Since I wrote my last post this morning, I haven't had time to take away my option yet.
This afternoon, as my work day wound down, I still had a choice to make, and for the second day in a row, I managed to make the correct one. In ridiculous heat.
Looking at the workouts that I was supposed to have this week, I would have already run 16 miles by today. That's four on Monday, eight on Tuesday, and four more Wednesday. With the four I was able to make happen yesterday, that still leaves me twelve down today. Obviously, it's not a good idea to try and catch up all at once, so I figured I'd just do an eight-miler today, then take my scheduled rest tomorrow, followed with getting back on schedule.
A quick review of my last few weeks' training showed me that this would be my longest run in almost five weeks, and this was not particularly heartening information. I'm well behind my scheduled mileage, but then I compared my current training program to what I did for Austin, and was surprised to find that I've run nearly half of my Austin training mileage already, and I haven't even gotten into my super-long runs yet.
So I made a decision. I decided to get back on schedule, come hell or high water. The only thing I will change is the distance of my Saturday long runs. This week, I was scheduled to do 17 miles, and I am simply not ready for that. Instead, I'll do 15, which is a little longer than the longest run I've done this season, and I'll go really early and really slowly, hopefully not having to stop at all during the workout.
In addition to this, I'll keep up with my light arms and core training, as it gives me a little more structure in my workouts, making me warm-up, cool down, and stretch before and after the run, which I should be doing anyway.
And which I did today. I did a glute strengthening routine that I got out of Runner's World, which is designed to help prevent any further injury, and which I really enjoyed, especially in combination with my ab routine, which I'll put in here one of these days. They I headed out in the 86 degree heat for 8 miles of fun.
My leg flared up a couple times throughout the run, but never for more than a couple tenths of a mile, and then it would fade out. The distance got to me, but that was more a combination of the heat and the headwind that I had for most of the last four miles. It was an interesting coincidence that every time I managed to get myself out of shade, the wind would kick up in my face, including the last mile, which was not particularly enjoyable.
But life was good, despite everything else, because I ran the whole way, stopping only for a couple sips of water at two water fountains and a stand set up under Mopac at the Town Lake Trail. Not surprisingly, this last stand was very low on water, as I'm sure everyone out there today stopped for a drink. I have a CamelPak, but I usually only take it with me on runs over ten miles. Now I think I'll have to add runs after 10 am between April and October.
Though I hope I won't have many of those from now on. I'm challenging myself to get up early for the next four weeks, whether I have a run scheduled or not. The goal here is that after 28 days, it should be a habit well-ingrained in my body, and after a while I won't even need an alarm. I hope.
It starts tomorrow. Again.
Wednesday's Run:
86 Degrees / Sunny
8.11 Miles
1 Hour, 1 Minute, 50 Seconds
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