Catching up, and a new distance record!

Wow, ok, so I'm a little bit behind on updating the blog. It was an interesting week for training.

Tuesday
On Tuesday I went to the gym for my cross-training day. I did pretty much the same routine that I've been doing for the last few weeks--20 minutes on elliptical, then about 25 of weight lifting. I swear, weight lifting has become easier since I've started running so much. I think my body is in this rhythm of building muscle, so the lifting fits into that. I upped my weight a little on tricep pushdowns this week.

Wednesday
On Wednesday I decided I'd had enough of track workouts for a while; I'd been to the last three, so I deserved a fun week. Instead of going to the track, I went to Human Kinetics to play handball (not the racquetball-like game. It's more like soccer except you throw the ball rather than kick it) with the crew up there. I had a great time! I wasn't throwing very effectively for a while, but I got better as we played. After maybe an hour a handful of people decided to leave, leaving myself and 5 guys. We played 3-on-2 with one goalie. They discouraged me from playing goalie and put me on the team with 3 people, so I decided I had to step up and prove myself. I took on one person in particular, with decent success. I had a great time! Unfortunately, I also rolled my left ankle in the process. I kept playing on it, the endorphins in full force. Only later did I realize that it hurt.

Friday
Not only did I not have time to run on Friday, I was also concerned about the left ankle. So I didn't run. I felt like a cheater about it.

Saturday
Saturday was our first practice at Lake of the Woods park in Mahomet. It's actually about the same distance from my house as Meadowbrook in Urbana. I think I can get to Mahomet a little faster actually. When I got there it was lightly drizzling. Our coach announced our expected distances: 6 miles for half-marathoners and 8 miles for marathoners. Off we went in the rain. It drizzled on and off throughout the run, never very hard. Meg, the girl I always run with, wasn't there, so I ran alone. Somewhere after mile marker 5 I took a wrong turn in the park and got lost. I was just like, Oh crap, they're going to have to search for me. I found my way back and finished the course. Long story short, I accidentally ran a little more than 6 miles. Later I also realized that the trails all connect eventually, so I didn't have to backtrack. The bizarre incident of the day, someone stole one of our tubs of gatorade/water! Who steals from people running for charity?? It was very odd.

I'm writing this on Monday morning. Yesterday and today upon getting out of bed my calves were so tight that it was actually awkward to walk. It's a good hurt. The six miles definitely worked my muscles hard. We'll see how this afternoon's run goes.