Week 4 Review

Week 4 will go down as the week where I realized... oh yeah, I'm actually training for a marathon. These runs COUNT.

It snuck up on me, all cute like.

And then it fucking attacked me.

Monday, I met The KoB for our usual Monday night run and both of us felt like dog shit. Granted, he had a lot better reason for feeling that way than I did, so we bailed after 3 miles. I did ask him if continuing on with shitbricks for feet would have any positive effect on my training before I bailed. He said no, but even if he'd said yes, I probably still would have bailed. (I just would have felt guiltier about it).

Tuesday, I met Melissa at the park, where we ran in circles for about 7 miles. I have developed a problem. When I'm running with someone else, I find myself just wanting to run the logistically easiest course. The idea of navigating stop lights, turns, cars, and other pedestrians while trying to hold a conversation with a friend practically sends me into an anxiety attack, so I usually try to trick them into running a bunch of laps in the park where there are few stops. Eventually, they realize that we've ran in circles for multiple miles and they threaten to NEVER RUN WITH ME AGAIN. So, we venture out into traffic.

Wednesday, The KoB did a workout with me. I was supposed to run 6x800s at 5K pace with REALLY honest recoveries (like 8:45-9:00 pace). The first couple of intervals felt great. But the fast recoveries were starting to catch up with me. I was ready to quit after 4, but managed to stick it out by running my recoveries a little slower. This workout kicked my ass. I even collapsed in a heap on the track after I was done. Too bad I don't run with a camera or I could have inserted a dramatically staged picture of me splayed out on the track.

Instead, I present you with a gorilla gif re-enactment.

Thursday and Friday I ran easy with my furry running companion, Leo.

Saturday, I ran a Half Marathon. My goal was to run as close to Marathon Pace for most of the race, as I could.

The view out my window when I woke up on Saturday morning.

8:27, 7:54, 8:39, 8:35, 8:33, 8:31, 8:34, 8:51, 8:20, 8:43, 8:26, 8:37, 8:13 (Thank You KoB), :42.

I finished in 1:51:12, which puts me right around 8:30 pace for the run. Not too shabby. It didn't feel quite as easy as I would have liked, but, it's also only week 3 of my training. I think I'm right where I should be.

 Up one of the many hills.

 

 The good news is even if I would have raced it, I still wouldn't

have won an award. Obviously someone else carried home a trophy though.

Showoff.

Sunday, Melissa and I ran TRAILS. And you know what? I actually absolutely LOVED it. I think it was only the 3rd time I've ran the trails at PWP with someone else. Usually I'm out there alone and contemplating thrusting myself off the side of a mountain at every climb, but this time... I had so much fun! We didn't care about our time and it was muddy as hell, so we definitely took our time. But, I loved it. I guess, I should stick to running the trails with people instead of alone from now on. 

Overall, it was a good week. I got my workouts done. I finally hit the trails for a recovery run, like I said I would and my head is fully wrapped around this training cycle.