Exhaustion

Today I was so exhausted. I struggled through work. I came home and took a nap. And still was so tired. It was my day off running. But still at 8 p.m. I was ready for bed.

I've had this bone tired feeling for weeks now. I think it's all the 5 a.m. wake-ups catching up with me. I try to go to bed early, but I'm super sensitive to even 10 minutes of lost sleep. I've been walking around with like a zombie. And I'm still not used to the 5 a.m. alarms. 

My legs aren't particularly tired. My quads are a little sore. And my achilles are sore first thing in the morning, but loosen up with walking around. It's nothing I'm worried about.This is fine for me. My legs are feeling fine. It's just a general feeling of fatigue, almost like I'm about to get sick.

But when I look at the numbers this is why I'm tired:

• I've been training hard with no cutback week for 9 weeks. 

• The week before my May 28 half marathon was my last light week (taper before the half) 

• The week of June 11 (7 weeks ago), I switched from running 4 days a week to 5 days a week. 

• The last time I took two consecutive days off running was June 4-5. 

• I ran more than 120 miles in July. It was the first time I got the Strava badge for 200 km in a month. 

• I've run around 30 miles for the last 6 weeks. (When 25 is closer to my normal). This is a lot of miles for me. And the point where I start to hurt and break down.

So I'm going to give myself a break. Two days off running. I'll lower my miles a little this week. And hope I start to recover. I've been working really hard and one run (or one week) doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. 

Let's see if I can feel less exhausted. Off days are important. 

Workouts this week: April 24-30

Monday: April 24
I had to miss yoga because of a work meeting.

I did go to BodyPump. I had an asthma attack in the middle of the class. (The first time that's happened.) I took my inhaler and finished the class out. I was supposed to run after, but I felt bad. I went home and went to bed early. (9:30 p.m.)

Tuesday: April 25

I wasn't crazy about the speed workout for today's group run AND the weather is supposed to be awful Thursday, so I did my hill repeats today, figuring I can do speed indoors on Thursday.

Workout was two easy miles, 6 hill repeats and 2 easy miles.

Today I focused on my breathing. Really thought about breathing through my mouth AND nose and being conscious of breaths in and out (instead of mindlessly running.) And I felt great. Even on the hills. And when my thoughts drifted to the cute dog I passed or the girls walking past me, I could tell a difference. I did six hill repeats. I ran them all. There was no walking up the hill. And I ran father up the hill to get my two minutes in. My times were about the same as last week, but my fastest one was four seconds faster. But overall, I felt great and ended up running 7 miles.

(Note: I turned the heart rate monitoring back on my Apple Watch. It said my heart rate got up to 213. Which is why I turned the HRM off in the first place. I felt great. I wasn't dizzy—and isn't 213 IMPOSSIBLE for a 34-year-old who is not dying. My Apple Watch is so stupid. I'd believe 150. But I don't trust wrist based heart monitoring because my wrist is small, has freckles, and my watch jiggles when I run. We'll see if my Garmin gives those results.) 

Wednesday: Gymnastics
I ran two miles before gymnastics (slower than last week). I was running a little late since I had to drop my husband off somewhere.

But I did my gymnastics class: I played some on the bars, the trampoline, did a handstand forward roll on the mat with no extra cushion. I played around some with headstand and forearm stands. Afterwards, the group went out for tacos.

Thursday: speed work
This is the speed work I was supposed to do Tuesday. The weather actually was nice so I could have done hills. Oh well.

My training plan had called for 10 x400s, but I liked the workout from last week, the mix of 800s and 400s so I did that instead. I did very little breaks in between. I walked a half a lap (about 100 meters) and then ran.

Times: 3:45. 1:48, 3:35, 1:44, 3:32, 1:44, 3:32, 1:44, 3:35, 1:48.

Then I needed to make mileage for the week, so I ran a mile. 7:48 (which is not bad for dead legs. I would have liked 7:40)

Then I played with some 200s (1 lap around the track), just for fun: 48, 45, 42, 44

Friday off: 
I was at a conference in Atlanta so this was a scheduled off day. This was also my cheat day. I've been eating way too healthy lately

Saturday: Long Run
Long Run at Sandy Creek Park. The goal was to run 8-9 miles. I showed up at the same time at the university cross country team. But they didn't warm up. They just ran. So I started about 5 minutes after them. I was glad for some to clear the spiderwebs away for me.

The course was as brutal as I remember. I still had to walk in sections. I tried to concentrate on my breathing and run easy. But I ended up running the course start to start 5 min faster than two weeks ago. And the course start to finish near the beach was 3-4 minutes faster than I've run before. I'll take that for progress.

The last mile or so I had nothing in my tank. It was a run/walk. And it's totally fine. I'm training for a 10k, so my first 6.5 miles were okay. (I ran 8.59 today, so right in between 8 and 9. I couldn't have done 9.)

