A little more like me
Progress:
1) Wearing my skinny clothes for the first time in almost a year: I define skinny clothes as anything I've bought post-becoming a distance runner. Everything I wore before that are fat clothes. I now anatomically resemble an athlete, even thought the functionality is still getting there.
2) Call of the demons: I'm feeling a little bit more in my element in the past few runs. Mostly this has to do with the return of competitive instincts. It feels good to go fast. I find myself working in little surges, passing people, wanting to do more. Actually, dying to do more.
I feel a little bit more like me. Of course, that comes with pros and cons. What gives me the drive to lift myself out of being defeated and depressed is also what potentially gives me the injuries that hold me back. Keeping the demons under control will be the major challenge for this next block of training.
Sunday 08/10: 1:43:08, Monterrey to RB perimeter and back on the other side. A good solid long run. Woke up a little on the late side so it blebbed into the 8 am hour... but thankfully it remained relatively cool. Ran easy and but picked it up a little at the end. Felt good the whole way, though the first 20 minutes or so felt choppy.
Monday 08/11: Off, shots. Feeling really stressed today... I just wish that every aspect of my life did not involve QUITE so much difficult person management.
Tuesday 08/12: 1:20:52, Bailey to Connector. Due to the confluence of many inconvenient things, did my birthday run 2 days early. Woke up at 5:50 am to get out there early and it was foggy and cool and wonderful. 28:29 to camp, 47:56 to connector, not particularly fast vs. last week, but the effort level made all the difference in the world. A little rough in the beginning but felt good the whole way, breathing through nose, didn't even notice Heartbreak Hill until I was already past it. Unlike last week, I never got to the super dying horrible not going to make it state.
In other news, took a little bit of a tumble biking to work... bc I am retarded. Was standing (with one foot on the ground) at an intersection, and toppled cleanly over trying to shift my backpack. Fortunately said backpack broke my fall, but the impact managed to drop my chain. Then, somehow I decided that shifting the gears would help me get it back on, but that made the situation horribly worse because then the chain got tangled and jammed around the rear derailleur area. I try not to be a complete moron regarding bike part proficiency, but I am no Katherine Breeden... I really was rather on the boggled side as far as how to fix this situation. So instead, here I am sitting by the side of the road staring at my bike like a doofus... when miraculously a car stops in front of me, and a cyclist steps out to save the day. Bike restored, I made it safely the rest of the way. ~68 minutes round trip.
Wednesday 08/13: 47:44, Monterrey to end of Arroyo Tempo Loop. Slept in, then couldn't find watch, ergo moderately disgruntled, but run was okay. A little bit tired from yesterday, so took it real easy, but was pleased that the time wasn't that off from non-post-Bailey days. Had to drive to work today due to off-campus meetings... :'(.
Thursday 08/14: 55:59, 2 laps of the Arroyo from the horse stables to the trail closure... which is a disgruntling turn of events. Wanted to do California to Salvia Canyon, but the path was blocked off right under the bridge nearest to the RB. So had to back track and run the circuit again to add up to ~ 50 minutes. Legs felt more tired than I expected, not zippy at all, but I guess it's been a big week already. Felt better after biking to work.
Friday 08/15: Off, shots. I'm finally back to about the dose where everything went wrong... a little more swelling than usual, but fingers crossed. So tired....
Saturday 08/16: 1:07:18, 5 x Arroyo Tempo Loops with middle 3 at tempo pace: 15:22, 11:40, 11:34, 11:27, 17:16 with the last cool down lap including detour to see if trail closure has been re-opened (yes) and jog back to car. Not terrible, felt good to finally make it through 3. First two breathing through nose, then last one pretty hard... harder than I would have liked, but at least it was the fastest. I think this is progress, but the issue is still mostly weak cardio.
Worked on my beautiful new commuting bike with Peter and Ian!
Training this week: 5:55:01, plus ~2:20 cycling--a pretty big week.
Goals: Need to establish a solid 5 - 5.5 hour weekly routine that's compatible with biking to work on the non-shot days. This does not come naturally to me, but I need to think sustainability.
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