Week 4 goal- 24 miles
What is it with me and Mondays? I just can’t get out of bed at 5:30 without someone dangling either a really juicy carrot in front of my nose or a thick switch over my… anyway. Since neither appeared, I slept in two more hours and ran no miles on January 21st.
I got in 4.4 miles on Tuesday the 22nd while my daughter was at preschool. It was slow and even, 54:14, a 12:20 per mile pace. It was intended to be easy, leading into a rest day on Wednesday. I didn’t get around to the one-hour yoga workout I’d done the previous 2 Wednesdays. That may have been a factor in my stumble on Thursday.
It wasn’t an actual stumble but the 24th was the first long/superlong run I didn’t finish this year. It was a planned 12-miler, but I started feeling poorly around the 6-mile mark. It was cold, I was sodden with sweat, and the pace was de-evolving toward 13:00 a mile. Now, I know that I’m not fast but, for me, a 13:00 per mile pace, regardless of the distance is demoralizing. I can take embarrassment and shame. Check out all these 12:something paces so far. Writing a 13:something over a run is not something I want to look back at from the future. Plus, I know my body enough that I’m not going to get a second wind after 90 minutes and run another 60 minutes at a better clip. All the voices in my head agreed that cutting it short would be best. I stopped at 8.4 miles in 1:48:22, a 12:something pace, 12:54, to be exact.
I got in a 2.2 circuit by my home on Friday the 25th, a freezing 25:44, an 11:42 pace. Saturday saw a trip to the Brick Reservoir for a 4-lap excursion, 6.4 miles in 1:17:55, a 12:10 pace. See how easily I can type those 12:somethings?
Sunday the 27th ended the week on a good note. It was a simple 2.2 ’round the ‘hood in 24:28, an 11:07 pace. It felt good to be quicker for once, for a gnu.
At the beginning of January, I had pencilled in 24 miles for this week. The resulting 23.6 miles was close enough. It still disappointed me. I had hoped to do more to save me from squeezing in under the wire. To make my 100-mile goal, I’d have to clear 16.4 miles in the last 4 days of January. If I had made that 12-miler on Thursday, it would have been 12.8 to go. It just goes to show how one bad day can mess up the math. Still, I wouldn’t bet against Kid and the rest pulling me through.
Tags: endurance, energy, health, jogging, mileage, Mondays, pacing, running
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