Weekly Rundown- All About the Long Run
As the title says, this week was all about getting that long run done. It was my last long run before my race, and I absolutely HAD to do it on Wednesday. I couldn’t put it off because as it is, I only have a ten day taper. But our temperatures spiked up crazily, and Wednesday was forecast to be 98 degrees, ARRRRG! Read on for all the gory details… But first- I’m linking up as always with Kim and Deborah for this Weekly Rundown- thanks for hosting, ladies! Monday 4 mile run, followed by a Caroline Girvan standing core workout. Meh… the deadbugs are definitely more intense. But at least it wasn’t crunches! Tuesday To rest my legs for the next day, I did an upper body strength workout on my Sally McRae app, and then back to the Caroline Girvan deadbug workout. It’s officially the best core workout ever. Wednesday 20 mile long run!!! This was the hardest long run I’ve ever done. Or, let’s put it this way- if I ever had a run this hard in the past, I didn’t end up completing it. This was the hardest run I’ve ever had where I didn’t just bail in the middle. Knowing it was going to be extremely hot, I considered starting in the dark and getting at least an hour done before taking my daughter to school- but since this was the ONLY 20 mile run of this training cycle, I decided it would be more beneficial to do the entire thing at one time. So, I couldn’t start the run until 7:30. I had a cooler in my car with ice, water, and fuel, and circled back to it several times. I thought of it as like an aid station in a race. The first eight miles were okay… … and after that it got hard. By mile 14 it was so hard, I pulled out my secret weapon for desperate times, which is to run for 30 seconds, walk for 30 seconds, over and over and over again until I (hopefully) start to feel better. This works really well- I mean, I won’t be setting any PRs this way, but I’ve found that I can always convince myself to run for 30 seconds, and as long as I keep up a brisk pace on the walking intervals, I don’t really slow down THAT much. At least, not as much as if I just walked or- obviously- stopped altogether. By mile 16 I had a second wind, and was able to run continuously again. That took me to mile 18 and then I just gutted out the last two miles. I was literally counting down the tenths of a mile, until I got to mile 20. When I finished, I looked at the weather on my phone- it was 96 degrees. And the “feels like” temp was 106. Oh yeah- THAT’S why it was so hard! Have I mentioned that there’s NO SHADE on my trail??? I actually think my race will be a little easier than this run, or at least a little cooler. It’s in Central Florida and I believe some of the trails are shady. Shade would be nice. Thursday You know how, when you finish a workout, your Garmin tells you how many hours of recovery you need? After yesterday’s run, it told me I needed THREE DAYS to recover, ha. I did feel pretty wiped out, so today I just walked for 30 minutes, and that felt great. Friday Okay, enough rest. I went to the gym, did 20 minutes on the Stairmaster, and then did some heavier squats. My quads were still a little sore from the run, but squatting actually felt good- it somehow stretched them out? Followed that up with some work on the abs machine. Saturday 4 mile run! My legs felt really heavy- probably still some lingering fatigue from the run on Wednesday, plus the added fatigue from the squats. Not to sound like a broken record, but it was also… hot. Sunday Alright, I’m ready for a taper! This week will consist of some short runs, very little lower body strength, lots of sleep, and then my race is next Sunday! I’m excited. I’m excited for the race, and I’m excited to NOT do any more long runs in the heat. How was your week? Is it hot where you are? Would you rather be extremely hot or extremely cold? – During this long run I was trying to remember how miserable I was during my race in February, where I was so cold, I was shaking. I guess I would rather be too hot.
Friday Coffee Date
Oh hi there! I have several things to share on this coffee date, so get out your mug of coffee, or Earl Grey tea, and we’ll chat. The first thing I would tell you is- I did my 20 mile long run!!! The hay is in the barn, although the horses may be a little hungry this year. Because of the weird timing (spraining my ankle, DNF’ing my race, and then frantically finding a “replacement” race) I didn’t do as many long runs as one would normally do for a 50K. But that’s okay! I’ll still be able to complete the race and have an interesting experience. Remember how I was dreading this run because the forecast showed a VERY hot day? Well, I decided to follow the advice, “If you can’t get out of it, get into it.” I packed up my cooler with lots of ice, water, LMNT, and snacks (Lara bars, gels, and Tailwind.) I even made a special playlist for this run (which I titled “98 Degrees,” ha.) And… I wish I could say I enjoyed it, but it was SUPER HARD. Here’s me at the start looking optimistic and jaunty: … and here’s me at the end. You might notice a couple wardrobe changes! Even though my shirt was a crop top, I had to take it off. It was just this soaking wet…. thing against my skin, and it bothered me SO MUCH as the run went on. And I switched to wearing my ice hat around mile 14- the hat with little pockets for ice cubes. So, note to self- don’t even think about wearing a shirt for this race, and wear the ice hat. Anyway, I’m glad that’s over. The next thing I would tell you is, my son is coming home! He’s on his way from Waco, driving- he’s going to stop in Tampa to visit a friend, and he’ll be here Saturday! HOORAY! We need an infusion of joy right about now, and my son will be just that. The last- and possibly most important- thing I have to share is, I solved my email problem. I was