As for the course, there were still 2-3 muddy sections. One muddy section was replaced by a bridge (yay!). It smelled new. But in the back half there were at least two fallen trees that I had to climb carefully over.

Almost confident to run in a sports bra.
Thankfully really no one saw me. 

I tried to walk around a ton afterwards. I took a quick shower and headed to the farmer's market for breakfast. I ordered a crepe that wasn't very good and got some chocolate almond milk. I wanted a biscuit, but the line for that cart was too long. I went home and made myself eggs on toast. And I wore compression socks for the rest of the day.

Sunday: Yoga
I ran 1.8 miles to make my miles for the week. I love running first thing in the morning so I can mark that off as done.

Then I went to yoga. I've been feeling achey all week since I missed yoga this week. I felt so much better after yoga. I was stretched and relaxed. I love that feeling when you walk out of yoga class and you feel so much better than when you walked in. I think there must be a special place in heaven for yoga teachers.

Miles this week: 24 (think I'll do a separate post about miles this month)
Workouts: 8: 5 runs, one body pump, one yoga, one gymnastics

Workouts this week: 4-16-17

Sunday: Off (maybe some course scouting) 
Today was my day off (kind of) after my long run. Also the gym was closed for Easter, so.....I made it an off day.

I did want to get in 1.2 miles to get my Boston Badge on Strava (run 26.2 miles in 10 days) and I needed to run .3 miles to get to 20 miles for the Monday through Sunday week. So I headed to the Bot Garden to scout the course for Saturday's race.

L handstand? I'm weird.

I started in the middle and ran up the hill, and turned right for the white trail and then left for the red trail, then right, and then to the access path, and then I ended up where I started. And then I guessed wrong and ended up on the far end of the trail. And had to walk a mile back to my car. (BTW: I can run/walk forever. I probably should have just run this after I finished my mile.)

I got home and compared MY route to the route online and figured out I tried the course backwards (the end and the start are the same color. Haha). So now I need to walk the course again to see how hilly it is. I HATE HILLS.

I looked up race training plans, and the Hal Higdon has me doing a 5k this Saturday. So Hooray. I'm right on track with that plan.

Monday: Crazy Day
I decided to make today my first three-a-day. What was I thinking?

There wasn't class on Sunday so I felt like I MUST make up for Sunday yoga and BodyPump.

So I went to noon yoga. Yay.

And then the craziness starts. I had a 4 p.m. meeting downtown. I couldn't figure out the logistics. I could get there, but how was I going to get to my 5:30 p.m. BodyPump class across campus. Traffic is insane and I didn't know how I'd make it.

So....I laced up my shoes and ran to my meeting. (Seriously, I didn't even stretch.) It took me 6 minutes to get to the restaurant. Which is way faster than driving and parking. And then I ran to the gym from the restaurant.

(Also this meeting. It was a brainstorming session. There were 6 pizzas for the 6 people who showed up. 14+ said they'd come. So I was sitting in front of pizzas while I am allergic to dairy. It was a torture session. I basically refuse to go to pizza restaurants for this reason.)

So I ran to the gym after the restaurant. Took me 12.5 minutes. I would have taken me 20+ in the car because of 5 p.m. traffic. Hooray.

So I ran .6 mile to the meeting. 1.5 mile to the gym. Then I did an hour of BodyPump.

Then I rank 1.4 miles back to my car. (I walked a hill. This was a slower pace. My legs were tired.) So I racked up 3.68 miles today going here, there and everywhere. And saved some gas. It was a cool experiment.  

Tuesday: Speed work at the track
Yay for trying new things. (Matt loved it)

Wednesday: Running + gymnastics
I ran two road miles before gymnastics. 2 miles in 15:55 on the road. It was hot, but I need to practice running on the road more. I was tired at the end of gymnastics, but I needed to get my miles in.

Thursday: Hill repeats

Friday: off

Saturday: Trail 5k 
I ran a trail 5k in a decent time. My splurge meal for lunch was Keba. (No fries. Look at my will power!!) Then I went shopping. I went to the Nike outlet. I was looking for another pair of road shoes. I found a pair of fly knits I liked okay, but not for $80. I got some tanks at Under Armour. That's about it.

Side rant:
Wednesday, my back hurt. (Running is jarring to the spine and used to make my back hurt in high school.) I decided it was time for a chiropractor visit. I told Matt was going to the chiropractor. He told me I should probably strengthen my back and that he never sees me doing anything to strengthen my back.

1. I lift weights for an hour a week. I do a back workout with weights. Big weights.
2. Yoga. I do lots of yoga, with lots of planks and side planks. This is really good for my back.
3. Gymnastics. I do a ton of body weight exercises in gymnastics.

