Sunday, February 22, 2015

Week 4

This week has been a real study in flexibility. The predicted winter weather on Monday became a reality. I had already decided that a 13 mile run would be a bit much after a 5k and then an 18 miler so it didn’t bother me to break it up. I actually had Monday off due to Presidents Day and was really looking forward to a day to myself. No such luck. Daycare was closed but Brian had to work. I got up at 6 and hit the treadmill for 6 miles. I watched The Maze Runner while I ran to help pass the time. I read the series and figured I might as well watch the movie. I always run slow on the treadmill. It is a mental thing but there was no need to set the world on fire anyway so I did 8:20 pace, took a shower and tucked in with the kids on the couch. When Brian got home, I did the last 7 of the 13 miles and finished The Maze Runner. I did 8:14 pace and was glad to get all the mileage in, treadmill and all. Daycare was delayed on Tuesday and I was supposed to go to work. I stayed home with the kids until I took them to school at 10am. My co-worker called to say that every single patient had cancelled and there was no reason for any of us to go in. If the roads and trails weren’t covered in ice, snow and slush, this would have been great. I ran a few errands and then literally waited for the snow to melt. The sun was out but it was only a few degrees above freezing. Around 1:30, I couldn’t take it anymore and I drove to the river trail. My run was supposed to be 10 miles with 5 at 15k to half marathon pace. I parked at the Big Dam Bridge (this is a .75 mile pedestrian bridge that spans the Arkansas River connecting the NLR and LR side of our river trail). I went out for a mile and back on the NLR side and then headed up the bridge. The trail was clear but the bridge was snow covered. It had started to melt but not much so it was a little slick but it was runable. It was deep so it was sort of like running in sand. When I hit the other side I started the tempo work. For 2 miles I was good but in the 3rd mile I had to start and stop several times to go across patches of ice. It was so annoying. The last 2 miles were free and clear and then I finished up by heading back across the bridge and running the NLR trails. Other than the start and stop middle mile, it went really well. The tempo section was 7:08, 6:53, 6:49, 6:51 & 6:53 for 6:55 on average. Perfect! It felt great too. The overall 10 miles was 7:35. On Wednesday it snowed again! GAH!!! Daycare was delayed to 9am but I did actually go to work and was really busy. I left work early to do my 15 miler once I was done with patients. I ran in my neighborhood. Most areas had melted but the shaded places were still really icy so I had to get creative and do lots of clear sections over and over again. It was cold and the wind cut right through you. I got it done but it was pretty miserable. The pace was 8:10 though so not bad. Even when I’m mentally not in the run, I’m still able to hang on to a pretty decent pace. On Thursday, I just couldn’t bear a 5 am run. It was going to be in the low teens and I was tired of being miserably cold for every run. I do the early Thursday run so I can go to yoga on Thursday night. My gym was having a “yogathon” on Friday so I figured I’d skip my usual class and go to it instead which freed up my Thursday afternoon for my 5 mile recovery run. Once again, it was bitter cold and the wind was like a knife. I was miserable and 5 miles seemed so hard. I did it in 8:03 and couldn’t have been happier to be done. The weather was supposed to get warmer but it was also supposed to storm. Brian had to work the weekend so my sister agreed to babysit the boys while I did my long run. Instead of taking Friday off, I decided I’d do another recovery run and go to “yogathon”, rest on Saturday while it stormed and do the long run on Sunday. The 5 miler on Friday was so much better than Thursday’s. It was still cold and windy but it was better. I did 7:57 pace and then got cleaned up and drove the gym for 2 solid hours of yoga. Unfortunately, they cancelled it because of the cold, wet weather. I was pretty disappointed but what can you do. I never get to do yoga on Saturday because I’m always doing my long run so I hit the 8am class. It was perfect. We really worked on hips and also did warrior III to exhaustion which is exactly what my left hamstring needs. It didn’t completely make up for no “yogathon” but it was pretty good. On Sunday my sister came to watch the kids around 1030 so I could do the long run. Boston will start around 1030 for me so I’ve been trying to do some of my longer runs later in the day instead of first thing in the morning so I’m used to the time. I woke up sore in the upper body and deep in the glutes from yoga. Once again, it was cold and the wind was blowing around 13-14 mph. As soon as I got started, I could tell right away that I just wanted this run over with. Every time the wind gusted in my face I cursed the weather. My attitude was extremely poor and I didn’t even stop for Gu because I just wanted to finish. The bright side was that I did 8:03 pace. Even when I’m not feeling it, the pace is good.

Overall, I feel ok. Just the usual aches and pains, nothing new. My left foot is a blistered mess though. When I took my foot out of my sock after my long run, the entire tip was stained with blood. My lack of pronation leads to my toes on that side getting squished together which makes very weird shaped callouses that have been a real problem for me lately. I've been trying to ignore them but I guess I'll have to start wearing blister pads or something as coating everything with Glide isn't cutting it. There is the possibility of winter weather again tonight which I’m annoyed by of course. I also have a race next week, the Little Rock Half Marathon but I’ll be using it as a training run. My plan called for a 16 miler with 12 miles at marathon pace. This is a mentally grueling run normally so it will almost feel like cheating doing it in a race setting. I’m ok with that though.

Next week the plan is 68 miles.
M-General Aerobic 10mi
T-VO2max 11mi w/5x1200m@5k race pace
W-Med Long Run 15mi
R-Recovery 6mi am 4mi pm
F-Recovery 6mi
S-Rest
S-Little Rock Half Marathon-16 total miles with 12 at marathon race pace

This week I finished Eleanor & Park which I liked. I also read The House Girl by Tara Conklin which I felt neutral about and I started Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan. So far it is reminding me of a more detailed, written version of the show Mystery Diagnosis and it is freaking me out a little bit. 

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