As I wrote the other day, my last week of training sucked. Blame the heat, blame being overambitious my first week and probably getting too many workouts in with a few yoga classes + SoulCycle on top of all of my scheduled runs, blame PMS, blame some stuff I’m working through in my head.
It just didn’t seem to be in the cards for me to have a good week last week. A few weeks ago, when some friends were complaining about training in the heat, I was the chipper one who said “But it makes you feel like you’re flying come the fall!”
True…but it still sucks in the summer, and struggling to run at a slower pace can feel pretty damn disheartening, especially when you have a Big Hairy Audacious Goal you’re shooting for.
I tried so hard to accept it, because if there’s one thing I’ve learned recently, it’s that pushing and pushing and pushing to change something that is somewhat out of your control doesn’t usually work.
So, I accepted the other day that last week sucked and this week might too. (Current humidity: 93%.)
Honestly, so far both of my runs this week have been on the treadmill because I just haven’t had it in me mentally to head back out into the humidity. I had an okay 4-miler the other day…
And a kick-ass 7-miler tempo on the treadmill tonight.
As I stepped onto the treadmill, I looked at my schedule on my phone and contemplated switching things around to do a shorter run. But I’m headed out to the Hamptons tomorrow morning, and I knew how much better I’d feel if I stuck to my schedule and got this week’s speedwork behind me.
1.5 mile warmup, 4 miles tempo (7.2, 7.2, 7.3, 7.5) and 1.5 mile cooldown. Jess told me to do “what felt like half-marathon pace” for the tempo miles, so I started at 7.2 (8:20 pace) for the first two, and when I felt better, picked up a bit.
And now I can go enjoy the 4th without the guilt of changing around my workouts and happy that I got a good run in. I also got a
Current State:
What are you doing for the 4th? What workout do you always put off? (Or want to.)
You go girl! You’ll get your sub-4:00 this year…I can see it already 🙂 Have a fabulous 4th!!!
I always put off the speed work, specifically track workouts. And that explains why my fastest times are from 6 years ago.
Going camping for the fourth! And I always put off speed work too!
Good job sticking with it! I’m sure that made you feel good knowing that you might’ve wanted to do a shorter run, but you stuck with it and did the longer one.
I’m working on the 4th, but will hopefully get to enjoy some family time after I get off.
Fantastic speed work! I dragged myself outside yesterday, but I think I will also be battling the treadmill for a while. The humidity in southern Ontario is brutal right now.
Some week are better than others, looks like you are turning things around in a positive way! I put off tempo runs…so kudos for you for getting yours done and on a treadmill nonetheless! That is impressive!
Thank you so much for that article! It really hit home. Great job getting the runs in!
Congrats sticking to your plans and knocking those runs out on the treadmill. Thinking of changing your plan and then deciding against it and sticking to your original plan sometimes feels better than never having thought of it in the first place. Does that even make sense? I think it does? Enjoy your weekend after your awesome runs!
I don’t mind my long runs, but I always put off my sprints and ladders! I’m supposed to do them twice a week, but sometimes I doesn’t happen because I hate their guts! We had a little barbeque and went fireworks watching yesterday. NBD.
Nice job! Long distance on a treadmill is tough!
Love the “current state: #endorphintipsy”!!! So perfect, great job and I hope you had a wonderful weekend!
Very instructive 🙂