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February 07, 2005
What a Difference 12 Hours Makes
To put it mildly, the weather this winter has been bizarre. The weatherman on TV was even talking about how strange the weather has been. We started with an unusually mild December and early January, then had a bitter cold spell in late January, and now we are having springlike weather. It has either been well above average or well below average, not much around average.
I woke up early, just before 5:00 to run. I could not stay up to watch all of the Superbowl. My stomach was really acting up last night and I was tired, so I made the decision that although I wanted to see the Eagles play, it was not in my best interest to force myself to stay awake. The part of the game that I saw was actually a game, not a blowout like the Superbowl can be. My mom left me a note on my bathroom mirror to let me know the score, a definite bummer. I had decided that if my stomach was still all bloated when I woke up that I would not go for my morning run, but luckily it only felt tender from being so bloated last night.
Dad remembered to give me his headlamp last night so I did not have to carry a flashlight this morning. It was definitely chilly this morning. I was toasty in my new Gore-Tex jacket, but my fingers were pretty raw even with gloves on. My body is so out of it and still asleep that I don't even know what I am doing until about the turn around point. My stomach was still feeling funny, but I got an early enough start that I could fix that when I got back from the run. I ended up doing 4 miles in about 31 minutes, which considering the sleepy state that I was in isn't too shabby.
J called me on my cell this afternoon as I was pulling into the bank to cash my paycheck (a long story and if y'all heard it, you'd make me quit my job!). He was letting me know that he was not going to be able to make the workout since he had to work overtime and to give me instructions for what to do. We also discussed how my body is handling the higher mileage. Anyhow, the workout was either four loops like we did last week or four 800s on the track.
Given the very warm temperatures today(I even wore shorts, in February!!), the track was clear. We did the 2 1/2 mile warm up, which was feeling very fast. C has a tendency to do the warm up and warm down faster than the actual workout. We got started on the workout and I was feeling OK, not fast, but not slow. This was really the first workout that I've done since before Thanksgiving, so it was hard to judge where I should be. My tri buddy J and I ended up running together. We did 2:59, 2:58, and 2:59 for the first three 800s with our 400 recovery right around 1:48. J took off on the last 800, but I still ran another 2:58. The goal is to try to keep the recoveries on the faster side. This makes me stronger and more consistent, as well as teaching myself how to run fast on tired legs. We did 2 1/2 miles to warm down, a total of 8 miles for the night and 12 miles for the day.
I have to do some core exercises while watching TV tonight and then hit the sack early. I can "feel" my right ankle, it doesn't really hurt, but it is not right. I'm icing it as I type. It doesn't look swollen, but it does look a bit purple. I'll just keep an eye on it for the next few days.
Posted by Blondie at February 7, 2005 07:49 PM