Adapting on the Fly

Sometimes I tend to do unnecessary things when it comes to training.  Today was one of those days.  I should’ve just called it a day when thunderstorms came rolling in, but I just couldn’t get myself to do that.  The plan was to meet Flo and Michele for Steps at Lafayette at 3:30.  It was insanely hot all day and storms were quickly approaching as I arrived.

I thought maybe I would get my workout started a few minutes early and hopefully beat the storms.  It was after all a relatively short workout.  I had hoped to do 8 reps this time rather than 6, but with the weather I wasn’t so sure.

I went to the bathroom in the gym complex and right as I came out, the rains started.  Actually it was first more like nasty wind gusts.  I did get a brief run up the steps to duck behind the stadium and under cover.  I looked out and it still wasn’t bad yet.  I thought that maybe I’d giving running the steps a shot.  I got through one rep and the lightning came and I packed that part of the workout in.  I was disappointed too because I didn’t even get warmed up before this rep.

Of course at this point I should’ve called it a day.  I thought about waiting it out a little to see if the storm passes.  Then I decided I’d just turn my GPS watch on to see if I could get a signal.  It worked, so I decided to start running with the cover of the stands.  I ran to the end of the stands, which is the length of the football on the home side and ended up being 0.07 miles.

I decided that I would just do this back and forth until I got two miles in.  After half a mile, I was bored and figured I should add a speed component to the workout to get something accomplished.  I ran hard out and comfortably back.  It wasn’t at all out sprint, just a fairly fast paced short segment.  I ended up doing eight of these for about half a mile of hard running.  

One thing that was nice was that early on with the wind, every time I would get to a tunnel in the stands, I’d get a blast of cool air.  After some time, the wind died down and it was actually very stuffy under the stands.  I didn’t even realize how bad it was until I was done.

I actually decided to keep going after the two mile point.  I ran another slow half mile.  This was probably very unnecessary, but I just felt like I’d keep going.

The workout wasn’t bad, but I don’t know how people can run ultras in short loops.  Running the same route over and over again is hard enough for 20 minutes, let alone 20 hours or more.  I’m glad I got something done and was able to work in a little speed.

The middle of my calf on my left leg has been bothering me lately.  I think it is from all the climbing that I have been doing and pushing off.  I’m going to aggressively ice it over the next 24 hours.  If it persists over the next few days, I back off a decent amount next week.  I think it is more from climbing than mileage.

After I was done today, I couldn’t help think of ads and stuff that show people training when others wouldn’t.  That was certainly me today.  There wasn’t much point in being out there, but I just love to train.  Flo and Michele didn’t show up and I didn’t expect them to.  Me on the other hand, I’ll almost always be there, regardless of the conditions.  I just manage to improvise.  Sleeping in is the only thing that stops me from running with others.

Tomorrow is the LVRR Family Hike at Jacobsburg.  It is great to do it around here.  Then I can relax the rest of the afternoon, once the hike is over.  Last week was a lot of fun.  Of course I’ll be leading the regular group run at 6 at the clubhouse.  I hope I’m well recovered by then.

2.5 miles - 24:01 (9:37 pace)