August 3, 2009

My First Century Week!!!!!!


Totally weekly mileage- 101.57 and here's the low down:
M: 7 a.m./ 4 p.m.- feeling good

T: 11 on the TM w/ 6 @ 8:00, 4 @ 6:38, 1 @ 6:31;/ 4 p.m.
I felt really, really good on the semi-speed stuff. I know I had faster mileage in me, but didn't want to ruin my whole week.

W: 15.2 @ 7:58 pace and SOMEONE STOLE MY STINKING WATER AGAIN! This happened last Wed, too. I think the city grass cutters are taking it and throwing it away, despite the note on my bottle that said, "This is not trash; please do not throw away. I will be dehydrated." After a bit of thinking, I'm honestly wondering if they know how to read./ 4 p.m.

T: 9 a.m./ 3 on the TM p.m.
P.M run felt like crap. I was really tired from the kayaking and I actually felt numb while running. I chalked it up to dehydration and being tired.

F: storming like crazy, so 15 on the TM @ 8:00 pace. At 11 miles, my legs started feeling numb again! Friends from RWOL suggest that I adjust the incline every few miles to give the leggies a variation.

S: 10 in VERY hot temps. I waited too late and really felt the heat.

S: 19.37 and this was my favorite, but worst run of the week. On a whim, I decided to go visit Speedy Anna in Gulf Shores. Katie was visiting, too, so it would be a real girls' weekend! We went out to eat a little late Saturday. I had a delicious spicy shrimp and pasta dish w/ a spinach salad. Very good stuff! We stayed up pretty late talking and laughing about stuff, and finally got to bed around 11:30. We awoke at 4:00 to get ready for our LR. We drove around and put our waters out, and finally got started around 5:30. Our entire run was pretty much even pace- between 7:55-8:10. The beginning 11 miles went by really fast. The weather was extremely humid, but we were having very good conversation. This really made the miles fly by effortlessly. About mile 12, the bottom fell out of the sky. It wasn't just your Oh, This Feels Nice and Cool Rain. It was OUCH rain. I was thinking how funny it was b/c we were together, but had I been on my own, I would've been miserable. We were both completely soggy, shoes sloshing and everything. At one point, the rain was so heavy it was sideways! It lasted about 2 miles, then completely stopped. This is also at the point (13ish) that I really, really started to feel it. My mileage PR up to this point was 96, so it's possible that part of it was mental. Speedy Anna was such a trooper and good friend. She slowed down for me and refused to leave. We continued to talk and I tried not to think about it. At 15, I was pretty sure that I was dieing and it was not just mental. I told her ONE MORE TIME that she could leave me, but she refused, sticking right by my side to pull me along.

At mile 18 we gave a big whoop and holler for my official 100 miles of the week. The last stretch actually felt pretty good and mile 19 was the fastest of the whole run (7:51). I honestly can't imagine how awful that run would've been without Anna. She was so good to me, encouraging me the whole time. We had lots of laughs, too. We got back to the beach, where we had parked and our Garmins read 19.37. She continued on down and back to make an even 20. I just stopped and drank my body weight in Gatorade, water, and diet coke.

Mileage for the week- 101. 57!

In summary of the week, I think my body handled the mileage pretty well until the LR. I'm not used to struggling that much during a LR. Most of the time, 7:40-7:50 pace on a LR feels pretty effortless. I know the humidity was a big factor yesterday, but the mileage was as well. I'm okay with slowing down the paces, so nothing is lost, but I do think this LR is taking more to recover than usual. This morning I did an easy 7, and it didn't feel as 'easy' as usual. My legs are feeling pretty tired. I would LIKE to do another 100 this week, but I'm going to play it by ear. I don't want to kill myself out there just to get the magic 100.

Run strong, friends!

It's only failure if you give up. ~Anita Fromm

16 comments:

  1. Great job on the 100 mile week. Love the thumbs up in the picture.

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  2. Anonymous8/03/2009

    omg i am in awe of your 100 mile week. what an awesome job! way to push through a tough 19.37

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  3. Lol on the water bottle and the parks guys probably not knowing how to read. Love the photo, too. Great week girl, hats off to you. Also, great thinking about this coming week, now that you've got that first magic 100+ in the books you can run another if it feels right, if not, no sweat, there'll be more where that came from.

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  4. Congratulations on that first century!!!

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  5. That is freaking BURL LA. Pure BURL!

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  6. Well done, LA! Don't worry about the fatigue, that's what you're supposed to feel when you step it up. You go...

    P.S. Nice shower curtain ;)

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  7. Way to go!! Congrats on your first 100 mile week.

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  8. Anonymous8/03/2009

    OMG, LAR--Just saw this! Congrats and Super, Super job on the 100+ miles, I am SO proud of you, girl!!!

    Now, I know why you wear clothes while taking a ice bath ;)--heck if I was going to publish a photo of myself in a tub it would be with clothes on too!...LOL

    Again, nice job on your 100+ miles!

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  9. That is awesome! You are such an inspiration! Keep up the great work!!

    CJ

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  10. No acronym decoding required with BURL. I used it in the same context as "burly". Not to imply that you are a large hairy male, but rather that you could run said large hairy male straight into the ground :)

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  11. Incredible! Congrats on the 100+ - I feel accomplished if I hit 100 for the month! Love the ice bath pic. - classic!

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  12. Wow that's awesome that you hit 100miles! I think you've inspired me too since you asked before if I was going to try any 100 mile weeks. I'm getting there after 91 last week but you beat me to it!

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  13. This is totally inspirational! Way to go!

    -Alix

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  14. Wow. That is totally amazing. Knowing how much you run and how hard you have to work to make it happen is really inspirational.

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