My coach typically gives me a couple weeks at a time in my schedules and 3 weeks ago, I saw he had me slated for almost 9 hours this week. I knew that would be 60+ miles with a really long run (20 miles or more) and 2 tempo interval workouts.
And I was kind of freaked out. Why? Because usually I am pretty toasted the week after I race a half marathon. I am sore, I am tired, and it is really hard to hit my paces.
Well, as you know if you read this blog (thank you for that BTW), my race wasn't as planned. It was respectable, but I never laid it all out there. And this week, I am so thankful for that.
I ran an hour the day after the race, then took a rest day. But come Tuesday, it was time to get serious again. I had an hour and twenty minutes on tap with tempo intervals and striders (9.5ish miles). Guess what?! I nailed them, was not sore and my heart rate was in a good place. Yay!
Then Wednesday, I had an hour and fifteen minutes easy on tap. I hit a little over 8.5 miles and likewise felt awesome. The 50 degree temps were a bonus too! So last night when coach sent me an e-mail showing me that we were going to wratchet things up for real these next couple of weeks, I was PUMPED. Eye on the prize pumped. Yeah baby, I can do this thing! Knock one out the park! I know you know what I am saying.
BUT (why does that always have to interject itself?!!) I had a sore throat and head cold settling in early this week. I have also been wicked stressed out about child care issues. So I started cranking up the Zicam (which is great for onset of cold, not so much for child care issues). This morning when I woke up, I was tired. Dog tired. (cue John Cofey from the Green Mile). Seriously, dragging thyself out of bed with great protest from every inch of my being.
I had 70 minutes on tap with 6 x .5 mile tempo intervals; .25 mile recoveries. And man, I had to fight through it this morning. At first, I thought about just running 50 minutes easy to swap out another run and do them tomorrow. But nope, I reminded myself that some days are hard and I really need the mental toughness, so I gutted it out. It wasn't pretty and my heart rate was high, but I put it in the books boys and girls. 8.65 miles done with tempo intervals and strides (and incidentally helping a neighbor in distress with jumping his car post-run).
Why am I blogging about my crappy run? Thanks for asking! Because it mattered. It made a difference. It boosted me when I was really frankly feeling sluggish. How: even though I had to fight through it, when I finished, I felt great. Yeah, my workout was kind of ugly, but I did it. You know, I fought my own adversity and got it done out there. And even though I uploaded my numbers and they weren't pretty, I had a real sense of pride for getting it done. Sometimes, the rough workouts are just like that. If I had wimped out, I would have felt like crap. Instead, I pushed through, felt like crap during my run, but nailed it anyway. So when I finished, I felt like a million bucks (mentally noting this for next time the going gets tough - just do it) Wait - what?
Bring it Chicago. I'm coming after you.
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