NYCM 2012 : Week 9 Recap

Two months in and only two more to go until race day!

Total Weekly Mileage: 51

Monday: 5 miles
I lucked out a bit this day because I only ran about a mile with the kiddos at XC practice. This meant that I was able to have more time on my own run. It was the first day of school and I had a lot on my mind, so by the time I got home I decided to do a 4 miler instead of a 5, at 7:38 pace.

This also ended up being the last run in my brand-new pair of Mizunos. The front of the shoes was too spacious for my liking and I found my feet flopping all over the road. After two weeks of running with the shoes my legs were feeling the early stages of shin splints. Not good! They went back into the box to be returned.

Tuesday: 1.5 miles with kiddos: It was Green-up day at practice since the kids had a meet on Wednesday. They ran around and picked up trash while I ran in between groups. I got home and had a dilemma: go inside and eat food because I had an empty, or suck it up and do my workout. I probably should have eaten food, but I got in a good interval workout.

5.4 miles with 3:30 intervals: I had no energy to run to the track so my interval workout happened around our neighborhood. I lucked out by finding a route that was just long enough so that I could run my 3:30 minutes of 5k-10k pace followed by 2:00 minutes of jog recovery before I had to turn around. I did 6 sets of intervals before a 10 minute cool-down. My legs were toast.

Wednesday: 4 easy miles around the school. 
The kiddos had their first XC meet/scrimmage of the season. Half the team had a workout planned on campus so I ran with them for a bit, while the others headed up to the meet later that evening. I loved watching the kids run and was so excited to see how well they did! I can't wait to see what they accomplish this year.

By the time I got home I could not move. Not. At. All. My legs were now burnt toast. And so was my brain. The school week and two weeks of no rest days had caught up to me.

Thursday: 3.5 easy miles with new recruits and 5.2 miles on my own at 8:05 pace.
I am learning to appreciate easy miles now that teaching has begun, so I welcome days that I can run with newer runners on the team. Those easy miles warm up my legs enough so that when I get home I can plow through my own run. The 5.2 miles on my own felt wonderful! I had my brand-new Asics (which felt like clouds) and I knew that Friday would be a much deserved day off. Yes, I did go back to Asics even though I swore that I wouldn't. But this time I had smartened up and realized that I do indeed need a size 8, not a 7.5, and guess what!? NO MORE BLISTERS!!! Yahoo!

They certainly were NOT my first color choice but they were the only color choice I had for Asics 2170s. I dubbed them my "Milton Cheerleader Shoes" because they're so white and have Milton colors. The laces are more yellow than they appear in the photo.

Friday: OFF!!!!!!!!

Saturday: 11 miles total at 8:04 pace. 
Woke up with a cold. Crap. I got about 6 hours of sleep each night this week and so I deserve the cold. We had a morning XC practice so I ran 6 miles with one of the kids on the team before heading back out to do 5 more. We ran along the same path as last weekend, which was once again, quite beautiful! I brought food this time to eat in between the runs and felt a HUGE difference in my running compared to the run last Saturday! Geeze! Imagine that - refueling properly actually helps!

Sunday: 15 miles at 8:22/mile. 
I won't lie and tell you that I was looking forward to this run. I was almost dreading it. Tom and I walked around for a good 5 hours last night in a shopping mall, and I had very little water that entire time. My cold was still hanging around when I woke up, and my legs had still not recovered from the week of teaching. The first three miles were slow. Dreadfully slow. In fact, I thought about turning around, but told myself to run at least my 10 mile loop and reevaluate at that point.

I started to pick it up around mile four. Perhaps it was easier because the further I went, the lighter my water bottle got. I hate running with a running belt so I purchased a water bottle this summer to run with. It's still an annoyance, but the water is a life saver.

By the time I got to mile 10 I knew I could keep going. Only problem was I had about 3 tablespoons of water left. I had my second Gu pack of the run and finished the remaining water before tackling my normal 5 mile route in reverse. It's amazing the things you notice when you run a route backwards! The only thing that kept me motivated during the last mile was the knowledge that there was a brand new bottle of orange juice in the fridge. It is so odd how badly I crave the stuff this summer since I normally can't stand it.

I hope you all have a wonderful Labor Day and that you are enjoying it at home instead of the office! I plan to stay home to do a bunch of lesson planning and cleaning. Much needed!!!!