Back to Basics

This week was a tough one, but good in the way of introspection.

The high from the 15K last Saturday was great. But, where there are highs there are lows. This week I just felt worn out. Come mid week my legs were heavy, and I had a tough time keeping my Marathon Goal Pace (MGP) for 35 minutes on my Wednesday run. I've set my MGP at 7:55 min/miles, so it was a bit disheartening to struggle for 35 minutes at that speed when on Saturday I kept a 7:35 pace for 9.3 miles. But, that's why I'm not supposed to try and run a race every day I suppose.

Thursday I traveled down to Orlando and ended up squeaking a run in with Tyler before his soccer game, which I ended up filling in as one of their girls (only 5 of your 8 players can be guys). Run was great, as it always is with him, soccer was fun, even though I was beyond rusty. I think I paid for it the next days with some calf issues, getting old sucks because apparently you can't just play a random sport without some minor consequences.

Friday I was slated for 60 minutes with some strides mixed in but opted for a day off, as I was getting a clear message from the old body that she needed a rest. The next day I was running the run portion of an equestrian, mountain biking, running relay. Friday was a super fun day, I actually spent the early part with my dear friend Heather and the later part with Tyler and a myriad of his work friends. We started at 3pm with a baby shower/happy hour, then moved to another happy hour downtown, then another bar, and then ended the night at the UCF USF hockey game, getting into bed around 2am. Note: drinking from 3-10 with little water in between is not the best way to prepare for a wake up time of 6:30am to run 4 miles in the woods.

Saturday morning I realized I was not invincible and that dehydration and lack of sleep does in fact impair your physical and mental functions. My main problem that developed post Newnan's Lake run was I got cocky.

I ran decent on Saturday but felt terrible. The post race drive was probably the worst part. I was on the verge of tears for various reasons, all of which were a bit blown out of proportion by my physical state.

So what did I learn, or more importantly, what would I have done differently? I'm not sure. The obvious answer would be to have drank less beer and more water, or maybe eaten better, slept longer. But, I'm not sure that I would do those things in retrospect (well maybe the more water part). I had a really great time with good people that I don't see too often, and even though I don't like to invite it, humility is necessary, and I'm better for it.

Sunday I needed to run for 2 hours and 30 minutes, which equaled about 17 miles. Given my Saturday breakdown I was really nervous about hitting the pavement for that amount of time. The run turned out to be perfectly wonderful, weather, route, even my broken down body did great. It felt really nice to not worry about speed and just go, concentrating on form. What a perfect way to end a volatile week, it helped me find the old me.

Will I drink for 7 hours before my marathon in May? No. Will I try and keep my ego in check? Yes.