The week started terribly with news that a dear friend had been hit with a car while running. I was angry and emotional a lot of the week. Then the weather heated up and my parents arrived for their annual dance recital visit. Despite all the craziness, training this week went really well!
Monday, 5/21, Morning Crew – Swim 2100
I was on my way out the door to swim when I found out a dear friend had been hit by a car on her first run post-marathon. She will recover, but she broke her leg and has had to have surgery. The universe is unfair. I am angry with God and the world. Beyond angry. Beyond pissed. Luckily I had a new workout and I could replace my anger with the pain of a really hard swim, at least for a few minutes. Coach Cupcake called this workout “Monday Sucks” and this one surely did.
Tuesday, 5/22, Early Morning Crew – 6 mile progression run
This was supposed to be six miles easy, but I was still so angry that I needed to run hard. I figured a progression run was better than a 10K sprint. I got beautiful negative splits here and Coach Mick is incredibly understanding about emotional runs like this. I did feel a little better afterwards.
Wednesday, 5/23, Lunch Crew – 4 easy miles (8:58 pace), plus weights
Hot, humid and disgusting. In my mind, I’ve been doing 4 miles on Wednesdays before lifting forever. In reality, I’ve been doing this run since late November. I wasn’t running at all a year ago because I was still dealing with the plantar fasciitis. The nasty weather today made me think I might move this routine to early morning instead.
Thursday, 5/24, Lunch Crew – 7 miles, hill sprints
Hill sprints again, but a few more of them this week. I confess to loving hill sprints. They make me feel super focused and badass. I half hope people drive by and see me doing this insanity and think, wow, that chick must really know what she’s doing! Probably they actually think, why is that crazy lady running up and down the hill? But, whatever. I feel badass and that’s what counts.
Friday, 5/25, Early Morning Crew – 6 easy miles (11:00 pace)
Another Friday trail run with treasured running buddies. As we finished up, we got some tales of Boston: “The wind was kind of annoying.” Yeah, someone is the mistress of understatement.
Saturday, 5/26, Early Morning Crew – 12 miles biking plus weights
We’ve had lots of rainy Saturdays but today was hot and steamy so I rode to the gym and back. The heat made me crazy. I complained at the gym, which is a big personal no-no. I worried about my long run tomorrow. I became unable to make any decisions about anything at all. It felt like I completely forgot how to train for a marathon. I wonder if this happens to anyone else?
Sunday, 5/27, Early Morning Crew – 15 easy miles (9:10 ave pace)
My girlfriends all moved their long runs to Monday, but I didn’t want to mess with my schedule for the rest of the week so I went alone. After all my ridiculousness yesterday, this was a fabulous run. I felt great the whole time. I remembered that I love long runs, even (especially?) solo ones. It felt like I could go one forever. Instead, I finished in plenty of time for church, brunch, and board games with the family.
Total: 38 miles