A Week Of Highs And Lows

This week was definitely a week of highs and lows (as far as running goes). After thinking I was ready for a double workout on Tuesday, I woke up Wednesday feeling awful. Everything hurt- my arms and shoulders were so sore, my calves felt like tight little sausages, and my right foot was in agony. I know the arm/shoulder soreness was from yoga and my lack of upper body strength, but I was stumped about why my legs and foot was hurting.

I decided to take Wednesday off, and foam-rolled, stretched, and iced my foot instead. I woke up Thursday, and even though I still wasn't feeling great, slapped on some compression socks and went for my scheduled run. And it was AWFUL. I averaged more than a minute slower than what I've been running, and only made it 6.4 miles out of my scheduled 7. The most frustrating thing was feeling like I was pushing myself, but not going anywhere. And my foot was still throbbing. I made sure to spend some extra time stretching and foam-rolling, but I was still really tight.

When I woke up Friday still hurting, I took another rest day. And then on Saturday, I ran faster than I have years! I ran the Ted Corbitt 15K (9.3 miles) in Central Park, and it was absolutely perfect. It was a little chilly at the start, but I ended up having to take my jacket off around mile 4. I just felt like I was cruising the entire time- just effortless.

I ran the first mile in 8:48 and remember thinking I wouldn't be able to sustain that pace, and I tried to settled into a more relaxed, even pace When my Garmin vibrated at mile 2, I couldn't believe it was actually faster than the first... and kept getting faster until the end. I'm awful at 'digging in' at the end of a run, so I was shocked to see my last mile was an 8:15 pace. I couldn't have had a better day!

(I ran an extra 1.7 miles so I could have 11 for the day)

I'm not sure why I felt so awful during the week and then so great during the race, but I think it was a sign I was trying to be too ambitious with my fitness level. It seems a bit silly to say running 4 miles + yoga is too much for my body to handle in one day (especially reading other bloggers who pound out 10+ miles every day), but right now, it's just too much for me. Until I build up my upper body strength, I'm going to stick to what's worked since I started training for the NYC Marathon back in July--- running 3 days during the week, a long run on Saturday, and cross training on Sunday. No need to feel worn out, tight, and hurt!