For some reason I did not want to do any of my workouts last week.  For some reason I was just feeling super lazy and super whiny.  It was actually something that my boss said each day that got me to change and get in both workouts during the week.     Which was a great thing because both runs were pretty damn good.

Saturday dawned and I was feeling the same lack of motivation.  I so wanted to bail on everything.  We had a prediction of rain for Sunday so I knew I should move my long run up a day.  I’m all for a short run in the rain but nothing past 6 miles.   My second half marathon was run in the rain and between that and a myriad of other issues it was a miserable race and I burst into tears at mile 11.  So yeah, no long rainy runs for me.  Bad memories.I finally headed out late afternoon but I had no expectations.  I was going to run whatever I felt like doing whether that was 3 miles or the 12 on the schedule.    I wanted to keep the pace super easy and just go with the flow.  After a couple of miles I figured I would just do my easy 4.5 mile route and chance the rain the next day.  But then I turned up the hill again instead of down.  And then again and then up another hill.  Followed by down and around and back up that first hill, then a few loops.   Then up the hill again, then some loops of the school.  Dizzy yet?    I was tired and achy but felt pretty good otherwise so I just kept running.  I actually felt like my form was pretty damn good.  Usually by that point, I feel like I am starting slouch and need to remind myself to straighten up and pick up my feet.   On Saturday, I felt like there was none of that.   There were a few times I looked at my watch and saw my lap pace was in the mid 9 range. Woah Nelly, slow down!    Each time I saw that I would take a walking break.  Part of me was super stoked each time I saw that but I knew I should back it off.     I felt pretty good but still had achy spots in my legs, particularly my left.  After numerous loops, I finally called it when I hit 10 miles at the bottom of my driveway.     Once again, I hadn’t felt like running but pulled off a pretty good run.   Guess that was the theme of the week.

Other than the few times I saw that I was running too fast, I hadn’t paid much attention to my pace.  I just kept what I felt was a comfortable pace and walked anytime I felt I needed to.  So I was surprised to see that the 10 miles were completed in 1:47:53.  Only 8 seconds slower than the previous week?  And how now?  Especially when the elevation is taken into consideration.  The previous week’s run had an overall elevation gain of 85 ft over 10 miles.   This week was 780 ft.  Say what?   It was in the high 50’s as opposed to 80’s so that could have been a factor.   But otherwise I went out with the full intention of crawling a slow, shorter run.    But I guess part of me just felt like running.   Long run done!   🙂

That just left a 45-55 minute easy run for Sunday.  But yeah, more about that next time.

How about it?  Legs and head ever disagreed?

Do you like to run long in the rain? 

Do you like pina coladas?  Sorry couldn’t help it, that last question sounded like a personal ad.

Hope you’re having a great week!

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