Monday:
Just an easy 6 miles with Norm today.
Tuesday:
You may have heard me say this before, but I am sick of running in this heat. I think it’s not just that I have to run in the heat, but that it never cools down. Even when we visit Oklahoma or Texas in the summer we can eat dinner on the deck or enjoy morning coffee by the pool. It just sucks here 24 hours a day during the summer and even longer. I walk the puppy after the sun sets and it is still miserable.
I wasn’t really in the mood to run. I decided to just warm up and have fun with the speed work. I decided to run one mile as fast as possible and follow up with a fast mile that was more comfortable. The plan was to alternate between the painful fast and comfortable fast. Everything was fine until my Suunto went all bipolar on me. My pace was all over the place! It would say 8:40 (I wasn’t running that slow) and fall to 5:20 (I wasn’t running that fast). It was driving me crazy. In the end I had to stop looking at my watch and just run. I am assuming I was running fast because my stomach hurt after, but I have no idea what that pace was.
Wednesday:
Low on motivation once again I somehow managed to get myself out the door. I told myself to just get at least a few miles done. But this is a game I play with myself. I know I won’t just run 3 miles, but 3 miles sounds easy. So I head out and with every mile tell myself to go just a little further. In an attempt to keep my stomach from hurting I ran really easy. Unfortunately I still got a stomachache. I thought I was going to have to walk the last mile home. This is day four of having a stomach on my run and anytime I eat. It’s starting to get a little annoying. I really wanted to go to Ouray to run the Mt. Sneffels half marathon this weekend, but if my stomach is hurting this much I am not sure it’s the best idea.
Thursday:
I gave myself the day off to get some cleaning done around here. I have to finish planning for my Intro to Psychology class. I also have to get ready to go back to work at the elementary school next week. Really I am just lacking motivation to do any running. To give myself one day off makes it easier to get out the door on the other days.
I put my car in the shop for an oil change and ended having to put on new tires. So now I could drive to Ouray for the race, but I can’t afford it.
Friday:
I headed out for 10 miles on the canal with Norm. A little before mile 4 Norm had a problem with his calf and couldn't run. So we turned around and had a nice walk back to the house together. When this happens I always like to point out the retirement community that we pass on the canal. Although let’s be honest, we could never afford a place that nice. So he might want to set his sights a little lower when it comes to retirement. Almost home I realized I should have run a little further and caught up to Norm on the way back. Next time.
We went to the movies in the afternoon and saw The Big Sick. I am usually a fan of a documentary that is really depressing, but this was really good. I highly recommend it.
Saturday:
I was meant to head up north and run from Sedona to Flagstaff using Schnebly Hill Road. There was a whole plan in place. But I woke up with no motivation. I wasted too much time doing nothing. In the end I headed out and hoped to get at least 15 miles done. It was all dark clouds when I left, but almost immediately the sun was shining on me. Still dark “the world is ending” clouds all around me, but not a single one shielding me.
I was about 3 miles in at the top of a climb that I run all the time and run much faster than today. I walked the last bit and stopped at the top. And that was when I started to cry my eyes out. Good thing it's a pretty remote area where I rarely see another person. I am tired of feeling slow. I am tired of feeling like climbs I do all the time are suddenly really hard. I know intellectually that it’s the heat, but guess what? I am also tired of being so hot! So I cried out of frustration, but not all my frustration is running related. There’s just a lot going on.
I finally got myself together and headed back home. What should have been around 25 miles, at the very least 20 miles, became 7 miles. At this point I have to seriously consider pulling myself out of Jackrabbit Jubilee. I haven't been putting in the kind of mileage I should be running to do well running for 12 hours. And yes, I could go and run for fun, but I won't. I mean I literally can’t. If I run and don't do well it will just fuel my frustration.
Sunday:
I won't lie, I considered not running at all. I had terrible insomnia and was up for hours. My mileage is so low for the week that it felt like it didn't really matter. I would have had to run 40 miles to be close to my planned mileage for the week. That clearly wasn’t happening. The thing that got me out the door was the temps were a little cooler and the sky was really cloudy. Of course the humidity was ridiculous, but I told myself I would run until the sun came out and when that happened I would head home.
The trails were empty, which isn't usually the case on the weekend. I was happy about that. I don’t get very nervous running by myself often, but today was one of those days where I hate running alone. I could see the man ahead of me on the trail already as I was coming from the neighborhood to the trail. As I got closer to him I could tell he was arguing with himself, with a lot of wild arm movements. I passed and said good morning. He didn’t reply. Mentally I was preparing myself to put some speed on if needed. I know where the homeless camps are in this area and I was headed in a different direction. I listened for footsteps behind me, but it seems we didn’t go in the same direction or at the very least I made some ground on him.
In the end I managed to get 10 miles done. I was pretty happy with that. When I told Norm he told me in his head he was hoping I would get 10 miles done. So, I guess 10 was a good number.
