Week of June 22nd Training
Monday June 22nd—Rest Day, Rest Day. Who loves a rest day? ME! ME! And ME! But I never used to. Back when I was younger, I ran every single darn day. No days off. Even if I had to run at like midnight I was running. I was crazy LOL. Crazy in love with running. Now I have one rest day. More if needed but typically one does the job. Back before the pandemic I was doing nothing on rest days. These days I am walking at least 5 miles afterwork simply because I have the time. Before the pandemic I would go from work to get the kids to karate for my son then get home well after 7:30 and then have to do dinner and all that jazz. Now we don’t have that. This Monday I went out on my bike first and rode 15 miles and then came back home to eat dinner then back out to get my 5-mile walk in. By the end I was a bit exhausted. I probably should have picked one or the other, but I have seriously been neglecting my bike this month due to my running challenges and I miss it soooo much!
Tuesday June 23rd—Today I was feeling so beat up. I think my rest day did not go as planned as far as making me feel rested LOL. I did not want to go running. At all. But I got dressed and out the door. My run was 3 mile warm up, then 8x 30 second surges at 7-7:15 pace with 4 min easy run in between, then I added on another 2 miles to make it a 10-mile day. I wasn’t feeling very surgy but believe it or not all except 2 of my surges were in the 6’s, and my last 2 were in the low 7’s where they should have been. It’s crazy that I can run a 9-minute mile then bust out some speed in the 6’s. towards the end it had gotten much hotter out and I was kind of dragging.
Then later after work we took the kids to the park so more walking and then walked to Rita’s for water ice and by the time we got back I clocked another 1.5 miles in walking to add to my virtual challenges. Yep, I’m the one that walks in circles when the kids are playing at the park and my husband is the one sitting on the bench LOL.
Wednesday June 24th—Another day that I felt beat in my body but my mind was willing to go. Sometimes it’s the opposite struggle. No matter what the struggle is, it’s always worth it to push and get yourself out there. I never EVER regret it. On the schedule today was to run 6 miles easy so I ran 10 miles easy. Again, I’m running extra for the challenge. If I wasn’t doing the challenge, I would have gone 6 and then come home and hopped on my bike for a bit. I can’t wait to get back to that!!
I then realized that I had a conference call at 10am and so I decided to walk on my treadmill while I was on it and clocked in another 4 miles, boom!
Thursday June 25th—So beat today! I opted for my treadmill as it’s a much softer surface and something different. When you are in a rut or feeling like not running you need to change things up! Today’s run was 2 mile warm up at easy pace, 3 miles at moderate pace (8:45-8:30), then run 2 miles easy. I stuck with the 7 and called it a day. I knew that I can’t push myself every single day and it’s more important to listen to your body! So I did.
Then afterwork I asked the kids if they wanted to go around the block with their scooters while I walked. They made it 3 times, which was about a mile. Then I walked another half mile before calling it a night.
Friday June 26th—I don’t know about you but I’m always happy to make it to Friday. It’s typically my most favorite day other than Saturday and Sunday. Mostly everyone is in a better mood because we are one step closer to the weekend. Anyway, it was the first morning that I didn’t feel super beat up and both mind and body were good with me getting out the door! On the schedule was 4 miles easy so I went 7 miles. I had just enough time for that before having to get home shower and get to my dermatologist appt.
Now, on the to doctor appt. I was super amazed at how efficient this process went. So different from before the pandemic hit. I waited in my car to be called in, went in, got temperature taken and sanitized, handed paper to office person, sat for a minute, went back to room and then within a minute they were in to see me. Wow! So fast. I did have to have 3 moles removed to be tested. This is nothing out of the normal for me. I have to go every 6 months because I have so many moles. I probably have had over 30 removed and tested and a few have come back severely atypical, so they have to dig more out and retest and I have been ok. But advice to anyone out there is to get your skin checked. I feel safer knowing that I go and am being proactive about my health.
Saturday June 27th—This run seemed doomed before it even was started. I got out later than normal because I slept in and it was raining when I first got up. I think I got out the door by 9:45am and headed for the track. On the schedule was a long run with some speed work built in and my favorite place to complete that is the track. As I drove up to the track, I noticed that there weren’t very many cars in the parking lots, which is odd because it’s usually crowded. As I pulled in, I noticed that NO ONE was there, and the door that had been unlocked by that man the other week was now doubly locked. WTH!!! I drove to the other end and same thing. The track is owned by Penn State Abington college but still … what I don’t get is the mall is open? And the gym but the outdoor track is locked? I’m sorry but that is straight up ass backwards. I then drove to my old high school and that was locked as well. I was starting to feel angry and frustrated and was seriously thinking I’d put my long run off till Sunday.
It was in that moment that I decided to change my mindset and drive further to my old middle school knowing that the track has no fence around it so there was no way it could possibly be locked. The only downfall to this track was that it was gravel and not asphalt so it was like running on uneven sand but hard sand at least. At this point it was a half hour after I left my house and I had to pee🤷🏻♀️. This track was super crowded with walkers and no shade at all and I did not bring enough water. My run was 3 miles warm up, 4 miles at marathon pace, 1 mile easy, 4 miles at marathon pace, 3 mile cool down. I’m happy to say that I smashed my marathon pace miles, but the last 3 cool down miles felt like death. I had barely any water left, and I was drenched in sweat. I looked like I just jumped in a pool and even my shoes were soaked, and my legs filled with dirt from being sweaty and the gravel coming up. A complete mess. Since the last 3 miles were so rough, I took them .25 miles at a time till I got to my 15 mile mark. I finished and then forced myself to walk 1 mile to cool down even more. I think it took me all afternoon to recover. I took a cold shower and then made my protein shake and then sat on porch while kids played outside. I finally felt better once the sun went down and then I got out for another 3-mile walk. Walking helps the legs recover so much faster.
Sunday June 28th—Another day that I decided to sleep in and then the morning got away from me. I usually wake up first in the house then kids then my hubs. I wanted to give him the option of working out first or heading to the store first. I also got snuggles from my son and painted my daughters nails for her. I didn’t get out til after 11am and holy heck it was hot out there!!! On the schedule was 4 easy paced miles. But I wanted to go 10. So I went 10 then walked 1 mile to cool down. I even stopped home mid run to change clothes and fill up my water. It totally helped but again by mile 9 I was feeling depleted and wanting to stop. That’s where my mind had to take over and bring you home! The rest of the day was spent recovering with a cold shower, a protein drink, hanging with the kids then over to my parents’ house for dinner. I ended up walking another 3 miles while there with the kids and my mom so that helped my legs too.
I ended the week with 59 running miles, 22.5 walking miles and 15.5 biking miles.
The Marathon Mom 
Yet, she persists… Thanks for sharing your roller coaster with us. 🙂 it’s a nice reminder that life happens, yet we can still get out there.
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