Taking a step back was a great choice. My resting heart rate is down again, and I feel energized and cheered by the improved weather.

Monday: rest
Tuesday: rest/travel
Wednesday: 5 mi, treadmill, 135 bpm
Thursday: 3.3 mi, road, unknown HR + 3 mi, treadmill, 137 bpm
Friday: rest/travel
Saturday: 7.3 mi, road + trail (SHT – Martin Rd trailhead to home), 124 bpm
Sunday: 9 mi, trail (SHT – Highland/Getchell trailhead to home), 142 bpm
Total: 27.7 mi

My week was a hodgepodge of running. I was so tired on Monday that I didn’t run at all. I’d planned just a short run, maybe 4 miles, but I just couldn’t do it. I slept in on Tuesday since my flight wasn’t til later, and got a decent night’s sleep on Tuesday, so I was already feeling a heck of a lot better. The weather in Edmonton was great, too, which helped perk me up as well.

Wednesday I ran 5 treadmill miles, and Thursday I had a split workout: 3.3 miles running from my hotel to my work event (followed by kickball and soccer) and then 3 more treadmill miles in the evening. I had a long day on Friday, starting at 4:30 a.m. mountain time, and I sat on the plane for an hour once I finally got back to Duluth, as severe weather prevented the ground crew bringing the plane in (it’s def. not safe to be working around a giant metal airplane when there’s lightning nearby), so by the time I got home, I had lost motivation to even get a couple miles in.

Saturday I waited too long after eating to run, and I ended up running with dead legs and no energy. I should have brought a granola bar or something just in case; I thought the big sandwich I’d had at lunch would be sufficient. I hated most of the run, plodding along. It’s clear from my low average heart rate (124 bpm!) that I could have run much faster.

Sunday confirmed for me that I don’t really know how to run fast anymore. I was running pretty slowly (even for me) and again at a low heart rate (on the flats and downhills); I think a winter of slow runs dictated by my heart rate monitor has left me with a too-slow “comfortable” pace. My heels both have blisters on them from breaking in my new shoes, so that also prevented me from wanting to speed up. My GI system was a little off, so there was ANOTHER excuse. Eventually I was able to push myself past my excuses and speed up.

I’m running a 5K this upcoming weekend, so this week I’m going to leave the trails behind and focus on getting my legs turning over faster. I don’t mean a week of speed work, just a week of shaking off that complacent stride I’ve had for months.