Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Wednesday Workout Update

Last week, I had a normal week of running and it felt pretty good!  OK, a little rough too, but I think that was because of the weather.  Let me go back to the good, first:  Jeff was out of town so Cary and I ran together both Tuesday and Thursday (I normally run with Jeff on Tuesdays and with Cary on Thursdays).  Both runs went well; we ran our usual 2.5 miles, and I felt fine the entire time.  Can't ask for much more than that, right?

But weirdly, on our long run on Saturday, I struggled.  Now in hindsight, I am pretty sure that the weather had a lot to do with it  - it was 67 degrees when we started out, with humidity at 94%.  But we haven't done a long run in this kind of weather for quite a while now, and I guess I just forgot how much harder it makes the run go.  All I knew was that when we hit the one mile mark (I ran with Julia and Diane), I simultaneously thought "WHAT??  Only one mile and I feel so bad - I can't possibly make five miles" and "Wait a minute, you regularly run 2.5 miles and have no problems, so you can't be feeling like this at the first mile."  Luckily, I was able to focus on the second half of my thinking and pushed through; it was windy and somehow, the wind was never at our backs.  Running uphill into the wind is not fun, but we did it, survived, and ended up doing 5.3 miles!

It was super draining though, but thankfully, Julia had left a gallon of water out for our group.  Just to give you an idea, there were nine of us running anywhere from 3 to 8 miles, and that jug was just about empty when we were finished - and we'd all started out carrying a full bottle (or two)!  And afterward, when we were discussing the run at breakfast, several of us were saying that we wanted to give Loretta, who is now biking while we run, extra bottles of water to hand off to us as she rides by.  Get her a basket and it could work!  Of course, Karen cracked me up when she said forget that, she just wanted to kick Loretta off of her bike and ride it back to the park herself - LOL!

So far this week, running has been iffy because of strong storms - running in the rain isn't fun, but as long as it's not cold, I'll usually get out and do it.  But when there's thunder and lightening, that's a no go, and trying to predict if the storms will be happening the evening before an early morning run with friends is tricky, which is why I woke up to no planned run yesterday and yet it was dry(ish) outside - dang it, Weather Channel!  Oh well.  If you've seen the weather reports, Texas has gotten a ton of rain...luckily for our area, we were spared the worst of it.  I was looking online at pictures of Houston, where there was widespread flooding, and despite the terrible situation, had to laugh at this shot - only in Texas, I swear:
This man rescued an armadillo as the banks of a bayou crested...now that is one serious animal lover!

25 comments:

  1. What a variation in the weather: humid or lots of rain. That was a lot of water in Houston. And people that save animals always have a special place in my heart.

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    1. I also saw a lot of horses being rescued, but the armadillo - I think most people wouldn't have bothered.

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  2. Sorry that the weather is messing with your workouts. Hopefully the weather will dry out soon and you can get back to your normal routine.

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  3. I struggled with the warmer temps over the past weekend. I'm just not used to it!

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    1. It takes a while to get used to decent warm-weather runs, that's for sure.

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  4. Ironic that you write about this today because I was looking at my weather vs. yours just yesterday and wondering how all this rain was affecting your runs. I supposed you just have to take it as extra rest and maybe your body will actually appreciate that!

    I feel like Texas weather has been odd this year in general - seems like you've had cooler and wetter weather than normal.

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    1. No kidding on our weather - it's storming once again, and I just opened the back door to do the morning prisoner exchange...I mean, let the dog out and the cats in...and it's downright chilly! Brrr!

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  5. You can give Loretta an official name. The person on a cycling team that carries all the extra stuff for the other riders is called either a domestique or a soigneur :D

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    1. She definitely needs an official title, but we're gonna have to translate your terms to Texan, LOL!

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  6. I heard about that weather. I was wondering if it affected you.

    We finally have some decent weather.

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    1. I swear, the weather has been really strange country-wide. Glad it's turned nice in your neck of the woods!

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  7. Wow, that is some serious rain there! Awww, poor widdle armadillo. What a nice man :)

    I totally LOL'd at Karen's comment. Now that I would enjoy--being the water-bottle-hander-outer for a group of runners!

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    1. Debby, you should check on your local road races - I know the ones around here are ALWAYS looking for volunteers!

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    2. Debby, I'll set you up for our group next time you're out here on a Saturday! :)

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  8. Ugg, I was watching what was going on in Houston on the news last night, just awful!
    I don't mind running in the rain as long as it is a warm summer rain! Now, that doesn't mean I will voluntarily go out and run in it but if it starts while I'm already out, i'll continue!
    I think it's a great idea to have Loretta carry the water on her bike. Putting them in a basket is a great idea. Scott rode along the rail trail with me on bike as I did a majority of my marathon training and held the water bottle in the medal holder on the bike. The only problem with this was that every time I needed a drink, the water bottle was all dusty from the trail (yes, even the spout part too). So anyway, it's a good idea to keep the bottle up higher from the ground ( like in a bike basket..lol)

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    1. Good point about the dust - but that was a really sweet thing for your husband to do!

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  9. What a great photo! Definitely Texas-y. We've gotten loads of rain and storms, too...fortunately flooding isn't as bad as Houston here.

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  10. I'm happy the rain hasn't been too bad in your area! Aww, I love that pic. Ha ha. :)

    Have you thought about using a hydration backpack to carry more water? :) It's that time of year where I've had to use mine for longer runs - the handheld isn't cutting it anymore!

    Ugh, and that humidity. Too early for that, WAH! I am happy you made it through the run and hope it didn't zap ya too much!

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    1. I have an Orange Mud hydration pack that holds a 21 ounce bottle, but with our shorter runs combined with cooler weather, it was really nice to just run and not have to carry anything like we do for 3/4 of the year. I guess it's time to go back to carrying water all the time now, though.

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  11. I bet you're right about the weather, that humidity is stifling! But don't you find that some days it's inexplicably hard to exercise? The bod just isn't in to it. So frustrating.
    LOL re:Karen's comment ... give me the bike every time!

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  12. Okay, I am finally caught up with your blog! I am with Helen though, I think I need to make that Eggs Francisco breakfast from after your race - it looks amazing!

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  13. Just discovered your blog, hope its okay to comment. I like your Wednesday workout updates! Do you have any thoughts as to why some days it is harder to run than others? I know weather is a factor, but some days are just really rough, and some days aren't so bad!

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    1. Jordan, if I knew the answer to your question, I think a lot of runners would be interested...I just wish I could at least predict those hard running days in advance, so I would go into them and not beat myself up during the run.

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