I was kind of annoyed he said that. Since I take a ton of strength classes. And I NEVER see Matt do pushups or anything other than run these days.

Anyway, my back is great because I strengthen it. I hadn't been to the chiropractor since last year (so 4+ months). And it was much needed. She got some great pops in my back and I felt immediately better. I listened to my body and it was the right decision.

Week in review:
Runs: 6 (counting Monday as one run), so 6 days running. (yay! up from 3)
Miles this week. (19.4 for Sunday through Saturday, With Sunday's run I made 22, which was my goal mileage.) I think  I'm going to start counting my mileage Monday through Sunday, since that's how Strava does it. Otherwise
Workouts this week: 6 runs, one speed work, one hill workout, one yoga class, one gymnastics class, one weights class

Hill repeats

I used to run hill repeats in high school. Tuesdays and Thursdays. I HATED THEM. We ran up a super steep long hill. It was torture. Then I did like running down the hill. The undoubtedly made me strong and a better trail runner.

I've really avoided hill workouts as an adult. I run the hills in the trails I run and call it running hills. Because ugh hills.

But hills have been killing me in races lately. I definitely need to be a stronger hill runner. So when hill repeats came up in my weekly running plan, I decided I would actually do them. The workout was 2 easy miles, 5 hill repeats (of 2 minutes each, so 2 minutes up the hill and then jog down) and 2 easy miles.

I went home after work and took a nap before trying this workout and then headed out to try it. (In my mind I was saying that if I did four that would be good.)

I ran my two miles. I felt good. And then I opted for a side hill instead of the hill I've dubbed HORRIBLE hill. And this hill ended up being a good length. It was about .2 miles with a 6% grade. (Which I was looking for a .25 mile hill was a 5-8 percent grade.) This hill took me almost 2 minutes to climb (like the workout said) and it killed me. One minute in the first one, I was dying. The second hill was faster. The third one was okay (feeling strong), four started feeling rough and five I finished. (I finished the hill in 1:54, 1:44, 1:45, 1:48 and 1:53).

So I finished all five. And I felt great on mile two of the cool down. When I'm running 9-minute mile pace, I feel like I can run forever. It's just hard for me to find that speed.

So hills—I'm really glad I did this workout. I felt stronger for doing it. And I swear the grade seems steeper than 6 percent. I didn't do the workout as fast as the directions said. I was supposed to do the hills at race pace. I did them at survival pace, 9:20-ish pace, I think. They got faster actually. Miles 2-3 were at 9:14 place and miles 3-4 were at 8:38 pace. I am not good at hills (yet) and I feel like my heart rate gets too high when I do them. So, I can learn to NOT WALK on the hills then it's progress. Speed will come later.

Workouts this week: March 19

New trail shoes. Nike Zoom Wildhorse 3. Really like them.

March 19: Off. 

March 20: Yoga
I went to a gentle yoga class today. It was my first time to Monday yoga. We used bolsters a lot. I don't like bolsters really. And I don't like reclining positions. I left the class feeling super relaxed and mellow.

The plan was to go run a mile afterwards, but I didn't want to ruin my chill so I didn't.

March 21: Trail run---super slow
This is usually when I do my long run, but it was 86 degrees, so I decided to scale it back. I went to the Botanical Garden to run, since the trails would be shadier and cooler to run in. And it wasn't a good run.

That first mile, I really had to push myself to run my normal time. And I crashed about at mile 1.5 where the hills starts. I walked the second half of the course and it was my slowest run in a year.

WHY!? Why was this run so bad.
1. The heat. I haven't run in 80 degree weather in a LONG time. I'm not used to it yet.
2. It's a hard course. I ran it 3 minutes faster two weeks ago. But the weather was cooler then. This course is mentally hard too. I kept giving up on the hills. I shouldn't have.
3. I've been tired for a while. After two days off I thought I'd recovered, but maybe not.

So here's hoping my next run is better.

March 22 - Off, short run
I felt bad all day at work. My quads were sore from the climb. I went home and slept. And that's what I needed.

Wednesday is my usual gymnastics day but I skipped it to nap. Then I needed to work out my quads so I did 15 minutes on the exercise bike. Then I was going to go on an easy run. The goal was one mile, but I was feeling good so I did two. Under 8 for both my miles. I always run trails so it's nice to have faster times on the road. I tried out some new shoes.

I found some $115 Pearl Izumi road shoes on sale for $35 at TJ Maxx. They're 9 ounces and I think what I'm going to run in next weekend. They did great. And I felt great on the run. Hooray! Only 9 more miles to run this week.

March 23: long run

I wasn't sure if I was going to do my long run today or Saturday. I decided to see how I felt.

