Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Who Gets a Cold in Summer!?!

Well, hello there blog followers! I understand it's been awhile, and I apologize for that. Even with the week or so that's passed, I've only done 3 runs. I'm on my taper for the Boilermaker 15K, and with only 4 days left I'm trying to save my legs to have a decent race.
So since I mentioned in the comments of last post that I'd never done a tempo run, I decided to do one. The very next day. I'm pleasantly surprised with how well this run went. It was an easy .5 warm up at around 9:20 pace and then I picked it up to about 8:00 for the next mile and a half. Finished with a .5 mile cool down. :)
Then came the 4th of July with its crazy heat. I went by effort and not by pace. I didn't even look at my watch, only listening for the beeps that marked miles. (Okay, I did glance down to see the mileage to know when to turn around, but that's it, I swear!) So excited when I saw this pace. This is about where I was pre-injury. I must say my hard work is starting to show in my pace. And then it seemed to get even hotter.
And since it's taper week, my long run consisted of 5.5 miles. I combined two of my regular routes (a 2.5 and a 3) that were both a little longer and added an extra quarter mile on. The heat and humidity was excruciating. The first loop went well. I stopped back to my apartment and guzzled some water and then headed back out to finish the run. The second loop... didn't go as well. Every five minutes it seemed to get hotter and more humid. By the end I was so thankful to be home and out of the sun! I checked the weather and the "real-feel" on my phone said that even though it was mid-high 80s, the humidity made it feel like it was 97 degrees. No wonder I felt dehydrated and slow.

As I mentioned, the Boilermaker is only 4 days away! It is nearly upon us and the Beulah Half Marathon is fast approaching as well. Time to start mentally preparing for my flight and making lists of what to pack so I don't forget anything.
I'm not nearly as excited for the Boilermaker this year as I was last year. I am discouraged because my knee has been acting up in this hot/humid weather. I've had to do my physical therapy exercises more often. Because of the weather and my knee I am not as fast as I would like to be. Also, my lovely fiance gave me his cold! Who gets a cold in summer?! Honestly... So I can't breathe through my nose and feel like my head is underwater. At least it's a head cold though. For those that don't know, the rule of thumb with sickness and running is: Above the neck, good to go (scratchy throat, headache, stuffy nose, sinus stuff); Below the neck, rest a bit (body aches, cough, fever, etc). So I'm still good to run, but man when you are tired and plugged up like this, it is difficult to find motivation! Rest day today and then an easy 3 tomorrow and an easy 4 the next day. Then two days of hydrating and stretching and race time!

Safe and happy running!

2 comments:

  1. Missed your posts! Glad to hear you are getting back to pre-injury! Do you have a goal for the 15k?

    I did 11 on Saturday... Getting into a new schedule... yesterday was day 1 (4 miles) and I was able to check it off with the green highlighter!

    Hope your cold goes away - good luck on Saturday!

    Chris

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    1. Last year's time was 1:29:43. This year I would LOVE to beat that, but I don't know if it's an attainable goal. My runs have kinda been all over the place. Some fast, some insanely slow. I'm trying not to have a goal, but a PR keeps nudging its way into my mind... Good luck with your new training!

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