Sunday, August 9, 2009

Weekly Recap

Whew. So I made my miles. It wasn't pretty, but they are on the books.

M: arms/core

T: 8.5 (9:02) / core

W: 14 (8:57) / core - weather was PERFECT and I considered logging my 18, but I didn't quite have enough time / core

R: 7.5 recovery (9:42)

F: 5 recovery (9:42) / arms / core

Sa: 10K which sucked

Su: 18.14 (8:56)

Total 60.4

Todays long run was very painful. It is HOT here and very humid. With the heat index it is somewhere between 95 and 100. According to our clock, it was already 90 at 9:00 this am when I headed out. I decided to do 3 6-mile loops so I could stay close to home and refuel as needed rather than risk blowing up 9 miles down the trail. Within seconds of getting out the door, I heard a huge BOOM! It literally sounded like 5 fighter jets taking off within a few feet of me. I stopped - waiting for something to fall out of the sky or something. Then I saw my friend, Donovan, biking down the trail. He was out shooting part of the documentary he is doing on training for and completing IronMan. He didn't know what happened either. We chatted for a minute and I went on my way. After about .5 miles, it started smelling like paint thinner or something in the air. Yikes. A lady who was walking was concerned and wanted to know what happened - in this heat and wind, it may not be safe to be out if the local chemical company had an explosion. I decided to run over and check it out. A cop had cordoned off the road and I asked him what happened. He said there was a small explosion but there had not been any evacuation orders. So I continued running a bit - looped around - and ran back up by the chemical company. There were cops and ambulances everywhere, but the road was now open. I couldn't see any visible signs of the explosion and it looked like it must have been an isolated incident. My HR was going through the ROOF (well into the 170s less than 5 miles in) and the air just smelled funky - particularly closer to my neighborhood thanks to the winds. So I decided to take it home and finish up on the treadmill. Ack. So I begrudgingly logged 13 miles on the treadmill. It was boring and awful, but I was so thankful to have it as an option. I finished the last mile progressively increasing from 8:26 to 7:30 - nice.

I thought many times about just cutting it short. But there was no way. After a crap race, I had better at least put in the miles.

So I did. And I am very happy for it.

We were planning to go to a Mallards game tonight. Not sure how fun that sounds in 100 degree weather . . . .

3 comments:

Runnin-From-The-Law said...

Great week! How do you have time for a 14 miler mid-week, with work? Did you have the day off?

Mindi said...

No day off - just got in a little later than usual (8:30) an worked a little later. It is easier in the summer b/c it allows the kids to sleep in. No matter what, I have to be done with my long run by 7 though (as that is when John leaves). Not easy, but workable.

Unknown said...

That heat was ugh. Nice work.