(with apologies to Dickens) “ it was the best of times and the worst of times… the times that try our souls”

  

Since I last updated you on my training  a couple of weekends have passed.

14 Feb…  Valentine's day and the first day I started to get that sicky feeling

By Saturday it was pretty evident that I had an upper repertory infection.  That was the day I pulled the plug after 3 hours of my Saturday workout.  After the workout I picked up my Donna packet…  went to the clinic…  got antibiotics then slept…  for like 16 hours straight

Selfie at the start

I got up Sunday morning feeling not too bad…  then basically jogged the Breast Cancer Marathon.  Quite surprised to feel okay nailing 10:45s until the wind started beating on my chest at mile 23 (JTB bridge) and my asthma kicked up.  I finished… drank a beer and walked home…  not too much the worse for wear.

In memory of an old friend who lost her fight in 2012

Monday I felt groovy…  okay I was tired but did the stairmill for an hour after we slept in (holiday)…  around 5 I went out and did my loop…  basically a 6 mile circle around my house.  2 miles dirt road and the rest sidewalk…  I felt great!

I spent the rest of the week full on swagger…  preaching the gospel of my magic shoes…

Doing my workouts with ease and style…

Killing the Wednesday 10 miler

And even doing a couple of easy "bonus runs" with my old buddy Mark at the trails.

After "rest day" on Friday I started to think that my Saturday workout looked too easy…

So I decided that I would do the Saturday workout in the heat of the day… (Yes folks it was sunny and in the mid 80s) then do my Sunday workout

In the early morning… (less than 12 hours rest) and try to not overachieve too much by running faster than goal pace (YEAH Boyeee!)

Hit the stairmill about 1300…  nothing to it… but to do it.  1 hour at ~130 BPM

Then we went outside… Judi and I ran the first 4ish miles together…  Judi asked me how I felt…  my answer "adequate" the 10:30s we were doing in the 85 degree weather were not easy.  We parted ways and I went on alone…  ran to UNF and did 2 loops of the trails…  hot and muggy back there and I began to suffer….  Pace slowed…  and HR rose

Judi caught this shot of me... as myself and I were having "the talk"

After a few more miles I felt broken…  I wanted to stop…  sit down… my form was in the toilet… and I hurt… while that might have been the most prudent choice I did what any runner might have done….  I had a talk with myself…  picked up the pace…  ignored my soaring heartrate and pounded out the last 4.5 miles on my run at a pace fast enough to lower my average pace to right where it was supposed to be.

I was more than a little cooked.

I slept fitfully…  in a bit of pain

0445 Sunday 24 Feb my alarm went off…

0555 I'm standing outside in the drizzling rain.

0605 after walking .5 miles and retying my shoes I start to run…  my legs feel wooden but on I stumble

0610 I notice my pace is a 13:14 (still running at this point) my left leg is okay but my right leg will not pull through….

0611 start walking

I jogged a couple more times….  Then at 1.84 miles I turned off my Garmin… turned around and walked home…  I might have stayed out there but toward which training goal would that have advanced me?

Once I got home I ate 2 slices of cold pizza…  poured a cup of coffee and went back to bed.

And now it's Monday…  and I begin again.