Half Marathon Training - Week 5 - Monday and Tuesday

For the third week in a row I have had to make some modifications to my running schedule. Last week I moved the 9 mile run to Friday due to my travels to Chicago for the weekend. This left me with a run of 4 miles on Sunday when I returned. Well, we got home late in the evening and I was too tired to run and my body felt worn down and fatigued. Part of the problem was running at 5 in the morning Friday and not going to bed until 2 in the morning. Not a very good recovery after running 9 miles. I played it safe and did not run Sunday nor did I get up early Monday morning to workout. I woke up, but felt fatigued and did not want to push too much. After teaching in the morning and do some things I felt much better and decided to go ahead run the four miles Monday night. I felt like I needed to sweat the unhealthy toxins of eating Chicago style pizza and all the other junk food I threw into my body while in Chicago. I took off at a good pace and ran the 4 miles in just a shade under 35 minutes. I felt really good on this run. I had about a mile or so where I was under 8 minutes a mile or right at that pace. Monday was supposed to be a rest day, but I just needed to get that run in for my own mental well being.

Today(Tuesday) I woke up to run my scheduled 5 miles, but of course it was raining pretty good out. I decided to have a cup of coffee and see if it would stop raining. I will admit that the Chicago trip really dropped my motivation of running for some reason. I was sore this morning and the rain really started to convince me that I just could not run. However, after charging up my iPod and watching the rain continue to come down I started to gain my motivation and finally at 6:35 I decided to just get out there and run. I knew that the rest of the day would be hot and humid and I hate running in those conditions. I went out in the rain and completed my running. I so bad wanted to just get back to bed, but I am glad I ran this morning. I know I would have been mad at myself for not running. I ran the 5 miles in 44 minutes and some odd seconds. I will admit that I am tired this afternoon and really could use a nap.

The rest of the week is supposed to be easy as this is my recovery week. I am to run 3 miles tomorrow, 4 miles on Thursday with 2 miles at HMP of 9:09, 4 miles Friday, and 5 miles Saturday for a total of 21 miles. I will actually have put in 25 miles by adding the 4 mile run on Monday. I will have to go for a run Saturday at my parents house Saturday as I am taking the kids back there to hang out for the weekend before school starts. Next week has be putting in 25 miles with a new long run of 10 miles. I still have not signed up for the Park to Park Half Marathon, but I need to so I can gain some experience and keep me motivated. I am back to questioning whether I can really run 13 miles. That just seems way too long. Next Sunday will be a good test. I know if I can run the 10 miles, then 13 will be manageable.

I keep reminding myself that “Things achieved without effort are seldom worthwhile or long lasting.” I know the feeling of achieving these goals of mine are going to feel great. I also keep reading about how mentally tough another teacher in the Quad Cities is. He teaches with my wife and Pleasant Valley and is a pro triathlete. He has been dealing with an injury this year and I have to laugh at myself when I feel tired running 5 miles while he is hurt riding a bike 400 miles. I know that I can achieve my goals and when I doubt I always read his blog. You can check it out here

School starts next week so if you have not made any goals or set any expectations for yourself now is the time to do so. Make some short term and some long term. Write them down and make them visible to keep yourself reminded of what you want to achieve. Post them here and if you need a friendly reminder from me to keep you going, then I will be willing to do that for you. Or send me an email if you don't want the world to know. aarmau@gmail.com

I am off to clear some items off my list of things to get completed today.