Time to take a break

But not from running of course!  Just from the training.  Ever since I hurt my back in July and took a week off from running, it's been hard coming back.  There was the terrible flat-ness in MI that made my legs angry, and then I got back home and my body just doesn't want to run hard anymore.  It's been super frustrating, but it's time to accept that I need to back off.  Sure, I'm 6 weeks away from half marathon that I could potentially do really well at, but I just have to keep reminding myself the real goal race isn't til November and if I want to be strong I can't keep pushing myself too hard.

So for the next 2 ish weeks, the goal is just to get back the joy in running.  I have minor distance goals for each run, but no pace goals.  I'm not going to purposely run fast, but I'm not going to purposely run slow either.  I've found my legs are angrier after being forced to run slower.  I also think part of my problem is all this time on the couch since I got home from my roadtrip.  Not working is weird.  I went into school 4 days this week more to get off the couch than because I really had to.  It was nice to get a head start on setting up my classroom and thinking about lesson plans, but it wasn't necessary.  I think getting back to work and being on a normal daily schedule will probably help my running too.

This week :

M : yoga 50 minutes

T : group run 6.1 / 7:39 / 348 ft

W : workout 30 minutes

group bike 23.1 / 15.2 mph / 1355 ft

R : group run 7.5 / 7:58 /522 ft

F : run 6 / 8:01 / 449 ft

yoga 20 minutes

Sa : bike 24 / 17.4 mph / 1348 ft

Su : run w/ Corey 14 / 8:30 / 869 ft

total bike miles : 47.1 

total run miles : 33.6

We had planned mile repeats on Tuesday, but none of us were feeling up for it so we just ran instead.  And then we planned a tempo run for me on Thursday, but I wasn't feeling up for it and no one else wanted it enough to pull me through so again, we just ran.  

Today's run was brutal.  I probably should drop long runs while I'm trying to just enjoy running, but I feel like I've lost so much of my endurance in the last 2 months and I don't want to lose any more of it.  I wanted to keep my endurance after the marathon!  The plan for today was about 12 miles.  I really wanted a change of scenery for the long run so we went to Bristol.  I filled my camelbak 3/4 full.  I didn't want to need it, but I've been feeling so drained on runs lately I figured better safe than sorry.  I ended up wishing I had filled it the whole way...it was empty with 2 miles left in the run.  I had planned about roughly the first 6 miles of the run point to point, and then figured we'd run around Steele Creek park, see where we were mileage wise, and head back on a shorter route than how we got there.  It ended up being much sunnier and hotter than either of us expected (I got rained on during my run Friday and during my ride Saturday!) We were both feeling the heat by the time we got to Steele Creek.  We decided to run the shaded trail around the lake for a break from the sun.  Then we had to climb a looooong hill out of the park.  With little shade.  I actually thought I might pass out at one point.  How did I make it to August without acclimating to running in the heat?!  I was dragging more and more with each mile, but I did make it back to the car without giving up.  On the bright side, running 14 instead of 12 this weekend means I can do 8-10 instead of 12 next weekend.  Or who knows, maybe I'll just feel really good next weekend and do more. You never know. Maybe it won't be as hot.