Sunday, September 22, 2013

Vacation, Naps, and Trust

If you didn't already know, I have very creative blog titles.

So I took the MCAT and didn't die. Let's not talk about it though.

Then I went on a week-long vacation to hot and humid Florida. I was so worried that I wouldn't be able to train for my marathon because of the heat and humidity.......

I went running a total of 3 times for the whole week I was there. At first I felt really guilty because those runs were no longer than 3 miles each, but then I was like....I need to give myself a break. I actually can't even believe I ran at a sub 9:00 pace. I woke up at 7:45AM to run there and it was 80 and probably like, 90% humidity! Ridiculous. Then I decided to run over this bridge {A. Max Brewer Memorial Bridge} and back at like 10AM one day and there was NO SHADE and half of it was UPHILL. I am crazy.

Aside from running in a sauna, I did a lot of eating, touristy stuff, and napping. I seriously passed out every time I got in the car. Probably from a food coma. Or the humidity. Then in the evening I would lay around on the couch and watch TV or fall asleep. I didn't muster up the energy to go night swimming until the 3rd day. Oh, the life. I am not used to so much activity I guess!

So yesterday when I came home from the airport, I totally thought I was going to go for a short run. What a joke. I passed out for about 3 hours. And then this morning, I woke up early with every intention of running. But then my cousins slept over and my dad made breakfast and I had to entertain them and it didn't happen.

Excuses, excuses. Ugh. Finally, I went for a short run before dinner. I had no mileage goal in mind, I just told my legs to run for as long as they could (or until the sun went down). {It ended up being 4 miles at an 8:30 pace}

IT WAS AWESOME

Sometimes you just have to trust yourself. Trust in your legs, your lungs, your mind. Whenever I fall out of my training schedule I worry that it will be so so hard to get back into it. I think the fear of losing that bit of fitness from skipping a session, a day or a week is all in my head. As someone who likes to run long distances and by themselves, maintaining a positive mentality is much harder for me than actually completing the run. There are so many times when I am 75% through my run and my mind wants to quit. Sometimes I give in and I stop - I have actually called my mom to pick me up before. Other times I push those thoughts away and tell myself I can finish my run. In the end, I just have to trust myself. It always amazes me what my body is capable of when I let my doubts subside!

{My sister running with me for the 1st mile. Look at those clouds! The clouds in FL were unreal}





Tuesday, September 3, 2013

MCAT House Arrest

It's been awhile frandz.

I've been on MCAT house arrest. I seriously don't go anywhere or see anyone (except my parents, co-workers, and people I see on the trail). Last week, I didn't have work so I had a 4 day weekend and I didn't leave the house for 2/4 days. That's 48 hours without seeing other humans, guys! It's really awful and makes me kind of crazy and when my parents come home I am so excited to talk to them I talk their ears off. True statement.

It will all be over in 1 week! And then I will be on vacation, whooo!

Meanwhile:

Training recaps! Quite possibly the only thing keeping me sane.

 Week of 8/11-8/17
  • Sunday - Rest
  • Monday - Easy 7mi @ 8:55min pace
  • Tuesday - Track workout: 1mi warm-up, 1 round of Tabata with the bleachers, High bench circuit, and 10x 100m Sprints (between 17 and 19 seconds each)
  • Wednesday - NTC
  • Thursday - Rest
  • Friday - Easy 5mi @ 8:50min pace
  • Saturday - 10mi @ 9:40min pace. This was extremely rough, as I started late and it got way too hot and my PB toast did not sit well for me

Week of 8/18-8/24
  • Sunday - Rest
  • Monday - Easy 7mi @ 9:00min pace - this run felt particularly great. Perhaps it was the overcast weather and slight breeze. It's amazing how much a little breeze can help cool me down on a run
  • Tuesday - 45 min of NTC, I forget which ones
  • Wednesday - 1mi warm-up, 5x 600m '5k effort', 0.5mi cool-down
  • Thursday - Rest day because I had to go to a Wine Walk with my girf
  • Friday - Kettlebell circuit, Pilates abs, and HIIT
  • Saturday - 12mi @ 9:25min pace. This felt amazing!! I started off slow because I am being a good girl and I didn't stop until mile 10.5 when I reached a large hill. I didn't even feel like stopping at any point up until then! It really felt great. And then at the end of the run I cancelled it on my Nike+ app so I don't know what my splits were :( At least I looked at the total time before I cancelled it though

Week of 8/25-8/31
  • Sunday - Rest per usual
  • Monday - Easy 5mi @ 9:10min pace
  • Tuesday - Kettlebell circuit, Pilates abs, HIIT (45 min total)
  • Wednesday - 6mi Tempo. This was so hard. I averaged 8:50min/mi for the entire run but I was really struggling between miles 3 and 5. Will have to work on those tempos!
  • Thursday - Nothing. Too pooped from studying. Can't have everything, I guess!
  • Friday - Easy 5mi @ 9:00min pace. It got dark halfway through but I was running in the neighborhood so it was safe. It's so nice to run at night
  • Saturday - 14mi @ 9:48min pace. My longest run ever. It was hard. I left super early but it still got too hot mid-run. I had to run into the woods to hide from the heat. Also, my finger started bleeding and there was a line of blood down my hand - weird.