NYCM Training Week 8 Recap: Mosquitoes and Stretching

I did it. After a long week of school orientation, in-service, and cross country practices, I somehow made it to Sunday and completed my mileage for the week. Phew!

Total Weekly Mileage: 46.3 miles

Monday: 5.3 miles, Core Workout
Today was a double-run day: 3.1 miles on my own in the afternoon, then 2.2 miles in the evening after XC practice. Since there was a downpour during XC practice we had the kiddos do some core-work, and we (the head coach and I) joined in as well: planks, push ups, wall sits..... I knew I would pay for it by Tuesday.

Tuesday: 9.7 miles, including a speed workout
Today's workout almost didn't happen. All afternoon I had a headache. A nap sounded much better, especially since my upper arms and chest were beginning to feel yesterday's workout. I talked myself out of it an ran to the track after orientation to do a ladder workout. I started with a 2.5 mile warm-up, did 400m, 800m, 1200m, 1200m, 800m, 400m intervals, then ended with a nice, longer, cool-down.

Now, check out my splits for the intervals. Talk about consistent! Finally, I wasn't all over the place. I was pretty proud of myself when I ran the same time for my 800s and for being within 1 second for the 1200s. Ok.... I'll stop bragging now.

Wednesday: 4.1 miles
Today's day off did not happen and my legs were starting to feel it. The kiddos were doing a run in the woods and I joined one of the guys. At the conclusion of today's run I had mad-mosquito-bite itching going on. Not fun.

Thursday: 1.5 miles
This was the closest that I got to a day off this week. The kids were doing hills down the road so I ran to and from the hill and meeting spot. While they ran up and down the hills, I waited at the bottom, feverishly scratching my legs. Those dang mosquitoes were back at it!

Friday: 5.65 miles at 8:29 pace
My dailymile post started this day with "My legs are crapping out on me". There are probably a few reasons why they felt like they were crapping out....

1. Maybe my legs don't like my new shoes.
2. I've been stretching every day this week. I never stretch. What is going on? 
3. Double runs are not my thing.
4. There is a reason why people take days off, and my body needs one.
5. I need to bring a giant food-supply to school because what I've been bringing hasn't been enough. 

I ran on my own. Got to go my own pace and go wherever my legs took me. By the end of the run I was a little fearful for the 10 milers this weekend. I was also fearful of more mosquito bites. The legs itched the entire run. How is that possible?!

Saturday: 9.7 miles
We had decided to have a Saturday practice to get in a longer run, which meant that we were able to run on a closed-off street that led us through beautiful forests. For about 45 minutes I could forget that I was in DC and pretend that I was running up in Stowe, VT. During that hour of team running I got in 6.5 miles with one of the guys on our team.

The 3.2 miles after practice were solo miles, and they were tough. Apparently I needed to refuel in between because I was hungry and feeling sluggish when I went out for the second run. I also came across a random dog that was on the loose, and some lovely folks stopped to help find its owner. Since I didn't see them on the way home, I am assuming the dog is safely back with its family. I find it funny how people assume runners 1) have a town/city map in their head and 2) are the owners of any stray animals that may be near that runner.

Sunday: 10 miles at 8:16 pace
Back in June when I picked out my training plan I read that by the end of the week my legs would be tired and that the last run would feel like the last 16 miles of a marathon. I starting to believe that this was a lie, and that my were never going to feel that way because I had made it through 7 weeks without such feeling.

Oh boy was I wrong. It definitely felt like the end of a marathon on this morning's run. I could not have gone much faster if I wanted to, but am happy to have pushed through it.

This Week's Theme: If I had to give this week a theme it would be a tie between 'mosquitoes' and 'stretching'. Let me explain.

I counted 14 mosquito bites on my right leg yesterday morning. Bites that I had earlier in the week had already managed to go away. These were the new ones. I was too afraid to count my left leg. Somehow I am getting eaten alive by those pesky creatures. I look like a freak running down the road, reaching down every now and then to get a scratch in. My legs constantly itch while I am running. I cannot figure out why the bugs down here are so much worse, and why their bites itch so badly. And I cannot figure out when they bite me. I never see them, and I would assume that running would make it difficult for them to latch on, but somehow I always finish a run with more bites. AHHHH!

Not only is the itching bothering me, but I think the amount of stretching is also bothering me. I never stretch. I get done a run and continue on with my day - without stretching. Perhaps many would argue that is bad, and I am a horrible person to not stretch, but I have done it for a few years, and it seems to work out well for me.

This week was the first full week of XC practices and guess what we do everyday? Stretch. My muscles are feeling it. And not for the best. If I stretch, I need to do dynamic stretching. The kids do static stretching each day. Which is also probably contributing to my bug-bites since we are sitting on the ground.

I can only hope that my legs become accustomed to this stretching, and that I somehow build up a tolerance for those mosquitoes.

This Week's Goal:

Take a day off.