Boston Training 2020: Week 10: The time when I was STILL SICK

So, yes. I was too sick to run until Thursday. 

I just can't see the sense in even trying when one is basically barely hanging on enough to finish a work day. Nobody gets hero points for running when deathly ill. 

By the time Thursday rolled around I was no longer coughing in the night, so I decided to get back to it with some easy treadmill miles. I stuck with that on Friday, and then ventured out for a few outdoor miles on Saturday. Weirdly, after that short (5 mile!) run, my legs felt as though they had run a half marathon. Very weird. 

Unfortunately, the general malaise stuck around through Sunday. The weather was just incredible on Sunday- sun, mid 40's, just perfect! I headed out to attempt 15 and called it a day at 11. 

My head was so congested that I felt like I was in a bubble. My ears were totally blocked, and it made me feel kind of dizzy and out to lunch. I couldn't think of what good could come from running any farther when things felt so gross, so I did not. 

Kind of a drag of a week. No speed work, no hills, no long run. GROSS!!!!!

I did enjoy the nice Sunday though.... 

My sister is visiting this coming week, and my original plan was to have a light week, and a super short long run. NOT going to happen, after the last two half-price-crap-mileage weeks. If I don't want to scrap this training cycle entirely, I am going to have to pack in some mileage regardless. I plan to front load the week, and hit a decent long on Sunday. Fingers crossed that my body cooperates...

Anyway, on to week 11. 

Total miles: 25.4
Long run: Well... 11.3
Coldest Day: A couple cold mornings, close to 0. It was gross and 18 on Tuesday, and raw and snowy and I was sick and hated it so much. 

Snow? Yes, 6" Tuesday 
Random: The worst fillings for an omelette would be:

Lettuce

Spaghetti (like a big, thick layer of plain spaghetti. BARF)

Beets

Pickled herring with onions 

Boston Training 2020: Week 9: The time when I caught a gross cold

Last week started off strong, and ended up pretty sick.....

I had an 8 mile hill snow adventure on Monday which was challenging, but manageable. 

Wednesday, I ran another 8 over different hills, on drier roads, which was a nice change!

Thursday was supposed to be speed, but I swapped it for a basic 5 with my dog. I figured I would do speed on Friday on the treadmill, since it was supposed to be very cold. Plus, I had moved my long run to Sunday, because of said arctic blast. 

Well.... I ended up getting a pretty major cold, which continues to stick around and make me pretty miserable. These things happen, but it is always annoying to run considerably less mileage than planned (and I'm concerned for this week's miles too, as I can't seem to shake it off!)

Total miles: 21.25
Long run: Well... 8.25 I suppose
Coldest Day: Saturday morning, -15. 

Snow? Yes, but I'm struggling to remember when or how much! I believe 5 inches and it did cause a snow day.
Random: I think a person should get too old for colds at some point. Maybe at 40!! 

Boston Training 2020: Week 8: The time that the winter intermission ended

It was bound to happen. Fools spring in February is not really a thing, after all. 

Well, this is the upcoming week too. And FYI-it was WAY colder than expected today. Minus 10.

I was lucky on Monday. It was 40 degrees, the roads were bone dry, and since bitch hill was on the schedule these were both good things.

I was still MIGHTY sore from horsepocalypse 2020. I decided to just get out and do what I could, and it payed off. It might not have been the most stylish run, but it was decent and I finished what I planned to do. Low snowbanks allowed for a pretty photo as well. 

Hi Bitch Hill. Or "Hi, FROM bitch hill" is more accurate. 

Tuesday and Wednesday both ended up being my off days for the week. While I usually prefer to break up rest days, there was no choice. I'm working solo 99.9% of the time this winter (which is making for some legit 80 hour work weeks. not complaining, but if anyone happens to be wondering why I'm not available basically EVER, this is why. I'll text you back in May.) 

I also had a really weird finger problem. Since I am still alive, and recovering, it seems that it was not cellulitis, MRSA or flesh eating bacteria like I suspected for a hot minute. Of course, this all came to a head in the middle of a nasty storm (that took out the internet, so I could not even use Dr. Google!) I figured I was headed straight for a snow day amputation. It seems I narrowly missed such a dire ending, as the gross finger seems to be recovering.) 

(short story long... it all began with me picking at a little white bump which I assumed was a splinter. later that night, the finger was so painful it actually woke me up! it then got red and hot and swollen and stupid. my Mom is basically a wound care specialist, so before I decided to hack the thing off, she sent me home with a strict regimen of soaking, bandaging, other stuff, and it does seem a lot better now! Seriously, I live in the sticks and am not gonna head to urgent care when the roads are covered with death!)

