Thursday, March 30, 2006

Sleep....I need sleep!

Okay, so I've totally screwed up my sleep schedule. This week has been so messed up.

It all started last week when I inadvertently ran all 7 days. I hadn't really noticed this until a fellow runner friend(Kelley) pointed it out to me in a post on a running board we are both a member of, WeLoveToRun. It was all downhill from there.

I haven't been getting much sleep on the weekends....week DAYS for that matter. All a choice on my part, but nonetheless. Something has got to change or I won't last until CMM without getting injured.

So I've toned my training week down this week to almost no running.....at least it feels that way....so I can recuperate for my 10 mile race this weekend. Why, oh why, would someone schedule a race at 8:00 a.m. when it's still cool out? It's not like we are trying to beat the heat for God's sake!! At least my 10K in 3 wks. won't start until 1 p.m. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

Then this week went from bad to worse when I stupidly had WAYYYY too much caffeine yesterday. I guess it was my chance to catch up on the many emails I was behind in replying on. Up until 2 a.m. and STILL laid there in bed waiting for sleep to overtake me.

Luckily after getting up at 9:00 a.m.(yeah, I slept in because I took the planned day off of running) I was refreshed and ready to go.

Now, I have to get to work.....if I can only last until 5:30. Oh crap, I still won't get to relax...I have a banquet to go to. Hmmmm! When will it end?

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Holy Crap!

Okay, so I KNOW the 10 mile race will be tough this Saturday. I am just BEAT! I took yesterday off from running due to a 7 day(40 mile) week last week(spaced that one out) and went out for an easy 6 miler. If I wasn't so stubborn I would have turned around after .1 miles and called it quits.

I have another easy day tomorrow with low mileage and then I'm definitely taking Thursday and Friday off before the race Saturday. I know I probably shouldn't taper this much because I'm still in training for CMM, but this body is trying to tell me something.

Alot of good it will do me if I don't even get to run CMM because of an injury.

Is anybody else getting burnout, or is it just me? I seem to go through this towards the end of a training session right before a big race.

On a side note, I've been getting alot done around the house getting it ready to possibly sell. I made a list and checked it twice. And now half of it is crossed off. Woohoo! The biggest project is yet to come....painting it! Ugh! I have alot of volunteers that said they would help me though.

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Exfoliating run!

Last night as I was getting ready for bed, I heard that we were to get 5-8 inches of snow. I wasn't sure when it was supposed to start, but when I woke up at 8 a.m. there wasn't anything on the ground but RAIN. Ewwww! I wanted the white stuff. I had an 8 mile midweek run and I so wanted to run it in snow.

So I bundled up(too much because I had to ditch a layer after the first 2 mile loop)and headed out the door. It was misting a little at first but then it turned into sleet. Owwww! Talk about major facial exfoliation. I felt like someone was doing acupuncture on my face.

Now I know what it's like running blind, because some of the time I had to turn my face away from the wind and sometimes close my eyes. Thankfully, not much traffic out here around my neighborhood.

By the time I got to mile 6 the sleet turned into heavy, heavy snow. I was completely white by the time I was finished.

It was actually a pretty good tempo run despite the weather. I was hoping to run in a couple of inches of the white stuff at least, but I got it done anyway.

So now tomorrow everything that accumulates on the ground today will be melted. Ahhhh, that's spring for you.

Friday, March 10, 2006

Running on empty

Well, this week has been rough. I went out for my tempo run on Monday after eating out with some friends for Chinese. (Note to self: Never run a tempo run an hour after eating a huge plate of Chinese food.) Of course, I was too stubborn to quit or slow down and there were a couple of times where I thought I was going to lose my lunch, but I got it done.

After my run I had to lie down on the floor. I just didn't feel very well. Luckily, I had the day off from work and didn't have to go in. I had plenty of things to do, so I never got a nap in of which probably would have made me feel better.

The next day I still felt bad. I almost felt like I was coming down with the flu. I ran a recovery run Tuesday, but decided to take the day off from running on Wed. I just didn't have it in me.

Back to normal(whatever that is) on Thursday for a 7 mile run around the neighborhood. Halfway through my run I ran into Richard, one of my neighbors who runs(he usually runs in the afternoon when I'm working) and finished with him. It was nice having someone to talk to while running. It doesn't happen very often.

Well, gotta go. Leaving in a few to watch "Failure To Launch" along with about a million other people. Matthew McConaughy, here I come! :D I think I may need to take some napkins along! (drool)

Monday, March 06, 2006

Another week of training for the CMM half

Target race: CMM 1/2

Weekly mileage: 37
Monthly mileage: 118
Yearly mileage: 281

Legs felt really good this week after taking a cutback week in the 20's with my 5K race. I kept all of my runs easy so my legs were raring to go on Saturday.

Monday: 5 miles

Tuesday: 5 miles

Wed: 6 miles

Thursday: 6 miles

Friday: Rest day

Saturday: Long run of 11 miles. Legs felt great and the weather was nice and sunny. Couldn't ask for anything better than that. I could have gone more miles but decided to take it easy. I will bump it up a hair next week.

Sunday: 4 miles recovery. I wasn't sure whether I'd feel like running today but once I saw the snow coming down I was like a kid in a candy store. What could be more awesome than running in freshly fallen snow. Oh, that would be downhill skiing in freshly fallen snow. I even ditched my music for the quiet of the snow.

Very good week for me. Legs feel good and I'm still ahead of my training schedule. I need to get my butt over to the track for my speed work this week though. It will be a while before I get another 5K in.

My next race is April 1st. A 10 miler that I ran for the first time last year. Time was 1:27, so I'm hoping to beat that, but the course is totally different and more challenging so I'm not sure.