Workouts this week: 9/29-10/6

Monday: Off

Tuesday: 4 miles

It was 95 degrees outside so I did 4 miles at the indoor track. Maybe I should have done more, but I had to get home ASAP.  

Wednesday: Off

It's October and 95 and the feels like is 99.
I got a massage. It actually made my legs feel so much worse. For days.

Thursday: 6 miles

Did 6 miles at the indoor track. It's just too hot to run outside. 

Friday: 4 miles

I should have done hill repeats and a 4 mile race pace run this week (Tuesday and Thursday), but I messed my workouts for the week up. My plan was to do the 4 mile tempo as part of a 5k, but the 5k isn't taking race day registrations, so I'll do that solo. So I did 4 easy miles today, and I'll do my hill repeats as part of my long run. 

I also got a massage today. My achilles were really tight. There were knots in my quads. I thought I didn't really need it. I really did. 

Saturday: 4 mile tempo (supposed to be 10k pace) + mile warmup and mile cool down 

My plan was to run the homecoming 5k, but they closed registrations a week before the event ended and didn't take race day registrations. I considered going to group run, but that seemed like too much of a hassle. So I did 1 mile warmup. And then 4 miles out and back near my house. Mile 1 hurt (7:58) and this was the pace I ran a half marathon at 6 months ago. Now I can't run 3 miles this pace. Mile 2 8:01. And I took a break. I was hurting. I got water. (It was 75 and 80% humidity with moderate air quality). 2 minute break. I KNOW I shouldn't take these breaks. Then mile 3 in 8:06. I took a quick break (because I felt so, so bad) and then mile 4 in 8:05. For an 8:03 average. (I ran another .4 mile at 7:58 pace to get back to the start.) 

These 8 minute miles felt WORSE than 7:30s felt a year ago. So bad. I know I shouldn't take a break, but this was all I had today.  Did a mile cool down. 

Sunday: Combined workouts

Today I did the hill repeats I was supposed to do Tuesday or Thursday with my long run. (It was a cutback week, so 9 miles). Not my best idea ever, but this way I get all my workouts in for the week.

I woke up and went back to bed. I never do this. But I felt awful when I got up. I slept until 7. Puttered around way too long and went to the trails, where I went to the bathroom before the run and was crying in the stall because I really didn't want to run. (My legs hurt just walking to the bathroom). I was having one of my "I should just quit running" meltdowns. I've had a pretty crappy summer and am just so frustrated with seeing so many people hit fast times and me slowing down. I didn't want to end on 20 miles for the week. So I told myself just to try a warmup lap and see how I felt.

I did 3 mile for warmups. (Legs were fine.) And then the workout was 7x 2 minute hill repeats. The repeats are supposed to be fast. I do them as fast as I'm able. (I'm bad at running hills, it's trails and I have to watch my footing, so I think hard effort should count.) I finished all of them without walking. I thought they were faster than last time (they might not have been, but my start/stop line isn't the same, and Strava does not track this hill right at all. It said the second was 90 seconds slower today.) 

2:00, 2:00, 1:58, 1:53, 1:54, 1:52 which is about a minute slower total than last time, but the distance might be different. 

My downhill segments were shorter, but it measured them the same distance. I thought they felt BETTER. 

Then 3 miles for a cool down. Had to walk a few times. Hit 9.2 miles and 30 miles for the week. 

FUELING: I tried UCAN for the first time before this run. I'd heard great things about it, but Stevia messes with my stomach. I found a flavor without stevia and tried it. I knew it was super starch, but I was expecting it to be more like Gatorade and less starchy. I did NOT like the texture, but I had a better than expected run, so I might try it again. 

I also did a HUMA protein smoothie afterwards, because I always wait too long to eat. That thing was disgusting. I choked it down. It was thick like peanut butter. It was much needed too because I didn't get to eat until 5 hours after my run!

Miles this week:30
Runs this week: 5
Cross training: FAIL. I do squats while brushing my teeth. Does that count? 
Feeling: Hard week. Grateful to make my miles