I have been hoping to have great weeks of training for the final four leading up to my race. It’s possible, of course, as long as I stay healthy and use my time wisely.

Tuesday the weather caught up with me a bit. I didn’t start running til after 6PM, and I ran 6 miles in just shorts and a tank top. My arms and hands were cold by the end of the run, and it took a bit before I got full range of motion back in my hands.

Wednesday I had planned a hill workout and it rained all day, plus I had a crap day at work, so I decided to swap my Thursday rest day for Wednesday. Fine, fine. I like having Thursday as a rest day because I usually have an early day that’s both physically and mentally taxing, but I figured it wouldn’t be a big deal.

It rained/misted Thursday, too. Most of the day. Which, for me, started at 7:30 (normal for a full-time working person, but I’m a student, so that’s weird) and ended at… also 7:30. Well, I got home at 7:25. I was tired, hungry but also not feeling well thanks to eating a well done burger for lunch, and not pleased that I wasn’t going to be able to get a run in. I do have space in the week for two rest days, if I want to take them, but I am cutting back my long run while still hoping to hit around 36 miles for the week, so two rest days would mean another longish run in the mix.

Instead I hopped on the treadmill and did 8×400 at 10:31 pace, with 0.1 mi slow jog recovery between. Improvisation! I genuinely dislike running on the treadmill, especially when it’s not 50 below zero, but I didn’t want to run around after dark in the fog, and I would have had to skip the speed workout for the week, so it was treadmill or nothing. Many times, I’d have chosen nothing… and then chosen nothing again for days or weeks at a time following. Sometimes it’s perfectly fine to choose to do nothing. I did on Wednesday and I feel no guilt about it. However, I am going to pat myself on the back for the very minimal achievement of finding a way to work out despite being tired, cranky, mildly nauseated, and mentally taxed. It’s not something I’ve always been able to do.