Week of the 4th

I have quite a bit to catch up on here! I was good considering it was a holiday week--I did all the scheduled work outs! So stick with me here, I'll get through them one by one, some with more detail than others.

Monday I've already discussed.

Tuesday was (as always) my cross-training day. I LOVED it. Brendan and I went to the gym together for this one. I didn't do any cardio, which, I don't think I've ever gone to a gym and not done cardio. For at least 45 minutes I did weight lifting and abs. Since my lower back/hip issues have motivated me to strengthen these areas I've found a whole new love for cross-training day. Most of the time when I weight lift I feel like I'm going through the motions, doing what I know. That was not the case this week! I was on a mission. It made it so much fun. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think maybe it takes some fire to get into a groove vis-a-vis physical fitness. Tuesday I found that.

Wednesday's track workout got put off until Thursday. We didn't meet as a team to do the workout since Wednesday was the 4th. Instead, our Wednesday coach emailed us some options to do on our own. If I'd been slightly more organized I might have done Paxton's 5k. Instead I opted to do the scheduled Fartlek. It was HOT outside, so I caved in and headed to the gym to do my workout on a treadmill, inside. It was an experience, running intervals on a treadmill. It worked out. I did a mile warm-up, 3 miles of Fartlek intervals, then a mile cool-down.

Friday I was scheduled for a 30 minute run. It was blistering hot out again. I am starting to think I should get up in the mornings and run rather than going at night. I headed out around 6:50 or so, planning to cut it to 20 minutes due to both the heat and the dinner Brendan was so graciously making. Usually when I get to 20 minutes I don't really want to stop, I'm in a groove. Yeah, not so much! It was just oppressively hot. I'm glad I ran. I would have felt like a cheater if I'd skipped it entirely.

Then today's long run. Oh my. Today was a 10-miler for half- and full marathoners alike. It was something ridiculous like 72 degrees and 65% humidity when I left at 7:10am, and 92 degrees when I got home at 10. I don't know what the average temperature was during our run. It was just incredibly hot. Since Meg is on vacation I ran most of the 10 miles with Allison. We stopped every 2 miles or so to get a quick drink or stretch a bit. Even after just 2.5 miles I felt a bit wilted. I had my sport beans at about 7 miles (and, a note to Natalie, I could taste the salt but only because I was trying to, I think. They are just lovely in the middle of a long run. Maybe we can bust open a pack someday just to see what they're like when I'm not drenched in sweat). Mile 9 was absolute torture. I wanted to either throw up or cry. Mile 10 was much better though. I don't know if it was the beans or knowing that I was almost finished, but I definitely pulled it together for that last stretch. Overall, to be honest, it was not a fun run. That said, even with the ludicrous heat, accidentally running ~0.15 miles too far, and all the breaks, I still finished in ~1hour+40 minutes (including the breaks). The target was 1h30, so I was pleased. So it was miserable, sure. But if I could do today's run in a halfway reasonable time, then I can handle a half-marathon. Bring it.