7 miles this week

It's Sunday. I ran seven miles this week. 

Which is my lowest mile week—since my August meltdown. 

I was sick. Honestly, I couldn't have run Monday through Wednesday. Thursday and Friday, maybe but I didn't risk it. (I did do 30 minutes on the exercise bike twice this week.) 

I ran Saturday and Sunday and coughed a ton after I stopped running. I also needed a nap after the runs. 

I'm not 100% over my cold. Maybe 90%. There's still some lingering congestion. The weather was nice on my runs. I listened to my podcasts.

Maybe I'm overing my running funk. At least I didn't cry before either of these runs. I might keep my miles super low for the time being and just run when I want to. 

Here's a picture of my fuel for my Sunday easy run. 

Week off running

Halloween. I didn't have a costume the night before,
so recycled a costume from a few years ago. 

It's been a glorious 7 days off running. My run last Saturday was garbage. And then I started to get sick. I took a few days off for illness. I probably could have started running a few days ago, but I really liked having a week off. And having that time back.

I cooked. I caught up on my course work. I almost caught up with work work. It was really nice not to have to squeeze a run in after work. 

I know I should start working out, so I don't gain weight but the time off was much needed. 

Yes, I've been in a running funk lately. I've done no races since the spring and haven't felt motivated to really train. 

But I've been working out like a beast for 6.5 years. That's 6.5 years of 5 days a week of workouts. I take usually a week off twice a year for being sick. And that's it. So this week, I got over my cold. Didn't drink enough water. Didn't eat particularly well. (I did no fast food so I'm probably fine.) And I didn't run. 

So I'm struggling with balance and fatigue and needed some time just to myself.

Having Saturday with no commitments—just to catch up on life was much-needed. 

Summer of not running

I ran a half marathon in March and haven’t trained for anything since.

I didn’t run a 10k in May because it was the day after graduation—always a super stressful, exhausting day for me.

June and July were full of lots of personal drama (and heartbreaking rejection.) I was also sick for a few weeks at the end of May and early June.

July was the first month in a long time that I didn’t run 100 miles.

Why didn’t I run?

• Life comes first.
• A goal I was working very hard towards came first.
• Also, it was hot and humid.
• Stress.

I’m a person who makes time for exercise. I’ve never understood people who say they don’t have time for it. But for a few weeks I only had time to run maybe 3 times a week. I was super busy with my personal drama.

And then, I just didn’t have anything to train for.

I thought I might train for the mile race. But then had to go out to Utah for a very stressful visit. And now the mile race is past and I think I need to make a goal and find a plan.

I’d like to do a 10 mile race, but the PNC 10-miler might be too hilly for me. (I really hate hills, which means I should run them more.)

Or maybe a 10k? There are 2 in October that I’m eyeing. Being that it’s the end of August, I need to start training.

I’ve decided I don’t want to do a fall half.

I don’t know where my fitness is. I’ve done a handful of speed workouts since March. I need to start back. I ran 10 miles three weeks ago. I ran 8 yesterday, since that seemed like a good amount without overdoing it. Maybe I’ll try 10 again this weekend. And if I can get a speed workout in this week—I’d be making some progress.

Post SeaWheeze running

SeaWheeze was such a great race—I wanted to start training to run a 1:45. It was inspiring. But I think my plans have changed.

Post race—I took a week completely off. It was glorious. I thought I'd do more yoga or go crazy not even riding a bike. I didn't. It was really nice to have free time, time to nap or get laundry done. I didn't miss running at all.

That Saturday I ran a mile just to make sure my legs weren't stiff. It was fine.

And then I decided to do a 10k at the end of the month with all of that speed I've built up all summer.

So week 2, I ran 26 miles—with 2 speed workouts: Mile repeats and 4 miles at tempo. I did a 12 mile long run.

Week 3: I was combining 10k and half training plans so I ended up running 30 miles, with 8 miles at my new race pace (I did it!), And two speed workouts, 4 mile tempo and 4 mile repeats with 400 rolling recoveries. (This might have been too much)

And then the wheels fell off. Everything was fine. I ran that 8 miles at race pace. It was hard. I think miles 4-5 were the hardest, but then I got my second wind and sped up. I was so proud of myself for doing this.

