Surprising Myself

So training hasn't been going all that wonderfully lately.

Well, it has and it hasn't, but the motivation has been kind of lacking which is a BIG problem given that we have a race in ... *checks watch* ... exactly one week. I'm pretty sure part of the issue is the fact that I just don't get enough sleep. Add that to fairly heavy/consistent training, and my body can only take so much before it wants to shut down. "No, you canNOT do a long run today or anything for the next few days until you sleep, biatch!"

Yes. My body swears at me. A lot.

Still, for the most part, I push and plod and perservere, getting in something even if it's not what was actually planned.

Take this weekend. Since the hubby was overnighting in the Springs and I had today off, I figured I'd drive down Saturday afternoon, hang out, go to a 24 down there to swim and lift (back to Mark Allen lift again), spend the night and drive back up in the morning, grab breakfast with the parents (and ask them for a loan. damn hospital bills.) and then go for a longish (5 miles) run.

The swim/lift ... was definitely not as good as it could have been. We just didn't have the motivation to swim and the 600m I got in were definitely forced. The good about this? My first two 50s were SUPER fast (for me) - around a minute a piece, which is just crazy talk. I thought the pool might be shorter, but no, as I started getting into the longer part of the set (and not attempting to compete against the much faster husband), my times got back down to normal. Still finished with an average that was faster than usual. The lift ... was what it was. Oh Mark Allen lift, I really haven't missed you.

Then we come to today's run. Which I kept putting off. And putting off. And putting off. Like my May recap which will hopefully come tomorrow. Finally, I dragged my ass out the door around 5pm, only planning to do our 3.48 mile loop as opposed to our 5.37 mile loop. This decision was furthered in the run, where my legs felt like lead for the first mile and a half and my breathing refused to get under control.

Despite that, my times at my usual watch checkpoints (I have a rough estimate of where I like to be at certain spots to crack a 10:00/mi) were speedier than usual. I didn't check my watch on the last half mile stretch and just pushed it to home. I stopped my watch in front of the driveway and read 35:something. That pissed me off. SERIOUSLY? I know the last half-mile was slow, but there's no way in hell it could have been THAT slow.

I stormed upstairs, took a shower and then came downstairs to log the run on BeginnerTriathlete. Much to my sheepish surprise, the actual time on the watch? Was not 35:something. More like 32:51.33 ... which, after some research, was my fastest time ever on that loop.

(The loop in question, I might add, SUCKS. The first half-mile is fairly flat with subtle elevation changes. And then you turn to go up a nasty, awful hill that lasts for the next half-mile. The next ... probably third of a mile after that is also uphill, but not as bad as a grade. The run then flattens out for another, say, third of a mile before an ever-so-slight incline that you don't physically see, but your legs hate. Mile three starts off with a short incline but then you get to logically run downhill for a good half-mile or so. This is where you can pick up some serious time. Mile three continues with a little bit of flat and then another climb up another stupid hill (we kind of live at the bottom of this wave), curve it around until essentially the start of what would be mile four and then wind it down steadily to home.)

While I took Friday off, I think tomorrow's also going to be relatively easy given the fact that I am tiiiiiiirrrreeed and really should be in bed instead of posting this.