Week 2 Training for pacing for the Hawk 100

Again, I am going to call this week 2 but tentatively.  I am just torn as to what to do at this point.  A huge part of me thinks I can keep it low and slow and still pace my friend, but maybe give up on the other races and be okay.  Let's just jump into my week and go from there okay?

Andrew had his first rock band lesson and LOVED it!

Monday:  Rest day and chiro visit.  Okay if you read my blog post two weeks ago, you know I was kind of freaking out about his plan for me going forward post my last pacing gig.  He wanted me to take time off, no biking, no running, just pool jogging and strength.  This was to not only clear up my PF, but also so I could work on my biomechanics.  I was kind of leery of this plan, as it meant taking away two of my stress relievers in biking and running.  While I am okay with cutting back, maybe scrapping my plans for this fall, I can not and will not give up entirely; unless I have a stress fracture or a stress response.  I know that sounds kind of crazy, but with working two jobs, I have to have either biking or running or I will probably loose my mind.  Fast forward to today.  While my PF had been quiet or non existent, when I ran in my saucony's for my long run, it came roaring back.  I iced, prayed, stretched, cursed, and steeled myself for the worse.  Actually, my visit was quite good. I  had a bit of painful myofascial release done, but overall he said everything was good to go.  He still cautioned me that I could really do some real damage eventually if i kept my volume of running up.  Now, I see his point but I also disagree a bit.  I do not run crazy miles.  I run 4 days a week with a max during the peak part of my running cycle at 45-50 miles, which is WAY under what most runners run.  Now, maybe that is still too much for my body, maybe the plethora of pacing races needs to calm down, or maybe I just need to pick one big event a year and leave it at that.  All of these things I can be happy with and do, I just am not into giving it up completely.  He gave me the option of 5-8 more good years of running, with probably continuous injury and a trip to see him every few weeks to get fixed, or a life time of running if I pull back now.  It's obvious that all I am doing is working and things are getting better, I just need to keep on it with my PT exercises daily.  So here is where I am at.  I am still going to pace my friend. I  am still going to train this training cycle.  I am probably going to drop all other fall races unless they are a half and go from there.  I am going to see how this training cycle goes and if this plan works, I will pick one ultra for next year probably spring and train this winter, since i prefer the cold to the heat anyway.  Then I will stick to that schedule, big spring race, easy summer and maybe some half marathons in the fall.  I think that is fair to my body, but we shall see how it goes.

Tuesday: A very hot and humid easy 4.  Since I honestly don't know what is up with my body, we are going to do one more easy week.  It was 97% humidity and we could feel it.  We went out a little later, and I think that we are going to have to get out earlier or the dogs won't be able to join us.  Stella and Deuce looked like giant puff balls when we got done due to the humidity.  My foot felt great during the run, and I even ran in my compression sleeve for PF upon my chiro's request.  I iced post run, but I did feel like it bothered me on and off throughout the day, even in the compression sleeve and heel cup.  I am going to go invest in some OOFOS sandals as well, because anything I can do at this point to continue running is worth the money and I have secretly always wanted a pair anyway :)

Wednesday:  Broken record here, slept in until time to get ready to take Mr. A to tutoring.  Mom is still here, so knew I could get out later on my bike and she could babysit.  The day ending up being quite nice for a June day in KS, so instead of me going on a solo bike ride, we hit up Mt. Mitchell and did some family hiking.

The butterflies were out full force and milkweed was blooming, so we got to see lots of monarchs, viceroys, painted ladies, fritillaries and swallowtails.   Plus, we saw and heard some meadow larks and quails and saw many many grasshoppers.  

We even saw a few lizards sunning on rocks. While there was a little bit of whining and complaining, we made it to the top and got about an hours worth of hiking in.  I counted this as cross training.  This was also my mom's last night in KS so we went out to eat and all hit the hay early.  

Thursday:  5 miles with Melly.  We got up extra early to beat the heat and it was still 72 with 97% humidity at 4:45 am.  YUCK!  On our way back into town as I was almost to a major highway that we cross, something shot out from a house.  I caught it out of the corner of my eye and seriously thought it was a wild animal (we had just seen a fox a few feet back).  When we stopped we realized it was a tiny little kitten.  We quickly tried to get it back to where it came from and carry on, but it quickly followed us again.  We put it back again and took off and it just followed us yet again.  Sigh.

Kudos to Mel for carrying this little kitty almost a mile home wrapped up in her t shirt!

I decided we could take it home and I would drive it back over post run and try to figure out who it belonged to.  When we went back to see, no one claimed the little guy/girl, so to keep it safe, we took Sparky as we are calling him/her to the shop, so he/she could be safe and have some food and water and a litter box to call her/his own.

Friday:  Cross training.  Post working both jobs and playing with our new shop kitty, I headed out on my bike with lots of water.  I didn't get barre done as I had planned, but i am hoping my PT exercises that I do daily are counting for something.

We also spent quite a bit of time at the shop making sure kitty was happy and had company.  We wanted to get him treated for worms and ear mites before we took him home for an extended period of time.  We are hoping that we can have him at the shop during the day and then at the house during the night and weekends, but that is going to depend on the dogs.  They are WAY to interested in him and while he holds his ground and doesn't appear to be scared of them at all, he is still awfully small to be left alone with them at this point.  He has food and water at the shop and a nice big litter box and we practically live there most of the time anyway, so he is never alone for very long.

I call this one, "I see you."

Saturday:  an easy 4.  Coach wanted to hold off on anymore long runs till we pow wowed about what my chiro thinks and how my foot does.  I may be under trained for pacing my friend, but I have been running for years now, so I don't think it will be an issue if this training cycle is a little abnormal.  I slept in (AGAIN) and thought about running on the mill.  Instead, stupidly I went out around 8ish and tried to run from the shop, which meant lots of pavement.  I took my Nathan hand held filled with ice  and water and my headsweats buff.  I felt pretty good for about 3 miles and then it just hit me and I was super nauseous.  I pretty much walked/wogged the final mile.  I hate summer running and it hates me back equally.  I tried to keep my headsweats buff wet at all times, but the wind from the south kept drying it out and I quickly ran out of water.  That's not good since it was only 4 miles.

We had our third t ball game and I am SO proud that these kids were unfazed in feels like 102 degree weather.  They still hustled, listened, and tried their best.  I was seriously worried, and they proved my worry to be unfounded.  Let's see how that goes next week when we have a double header.  

Sunday:  an easy 3 miles.  I didn't get up early but I could have.  We decided to let the kitty spend the night at the house, and Sparky decided at 4 am that he was up and ready to party.  I managed to get him back to sleep and go back to sleep myself, but I was up again at 7 am and out the door at 7:30.  Again, it was 80 and high humidity, so the dogs got to stay at home.  They are already getting pretty restless and unhappy with being left at home, but I do not want to jeopardize heat stroke. I took a few walk breaks and listened to my body more on this run versus hitting the point of too late. 

Post run we hit up the new Incredibles movie, had swim lessons, and I had to get some work done at KSU.  Then we went and celebrated Father's day at my hubby's favorite place to eat Texas Roadhouse.  It was a great but tiring day!

Well, I am going to jump back into training full force and see where this goes.  I had a long talk with my coach and we agreed to just see how things feel and go from there.  I am trying to be very diligent about PT and also about cross and strength, but this week was a bust on strength, and I just have to move on and not be upset about it.  Working two jobs and getting andrew to all of his summer fun is taking all of my time right now, and there just isn't anything I can do about it.  Oh well!  Have a great week!!!!!  I am looking forward to a break in this horrible heat!