Training Update

If it seems like I’m posting a lot about running, I am. Probably because I’m running a lot. What I learned today is Whitney’s volleyball schedule is nuts. Every Tuesday and Thursday for September and October, with a couple of Saturdays thrown in. Oh yeah, practice starts THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL. And because she knows she’s on the team – I’ll drop her off on my way to work and go back and get her 3 hours after school is out. Am I killing my kids? Probably, but the crazy mom who ran 57 miles in the last two weeks this can’t say much as long as they are healthy and keeping their grades up except keep working hard. Nate starts baseball practice the second day of college. August 24. Last game was yesterday. Best game he’s played all year. I was thrilled for him, he was happy. Way to finish little league on a high note. Last game before college. I was a little sad. Oh, back to what I learned. I will most likely have to run in the morning before work. Which will be okay during the school year because Whitney & Nate will be so exhausted that they won’t keep me up till 11:30 every night. I like running in the morning, but I like my bed in the morning too.
A little story about my worst run of the season – so far. I know it’s hot across the whole country right now, but Kansas this July has been 100 degrees pretty much every day, heat index of 110 – 115. With humidity of 47% to 68%. Winds of 28 mph. These are Kansas winds. Not gusts, just the wind blowing at 28 mph. I purposely run through sprinklers. So I’m going to compare to Saturday runs, 16 miles planned for both Saturdays.
17th – first 5 miles were great. 24th – first 5 miles were great.
17th – next 5 miles sucked. 24th – next five miles piece of cake.
17th – at 10 miles stopped for Gatorade, salt caps, anything to help with the heat cramps. 24th – 10 miles found a $10.00 bill and drank a diet coke.
17th – mile 11.3 felt like I was going to throw up. Told Steve to keep running and come back for me with the car. 24th – mile 11.3ish hopped over a 3 foot brick fence because I ran the wrong side of the path to miss all the cyclist.
17th – mile 13.5 after walking for 2 miles, wringing sweat out of the bottom of the hem of my running skirt (first time for this), Steve picked me up and drove me home. 24th – mile 12.5 Steve caught up with me from his 25 mile run (and he started a little earlier than me too) and ran the last 5 miles home together. He was quite happy to run much slower for his last 5 miles. I did walk some the last 5 miles, but held to my walk 1 and then run 4. Totally different experiences. There were some differences.
17th – black skirt, 24th – yellow skirt (not sure this mattered)
17th – ran whole way with Steve, 24th – ran first 12.5 alone, last 5 with Steve (looked forward to him catching me)
17th – drank water, Gatorade, ate GU, 24th – drank water, Gatorade, DIET COKE (could this be my “spinach”?, ate GU
17th - struggled to run 11.3, finished 13.5, 24th – never really struggled in 17.4 miles
It’s one of the greatest mysteries of running to me how some days are great and some are terrible. I suppose if I delved into exactly what I ate all week, stress levels, how much I slept, etc. I might find out more, but I never sleep well, always eat odd, and live a life full of stress. So it’s not worth figuring that out. I really believe it’s the yellow princess skirt with the sequin crown on the right thigh and the diet coke.