunday was a mess. Paul and I showed up at our meet up spot and no one was there. Apparently the ride was cancelled due to the thunderstorms on the forecast but no one had bothered to tell us. But I really wanted to ride so off I went on my own. I didn’t want to leave Paul but he was on a mountain bike, I was on a road bike. If we tried to ride together one of us would have been unhappy- either him working too hard to keep up or me riding very slowly to match a comfortable pace for him. Solo ride was my only choice if I wanted to ride.
And it was great ride until about 4 miles from home when the sky opened up and let loose. It was pouring. I was immediately drenched. It was fan-freaking-tastic. It took every ounce of energy to keep my bike moving forward, slowly, cautiously, for those last few miles. I made it home, safe and sound and in one piece and with no desire whatsoever to go for a run.
But of course by the time I got out of my soaking wet clothes it was bright and sunny (and very warm) outside and I did not want to miss my opportunity to get in those four miles so I headed out for a run. Good decision? I thought so at the time.
Then I woke up Monday morning with a nasty chest cold and proceeded to spend the next two days in bed and took the next three mornings off from running. I was (and still kind of am) a mess, which hopefully explains why I have been somewhat MIA from the blog world.
So, now that you have heard my spiel about why I haven't been blogging I will try to quickly rehash the last 2 weeks of training with a quick list of training/goals for next week.
Week 13 Planned: 5K, Interval A routine, 3-4 miles easy-paced run, Hill A routine, and 4 mile long run (yay for recovery weeks!)
Week 13 Actual:
5K- new personal record of 30:26 which is a 9:47 min/mile pace
Yay! My first ever sub-10 minute/mile paced 5K. Also, I was pretty stocked to finish 9 out of 40 in my age group. Yep! Only 40 people in the 30-39 female group. Crazy!
Interval A routine- 5 minute warm up, 6X 1min run/ 2 min recovery, 5 minute cool down
The run felt good, no complaints. I even was able to increase the distance in the same time compared to the last time I ran this routine. Score!
3-4 mile easy-paced run
I don’t even remember this one. Not sure if that is good or bad but the Garmin is my proof it actually happened. Lol!
Hill A Routine-aka the run that almost killed me.
No pics for this run. I ended up doing some hill intervals on the treadmill because it was raining. I don’t mind the rain per se but running in the rain in the dark is just asking for an injury- in my opinion. No, I trudged over to the gym and ran on the dreadmill for about 20 minutes or so until the power went out. That was really fun. Has this happened to anyone else before? It’s kind of startling when a treadmill just stops. And then you are in an empty gym in the dark. And then you have to walk home in the pouring rain. Yep, it was an eventful morning. Definitely was a lot of fun getting showered and having breakfast in the dark. Thank goodness for my flashlight app. Lol!
4 mile long run
This didn’t happen until Sunday due to my inability to get out of bed Saturday morning. As I mentioned earlier I got in this run after my (rain soaked) bike ride. I was pretty happy. It was much warmer than I am used to running in (since I ran like four hours later than my normal time) but that was a good thing. I need to get adjusted to the temps I will be experiencing in a few weeks during the half.
As far as my weekly goals for week 13 go I got in all (well at least attempted all) my training runs, I did not do any core work (disappointed face) and ate well except for the day at ACL. They actually ran out of almost every vegan options and I ended up eating soggy fries, twice, because I had no other choice. And no, I don’t think fries are the end of the world but they certainly made me feel like crap the next day. All in all it was a pretty good week.
Week 14 Planned: 4 mile, Interval B routine, 3 mile, Tempo B (5 mile) routine, and a rest day Saturday since my long run will be the Alamo City Beer Challenge Race #4- 15K
Week 14 Actual:
4 mile run- skipped, I opted for bed rest instead
Interval B routine- skipped also for same reason
When I finally felt good enough to run I choose to do a 4 mile easy-paced run and Paul actually came out and joined me. It was really great since we never have run together before. His pace for 4 miles is about 7-7:15 min/mile. That morning I kept a pace 5 minutes per mile slower but he never complained. What a sweetheart! We just talked and enjoyed our time together. It was nice.
My last training run of week 14 was supposed to be a 5 mile tempo run. It was a mess. Probably my worst run to date. After about a mile and a half I stopped and walked. I really could go into great detail about everything that was going wrong but instead I will focus on the good that came out of it.
Paul was with me and he was talking to me (as we walked) about how all runners have bad runs. That he has had them. It’s completely normal. Yada, yada, yada. I start to cry. Definitely frustrated because of the situation (but you all know I am uber on edge with Paul leaving in 2 days) and feeling like a worthless piece because of it. Yeah, I know everyone has bad days/runs but my half was in three weeks. And I couldn’t even push through the hard shit I was facing a mile and a half in. I was discouraged to say the least. But I calmed down, realized most of what was happening was mental, remedied the physical issues I was having and decided to start over. I decided that since I didn’t have the time to try for five good miles I would take what I could get which was two. So, off we went. For two solid, happy, enjoyable miles.
My take away from this; yes everyone does have bad days (myself included) and we never know when they will happen. They can even happen race day. But we are all stronger than we think and if we can push through the mental roadblock anything is possible.
I am so glad I pushed through and got in a good run. If I had just walked home instead this would be an entirely different post (if I even wrote one) and I would be in a completely different state of mind- probably one filled with fear/dread over my upcoming 15K Sunday and the half in 23 days. Instead I am excited for Sunday, this will be my second 9 mile run on this trail, and very optimistic about the half. As I should be.
So, my training for week 14 wasn’t great but I was sick and I think I would be sicker now if I hadn’t rested. I also didn’t get in any core work and ate like crap most of the week. Maybe not the best training week so far but I learned a lot about myself and so I think that made up for it.
Week 15 Goals
Yikes! Week 15! 3 more training weeks until the half marathon! So crazy!
-Complete training runs: 15K, Interval B routine, 4 miles easy pace, Hill B routine, and 11 mile (which I may push for 12) long run. Tough week. Around 30 miles Sunday-Saturday.
-Complete two bike rides. It’s time to start duathlon training! Let the madness begin
-Core work three days. I need to get back into regular core work. It will help with my running and cycling and of course more muscle is a good thing!
-Eat home cooked meals! I already made my meal plan up for next week- my first week cooking for just me- and I have some great, easy meals on deck. I will also be making my lunches at home as well. This will definitely make it easier for me to make good choices.
What’s on your agenda? Are you currently training for anything?
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.” ~Aristotle
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