Creepy, although you can't really see how bumpy it is from this pic

After a long work day on Wednesday, I headed off for another round with my Chiropractor, which was good. I have had trouble (more in life than in running) for the past year with my left side. From my back, to my hip, to my leg and ankle, it is all left side trouble. We are working through the pieces of what's really out of whack, and what needs to be made stronger. Every week I'm feeling better- which is actually pretty awesome, since I was feeling alright to begin with! For the first time EVER, I headed in for some help BEFORE I was a hot mess. 

I began mile rep work on Thursday with 4x1 @ 7:36. 

I tried out my new Hoka carbon-x shoes, and loved them. 

And honestly. It is 2020. If you don't have a pair of carbon shoes, are you EVEN a runner??

Friday was a pretty gross snow/sleet day. The internet went down. In the most epic display of First World Problem, I had to run 7 miles on the treadmill with no form of entertainment! It wasn't actually too bad- but I can not possibly wish to do this daily. 

Long run Saturday... I expected crap, since crap has been the norm. Plus-it was windy, COLD, and the roads were covered with shit. 

And. It wasn't too bad. A good step better than last week! A gnarly final few miles, as the temp plummeted, my hands and lungs froze, and the sun went down. It legit took me hours to warm up. 

Sunday was a few easy miles. The EASIEST. 

Then, Eric did his long run to a new pub and we met up for a quick beer (before I basically had to go back to work. because this is my life, currently.) (and no, I didn't actually go "to" work, but I went "to" scheduling, accounting, ordering, communicating. I need office staff...) 

As it turned out, it was a better running week. 

For this, I thank:

-Luck

-Skill?

-Random things that I will never be able to recreate 

-Fitness.....???

-Other

Stats:

Total miles: 42.1
Long run: 16
Coldest Day: Sunday morning, -10. Cold long run, started at 22 degrees, finished at 16 degrees. 

Snow? 2.5 inches on Thursday, a whole day of sleet on Friday which made a mess. 
Random: I love it when people assume that since I have no children, that I have infinite time, sleep, money. No cares at all! Living life all foot loose and fancy free. No. As it turns out, I am still an adult and seem to be plenty busy managing things (like dealing with your children btw) I also enjoyed having someone tell me that it must be great not to have to care about the environment since we don't have kids. NO. This is not how it works. Life still continues to be very meaningful, and real, even if you choose not to have children. (surprising, I know!) 

Boston training 2020: Week 7: The time that the thaw continued

Seriously, the January thaw went on and on.

(also, this blog is really late. Really really. I have been SO busy.)

And we got zero snow over the weekend

On Monday it was 40 degrees and I ran up bitch hill. It was a hard run. That's all. 

Wednesday was 5x1200 on the treadmill at a mid 7 pace.  It felt hard too. 

On Thursday I headed out for 7 miles, at what I decided was going to be a "sustainable but working" pace. It's always nice to know what that pace actually is at different points in training. 

Well. Currently that pace is 8:46. Part of me is like, HEY, that's better than a month ago. And part of me is like HEY, BLEH. Pretty standard set of emotions. 

Saturday was long run day, and I was looking forward to having a better run this week. The weather was solid, the roads were bone dry, and I was ready to go. 

And it sucked. The end. 

In my defense, I did have something of an accident on Saturday afternoon. I had a very unpleasant horse encounter (and while I certainly was not grievously injured, I was a bit wounded.) This might have contributed to my terrible feelings of terribleness, but who really knows. At mile 3, I figured I might have to bail. It was one of those awful days. At one point I saw a cop, and hoped he would arrest me and put me in jail so I could stop running. But he did not.....

To add insult to injury, I managed to accidentally pause my watch for a few minutes and lose almost a half mile of my run. Just so irritating!!! 

On Sunday I had planned to do 5 recovery but (due to the horse incident) I felt as though I had been in a minor car accident, or hit by a small bus. I decided to run nothing. In the end, I split the difference and ran a couple. I actually felt better at the end, and since my legs/back were completely uninjured, I knew I wasn't causing any more damage. 

So all in all, kind of a shit bag week. It happens. 

In good news, the World's BEST Chiro moved just two towns away! (making it a 27 minute drive instead of a 70 minute drive!!) And yes, I have had an appointment, and have more planned. This is such good news!!)

Stats:

Total miles: 40.9 (annoying.)
Long run: 17.1, closer to 17.5 IRL
Coldest Day: It never was cold

Snow? NO!
Random: I hate the feeling of needing new shoes. And yes, I need new shoes.