This week started horribly. I was dealing with some personal shit, I ran a horrendous 20 miler and the weather wasn’t helping my mood or attitude. I think I’m officially that old person whose mood is altered by the degree of sun in the sky, which lately, has been zero.
Luckily, by mid-week I was literally over the hump mentally and physically, and I’ll be damned if that sun didn’t peak out at just the right time. I stayed the course with my training and ended up having one of the strongest running weeks yet!
WEEK OF MARCH 23, 2015
RUNNING: So, as mentioned, I started out for my 20 miler (longest run to date) on Monday and it was horrible from the start. Because I’m stubborn and a little stupid, I stayed the course thinking it would get better. It did not. I had aches, pains, bad thoughts, really bad thoughts, and I was going to throw my running shoes in a snow bank but I didn’t have the energy. I passed my start point at 19.3 miles and I called it. As I told CRS, if nothing else, the fact that I made it though that run means my mental game is rock solid.
Even my route looks like it’s giving me the finger.
I have to say I was proud of myself for just brushing it off and chalking it up to a birthday weekend filled with drinking, eating stuff I wouldn’t normally and getting a lot less sleep. It’s like I think I’m still 39 or something!
By Wednesday I was back to myself and apologized to my running shoes. After an easy 6 on Wednesday, I did a great endurance/speed workout on the treadmill on Thursday (with a little help from my friends!):
2 mile warm-up
5 x 400m hill at 5% incline and 7:40 pace followed immediately by 400m at 6:30 pace, recover for 800m
3.5 mile cooldown
final mile at marathon pace (7:40)
10 miles total and I felt like a million ducks
I didn’t even mind being on the mill for 81 minutes..that’s where the friends come in!
Friday was a rest day and I still hate resting. CRS wrote “Suck it up and rest!” in my training log. She gets me.
Sunday’s run was daunting but doable and built my confidence with each mile:
2 mile warm-up
4 miles at marathon pace (7:40)
4 miles at half-marathon pace (6:50)
4 miles at almost tempo (7:00)
1 mile cool down
15 miles total
Much better read out on this one and I (mostly) hit my splits…
Total for the week: 51.6 miles and almost 7 hours
CYCLING: I was hoping, wishing and dreaming I would be able to get outside on my bike this weekend but it snowed on Saturday. So, once again, I did one spin class session (Tuesday) and the other on my bike trainer. I’m starting to think the very first time I’m going to bike on the road will be at my duathlon on May 17. #NoJoke
Total cycling: 2 hours and about 60 miles
SWIMMING: I’m finally able to see real numbers to support the feeling I have about the improvements I’m making in the pool. As part of my Tuesday swim:
10 x 100 @ 1:45 with 15 second rest intervals – I nailed it!
However, if I can’t even bike outside, I have no hope I will be able to get in open water before my triathlon the first week in June. #StaytheCourse
Total swim: 5100 yards, 2 hours
STRENGTH-TRAINING: I saw this on Nellie’s blog and I can’t wait to try it!
FUEL: I’m addicted to eggs and brown rice or a mixture of quinoa and basmati brown rice. I crave it after my long runs and it keeps me full for at least 2-3 hours. Score!
It looks disgusting but it’s delicious. I promise.
THINGS I LOVE: The first patch of grass in the front yard!
Look! Mom! Grass!
THINGS I DON’T LOVE AS MUCH: Some asshole hitting my brand new car and driving away.
Four days after I picked-up my brand new vehicle, I noticed the back wiper wasn’t working. A few days after that I took it to the dealership where they showed me a dent (which you couldn’t see because of the deep maroon color of the car) and a few scratches on the back, saying that was the reason for the wiper malfunction.
Of course they see five-foot me (a woman) and my giant SUV and assume I hit something or backed into something, which I 100% did not!
I seriously don’t know what kind of jerk hits someone’s car that hard and drives away. Oh wait a minute, a woman who lives in our town did that at the lake this summer to my friend’s brand new car, and I literally ran after her car as she was driving away! With her kids.
I hope karma finds you. I also wish my back-up camera had a recording device.
TV: The Blacklist, Black-ish, Better Call Saul, The Slap (I know but I love Zachary Quinto!), Grimm, The Mindy Project and Walking Dead. Not in that order, and damn that’s a lot of TV watching. I’m such a slacker!
