As for running this week: Working all week will enhance the checkbook as well as produce the much needed recovery week. The goals this week will be to reduce the mileage considerably but keep a few key (read faster) workouts in place. Part of the recovery week is not only physically, but mentally. Even though running is an absolute passion and there is never a day that I do not want to run, it takes quite a bit of mental toughness/effort to get out there for several miles/hours at a time. Given work, husband, dogs, house, errands, etc, it is often a juggling act to combine everything and satisfy the passion to pound the dirt. So, this week of no particular mileage in mind, just some 4-5 good quality runs and two weight lifting session is also a mental break.
Monday; March 28: Off to work again. (I am going to need a "recovery" month from work soon....April seems like a good time to take that break!
Tuesday; March 29: A very long day of work produced a day off from running. Two days in a row! Happens to the best of us.
Wednesday; March 30: Up in the middle of the night, it was a 5 miler on the elliptical. A non descript effort to "git 'er done." Flying all day again, with a long leg to Salt Lake and then down to San Diego and back to Salt Lake. San Diego is really a pretty area and the running there is awesome along the water. There are several hilly areas to the south east of the airport and I hope to one day explore those on foot.
Thursday; March 31: Slept in today, being in the hotel in Salt Lake. Out the door to do battle with the traffic and intervals, a nice 6 miler with 8 intervals of various lengths. Having ended a 4 day trip yesterday, but staying in Salt Lake, the ole body was slow to wake up. It would have been easy to give in to the sluggishness (is that a word?), crawl back to my room and then saunter off to work. BUT! That's not me! So, the first couple of miles were "not so pretty" but then muscles came to life and off to the intervals I went! All 8 actually went fairly well... or at least my lungs and legs were wailing for oxygen, so I must have worked hard right?
Friday; April 1: I quit running!!!!
Guess I can't even pull that April Fools prank! The only way to stop running is to shoot me like a race horse!
Spending the day in Jackson, Wyoming, it was out the door for a nice 8 miler in the elk refuge. The whole town is very quiet right now with the ski slopes closed and mud season in full swing. Talking with the van driver, I learned that the resort is hoping to expand the trail system just to the east of the main hotel. This is great news since the running will be even better in the summer. Lots of trails with plenty of wildflowers, vertical terrain, and the usual assortment of rocks and tree roots!
Not quite winter; not quite spring.
The sign leaving the airport. Did I mention the hotel van smells like a barn full of horses?
Saturday; April 2: Well, the bronchitis is back again! Honestly, if I knew what triggered it, I would avoid it! Nevertheless, a descent weight lifting session started the day and then out the door with Traysen. The plan was for some hill repeats, but just not enough lung capacity to suck enough air! So, it was a leisurely 7 miles today. Not good, not too bad, just trotted along.
Sunday; April 3: Well now....this seems to have turned into some sneezy, wheezy, coughy, achy, breaky, I'm cold....no wait,, make that hot ....thing that I seriously don't have time for!! Finally some relief was found in the afternoon by using steaming pot of water with vicks vapor rub in it....Yes, I looked rather silly with my towel covered head over the pot. but this calls for desperate measures...I gotta get back to some good running!
As for the weight lifting/running this morning: a sluggish 45 minutes in the gym for chest, legs and abs and then I pretty much just walked 5 miles with Traysen.......
Summary: A little more than bargained for on the recovery week but with work and then a dose of illness, not too bad. My good friend, dang near sister, Robin, was flying a rough trip this week with quite a bit of redeye flying. She called me on Saturday and asked, "how much pain do you endure on these long runs?" (She had earlier in the week indicated her trip was yielding itself to good running.) I explained to her that, first and foremost,....work will absolutely mess up your running, but we most likely will never make a dime running so we had better stick to driving airplanes and run as we are able. Secondly as for dealing with pain while running....it all depends on the pain..Is it an ache associated with an injury or an achy muscle. Or is it an off day where the body just isn't wanting to do this. Are you overtrained (and that differs with each individual?) Are you tired from flying on the back side of the clock or from sitting in an airplane seat too long? For Robin, (and this is most likely common), it seemed to be a combination of work related fatigue and an achy muscle or two. She took some ibuprofen and no doubt completed what she was set out to do that day.
Robin had also asked how I combine running so much while flying our crazy schedules. . It basically comes down to choices. Personally, I choose to rest as much as I can and run as much as I can on layovers .....and do nothing else. All of my groceries are carried for a 4-5 day trip; no shopping for stuff that is not needed (read no shopping!),no touristy sight seeing and no beers after work with the boys. I rest and I run on my layovers. Again, it all comes down to choices.....
Total miles for the week: 30 miles and two weight lifting sessions.
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