5M Tempo with Billy

Goal:
5 miles tempo with several options depending on how I feel
1) 630 - 640 pace
2) 630 pace for first mile, and then progression down to 610 for last mile
3) 630 pace for first mile and then 610 pace for rest of run

Actual:
11 miles total with 5 mile tempo at 609 average
2.7 mile warmup
5 miles via 625, 616, 613, 600, 553
3.3 mile warmup

What a relief to have a successful workout! The goal here wasn't to hit a specific time, but more to finish feeling good about myself. I'm sure that in a couple of weeks I'll be feeling just like my normal self.  This is the main reason why I love running: it's always a process and it challenges me to keep my chin up even when my body isn't responding positively all the time. I'm on the rebound to feel good again in my workouts and I'm predicting this rebound will coincide with the change in temperature as we adjust to the fall season.

(Unwanted Down) Week in Review

58 Miles
8 x 400m Repeats
2 Races That I bailed out of

This week was a coach-imposed down week.  After struggling through mini-workouts last week, it was time to press the brakes and back off a bit from training. My body was sending every single signal that it needed a break, so I did just that.  I also decided to back out of my one of my favorite races in North Carolina - the Beat the Heat 5k.  It was a tough decision, but I knew I wasn't physically or mentally prepared to dig deep and hurt really hard to compete at my highest level.

This week I basically just ran easy run after attempting a 8 x 400m workout.  It just was too much effort to do anything more than get in 60 minutes of running.  Ultimately, this is definitely the right decision because I don't want to push the limits so much that I end up with the always dreaded Over Training Syndrome.

Week in Review

65 Miles
3 Mile Tempo Run Fail
5x800m Repeats
13M MLR

Something is definitely wrong.  I feel like crap on every. single. run.  This is why people have a love / hate relationship with running.  Sometimes a switch is flipped and a streak of great running turns into a streak of days...weeks...(even months!) of really, really shitty running.  And there's nothing you can do about it.  I'm crossing my fingers that it won't last more than a few weeks.  And I'm very fortunate because I'm not actually injured. I'm just exhausted. I'm sure the last three terms of school have caught up to me. It's been four months since I've had more than a week break from schoolwork.

Just to show you how this week was just off:  my 3 mile tempo run was slower than my marathon race pace.  My heart rate was completely off the charts after completing 5 x 800m repeats.  The sickness must have been more serious than I thought and now I'm just feeling it physically.

(Sick) Week in Review

45 Miles
6x200m repeats at 40
10M "long run" fail

Remember how excited I was about my running last week?  Well that just turned to poo as soon as I stepped back onto US soil.  I felt a tickle in my throat when I was leaving Istanbul and I immediately went into I'll-do-anything-to-not-get-sick mode, which included, but was not limited to:  taking zicam four times a day, drinking what's gotta be at least two gallons of water a day, running slower, running shorter, and sleeping as much as a possible.

It didn't work.

The snot, mucus, sore throat all hit me full force later this week. I thought for sure it would go away, but it's Sunday night and I got 11 hours of sleep last night and somehow there is more junk in my respiratory system than there was two days ago.  I kid you not, I blew about 37 snot rockets on a 45 minute run this weekend.  How is all of that in me?

So yeah.  This week was tough. I was jet lagged. I wasn't used to the time difference.  I had an accounting midterm.  I had Bank of America work to catch up on.  I wanted running to be the one thing that made me feel great. But instead it was just like I was burying myself deeper into my summer cold.

I can only hope that next week will be better, but my guess is that it will take me a little while to get over this thing.

Week in Review (Term 5 Istanbul Residency)

50 Miles
0 Days off
6 Days of classes
9M longest run

Katie, Mike and I are damn proud of ourselves.  And we should be.  We ran every single day this week.  During our academic residency.  Which is freaking hard.  We have class from 8AM - 6PM and then some nights we have additional speakers or forums that run until 9PM.  Remember also that this is business school.  Part of my role is to network with my classmates, so I can't say no to going out every single time, which the introvert in me wants to do 99% of the time. So I did go out one night and I didn't get to bed until 3AM.   I still woke up at 630 to get a run in.  So yes, I repeat: I am freaking proud! All those hamstring issues I felt earlier in June? Total thing of the past.  Running in Istanbul awakened another part of me. I was having fun again.  That week before I took off...I was not having fun.

Part of the fun was also in learning so much about myself and Islam.  I never learned a lick about Islam.  Not ever in a single class. I even took a religion class at Wake Forest.  The only thing I knew about Islam was limited to like three articles I had read...in my entire life.  Fortunately, I didn't come in with any extreme stereotypes.  Quite frankly, I really didn't know much besides some women wear a hijab or face covering.  That's it.

So...I learned a lot.

A professor set up time for us to talk with an Imam at the Blue Mosque.  He was brilliant. He told us about the Koran, about what it means and the basic foundations of the religion.  He told us that it's a very peaceful religion...and he answered some likely very annoying and ignorant questions from our class about some of the stereotypes that are ingrained by Western media sources.  He was a class act and I was grateful for his time.

I was sad to leave the city on Sunday.  I loved the food, the weather and the people.  I know I'll come back.