Shorts -> Snow

I totally need to make an attempt to blog during the week because I think of all these interesting, witty (well, witty in my head!) things to say during my runs throughout the week, and then forget everything by Sunday night, when I sit down to blog!

Oh well, here's the recap:

Monday- Ouch.  Legs were TIRED from legit run on Sunday.  Same old recovery day- 10 miles split into 6/4.  The 6 in the morning were hard- hilly route + wind = bad decision.  The 4 at night were nice/faster up to core class.  Core class was good.  I got into a jump rope competition with another guy.  Don't worry, I dominated him.  86 jumps in 35 seconds.  We'll see if I can beat that tomorrow!

Tuesday- 10 miles.  On treadmill.  Wish I could have had some faster ones in there, but my leggies were still pretty wiped.  My recovery this week has been terrible in general, so I'm glad that I got this done.  I think it was 8:20ish pace?  Swim afterward felt amazing.

Wednesday- a character-building 15 miles on the treadmill.  This was a complete mental battle, as opposed to a physical one.  The thought of getting on at 6:30am, and watching the clock make two complete circles was messing with my mind.  But I'm really happy I am pushing through these runs.  12 miles in, I felt great.  Hit the last few miles around 8.0mph.  Overall, good run.  Post-work, I had a session with a personal trainer.  She showed me some stretches and some hamstring-strength exercises.  It was actually really good/interesting.  Then, core class.  Then, cycle.  Both were lovely, actually.  New instructors than when class started, but I can roll with that.  Wednesday's are good days.

Thursday- Didn't have to work at the bakery (yay!) so I flopped my Friday milage to this day so that I could swim on Friday.  Did 6 miles, nice and easy before work.  Then, met up with Mike for 8 more miles, after work.  This was a really good run.  It was warm and Mike and I always run fast without trying.  I have to admit that my legs were tired by the end though.  8 minute pace overall.  14 mile day, which was good.

Friday- Outside run in shorts and a t-shirt at 3:45am- awesome.  It was breezy out which added a eery feeling to being out that early.  Was right at 8:00min pace again, which was amazing because these super-early, super-dark runs I'm happy to hit 8:30pace.  90 minute cycle class was fun too- I am trying to push myself more in these classes lately.  Post-cycle, I completed the morning's reverse triathalon with a swim (mile-ish?).  Awesome way to start out the day.  Equally awesome is coming home from work and taking a nap.

Saturday-  Ugh.  Woke up feeling terrible.  Cold/flu symptoms and totally run down.  It was 4am, and I debated going back to bed, but hated the idea of 5 easy miles hanging over my head all day at work.  So, I took them to the treadmill and squeaked them in in just under 40 minutes.  After work, I proceded to nap from 3pm-6pm, then sleep again from 8pm-9am this morning.  Either I suck at recovering, or I am sick.

Sunday (today)- 17 mile long run on the schedule, luckily with no MP miles.  I decided to go the complete opposite of last week and *not* be a slave to my Garmin and just run as I felt (because I still was feeling so blah.)  Headed out on my favorite 15 mile loop that I could now do because it was actually light and most of the snow had melted.  8 miles in, I started feeling pretty bad.  Slogged through the end, actually.  I'm really happy I pushed through and got it done, but I'm really hoping my body feels better soon.  8:13 pace, which is good, but the effort it felt like I was putting out the whole run was terrible.

And since I finished my LR on perfectly dry pavement about 6 hours ago, about 6" of snow has fallen.  Ugh. I hate winter so much, and was so excited about it not being here anymore!  Good news is, I'm on winter-break from teaching.  Bad news is, I decided several weeks ago when talking with my boss at the bakery, that it would be a good idea to volunteer to pick up extra hours there this week, rather than just chill out and reap the benefits of being a salaried teacher.  So I'm working more at the bakery.  Starting tomorrow at 6am.

So that is it from here.  Recap:

2 core classes
2 cycle classes
2 swims
77 miles :)

This week is a 'cut-back' week, and as much as I usually hate that sort of thing, I'll take it right now.  I may even have a full rest day in my future as it has been 6 or 7 weeks at this point.  We shall see how it goes!

Hope everyone is ready for the new week!  Hope it is filled with Peace, Love, and Running! :)