READING: I don’t always agree with or care about Angelina Jolie but I love how she has been speaking out and schooling women on breast and ovarian cancer health. Obviously the ovarian cancer topic hits home with me, but to see that she is using the same testing I am regarding genetics (BRAC I and II) and blood tracking (CA125) gives me comfort and hope. I truly hope women are paying attention to her message.
RANDOM TWEET OF THE WEEK: I had my conference with the boys’ teacher this week. I forgot to bring my mug…
How was your week?
How do you stay the course when things get tough?
What a week! Hooray for not throwing away your running shoes. My week was really good except for some phantom knee pain that has been biting my nails and crapping my pants all at the same time. I’m doing everything I can to make sure it doesn’t stop me from a certain race in 3 weeks. And hooray for patches of grass. We have those but it’s all mud. And my kids decided to try mud wrestling in it. Lovely…
I saw that about your knee?? I’m sure it will be absolutely fine for the race. It seems like stuff like that always happens and it will pass.
Love the mud wrestling and shocked my boys have not yet thought of that!
I think a lot of people can relate to this cold weather this year. It’s been the winter that keeps on giving honestly. My week was about the same…so much to do and not enough time to do it…same ole same ole.
Sorry to hear someone hit and run your car. I hate when people cannot take ownership of that sort of thing!
It’s the worst!…the weather and the car. It was snowing again this morning. Really?
Oh do you like the Slap? I read the book a few years ago. It is actually an Australian novel and quite famous there. My MIL gave it to me. I liked the book except that the language was a little vulgar (I’m not a prude, it was just over the top in this book!). The story was interesting.
I think it will be an extremely beautiful summer given the horrendous winter this year!
I did a spin class for the first time since pre-baby yesterday. It was so so hard!
The Slap is a little cheesy and overboard dramatic, even considering the subject matter. I didn’t realize it was a book?? Maybe I’ll read it instead…and thanks for the heads-up on the vulgarity. I know you’re no prude so it must be pretty bad!!
So glad you were able to spin!! I can’t imagine how it must have felt after all that time…but awesome when you were done 🙂
Karma will come back to get that idiot, and I am so sorry to hear that, must be so frustrating! I have had some of those want to pack it in runs over the last month, but I love that you said you apologized to your running shoes. I am not sure I have ever been that nice to them 😉 I did have a teammate once throw hers in the trash after a bad race….so I had to go get them haha. You should be proud of getting back to it within a few days though! It aint about how hard you hit 😉
That’s right Tina! I think I’m finally learning to just let go of those bad ones. That is too funny about your friend throwing her shoes in the trash!! I totally get it!!
I had conferences for both girls this week and totally forgot my mug, too! But seriously, so sorry about your car and what is wrong with people. I would have been beyond ticked off and just hope karma at the very least finds that jerk! Here is hoping for a much better week this week for you though.
Hahaha! I’m sure your conferences were wonderful with those two beauties 🙂
The car thing is just putting me over the edge. In all my years of driving this has never happened to me. Why couldn’t it have happened with my 6 year-old VW?? Ugh.
Uh that sucks about the hit and run. I remember your story about chasing the car down that hit your friends car. I remember thinking to myself this my my kind of girl!!
You are awesome for even getting out there even though your route gave you the finger!!
Can you believe I am 4 episodes behind in the blacklist?! Ugh! We can never watch it when the kids are up and when they go to bed we are always cleaning or something I need to catch up!
Thanks for the shout!! I really like this one, gets you nice and sweaty in about 5 minutes 🙂
That’s right! No one hits my friend’s car and just drives off. We were able to catch her b/c I got the plate. No such luck for me.
You need to stop what you’re doing and go watch Blacklist!!! #TomISBack
That Sunday run was a beast and you nailed it! Very, very nice. Totally negates feeling crappy on the 20-miler, you know that, right? And some nice swimming, too. if you can’t get into open water before race day, it’s really ok. Plenty of ways to simulate in a pool. It all comes down to sighting and you’ll get there.
I can’t believe you still have that much snow on the ground! I think that would do me in.
Yes, I totally know that and I was smiling for the last half-mile thinking, take THAT 20 miler!
The problem with the water is the sighting…hate it!
It was snowing again this morning. I almost cried.
Way to go sticking with that long run.
I’m watching the Slap too. It’ll be interesting to see how it ends.
Thank you!
I can’t stop watching because I want to see what happens next. I also love how they spend one week focusing on a different character. So interesting!!
