TO RUN OR NOT TO RUN

I spent the last 5 minutes staring out the window, trying to decide whether I should go for a run or not. Typically, if it takes that much effort to get out the door, then the answer is no. So here I am eating my lunch and blogging instead.


Last week I managed my second week in a row at 70 miles. Honestly, I wasn’t sure I was going to make it, given the way Saturday’s run started. Heading into the run I needed 16 miles to reach my goal. The first mile went by and I was barely under 9 minutes. But it wasn’t an easy 9:00 pace, it was a heavy-legged mile and I wondered how I’d ever make it 15 more miles. Luckily things started to come around and I managed to finish the run averaging 8:05 pace.

It’s really no surprise that I was tired. When I stopped to think about it, I remember that I did a 5K on Sunday (with a 6 mile cooldown), 13 miles on Wednesday, and a 5 mile tempo run on Thursday (8 miles total).

Ideally, I’d like to have one more big week before cutting back, but realistically, I don’t see that happening. Physically, I’m feeling fine. Mentally, I’m looking forward to a little break. So I’ll take one.

One thing I’ve been thinking about lately is how high should I go with my mileage this training cycle. I know I run well off of a large base – something like 3 months of 300+ miles (i.e. 70 MPW). So do I stick where I’m at and try to put together three weeks of 70 miles or do I bump my mileage a little and try to keep building?

I will say that it felt like my metabolism really kicked in around last Wednesday. I was so hungry that afternoon that I spent most of it walking around the office in search of food. That’s not a good thing when it’s Girl Scout Cookie season. I probably could have lost another 2 pounds if it weren’t for that.

Finally, congrats to Amanda Smock on winning the US Indoor triple jump championship over the weekend. I just happened to be looking at the running results at the time the triple jump was taking place. Amanda was in third after the 4th round. Her 5th round jump gave her the lead and she hung on through the 6th round.

Quote of the Day;

“Thanks to all for the support, feeling pretty loved. Looking forward to putting in some work this week and then headed to the World Indoor Competition in Turkey!!” – Amanda Smock, commenting to all her supporters on facebook