Long Day

Today is the first day I've felt even somewhat back to normal after a high mileage day on Tuesday.  And the crazy thing is, my mileage on Tuesday was actually not as high as it should have been!  It's definitely going to take me a while to get used to this new routine. 

Tuesday morning, I met up with my running buddies at 5:15, and we planned to run 7 miles.  But it was evident by 5:10 that it was going to be 7 miles in the rain.  At times it was coming down hard.  But we run in the rain, we just don't run in the lightning. 

Well, there were a few flashes just before we started, but no audible thunder, so it didn't appear to be nearby.  We set out in the rain. 

It was also cold -- low 40s I'd guess.  Not a fun combination.

We ran about 3.5 miles out and were stopped for a minute to get water, and there was a big flash and pretty loud thunder.  Conveniently, our route was something like a U-shape.  We were supposed to run 3.5 miles basically in the U-pattern, and then U-turn for 3.5 miles back. 

But when we saw the lightning, we opted for a shortcut back to the start. 

So instead of my planned 7 miles, I ended up only with 5.5 (the shortcut saved us about 1.5 miles; it was a really wide U shape). 

I got home and I was freezing.  I put my long sleeved running shirt that I'd been wearing in the dryer and ate breakfast.  But I felt like I couldn't get warm.  I had the heat in the bedroom cranked up to 84, and I was standing right under a vent, but I just didn't warm up. 

But there was a break in the rain, so I checked the radar and decided it was a good time to head to work. 

I put my warm and dry long sleeves back on, but I had to swap out shoes.  The 5.5 mile shoes were still soaking wet.  (Kind of disgusting?  I wear the same clothes for all my runs on Tuesdays...)

So I got back out on the roads and ran the 3.75 miles to work.  It was actually much faster than I expected and it felt somewhat easy (I was also lucky to hit all 3 lights just right).  And somehow I managed to stay pretty dry, which was a nice bonus, considering how wet it had been earlier and how ominous the sky looked during my commute. 

I got to work, showered, got ready, worked all day, and then at about 6:30, headed down to the gym with my accounting walking buddy.  It was only our second week of walking together, but this time, she kept her speed on 3 mph the whole time (last week she bumped it down from 3.0 some for quite some time, though we bumped it up higher for the last few minutes).  And this week we went 5 minutes longer, and bumped the speed and incline up even more over the last 5 minutes.  She did the last minute at 4.1 mph I think.  That was tough for her, partly because she isn't very tall, so she mixed in steps of jogging along with the walk, but she did it!  I was so proud of her.  She ended up with 1.29 miles, which was totally awesome. 

Since the treadmill next to hers was taken, I used an exercise ball and did crunches for a while until the treadmill became vacant, then I walked with her long enough to cover a mile of my own. 

So at that point, my mileage total for the day was 10.25.  Not bad!

And then I did it, I ran myself back home.  I tried to keep the effort pretty easy, but I again had good luck with the lights and was pretty happy with my overall time.

It brought me in at 14 miles for the day.  On a Tuesday.  Score. 

If the weather hadn't been so stormy, I would have ended up at 15.5.  On a Tuesday!  Wow!  Who am I?  I was feeling pretty thrilled with my 14 and I proceeded to eat a huge (and nutritious) dinner. 

But I then paid the price yesterday.  I just felt drained.  In boot camp, I was wimping out, and I actually didn't even do all of the running.  I instead went back to my mat and did some plank attempts, but mostly just whined about being tired.  I didn't give it my full effort. 

After camp, I came home, ate breakfast, and then set out for work again on foot.  One of my slowest commutes ever.  And my most miserable encounter ever too -- a woman in her early 20s was jogging with headphones on the wrong side of the street with her big dog on a very long leash.  I stayed on the correct side of the road, figuring she'd move, and I said something to her about I was taking the curb, but she didn't hear apparently.  And then for some reason, her dog moved one way and she dodged the other and the leash got wrapped around me.  Insanely frustrating, particularly since I'm very uncomfortable around dogs I don't know.  But I untangled in my irritation/terror and got back on my way.  I had a few stops for traffic, but I felt like I needed them.  I was feeling slow, heavy and tired.  My overall time wasn't bad in reality, but it just didn't feel good. 

Needless to say, I opted for a ride home last night.  It worked out well since I was volunteering after work anyway, but I needed the break.

Today I'm finally feeling back to normal, but I got beat down again this morning running hills with friends (thankfully only 6.4 miles), and I'm about to head out for another commute to work that will likely be quite slow. 

I think it's going to take some time for me to get used to the higher mid-week mileage.  And I need to remember that even though walking with my new buddy doesn't feel strenuous, it's still more mileage and my legs know that.