I slept great last night. So I didn't have my usual fatigue going on.

IM Fields. Where I always run.

I wanted my long run to be at Sandy Creek but didn't feel like going out there today. I went to the trails near the university and said I'd run at least 4. Maybe 7. The temperature was good. I felt okay. And sure enough I got to 7. When I get to 9 minute miles I feel like I can run forever. So maybe I should slow down on my runs. I ran 7.09 miles in a little less than 61 minutes. So I'll take that. It was a decent run. About the same as my normal speed. No course records on Strava.

March 24: Friday yoga
I love my Friday yoga class. It's the best way to end the week. Except there was a crazy swim meet going on so kids everywhere.

Also, I want to learn to do a forearm stand.

Bibim-Bop bowl for Friday lunch

March 25: Lots of workouts
I really wanted to do flying trapeze today and had two miles to run to make my goal of 15 miles per week. So I went to the indoor track to do speed work first thing in the morning. I had written down to do 5 x 400s, but for some reason I ran an 800 for my first one. And decided that 800s would be good for me. I did four of those and then a mile since I felt like I should get more miles in. (I really don't follow my training plan at all).

I ran 3:40, 3:41, 3:47, 3:53 and then 7:51. I then hurried home, showered and drove an hour to Atlanta for an hour trapeze class.

That was my birthday present to myself. I had wanted my friends to come. No one came. I was sad for a little but. But I did the class by myself and had fun.

It wasn't my best day.

Workouts this week: March 12

How is it the middle of March already? Wow.

March 12: Off
Took Sunday off after a week of workouts

March 13: Bodypump + mile 

Did a 60 minute BodyPump class. So hard. Always. I kept the same weight and didn't try to increase. How does the teacher do three time my weight and not be out of breath?

Afterwards, I ran a mile in 7:51 on the indoor track and then an 800 in 3:53. Just trying to get more miles in. And test out my ankle. It hurt all day Saturday. Sunday it was fine (because I was lazy) and it flared up again Monday. I wore boots to work and the small heel hurt. I went home and got a compression sleeve and black tennis shoes. And I iced it and kept it elevated the rest of the day.

Did I sprain it? It's not bruised or swollen but it still hurts. Maybe it's an out for my race Sunday when it's supposed to be freezing.

March 14: Indoor run
Today was supposed to be my long run but it was freezing. The plan was to go outside and run and see if I could run in the cold. I got dressed in warm running clothes and went outside. It was 46 degrees and the wind was blowing. I took the dog out and decided it was too cold to run. So I changed and ran at the indoor track. Running is supposed to be fun. Not miserable. I don't run in the cold. I'm not trying to prove how tough I am. Not worth it for me.

I'm not sure quite what the plan was. I would have liked to get 6 miles in, but I was tired. I ran five miles—40 laps, which is the longest I've ever run indoors. It gets so repetitive. I used to HATE running the 3200m in high school because eight laps was so boring. I just ran 40. I couldn't bring myself to run another mile. I felt okay afterwards at home so maybe that was the right call.

March 15: gymnastics
There was a lot of standing around at gymnastics tonight. I was playing on the bars and the other people were just taking too long. Or I was being impatient.

March 16: speed work 
The training plan called for 10x400s so that's what I ran. I ran them consistently at 1:51s. Which is fast for my 5k pace. I could run 1:30s no problem when I was in high school. ::cries:: And I felt like I should get more miles in so I ran an 800 for a total for 3 miles.

Speed work takes so much time. I could run three miles faster without all of those breaks. I walked 100 meters between the 400s. And I think I've run a mile faster before.

March 17: yoga
I've missed yoga. First yoga class in almost three weeks. I've missed yoga! I didn't realize it had been that long, but there were no Fridays without yoga classes (no classes due to spring break). So that explains why it felt harder than normal. I really was rusty.

It was a busy day. I left the house at 7:30 a.m. Had lunch with a friend, yoga after work, dinner with friends. I was home at 9:30 p.m. That's too long of a day for me. (It's okay every once in a while and I should do more things with friends. Just tired afterwards. How do normal people do it.)

Fish from La Dolce Vita

March 18: long run
I've been tired all week. I was exhausted yesterday. I wanted to sleep in today but the cat wouldn't let me. And I went to a trapeze class at noon. I went to do my long run around 5:30 p.m. I should always do my long run after a day off. Not at the end of the week when I'm exhausted. The back of my thighs were sore during my warmup. And I think I hurt my hip at trapeze. Today's run felt awful. I was so tired. I just didn't feel strong. I ran 8:50s, which is slow. The plan was to run 8 miles. I honestly should have stopped at 2 but did 6.5. I had to stop and walk a few times (which sucks). I think I'm overtraining. I need more days off. (I've been saying this a lot lately!)

Post run handstand