Bad 20 miler or not, your workouts are so inspiring!! I’ve realized lately how much breastfeeding is taking out of my- physically, nutritionally… my workouts are not what I’d like but I know that time will come again. For not, I’m embracing a little extra rest before Boston, and then I think I need to mix things up a bit. Less running (or at least distance running) is sounding so appealing these days!
I’m telling you Laura – I have never felt better with my running now that I do so much cross-training. The pool especially has helped because it’s the one thing that isn’t pounding on my poor (old) body! 🙂
Awesome job this week!!!!! We all have runs like Monday…that is why runs like Sunday feel SOOOOOOO amazing!!!!!
I usually just try to remind myself that I am not super woman, everyone has runs like this, and it is part of it. I also will try to break the down the run into smaller parts and then bargain with myself. I will say just get this repeat done and see how you feel or I will let myself do it a little slower than planned. Usually if I tell myself I can go slower I end up doing it at the pace I wanted (if that even makes sense)!
It makes perfect sense!!! In fact, those last four at 7:00 I was thinking “just do what you can to finish this” and I never looked at my watch. Presto!! So much of running is just mind games. Your body knows what to do, your mind just needs to let it!
Thanks so much for all your support Jen. It really means a lot to me!
You did awesome this week! That bad run was probably from your weekend of fun because you nailed it the rest of the week! I totally get the mood going bad because of the weather. I have been itching to get on my bike too but I’m not doing it this shit.
Agreed about the biking but I SO want to get outside and out of my basement already. Grrrrrrr.
As much as they horrible runs suck sometimes they make the next ones that much better – way to stick with it and gut it out!!
I can’t believe someone hit your new car and didn’t let you know – so annoying!!!
Love that patch of grass – almost spring – WooHoo!!!
It’s so true Kim! I knew if I hung in there, the good vibes would return 🙂
And I’m so upset about my car. I think about it every time I look at it and get madder and madder.
1. You are NOT old! 🙂 You are just getting started!
2. You told the 20 miler to go where the sun doesn’t shine!! Good for you! Great job that you kept pushing!!
3. Way to keep fighting and bust out a great run later. Determined athlete that doesn’t give up = check!
So crappy that someone hit your brand new car!!! Karma….
Wishing you a big dose of SPRING in April! 🙂
1. I know, I know!!
2. Yes I did – thank you!
3. Mentally, this past week was fantastic.
4. So, so upsetting but it could have been much worse. Trying to keep perspective but it’s HARD.
Thanks Natalie!
OMG, that tweet is so me…hilarious. Way to stick it out for your 20 miler. Mine sucked as well as you know and I was ready to throw in the towel for Paris and then realized it’s Paris and even if I have a shitty race, I’M STILL GOING TO PARIS…WHO CARES? 🙂 Way to come back with the 16 miler though! I’m one of those people who gets in a crappy mood when the sun doesn’t come out too. My dad actually buys “happy lights” for his house (he lives in NH) and he says it makes a HUGE difference!
Love that tweet and her blog is hilarious.
Seriously – PARIS!…with a little 26.2 thrown in, whatever.
I’m considering the happy lights. The issue is I wouldn’t come out from underneath them!!
I think the eggs and brown rice look delicious!
It’s nice that you chalked up the 19.3 of the 20 miler to birthday festivities. I sometimes struggle with shaking off my own mind. Not cool.
And it’s not easy to be so positive when it’s freakin cold and gloomy EVERY DAY.
Thanks Tamara! You are the only one 🙂
This weather is killing me. This happens every March so I’m not sure when I’m going to learn to plan a vacation for my birthday every year…and not one to more snow!!
I am crying laughing over that wine in a coffee mug idea. I need that for work…
DO IT!!
dang that is a great week. stay the course, indeed. ugh about your car. what is wrong with people??? i have similar tv tastes – the slap is my guilty pleasure except i don’t feel guilty 🙂 love that little patch of grass!
My husband laughs at me for watching The Slap but now I just can’t stop!!…and I don’t feel guilty either 🙂
I watch far more TV than you do.
Which explains (partly) why I’m giving you comment crack right now. #catchingup
Keep it coming!! hahaha
Car issues have this way of making me bizarrely emotional. A dent, an accident, a ticket, a tire issue whatever I get more worked up about that than well just about anything. no idea why.
Blacklist, yup we are digging that!! Love us a little DVR time to unwind.
I know! Why is that? It’s almost like being robbed – I felt violated. Ugh.
YES to The Blacklist and I just love to hate Tom 🙂