I was surprised with how good I felt running 80 miles last week. I knew eventually it would catch up to me though. Today it did.
The plan was to run twice. I wanted to run in the morning, but getting up on my own is tough, so I slept in. I headed out in the afternoon to run 3 X 1 mile repeats and test out my speed. I headed to the Route 33 Boat Launch.
It was a nice afternoon. The only issue was that it was a little breezy. I was planning on running fast, so I went with a singlet. It might not have been a bad idea, if I kept up the fast pace.
I started up with a warmup and didn't feel great or terrible. I knew I wouldn't have a good workout if I was running long, but I figured I could fake it for 3 fast repeats anyway. Boy was I wrong.
After the first mile, I picked it up. My watch wasn't right as early on it shown a sub 5 minute pace. I can't run anywhere near that fast. Then, the pace jumped up quickly. Before I knew it, it was at 5:45 and then it went over 6 minutes. That was disappointing because I was pushing hard.
As I approached a half mile, I realized this run would be a big struggle and I just wasn't sharp enough for a quality speed session. I'm sure running into the wind wasn't helping. Regardless, I decided to stop the fast run and save it for another day.
Slowing down was good, but I just felt so off today. I can't say I was sore during this run. I was lethargic and had no energy at all. I was thinking maybe it was due to my lunch. It seems that I sometimes struggle in workouts on days when I eat at work (like today).
I went through Riverview Park and continued on. I decided that I would head out to mile 3 and turn around. Then, I'd go in the other direction and try to run 10 miles total. I was running into the breeze the whole time that I went out.
I turned around, but things didn't get any better. Although the pace looks decent, it was a slow struggle. It felt like it was taking forever. I couldn't wait to get to miles 4 and 5. Eventually I did though.
The section between Riverview and the Boat Launch was busy. There were a lot of walkers, some bikers and a few runners. I enjoyed the activity. It was nothing like my solo winter runs there.
I finally got back to the Boat Launch and mile 6. I was dead. I decided to end the run there and try again later on in the evening. This was an unproductive trip.
I rested for about 3 hours. I got back out there at dusk. The plan was to run 8 more miles and get to 14 miles for the day. That would also get me to 50 miles for the week. I was just going to stick to the neighborhoods around my house.
I wore a headlamp and vest. It was getting chilly and it was still breezy, so I had a long sleeve shirt on this time too. I was looking forward to the darkness.
I thought about doing a loop around my neighborhood, but I simply decided to head right into the other neighborhood. I planned on doing the big loop. Early on, a young girl was running too. I thought she might catch me from behind since I was going slow, but she turned. I was happy about that.
I felt like I had more energy now, but my legs were quite dead. They are definitely feeling the recent big mileage. I figured this was good training for my upcoming 50 miler though. I surely won't feel great during that.
I ran out and did the loop that is about a mile and a half add on. It seemed quite breezy during that. By now, things were getting quite dark. It was still a nice evening though.
I went up the long hill and passed a woman who was walking her dog. It was good to see that she had a light and reflective vest. I watched the miles slowly tick away. It seemed like it was taking forever.
The mile loop across the highway and the big hill took a lot out of me. I was thrilled in this area when I finally hit mile 4. I couldn't believe I had another 4 miles to go. I had about 2.5 yet to get back to the school.
I continued to cruise along easy, but I was feeling every step. I sort of wished that I had someone to run with, because I wouldn't have been thinking about it so much then. I had nothing else to focus on though. I passed the dog walker again in this section.
It was great to be inside of 5k. It was even better to finally get to mile 6. Two more miles seemed like forever though. I came across the girl running again too.
Every little hill was a struggle now. I did another short add on loop. I figured that would get me pretty close to mile 8 when I arrived back at the school. I hit mile 7 and knowing that I only had another mile to go was huge. So was thinking of it as the 49th mile of the week.
I got back to the school with less than half a mile to go. I ran a short loop around the parking lot and finished up with my 8th mile. The day was finally over and I survived the struggle.
I've now run 130 miles in the last 11 days, with 2 days off included in there. My body is certainly paying for it and I'm at my limit. I need to battle on for a few more days. If I can just run 30 miles in the next 3 days, I can rest plenty after that.
I was going to run a couple times tomorrow. I was planning on meeting up with Kristin in the morning, but my body needs more recovery. I have to wait until the afternoon to run. I'm heading down near Philly and might run a trail down there. I'd love to be able to get 12+ miles in. I guess I'll do whatever my body allows.
Afternoon Run 6 miles - 45:21 (7:33 pace)
Evening Run 8 miles - 1:05:22 (8:10 pace)
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