Week Nine required much less running out of me, which turned out to be good, because I just had a blah kind of week. I've noticed over the past few weeks that the first few miles of each run have been slower than usual. It hasn't affected my ability to hit target paces later in the run, I've just had some seriously slow warm-ups. Maybe after all the rain finally let up, I am having to readjust to the humidity. I am SO ready for fall.
Monday: Monday was pretty awesome. I was in the Port Saint Joe area with my parents for Labor Day Weekend, and I drove out to Cape San Blas for some easy miles and strides. The bike/pedestrian path in CSB is similar to the one I run on at home on 30A. Beaches on one side, marshland on the other. It was so peaceful. When I finished the easy portion of the run, I looked behind me and I could see that it was pouring rain about a quarter mile down the road. I raced the rain, occasionally getting out in front of it, but overall getting soaked. And that was just fine - I'd much rather have a little rain at the end of my run than the beginning. Overall: 5.44 miles at 9:07 pace.
Tuesday: Rest. It felt too much like a Monday after the holiday.
Wednesday: I ran my Tuesday tempo workout. Warmup, 4x1 mile at tempo pace with 0.25 mile recoveries, cooldown. I hit the target paces but just didn't feel that good about it. This was where the "blah" began. Overall: 7.86 miles at 9:20 average pace.
Thursday: This week called for a comparatively "short" long run of 13 miles. My running buddy and I were having trouble meshing our schedules this week, so I moved my long run up to Thursday to correlate with her medium-long run. We ran 11.5 together, and felt pretty good. She had to get home to her kids, and instead of finishing my miles on the running path, I decided to see if I could catch my kids before they left for school. I just missed them, so I figured I would finish on the dreadmill. It didn't go well. I only got my mileage up to 12.15 before deciding that was good enough. Again, the blah. 12.15 miles at 9:19 pace.
Friday: Blah. Rest day #2.
Saturday: I still had a speed workout and an optional easy run on my agenda. My daughter had been asking me to take her to the track, so I figured she could run her mile, then read a book while I worked on some 800s. Saturday morning however, my 4-year-old son decided he wanted to run too, so I decided to take the easy run to the track instead (no way he would have let me run alone for over an hour). They each ran a mile in spurts, and we just had fun with it. I'd pause while they ran ahead, then tried to catch up with them. My son insisted on wearing his Spiderman pajamas and mask to the track, to the great entertainment of the soccer team warming up on the field next to us. I had 3.77 easy miles at 9:40 pace.
Sunday: I had already ditched my plan to run speed intervals in favor of keeping my running buddy company for eight miles in the middle of her 20-mile run, but I felt under the weather when I woke up, and the blahs won again. Unplanned rest day.
Still feeling blah. I know this happens a couple of times per year after a tough couple of weeks, so I just need to get through it. Cooler weather is coming, and it's been a strong training cycle so far. Good things are ahead.
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