Weekly Training Log - Week 11 or Why It's Good to Have a Race on the Schedule

If I didn't have my half-marathon coming up in five weeks there was no way two of this week's runs were going to happen.  But I do, so they did.

Monday - Four miles around the neighborhood. 

Tuesday - My first spinning class.  This was hard.  Very hard.  And it hurt my ....um.....nether regions.  This is great cross-training though and I will be back.  Maybe someday I can increase resistance every time the instructor does.  There were a few times when my heart was willing but the legs said "no".

Friday - Now this was supposed to be a five miler Thursday night but events conspired against me and it was dark by the time I got home.  There was no way I could talk myself onto the treadmill so I said "I'll go in the morning" which usually means I don't end up going.  But with the upcoming race I knew I needed to get mileage in and couldn't go that night so I did a quick three around the neighborhood before work. 

Saturday - Four miles around the neighborhood.  Different path; hills are hard.

Sunday - Nine miles in miserable, cold, monsooning buckets of rain.  There is a quote from "The Runner's Rule Book" that says "Running any given route in the rain makes you feel 50 percent more hard core than covering the same route on a sunny day".  Ain't that the truth.  Cold, pokey, "oh hell, now it is blowing sideways off the lake", torrential, everything on my body (and it was wicking fabric) is soaked completely through and is sticking to my skin and holy crap am I miserable, kind of rain makes it at least 75 percent more hard core.  On the plus side, my pace was 30 seconds faster per mile than my Eugene race pace for last year. 

Total mileage:  20.0 (whee!  Every week lately has been a mileage PR)

Oh, I need to sing the praises of my boyfriend who was actually quite worried about me and met me at the door with a warm blanket and a hot cup of tea after I came home from Sunday's long run.  He didn't think I had dressed appropriately for the conditions and was concerned that I would get soaked (I did), chilled (I did) and be injured and have to walk back 4.5 miles to the car which would put me into a hypothermic state (I didn't and absolutely wouldn't have).  If I had been out trail running I could see the worry but running on a path by the rich folk's houses I would have been fine.  Still, it was very sweet and it did take me about 30 minutes of being wrapped in a blanket, drinking tea in front of the fireplace before I truly warmed up.  The worry was completely unnecessary but it is nice to know if it was necessary he would be there (which I already knew).  I have also been asked to take my cell-phone with me next time "just in case".  Isn't he cute?