getting so many junk emails that I was missing real emails from actual people. At one point I took the time to unsubscribe to each and every one, and the problem just got WORSE. I was literally getting about 100 emails a day about “Biden’s bombshell,” “Russia’s terrifying new weapon,” and “Bank accounts frozen! Yours could be next!” And on and on. I was getting at least ten emails a day trying to get me to purchase a “Trumpinator bobblehead.” I mean, how stupid do these people think I am? How did they get my email address, anyway??? Then I heard on the Happier podcast that Elizabeth had the same problem- and the solution is to block the senders. She said if you unsubscribe, it just makes the problem worse, because then they know there’s an actual person dealing with the emails (only unsubscribe if it’s something you originally signed up for.) It turns out it’s REALLY easy to “block senders”- just mess around a bit with the options and you’ll find it- and it works! All the annoying emails have disappeared. Of course a couple new ones crop up every day, but I just block the senders and that’s that. What would you tell me over coffee? How was your week? Do you get annoying emails? Top photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash
Reading and Eating
This week I finiahed a GREAT book: I absolutely loved the writing, the setting, the way the characters developed… and the penultimate chapter was brilliant (“round up the usual suspects!”) The last chapter was slightly confusing- I mean, I was pretty sure I knew what was happening, but I was wondering why that was happening as opposed to what I THOUGHT was going to happen. I googled it, and found a spirited discussion on Goodreads. People had all sorts of theories about what the ending means, and cited details from earlier chapters of the book to support them. The ambiguous ending definitely worked, and I think the passionate debate is the sign of a great book. After I finished the book I listened to this podcast, where James Altucher interviewed Amor Towles. It was really interesting to hear about his writing process. They mostly talked about Rules of Civility and Gentleman in Moscow (and, interesting detail- a character From Rules makes an appearance in Gentleman!) I’ll eventually read Towles’ other books, but right now I’m following my rule of not repeating authors (just for now, because there are so many books I want to read.) Next up was this mystery, recommended by Lindsay:: I’m ALMOST DONE, and I really like it. I love the setting, the story, and the main character. Ruth Galloway is an archaeologist who gets involved in a police investigation. One of the things I especially like is that Ruth weighs “twelve and a half stone.” I had to look it up- a “stone” is equal to 14 pounds. Every book I read seems to have a female main character who happens to be slender and pretty- It’s refreshing to read a book where the main character is a strong, confident woman who isn’t conventionally attractive. Let’s talk about eating! There isn’t a lot to report, but I made these chai-spiced teff waffles. on Mother’s Day. They were good! In honor of the day, I drank out of my Baylor Mom mug. By the way, I’ve decided that my husband is officially “holiday blind.” He put that cloth on the table, and didn’t understand what made it autumnal. Um… the colors? The fact that there are leaves on it? Sigh. Well, I shouldn’t be surprised- here’s how he wrapped my Mother’s Day present. For dinner, he made pesto! You might remember that I’m trying to eat less pasta, so I tried to load my plate up with salad and roasted vegetables. I couldn’t resist a piece of bread though. (I also HAD to change that tablecloth!) Have you read anything by Amor Towles? Did you make a special brunch or dinner for Mother’s Day? Top photo by Syd Wachs on Unsplash
Transitions
Well, things are winding down here. After two insanely busy weeks, it’s oddly quiet. There are two more regular weeks of school before finals, but all the concerts and special events are over. This isn’t a big transition year for us- my daughter is finishing her freshman year of high school and my son finished his junior year of college (EEP. Next year at this time we will be at Baylor FOR HIS GRADUATION- I seriously can’t wrap my mind around it.) I have to admit I’m still a little sad. My daughter will never be a freshman in high school again- she’s now 1/4 done and it goes so fast. One of the big events was the band banquet. There’s food, dancing, and awards. My daughter won the Outstanding Freshman award! I took a picture of her plaque to send to my son. He won the same award as a freshman, and responded with this photo to remind me what Angie did to the picture of HIS plaque six years ago: Ah, kids. So supportive of each other. Anyway, the banquet is a dressy occasion. Here’s a photo of my daughter and her friend before the event: And in case you were wondering- no, the theme of the banquet wasn’t “The Addams Family.” The girls just, ahem, decided to dress like that. The black outfit went well with my daughter’s blue hair. Moving on! Another transition is the change of seasons. In South Florida, this is not a good thing. Let’s take a look at our weather forecast- pay special attention to Wednesday. BLARG!!! 98 degrees??? I have a TWENTY MILE run on Wednesday! I’m going to DIE!!! Okay, I won’t be running in the hottest part of the day- but I have to drop my daughter off at school so I can’t start until 7:30, so… yes, it’s going to be hot. And don’t forget about the humidity. Seriously, it’s not going to be pretty. We had such a lovely winter, and now we’re going to pay the price. Are you enjoying the change of seasons? – If the answer is yes, you definitely don’t live in Florida. What was your favorite year of high school? – Sophomore year! Top photo by Daiga Ellaby on Unsplash