Well, crap.
I've been so good about posting lately, it's always very disappointing to me when I go a few days without getting something up here. Missing it for a week just feels like laziness. I promise I wasn't entirely lazy this week, though I did end my streak. My life has merely been a hurricane of transition lately, and in between doing everything I can to keep my head above water, I haven't had time to write. Here's my last week in bullet points:
Friday - Word to the wise: if you're running in the late afternoon, coffee and Whataburger do not a quality lunch make. I got about 3 miles into my run when everything south of the esophagus went haywire. I tried to take a shortcut home and ended up six kinds of lost, no doubt returning fifteen minutes later than I would have if I'd just kept running. Not a pleasant day, overall, but I did get in six and a half miles, which is something. Also, I ended up between a buzzard and its dinner again in a completely different area from the time before. Not a trend, I hope.
Saturday - Alas, I knew the streak had to end at some point. I made it to 101 straight days of running, but I simply did not have the time and/or energy to get out the door on Saturday. I ate right, rested, and prepared for the final night of my show, which also did not go as planned. Live theatre is always an adventure. So yes, I skipped a day of running, but I'm in no way concerned about it. I've run so many miles this year, one day off may have been the best thing I could do.
Sunday - Oh, that's what fresh legs feel like. With my running partner still on hiatus, my mother and I hit the lake and did our own thing. I tried really hard not to go fast, but my legs were itching for some work after their oh-so-foreign day off. Follow up the run with a little brunch, some exploration, a lot of cooking and a potluck, and you've got yourself a pretty stellar day in Austin, Texas.
Monday - I returned my mother to the airport from whence she came and returned home to psych myself up for an early morning run, at which point I immediately fell asleep. I've been tired all week, so most of my runs have been in the late afternoon, which actually hasn't been too bad, since the weather has abated somewhat. When I finally got out the door, I kind of tore it up. I was feeling good, my legs felt rested and strong, and the sun was shining on my face. Everything felt right, so I let it fly.
Tuesday - This was the really surprising day of the week. I started the day out with some disappointing news, which took me out of the focused mindset I needed for the day. Mid-morning, I simply decided that nothing could possibly be better for me in that moment than a run. Boy, was I ever right. Tuesdays and Fridays are supposed to be the same distance for me, and one of them should be at around race pace to get my body used to running that fast for an extended period of time. I recently changed this from the Friday run to the Tuesday, since it made more sense to push the pace the day before a resting run than before a long run. So I pushed, just a bit, on Tuesday, while still feeling comfortable. I ended up running 13 seconds faster per mile than I needed to. Confidence boosted, life better.
Wednesday - Nice, easy recovery run. Just jog it so that your body recovers. Or, run a sub-Boston pace because it feels slower than the day before. You know, whatever.
Thursday - Kind of a disappointing speed work day, but only because I picked a bad time of day to get it done. I was shooting for 8 half-mile repeats, but only made it through 6. My lungs didn't have it, and if they're not up to the challenge, it really doesn't matter what the legs are feeling. Still, good times for the most part, and it gives me something to shoot for next week.
Friday - The end of a rather exhausting week. Emotionally. Physically. Certainly psychologically. Everything about this week has drained my personal resources, so the idea of ending my Friday with a ten-mile run was not a pleasing one. But you know what? I did it. I ran every one of those miles, damn it. And it was windy and hot and I was burping pasta the whole way, but I did it. And with a week's worth of killer fast runs, I decided to give my legs a little bit of a break. I would only run as fast as was comfortable.
I beat Tuesday's time by 30 seconds.
Friday's workout:
76 degrees, windy!
10.31 Miles
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