A Runner’s Balancing Act

I’m back!!! No, I didn’t go on vacation. Life has just been overwhelming and I had to let the blog go for a little bit. Overload. Total overload. I didn’t realize just how incredibly exhausting it is to run in the heat. All last week, I was drinking strong coffee all afternoon just to survive. The last three weekends in row, I have taken 3-5 hour naps Saturday afternoon after my long run. I wake up enough to eat some dinner, then go back to bed and easily sleep late (until 9) on Sunday. Then all Sunday, I’m lethargic and fighting the desire to go down for another nap.

I don’t get it. My running is actually feeling pretty good. My legs are feeling fresh in the morning and things seem to be clicking when it comes to training. Its just the rest of the day, I’m toast.

Here are last weeks running stats:

Sunday: Rest
Monday: Rest
Tuesday:
8.5 miles outside at 5 am (85-90 degrees)
2.5 miles at 7 pm(105 degrees) (with TNT group)
competitive volleyball game at 8:30 pm
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: 6 miles on treadmill, 6 am
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 10.5 miles outside 5 am with TNT

As you can see Tuesday was a marathon of a day. I think that touched off the exhaustion that hung with me all week. I went running that morning because my running buddy Malinda offered to meet me. This week, I think I’m going to ask her if we can do Thursday because Tuesday is just too much. On the flip side, it was kind of a bummer that our Team in Training “track workout” ended up being about 9.5 laps around the track. Some of which was walking between intervals. BUT it was a good thing it was easy, or I wouldn’t have lasted.

I’ve been going crazy with some other Team in Training commitments lately too. I’m starting to feel the pressure of being a mentor. I love it, but it is time consuming. That combined with the fact that I have zero energy when I finally get home at night is making me a really bad wife. Lets just say that by Friday, I think we still had dishes in the sink from Tuesday, and clean and dirty laundry in piles all over the house. Thank god I have such an understanding and helpful hubby. I don’t know how people do this and have kids! Lisa, you are amazing!  When its time for me to have kids – that is it, no more marathoning for me. I’m exhausted enough just trying to hold down a job and take care of myself.

So I’m starting the FIRST plan tonight. The first workout should be: 10 min warm up easy running, then three 1 mile intervals at 7.6 on the treadmill, with 1 minute rest intervals in between. Followed up by another 10 minutes of easy running. I’m pretty sure that I won’t be able to do it exactly, but we shall see. I will modify it if I have to.

Have a good week everyone!

Wow, I have been so busy this week. I keep trying to put together blog post, but it keeps getting interrupted. Oh well, I’m sure you guys didn’t want to read another ridiculously long post anyways.  Here is the short story this week. I only ran Tuesday and Thursday. I will also run tomorrow morning with Team in Training.

Tuesday’s run was the hot one. We headed out at 5:30 but it was already high 80s before the sun came up. My running buddy Malinda got me through it, but boy was it tough. Forgot to turn on the ipod for the first 20 minutes of the run. I calculated that one to be at about 7.8 miles (based on tracing or route on gmaps pedometer). All I can say is wow, I never want to do that again! That was hotter than I can handle. What was funny was how delirious we were both getting towards the end of the run. Our conversation started making no sense whatsoever. Its pretty funny thinking back on it actually.

Wednesday, I decided to check out the super-nice new gym in my town. I’ve always been a member of LA Fitness but after the fiasco with trying to find a parking spot last time I was there, I decided this week that it was time to look for another gym. Since I just moved I don’t really have a gym close to my home. LA Fitness is kind of close to my work, but its about a half hour drive from home.

To make a long story short, I ended up joining this new gym less then a mile from my house. It a huge and just opened its doors in March and everything is new. The best part is, there were tons of treadmills open when I got there at 6:15 pm. 

So I did the tour, and joined the gym on Wednesday, then I came back on Thursday to actually get a run in. I would have done it Wednesday, but it just took so long to get all signed up, it was 7 o’clock and I was hungry for dinner. The run Thursday on the treadmill was great. It was nice and cool in there with fans blowing and there were maybe 10 people in the entire cardio room the entire time I was there. They had nice tvs, showing both CNN and Fox News (I always prefer to watch news over sports) and they were all hooked up so you can listen to them on your radio.  I did about 6 miles at a 6.7 pace, and didn’t really feel bored at all.

So I am happy to report, I’m looking forward to running on the treadmill again. What a difference it makes to be in gym that’s cool and not overcrowded.

Tomorrow morning we are meeting at South Mountain Park at 5:30 am for a hilly 8 mile run.  Its probably going to be a lot like Tuesdays run. The predicted HIGH tomorrow is 114. The low will be high 80’s.  I’m not planning on being speedy. I’m bringing my camera, so hopefully I will have some new photos.

Goodluck to everyone with their weekend long runs!

This will be a quick one because I have exactly 15 minutes before I head out the door to meet my friend Malinda for a run. I just checked azcentral.com for the weather. I made a screen capture, so you all can see my horror….
Yes that's right, it is 4:41 in the freeking morning, the sun is not even up, and it is already 91 degrees! Yes this is why getting up early during the AZ Summers ceases to be worth it at some point. If I weren't meeting a friend, I would definitely be running this afternoon at the gym. This high temperature yesterday was 112, and its supposed to be that hot all week.

I know I know, I gotta stop complaining about this, its not like I can do anything about the weather. I've lived here long enough to know what to expect. Well wish me luck… I will try to report back on the sweatiness this afternoon . This going to be a tough one, I can just tell.