sunday pm, 10 miles . . .
monday, 16 miles . . .
. . . 2 mile warm up
. . . 25 min. @ 5:25
. . . 1 mile easy
. . . 20 min. @ 5:20
. . . 3/4 mile easy
. . . 15 min. @ 5:20
. . . 1 mile cool down
tuesday, 12 miles . . .
. . . 8 miles easy
. . . 8 X strides with full recovery
wednesday, 14 miles . . .
thursday, 11 miles . . .
friday, 21 miles . . .
. . . 8 miles easy (at 8 miles, i refuse to call it a warm up)
. . . 30 minutes at 5:37
. . . 4:45 at 5:21
. . . 30 minutes at 5:36
. . . 4:45 at 5:20
. . . 2.?? miles cool down
saturday, 11 miles . . .
. . . too much on my plate this week. hitting the limits of mental and physical barriers and still pushing. this is what running is all about apparantly. teaching at a camp and running 100 miles. what a week!!
. . . i didn't wake up to my alarm and i had to be at church at 8:45. i guess it was good to sleep but this is a really long week so i had to get some miles in. i could barely squeeze in the 5 that i did do. it was really easy. a beautiful morning.
the afternoon was even nicer. i went to church. came home. ate. put the kids down for a nap. waited an hour. and then set out to run the other ten. t-shirt and shorts run. nice. things were going great until about 5 miles into it. then my stomach started hurting bad, on the upper part. i went to the bathroom in burger king. felt better, but then a mile down the road, started hurting again. i'm not sure if it was something i ate or if i just didn't wait long enough.
got home, went to the bathroom again, but still my stomach hurt. hurt through the whole night. hope it feels better tomorrow.
. . . a grueling death workout. not sure even now sitting here at my computer how i finished this one. a beautiful day that just got warmer as the session went on, shedding gloves and arm warmers after each tempo effort. that first 25 minutes was a crazy push. and only a mile break. one little break. and then i was in to the 20 minute effort that was 5 seconds per mile faster. just at the point that i wanted so desperately to give up, there was a relaxation. i had finally hit my happy spot even in the midst of a 5:20 pace. this is crazy for me to think about. a year and a half ago, this was my mile pace. i had to focus like crazy on those last 10 minutes but i made it though somehow. and now a shorter break.
during this short break, i started wieghing my options. thinking about cutting the work out short. just finishing with some easy miles. i worked with all that i had to push that thought out of my head, pushing it way in the back. and then i found myself running. and finishing right on my pace.
another success. though i would say more of a mental one then a physical one.
stomach was fine during the run but in the early afternoon started to hurt again. what is this thing? some sort of bug, food poisoning, too much proffin? i hope this thing clears up.
. . . everywhere i am sore. i am worn out. i have already put in 31 miles. 31 miles over two days. my body is feeling that right now and it makes even my easy pace seem like an effort. but i hung on, pushed through. i even put in those 8 strides at a really fast pace. i thought about just doing them half way. i have to shake this attitude. if i'm going to succeed in this, to push my body to the limits, i must do it with every single workout. so i did it. i thought about each sprint with a fresh perspective. focusing just on it.
stomach feels completely fine today. left i.t. band still causing problems.
. . . it seems that all my stomach stuff has gone away completely. i was lacking in motivation this morning. 100 miles just seems like such a long distance even though i have done it before. i have thought about the daily doubles thing, but evening running doesn't fit with my schedule plus i really don't like doing it. even if it is only five miles.
my legs felt tired, just sort of everywhere. similar to yesterday. with one exception. after about 5 miles, i got into my groove. then the miles just cruised right by. running was easy and fun again. i even added an extra mile at the end because i was feeling so good. for the majority of the run i was hanging at a 6:38 pace and for the last two miles i hit 6:37 a few times. this felt great.
on the very last quarter mile some grade schoolers on their way to school shot out of their house and started running alongside of me. they actually kept my pace going which was impressive and fun. then just for kicks, i surged in front of them. i can see the beauty in running with people but not enough to pursue a running partner. this is my solace.
. . . back in the groove of things today. a crisp cool morning. no rain. a little bit of fog. up to the cemetery and meandering around some residential areas. i settled into my pace early on and just hung out there without much effort. it was great. nothing hurt, no pain, no push, just a nice easy recovery run. what these days are supposed to be.
. . . the week has worn upon me, wearing upon me, pressure crashing and breaking me. tonight is the first night of camp. so much anxiety going into it. will they like me? will i be effective? will GOD speak through me? will i be ready? will they be ready?
and then here it is, the final thing before camp . . . a 21 mile run. haha.
even those first 8 miles was a bit of a challenge. took so much mental energy once this was over and i was at the track. trying with all my might to do battle with myself. and then i started. 30 minutes at marathon pace. this was a huge, hard, constant push. how was i even going to finish this, let alone do the other half of my workout.
again, i made it through somehow. i was off a second for the marathon and tempo pace for the first half but right on for the second half. this is further cementing in my mind the concept that i can always go further and faster than i think that i can, than my body will want me to.
i'm glad that it was a nice day this morning. no rain, very little wind, just slightly cold that continued to warm up throughout the run. if it was like last week, it could have been the final piece to topple me down to complete death.
i meant to run 22, was scheduled for 22, and though one of my running maxims is 'a real runner never says i was going to . . .' under these circumstances, i had to make an exception.
. . . here i am at camp. started out at 3000 feet, peaked out at nearly 3,500 feet, and had a total gain of 1284 feet. these 11 miles was less of a recovery run and more of just sheer madness. i stayed up with some of the campers to get to know them and finally found my way to my bunk where i tossed and turned on a very lumpy mattress sometime around 1:30. i decided to run during their small group time and after my morning message.
a beautiful morning. i found a ton of different trails. waterfalls, oregon trail historic sites, beautiful views of hood, a downhill section with giant banks on the switchbacks, a tunnel, a couple rivers, some snow, a section of hurdling fallen trees on what looked like to be the old highway, rocks, mud, heart pounding steepness, several breaks to rest and look out at creation, constant change in temperature sudden drops, not really knowing where each trail will end up.
the final section was intense. a steady uphill. i really wanted to quit at 10 miles but i just couldn't. something unnatural about a 99 mile week. so even though it took all i had to pass camp and continue up the hill to finish of the 100 mile week, i did it.
i ate a hearty soup lunch with the band. my hands shaking, dropping my bread into my soup several times, and most likely stinking terribly.
these last 11 miles felt like 20. i was proud of my 7:18 pace average. i can't imagine a tougher week.
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