Training recap – August 19-26

This was supposed to be a relatively high-mileage week.  This was supposed to be 18-20 miles all told.  Unfortunately, if you looked at the last few posts, you saw all that went to pot pretty darn quick.

The plan was:  A 5-miler, a 3-mile or two, and a 10-mile long run – my longest run prepping for the half-marathon.

The reality:

Monday – 3.0 miles, 32:00
I’d taken the day off of work, so I was free to go out in the afternoon while my kids were at their practice.  I took off with every intention of four miles.  But… mid-afternoon and 82 degrees clearly did not agree with me. Neither did my gear. I could not stop messing with my bottle belt – it kept riding up toward my ribs rather than staying where it was supposed to on my hips (it apparently doesn’t like my running skirt. Boo.). I struggled hard to find a pace, I struggled hard to remember to breathe.  And then I just gave in and walked the last mile back.  And while I walked back I began obsessing on why my Monday runs were so rotten the past few weeks…

So I lost a night’s sleep on this.  And then I looked up “insomnia as overtraining symptom”.  Yep, I did.  And then I wrote a post, begging for input from the blogosphere.  And then I lost another night’s sleep.  (Because, yeah, my tendency toward insomnia far predates any running experience… grrr….)  And then, after some point, I clicked on my training log on Dailymile.

Oh.  Huh.  So, I went from averaging nine-to-eleven miles per week, to two weeks no running, to two straight 16-mile-plus weeks.  Think that might have something to do with this? (duh.)

Wednesday – 3.0 miles, 30:21

So I still wanted to keep some running this week, but I knew I had to step it down just a bit.  Wednesday’s schedule didn’t lend itself to a mid-day run, so instead I ran after work – eked out two laps and willed myself to keep moving.  I still prefer morning or mid-day runs, but it seems like I can make it through these evening runs without completely dying. 

Saturday – 5.0 miles, 59:24

So I took the rest of the week off from running, rested, ate, lost my car, yada yada.  On Saturday when I met up with the Math Teacher I had a hankering to run – a good feeling after two days off.  We had originally agreed to five miles together, and stuck to that plan.  It was chillier than I’d expected, and I was glad I’d decided on a long-sleeve shirt.  We kept near 11:30 miles and only walked The Hill and only partway – success!  When we finished I felt like I could have run longer, but I chose to stick to the plan for the day.  And I had fun playing dress-up in my new capri running skirt and my new shoes – how much better can it get? J

Planned for this week:

I think the low-miles week did the trick – I’m better rested, and longing to be out in the air on a run.  Since last week’s plan went south, I think I’ll repeat what I had planned for it – two three-milers and a five-miler during the week, and then get my 10-mile long run in next Saturday.  It’s less than three weeks to the race!