Monday, the next day I did 6 easy trail miles. The first 5 miles were fine. The last mile—EVERYTHING HURT. My hips were tight. My calf was tight. My knee hurt.

And then GIANT RED FLAG: I couldn't walk down the stairs. I took 4 days off running.

I got a massage that Wednesday. My IT band was so tight. I made a physical therapy appointment. I ran some to know that I could run without pain. But I'd be sore later.

I went to physical therapy and he said I could run, but not if it hurt.

But I used it as an excuse to not run. My head hasn't been in it. I've been having some serious work stress.

Week after my knee feeling funky: 12 miles
Week after that: 15 miles. (Didn't run that 10k)
This week: We'll see.

I think I made the decision that I am bone tired. I really like shorter distance work.  Maybe I'll do a 5k Dec. 1. I did try a workout yesterday and my head wasn't in it. So I'm not training for a 1:45 half anymore. I guess I should pick a new one.

I also think I need to take more time off. I've been training hard since January. After my next half, let's take two weeks. Or at least the second week, not super hard.

Week off running

After my half marathon, I took the week off running. I'm not sure I've taken a week off this year. I've been training pretty hard, so week off it is. I didn't run. I ate junk. It was awesome.

I thought I'd miss running or get antsy without running or moving, but I didn't. (Should I have done some yoga or cycling? Probably. But I was too tired.)

Sunday: Off. I spend most of Sunday traveling. Saw a waterfall. Took a ferry to Victoria Island. (Ate french fries)

Flight back to Atlanta

Bland tacos. Worst tortilla chips ever. LAX.

So tired.

Monday: Off: All day in airports. (LAX does not have good food or enough chairs. Ate a Chick Fil-A sandwich at 10 p.m.)

Tuesday: Back at work. Fell asleep as soon as I got home. (Brought home tacos for dinner to make up for the AWFUL LAX tacos)

Wednesday: Was supposed to lead a trail run. It started lightning. I didn't even get the water out of my car. (Ate Oreos)

Thursday: Off. Went to an event to rep Athens Road Runners. (Ate cookies). (Lunch had fried chicken tacos. Sooo good.)

Friday: Off. Went to a Ladies Night at the local running store. Bought two shirts and some pink socks. (Had Chick fil-A with waffle fries and Chick-fil-A sauce as my cheat. Also ate a donut. And two ghost cookies.)

Saturday: I decided my legs were probably getting really stiff, so I ran one mile to end my week off running.
My legs felt 100% fine on my short run. But afterwards, they felt like crap. Whatever lactic acid etc had been building up in my legs was awful. I soaked my legs in epsom salt twice. I rolled. I got on the exercise bike. I rolled and stretched some more. I also napped a lot. I had big plans for Saturday, but my body wanted sleep.

Week off running: Recap

I've taken a week off running. It's the first week I've not run since February 2016 when I got really sick.

I thought it would be harder. That I'd go crazy. That I really would want to run.

Nope. I quite enjoyed the week. Saturday morning, I usually go running. That's my routine. So I thought about it the most then. Instead I rode the exercise bike for an hour and then went on a marathon of errands. (Ok, more like a 10k. I had 6 places to go.)

I enjoyed the extra time I had. I enjoyed not being so tired in the evening. And I generally felt less tired. (I've been feeling extremely run down lately.) really I needed a week to recharge.

I did four yoga classes and two stationary bike workouts. I avoided weight lifting, since that's apparently the root cause of my injury (tight quads leading to knee and shin issues). I even asked a friend to teach me about lap swimming

I think if I wanted to walk away from running, it would be easy. I could stop now. And I'm not sure that I'd really regret it.

I remember being constantly injured running in high school. I pushed my body harder and harder to go faster and that often meant shin splints or knee pain. I don't really want to go that route again, My goal for the year was to stay healthy.

I think I'll start running on Tuesday and see how it goes. If I lose fitness, so be it. I can make it up. I have no races scheduled until next April.

I don't think I'm quitting running, but we'll see how getting back into it goes.

If it's not too hard on my my body, I have a few things I'd like to see if I could do in the next few months.

Mini goals
1) Run a 5k under 23 minutes
2) Get my mile time down to 6:30 (or 6:28 so I can match that pace chart I have)
3) Get my 10k time down to 48 minutes