Just an easy 6 miles with Norm today.
Tuesday:
You may have heard me say this before, but I am sick of running in this heat. I think it’s not just that I have to run in the heat, but that it never cools down. Even when we visit Oklahoma or Texas in the summer we can eat dinner on the deck or enjoy morning coffee by the pool. It just sucks here 24 hours a day during the summer and even longer. I walk the puppy after the sun sets and it is still miserable.
I wasn’t really in the mood to run. I decided to just warm up and have fun with the speed work. I decided to run one mile as fast as possible and follow up with a fast mile that was more comfortable. The plan was to alternate between the painful fast and comfortable fast. Everything was fine until my Suunto went all bipolar on me. My pace was all over the place! It would say 8:40 (I wasn’t running that slow) and fall to 5:20 (I wasn’t running that fast). It was driving me crazy. In the end I had to stop looking at my watch and just run. I am assuming I was running fast because my stomach hurt after, but I have no idea what that pace was.
Wednesday:
Low on motivation once again I somehow managed to get myself out the door. I told myself to just get at least a few miles done. But this is a game I play with myself. I know I won’t just run 3 miles, but 3 miles sounds easy. So I head out and with every mile tell myself to go just a little further. In an attempt to keep my stomach from hurting I ran really easy. Unfortunately I still got a stomachache. I thought I was going to have to walk the last mile home. This is day four of having a stomach on my run and anytime I eat. It’s starting to get a little annoying. I really wanted to go to Ouray to run the Mt. Sneffels half marathon this weekend, but if my stomach is hurting this much I am not sure it’s the best idea.
Thursday:
I gave myself the day off to get some cleaning done around here. I have to finish planning for my Intro to Psychology class. I also have to get ready to go back to work at the elementary school next week. Really I am just lacking motivation to do any running. To give myself one day off makes it easier to get out the door on the other days.
I put my car in the shop for an oil change and ended having to put on new tires. So now I could drive to Ouray for the race, but I can’t afford it.
Friday:
I headed out for 10 miles on the canal with Norm. A little before mile 4 Norm had a problem with his calf and couldn't run. So we turned around and had a nice walk back to the house together. When this happens I always like to point out the retirement community that we pass on the canal. Although let’s be honest, we could never afford a place that nice. So he might want to set his sights a little lower when it comes to retirement. Almost home I realized I should have run a little further and caught up to Norm on the way back. Next time.
We went to the movies in the afternoon and saw The Big Sick. I am usually a fan of a documentary that is really depressing, but this was really good. I highly recommend it.
Saturday:
I was meant to head up north and run from Sedona to Flagstaff using Schnebly Hill Road. There was a whole plan in place. But I woke up with no motivation. I wasted too much time doing nothing. In the end I headed out and hoped to get at least 15 miles done. It was all dark clouds when I left, but almost immediately the sun was shining on me. Still dark “the world is ending” clouds all around me, but not a single one shielding me.
I was about 3 miles in at the top of a climb that I run all the time and run much faster than today. I walked the last bit and stopped at the top. And that was when I started to cry my eyes out. Good thing it's a pretty remote area where I rarely see another person. I am tired of feeling slow. I am tired of feeling like climbs I do all the time are suddenly really hard. I know intellectually that it’s the heat, but guess what? I am also tired of being so hot! So I cried out of frustration, but not all my frustration is running related. There’s just a lot going on.
I finally got myself together and headed back home. What should have been around 25 miles, at the very least 20 miles, became 7 miles. At this point I have to seriously consider pulling myself out of Jackrabbit Jubilee. I haven't been putting in the kind of mileage I should be running to do well running for 12 hours. And yes, I could go and run for fun, but I won't. I mean I literally can’t. If I run and don't do well it will just fuel my frustration.
Sunday:
I won't lie, I considered not running at all. I had terrible insomnia and was up for hours. My mileage is so low for the week that it felt like it didn't really matter. I would have had to run 40 miles to be close to my planned mileage for the week. That clearly wasn’t happening. The thing that got me out the door was the temps were a little cooler and the sky was really cloudy. Of course the humidity was ridiculous, but I told myself I would run until the sun came out and when that happened I would head home.
The trails were empty, which isn't usually the case on the weekend. I was happy about that. I don’t get very nervous running by myself often, but today was one of those days where I hate running alone. I could see the man ahead of me on the trail already as I was coming from the neighborhood to the trail. As I got closer to him I could tell he was arguing with himself, with a lot of wild arm movements. I passed and said good morning. He didn’t reply. Mentally I was preparing myself to put some speed on if needed. I know where the homeless camps are in this area and I was headed in a different direction. I listened for footsteps behind me, but it seems we didn’t go in the same direction or at the very least I made some ground on him.
In the end I managed to get 10 miles done. I was pretty happy with that. When I told Norm he told me in his head he was hoping I would get 10 miles done. So, I guess 10 was a good number.
