This past Tuesday, I went to hounds practice in the POURING rain. It was incredibly rainy and windy and I was very proud of myself for just showing up. It was a great change of pace to have teammates to run with. I love Tuesday practices! (I lifted that AM at the gym in case you were worried)
Anyways, I did 1,000 meter repeats on the track (the oval was completely submerged in water in some parts.) They were not pretty. I had in mind to do at least four, so I guess I can feel some satisfaction that I did seven of them! The results: 3:55, 3:57, 3:58, 4:01, 4:01, 3:59, 4:03, a total of 11.5 miles. Not very fast repeats, but I have to keep reminding myself of the rain and wind.....I was thrilled to be done and head home to a crockpot filled with warm turkey chili, and my husband and dog.
Wednesday: Ran a good paced 10.5 mile run at North Park, felt really good doing it, didn't feel long at all. Total pace was 8:06 pace. My 'easy' pace is supposed to be 8:27. Maybe I need to listen better next time.
Thursday: Did an early 6 mile run around home, was very slow and tired. Wednesday should have been done easier, I think. Did not get home until 9 that night because I had a work training until 8pm, then had to drive home. Not much time to recover/relax!
Friday: Did an easy four mile shakeout later on in the day with some striders. Did not feel particularly good or happy to be running. I think the less time i have to rest/more I work the worse I feel.
Saturday I had signed up for the Genesis 10k race. It was an awesome course along the rivers in Pittsburgh, and it was very easy to get to on a Saturday morning. On a nice day when my legs were feeling good, I think I would have loved it. However, warming up I noticed that the wind was very strong, but the rain was holding off. Sadly, I am a bad runner in the wind. Maybe it's because I am short, I don't really know.
The race got off to a decent start, I stayed in third, and actually ended up finishing third as well. The course was basically and out and back loop, and the wind hit us worse the first three miles. Here are my splits, you can see that I fell apart. I think I tired myself out fighting against the wind...
6:21, 6:10, 7:16, 7:07, 6:52, 6: 46, last .2 at 6:46 pace, I do think some of these mile markers were off a little!
I was discouraged after this race, because up until this point, everything has been going awesome with racing and training. After one crummy race, I'm starting to second guess all the work I have done and wonder if I can really break 3:10 on a tough course? To top it off, i feel abnormally tired and my feet feel achy from this race. I did an easy 5 the next day (Sunday) but still feel yucky today, so I am taking a rest day...which of course is making me very grumpy.
Although this was a bad race for me, I did get 3rd and won money racing for the first time ever!
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| Laura-First! I think I look about 11 in this picture? |
Anyone want to do a long run Friday? I have off!
Onto a more fun topic...we have a special canine friend staying with us. We are dog sitting my father-in-law's dog Lola, who is 14 years old. Penny and Lola have completely different activity levels - but I love having her here with us. She is so sweet!!!
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| Two Friends! |
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| Lola is usually laying/cuddling, Penny is usually running from room to room like a maniac. We are a lot alike! |
you silly, that's NOT a bad race -- you even said, you had the wind to deal with and possibly mis-marked miles!
ReplyDeleteHowever, I can relate. I was pumped for my marathon in 2 weeks, but over the weekend ran a half that was a bit of a downer. Nothing major, just mentally wasn't into it.
Let's just be honest: WE ARE READY! WE ARE AWESOME! from one Caitlin R to another, let's do this!!!