Week in Review

70 miles
8 Runs / 1 Double
12 x 300m Repeats at 52-58 for 10.5 Miles total
4 mile tempo at 552 - 604 for 12 miles total
13M MLR
3 Days in Illinois

I was in the sweltering heat and humidity of Southern Illinois for the first three days of this week, visiting my family.  It was hotter there than in NC, and I paid for it on all of my morning runs.  It was a struggle to get out of the door, but I got in the work and felt crappy doing it.  We drove on Tuesday 6 hours to Cincinnati to see my nephew Eli. It was definitely the highlight of the trip.  He's such a sweetie.  At 16 months, he's such a snuggler.  When I would try to put him back down after holding him, his legs would just grip my waist like he didn't want to ever let go. My heart melted 100x over, again and again and again.

I spent the rest of the week in NC doing a tempo run with Billy before beginning a very light taper for a 5 miler race that I'm doing on Labor Day.  My knee is still bothering me when I walk, or sit a certain way, but so far it hasn't affected my runs this week.

Also, to be clear, I've always known that I'm bigger than most distance runners.  In college, I used to let this get to me.  However, as a post-collegiate athlete I realized that it's dumb for me to compare myself to other body types. I've had the same body type and weight since I was 21 years old.  I decided to focus instead on what I have to work with - and that is a lean, muscular build that I can use to my strength.

Unfortunately, this past week I digressed in my own body image.

I came home to Durham to realize that I weigh about 5 pounds over my race weight.  I have been lifting more, but just twice a week so I don't think that it's muscle.  At the same time, I impulsively tried on all my tightest skinny jeans and they all fit the exact same way as before...I'm not sure what it's about but I definitely need to take a close look at my diet and determine how to optimize my performance through an improved diet. Last time I met with a dietitian, she told me that I'm not eating enough calories so basically I'm slowing down my metabolism.  Ironically, in April, upon my return from India, I weighed 125, which is SUPER light for me.  I had just come off a diet of lentils, stir fried vegetables, brown rice and whole wheat naan. Perhaps I need to eat more lentils and naan. :)

I need to make sure that I feel confident that my own body type will propel me to greatness at the Olympic Trials, so this is a focus item for me over the next couple of weeks.