Training (sort of) got back on track this week, but my long run did not go as planned. I'm not sure whether it was due to the fatigue I've been fighting off the last two weeks, or the fact that I put in some work on the trainer the day before my long run, or the heat (58F when I started my run, 68F by the time I finished), a horrible diet the week before, or a combination of all of them, but my long run was atrocious.
It actually started out pretty well. The goal was 20 miles, on an out-and-back, running mostly on the roads, but also two laps at the Nike campus. The first 10 miles went well, although I started feeling the distance a little around mile 9. But right after I turned around, utter fatigue smacked me over the head. It was liking hitting the marathon wall, only 10 miles earlier. I took a nice ~75 second walking break, and when I started running again - at around the 9:35 pace that I had been maintaining for most of the run - everything felt fine. But a mile later, fatigue and legs-feeling-like-concrete hit me again. After a 50 second walking break, I tried running again... and decided that today just wasn't my day.
Part of it was definitely the heat. The first reminder that this run gave me is that I have to respect the distance. Instead of sleeping in and starting my run around 10am, I should have sacrificed a little, hit the road when it was still around 45-50F at 7am, and not only would the run have felt a lot better, but who knows - maybe that would have made the difference between finishing and stopping half way. The second reminder was also heat-related: while the last few training runs have been going well, at paces that would put me in the territory of a sub-4:00 marathon, if the weather is warm on race day, that goal should not be on my map. Fortunately I was smart enough to slow my pace down on this one so I didn't bonk even earlier.
The third reminder is that I need to keep the diet under control. There was a lot of junk and a lack of greens this week, and that had me toting 3 extra pounds around during my run, in addition to zapping my energy levels. So it's back "on the wagon" after indulging in candy and gluten-free donuts yesterday.
In summary, the totals for the week:
- Running: 14.68 miles in 2:19:03.
- Cycling: 18.95 miles in 1:05:08.
- Weight: 197.6, up 3.2 (!) pounds.
One more reminder before I go... we're very close to hitting the Team LIVESTRONG goal of $1000 raise for the Lance Armstrong Foundation at the Seattle Rock N Roll Marathon. As of this writing, we're sitting at $945 - so my reminder for you is to donate if you haven't gotten the chance. Thanks in advance!
Until next time, onwards...
No comments:
Post a Comment