My final weeknight run

October 14  Plan 10k race pace  Actual:  7k glacial pace

They say that a bad dress rehearsal means a great opening night.  If that's the case, I should have no problems whatsoever on the big day. 
'Cause let's face it, this run was crap.  Crap, crap, crap.

It had been a busy week at work, lots going on, weather wasn't cooperating, blah blah blah.  I knew I couldn't do 10k - I just couldn't - so 7 was about all I could muster. 

I didn't even plan a good route!  Normally I've got my distance well planned out in advance so I am clear on where I'm going and what it'll take to get there. And no further.  Ha.  Sad but true.  But not tonight.  Tonight I just went out and ran and said I'd figure it out as I go.  Hence the crazy, loopy map. 

As you can see from the temp the weather was kind of warm which was nice but it was crazy windy.  And starting to get dark, but thankfully I had my knuckle lights and they served me well once again. 

As I closed in on 7k I decided enough was enough and just headed for home.   The whole tapering thing has been playing massive games with my psyche and I was pretty much ready to throw in the proverbial towel by this point.  I was getting sick of running the same streets, same routes, all the time.  I was really looking forward to all of this just being done.

Ended up walking at lot as is evidenced by my pace.  If I have to go this slowly overall on race day I'll never make my 3 hour goal.  Fingers crossed this really was the bad dress rehearsal before the big opening night and everything comes together much more smoothly than this run did.

Hard to believe this is my final weeknight run for what will likely be a good, long while.  Wednesday following my half Micheal and I are returning to our strict eating program to help take off this extra weight which means no running for me, sadly.  Might throw in a short distance here and there but still - nothing at all like what I've been doing these past 18 weeks. 

The short ones sometimes seem the longest...

 July 15  Plan:  3k tempo  Actual:  3.3k tempo-esque

Why oh why do the 3 and 4k runs seem as hard if not harder than the uber long ones?  Sheesh. 

I suspect tonight had a few things going against it.  One, I'm not a huge fan of running in the evening, even before dinner, but the schedule for the week made it a necessity.  At least I managed to get out before I ate but even then I still got those telltale stitches in my side.  No fun.

The wind was also my enemy this evening - holy gale force, Batman!  There were times when I was running straight into it and it felt like I wasn't making any progress at all.  So much extra energy to get a shorter distance.  Rawr.

Then there was the sun.  It had been a cool, cloudy day earlier on but this evening the clouds parted and out came the sun. And at 6pm on a mid-July evening, the sun is still quite high in the sky and there's not a lot of shade.  Which means a hotter run than I'm used to.  And it sapped my energy.

I decided to go a different direction for this short run because I just needed the variety - I'm already getting sick of going down the very same path multiple times per week. 

This is a general route I've done before but haven't in a while so decided to go for it.  Glad I did, if for nothing than the variety that I sorely needed!  There's a nice long stretch that allowed me to do something resembling tempo work so I was happy I was able to kick it up a notch for a least a part of the run, as per the plan.  I did a lot of walking, even during this 3.3k, but was able to get my pace a little faster than it has been for the past short while.  So all was not lost.

Another tempo run tomorrow and we'll see what happens.  It's the 20 minute challenge at the Running Room so I'm supposed to be going there to do my run.  I signed up mostly for the free hat and to just participate, but I'm painfully afraid of trying to do a tempo run with the half clinic. 

I know I'd just hold everyone back and I can't deal with that right now.  Too much stress for something that's supposed to be good for me.  So I think I'm going to go, in my running clothes, get my stuff, then come home and run around here like I normally would.  Or, if I really get my shit together, I'll get my run in BEFORE I get there and then can just come home and have dinner, get on with life.  Time will tell!!

Like I said before, I really don't run well with others - I much prefer to just get out there and do it on my own terms.  Me and, with all this sunshine today, my shadow.  :)

 

An overdue weekend update

July 5  Plan: 7k LSD  Actual:  7.4k LSD

Got up surprisingly early for a Saturday to do this run for a few reasons.  One, wanted to beat the heat.  And two, more importantly, we were on a timeline.

Plan was to finish the run, have a quick shower, hit Starbucks, then drop the puppy off at the boarders and hit the highway for a two country outlet shopping tour extravaganza.  And that's precisely what happened!

Run started out quite well - the conditions were lovely.  A nice breeze, no humidity, and the sun, while omnipresent in the mega blue sky, wasn't beating down on me just yet with killer intentions.  I had planned to do my 8k route - one that would have made for a nice rectangle in the picture to the right - but given our time constraints and some sore legs I opted to try out a shorter route to be closer to 7 as per the schedule.

Run started off with a nature inspired comedic twist. I was but two streets away from my house when I was approaching a family of Canada Geese.  About six adults and an additional six babies, though they were hardly babies by this point - more like geese tweens.  They were in a grassy area just to the right of the sidewalk I was planning to run along as I rounded the corner.  I barely made it three steps before what I can only assume was Mother Goose came flying towards me with the devil in her eyes.  I quickly fled the scene and made my way to safety on the other side of the street.   Yeesh!

The rest of the run was relatively good.  Legs felt okay for the first few k and I really flew down Anderson - great hill there that's a joy to run down.  Up, not so sure yet, but I'm considering it for hill repeats in a few weeks.  We shall see. 

As I rounded the corner to head up Garden, the last long stretch of my route, I lost steam. Big time.  I couldn't get through my intervals, requiring more walking breaks than normal, and started to get some strained feelings throughout my legs.  I was really surprised that they were bothering me so much, especially since not two weeks before I'd run twice this distance, and then some!  So strange. Is it the weather? The fact that I'm just going shorter distances overall?  Who knows.  Hopefully it improves!

To add insult to (almost) injury, the last km was run straight into insane winds - where the hell did those come from!?  I actually started laughing as I was trying to plow my way home.  At least I didn't have much further to go from there. 

Micheal and I had a great time on our weekend trip and were both exhausted beyond belief when we got home last night, hence why this post is only getting knocked out now.  Better late than never?  Here's hoping.  Also the schedule called for 3k yesterday as well but yeah, didn't happen.  Noooooo way.  Too tired, not enough time, pick an excuse, any excuse.  I'll make it work.

Rest day again today, then back at it again tomorrow.  Now my biggest decision is whether or not I put on my brand spankin new shoes for the run.  :)

Back tomorrow!