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September 16, 2004
Refreshing Run
I was really pooped this afternoon. The past few days at work have been exceptionally draining. It has been a real struggle to get myself to make it through the day at work. I don't know how much longer I'm going to be able to stay in this place. The other staff members are making me miserable and not want to be there.
Anyhow, I was going to go over to do my run immediately after school today instead of coming home and taking a nap first. I got over to the place where we meet to do our runs hoping to meet up with J. He doesn't get off of work as early as I do, so I usually have a short wait. I don't see the point in coming home, dropping off my things and then running out the door to get back in my car again. Anyhow, I got there and I really had to use the bathroom. There is a public bathroom in the park about a half mile from where we meet, so I walked over to it because my stomach would not have let me run at this point and then I walked back. This took up most of the time that I would have had to wait. 3:45 came and went and J still had not shown up. I gave him five more minutes and then left. It isn't like it really mattered since he was going to be doing hill repeats and I was going to do the river run, but it would have been nice to at least get started with someone else. I saw the boys from our local powerhouse team on their run and said hi to the guys who trained with us over the summer and went on my way. As I was running down to the river, my path crossed with theirs again and I was passing the bulk of their team. At one point, I had to go left and the boys had to go right, the coach was standing in the middle of the road as I was passing his runners and he goes "Well, there goes a good runner". I felt pretty quick for most of the run. This run goes downhill to the river, is flat on a path around the river, and then climbs back to the starting point. I really tried to stay relaxed on the down and the flat and work the up. I'm not really sure how long the run is, but we do it frequently on our off time, or for holiday runs when we don't have a workout scheduled. I know that it is over 6 miles, but under 7. My guess is close to 6.5, but I'm not positive about this. I finished in 43:20, and I can definitely say that I was running under 7 minute pace. I decided to do my 200 striders with a 200 jog today. I only did 4 and tried to pick up the pace and finish strong on each 200. I did time these, but I didn't look at my watch until I was finished the entire mile. My splits looked like this: 41.6, 53.8, 41.6, 54.1, 41.6, 53.9, 42.0, 54.0 (the first 200 of each lap was the strider) for a 6:22 mile. I was happy with this and hope that I can average right around that pace this weekend. I jogged two *really* slow laps to finish off for a total of about 8 miles for the day. I ran in the racing shoes that I plan on wearing Sunday for all of today's run. I bought them to train in, since they are heavier racing shoes. I just have not been able to do much training in them since we've been on the fields and hills for the past few weeks.
I went to the downtown branch of my gym and ran into an ex. We're still friendly, but it is always awkward when I run into him. He told me that he sees me running a couple of times a week with a bunch of guys, leading them and talking the whole time. He claims that it is a good thing, but that the guys always look so tired and I look so energized. I rode the stationary bike for 20 minutes to take up some time and then went to the Stability Ball/Ab class. I had not been in a few months and there was a new woman teaching. I didn't care for what she did and I felt she did the moves too fast for me to feel my core working. On the way home, I stopped for some ice and subjected myself to a 15 minute ice bath before dinner. My body just does not seem to want to warm up from it, but I am convinced that it makes my body feel so much better. I'll probably even take one on Saturday before the race even though it is a really easy day of running.
Tomorrow is a much needed day off from running. My body is starting to feel pretty beat up. I should call to schedule a massage for soon after the race because I am starting to feel the effects of my training. If it were earlier in the week, I would do it now, but with the race on Sunday I don't want to mess with anything.
Posted by Blondie at September 16, 2004 08:21 PM