Big week!

Monday: 6.4 mi, road
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: 5 mi, paved trail (Lakewalk)
Thursday: 8.6 mi, road
Friday: 4.1 mi, trail (Bagley)
Saturday: 20.2 mi, trail/paved trail (Western Waterfront Trail/Munger Trail)
Sunday: 6.1 mi, trail (Hartley)
Total: 50.4 mi

Pretty pumped. 50 miles! I’m not sure I’ve hit that in a week (as defined as Mon-Sun) ever, will have to look through my spreadsheet to be certain.

I felt pretty good this week. The weather has been better, so it’s been easier to get out of the house, and the streets are mostly clear of snow and ice, so I’ve had additional routes open up for me. Now I only have to run the Lakewalk when I’m feeling exceptionally lazy.

Of course, if I run the Lakewalk, I’m treated to things like this:

That was well-earned, because it was incredibly windy.

My weekday runs were pretty basic. Procrastinate, finally get my butt out there, feel like a goddess for doing so. Repeat. I was determined to have a good training week. No hockey to schedule around, and pleasant weather for the most part!

Saturday, oof. It was a tough one. It was a lot warmer than I thought, and I was wearing black heavier-knit tights when I should have been wearing shorts. I did the first nearly 7 miles on the Western Waterfront Trail, which was good because it broke up the run a bit, and bad because it was gravel, and I now hate gravel. It’s hard to get good footing, and I hate kicking loose rocks (not picking my feet up enough + the tread on my shoes = kicking lots of rocks). My stomach also went sour fairly quickly. I wasn’t feeling like I was going to hurl (for the most part), but I had some reflux issues and some lower abdominal cramping and knew I had hours of running to go. I handled it ok – I grabbed my vanilla Coke and some mints in the parking lot before heading out on the Munger Trail, and at mile 9, started doing a walk/run combo to give myself a break, up until the last 2.5 miles, which I was able to run without breaks. It was good practice for my upcoming 24 hour race, if nothing else, and definitely a good exercise in problem-solving on the go and working through some mental issues. I still completed the run with a 14:02 average pace, well ahead of where I need to be for the first half of CM50K. So, hooray for that.

Sunday was almost worse. Hartley was muddy, and I was over it. I quit looking at my watch, walked when I needed to (uphill and over slippery spots), and just tried to survive mentally. I think I need to stop running at Hartley for awhile, not just because the trails need a chance to recover & dry out, but also because it’s messing with my mind. The trails are shorter now due to the flooding (I assume), and I have not adjusted my expectations accordingly. I ended up having to piece together 2.5 miles to even get to 6 miles, and it was really frustrating to do so. I used to be able easily pry a 5-6 mile run out of a single loop (without even going on the ski trails section). I got it done, I made it to 50 miles, that’s the important thing.

I’m kind of tired now (writing this Sunday night), thanks to a long running week and the damp, chilly weather that came over the city right after I was done with my run (there was some light rain during the run, but nothing noticeable). This upcoming week is yet another step back week, thanks to my trip to Chicago to attend the Frozen Four. I will probably only be able to run Monday & Tuesday (v. short run, thanks to class – last one, then I have to actually register for the stupid FE exam) before leaving for Chicago on Wednesday. If I can either run before we leave (hahahahahahahha) or run at the hotel (maybe), then I can run Wednesday, and if I can run Thursday before we check out (hmm, maybe), then maybe I’ll be able to salvage the week. We are staying in a VRBO the rest of the weekend, which naturally does not have a gym. The good news is, I’ll be walking a lot, and of course elevating my heart rate through hockey stress.