Happy race week, Cleveland! In just a few short days we’ll toe the line of the 5K, 8K, 10K, half or full marathons. So many Cleveland races, such little time. I know so many people who have been training their booty’s off for this race weekend. I’ve been weather-stalking (not religiously yet) and it seems it will be a little warm and rainy. I don’t mind warm. I could do without rain. But I know most runners don’t like warm or rain so for their sake I hope the weather changes before race day — as I’m sure it will.
It’s time to come clean. I’m unhappy with the way training’s been going lately. There’s five weeks until Grandma’s and I don’t feel the least bit prepared. I was in recovery from the 20 Mile Drop, then I was battling some sort of fatigue and finally caught an ugly cold virus and was out of commission for a few days last week. I’m still playing catch up and even as I type this out, my throat is starting to hurt and I’m just praying I’m not sick again. I haven’t done any strength training or yoga in weeks and it shows. My form is sloppy and I feel discombobulated on the run. But, there’s still five weeks left, right? I’m determined to make the most of it. I hope anyway. Here’s how last week went down:
Gearing up for the Cleveland Races! [Spring Training Week 17]
Wednesday — 6.3 miles
On Monday and Tuesday I was sick, and started feeling a little better on Wednesday. I had some heavy mileage on my plan last week but I knew that wasn’t happening. I just ran what I could and hoped for the best.
Thursday — 8.54 miles
Let me sum up Thursday’s run in two words: it sucked. And I don’t say that about many runs. I took Trixie with me for a few miles and planned on dropping her at home. Unfortunately after I took her home, I got spooked when I saw a suspicious vehicle in my neighborhood. I’m the most paranoid solo runner on the planet and debated running on the treadmill to finish my mileage. Instead, I went out when it was sunnier in the afternoon and long after the vehicle left the premises. I ran with a stick as a sort of kubaton and I felt better but it was still a sucky day.
Friday — 3.36 miles
After Thursday’s shit show, I really had no goals for Friday. I was hoping for 5-6 miles but didn’t really care what happened. I knew I wanted to be out earlier when there was less activity than the day before. Trixie and I headed out for a 7 am run and it was much, much better. I would have liked to have kept running but I ran out of time so we headed back home.
Saturday — 15.78 miles
I had a nice 16 mile route planned for Saturday. But again, due to not feeling quite 100%, I gave myself a lot of leeway in case I needed (or wanted) to bail early. I ran with a smaller stick this time and got lots of interesting looks as I ran my neighborhood roads. Despite running out of time before baseball practice, I felt pretty good on this run. I logged 10.64 solo miles and met up with Eugenia for a few trail miles later in the afternoon.
All in all, Saturday was a pretty good day of running. I would have liked to have gotten it all done in one fell swoop, but considering how the rest of the week had gone, I felt good about it.
And I kept the stick. It’s now in my arsenal of self defense weapons I carry with me.
Sunday — 2.4 miles
Sunday was fun. I met up with one of my 5K groups for our last group run together before their goal race — the Cleveland Marathon 5K. We had a great run and talked about some logistics for packet pick-up and race day. I’m super excited for them. They’ve worked so hard and they’re going to have great races on Saturday!
Cleveland Races
This week I have another high mileage week. My long run, of course, will be the Cleveland Half Marathon on Sunday. For me, Cleveland is a training run. Something I look forward to, no doubt. It’s more fun and less work. Something I’m completely okay with at this juncture. Fingers crossed I’m not coming down with another cold right now because that would be a big, fat bummer.
I’ll be seeing some of my favorite people this weekend, cheering for my 5K runners, and pacing one of my friends on Sunday. I’m very much looking forward to all the Cleveland races this weekend. It’s going to be a blast!
xo
TALK TO ME!
Running a marathon undertrained: yay or nay?
Do you get spooked running solo?
Linking up with My No-Guilt Life, Marcia’s Healthy Slice, and MCM Mama Runs for Tuesdays on the Run, and HoHo Runs and MissSippi Piddlin’ for the Weekly Wrap.
