Week 6 of goofy training didn’t go so great. It happens, right?
I felt tired and heavy all week. My runs were SLOW and hard and I just didn’t feel right. Come Friday I was exhausted and felt like I was getting the flu! I had the chills and the sweats Friday morning but gutted it out until 3:30 at work before throwing in the towel. Cue a Friday night of going to be bed SUPER early and getting 12+ hours of sleep. Saturday morning I woke up feeling MUCH better. Guess I needed that sleep!
Let’s recap my runs of the week.
Tuesday—intervals via treadmill before election night parties after eating a burrito bowl from chipotle. Let’s just say, the success here is that I didn’t barf. Supposed to be 5 miles, only did 4. (.5 warm up, 4 x 800 w/400 rest intervals, .5 cool down)
Wednesday—A so-so run on a gorgeous fall evening. I really thought I was cruising and I’d look down and see a 11:30 min mile, it was kinda disheartening. I promptly changed the screen so all I could see was total time and went along my 5 mile route. I tried to focus on the crunching leaves under my feet and the pretty blue sky. It worked well enough to get me through 5 miles but I was BEAT at the end.
Thursday and Friday—I rested. I needed it.
Saturday—I woke up feeling better and attempted my 7 miler. I made it 4.5 miles, I’d call it a success. I pretty much spent the rest of the day lounging around the house. However, Mr. Pi wanted to do a vertical beer tasting of Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale. A vertical tasting is tasting the same beer in multiple vintages (i.e. 2004, 2005, 2006...) He tried 7 years worth of the celebration ale and I tried to take artsy beer photos.
Sunday—Mr. Pi and I ventured out together toward a local paved trail. He ran the first 2.25 miles with me. I could tell it was going to be a tough run based on those first couple of miles. I was already cranky (never a good sign) and my legs already were tired. Once we parted ways, I started up the 3:1 walk/run ratio. I knew that was the only way I was going to get through the run. It worked for awhile until I basically just ran outta energy. I went down to 1:1 for about 10 minutes and then felt good enough to go to 2:1. When I got to mile 12, I thought, one more mile, I’ll go back to 3:1. When I hit mile 13 and I was nowhere close to home I went back to 2:1 until 13.5 and then threw in the towel and walked the rest of the way home. I ended with 13.7 miles. My plan only called for 12 and I was aiming for roughly 13. Let’s just say at mile 13, when I realized I had totally planned the route incorrectly--- I was ready to be DONE and was really really close to cursing out loud on a busy street. I haven’t been that out of energy on a run in a LONNNNNG time. I really just lost it. I kept thinking relentless forward motion. And sure enough I made it back to the house.
Total Miles: 27.2 (not horrible considering, in fact, only 2.8 miles off what it was supposed to be)
This week I’m going to work on staying positive even if my legs and/or lungs don’t want me to be. I’ve also got my holiday goals to keep me in check!
Here's a fall photo of our backyard. The fall colors are amazing, who knew our blueberry bushes would get so pretty. This picture really doesn't do them justice.
And the black and white version:
