the wonderful world of veena.

23 September 2013

1/2 marathon monday: looking for some motivation.

day-to-day:

[I skipped Monday's and Thursday's workouts because of my neck. still not sure what caused it to hurt so badly, but all seems to be back in working order. hopefully week 12 will not have any setbacks]

Tuesday: 3mi run. I got a little over-excited after my long run the previous Saturday, and I went a little too fast out of the gate. I ran the first mile hard and was pretty winded, so I had to slow way down for the final 2 miles. note to self: my body is built for distance, NOT speed.

Wednesday: 6 hill sprints with walkdown. I found a hill in the neighbourhood that is some combination of steep and long, and I set off. I know 6 isn't much, but like I said, I'm not a sprinter, so those last few were pretty tough.

Friday: 8mi of what was supposed to be an 11mi run. it was way too humid [see below], so I called it a day after 8. I was on my way to feeling a little let down about it, but then I remembered that 8 is still a lot and is significantly more than I could run even a month or two ago, so I got over it pretty quickly. I still have two more long runs before my race in 4 weeks, so I'm confident I'll be alright. also, it was super humid because of the rain that came later in the morning.

[the long run was supposed to be on Saturday, but because I went to Nashville and knew I wouldn't get up and run on Saturday, I moved it to Friday to make sure I ran something]

Sunday: rest rest and more rest.

oh the humidity:

there was rain in the air all week, so Wednesday's and Friday's runs were both really humid. here in Memphis, the heat is sometimes manageable, but the humidity will really get to you. there were some mornings during the summer when I would run at 5.30 in the morning, and the humidity would already be at 70%. I can run fairly quickly - by my standards - when it's cool outside, but I come to a near standstill when the humidity kicks in. I've made it through most of the training because the runs have been shorter, but Friday's run really got to me, because it was humid when I started my run, and then the sun came out and was pretty strong. the combination really got to me, and although I had Clif Shot Bloks with me, I really needed water as well, because I could feel the fluids draining from my body. so this is my plea to the weather gods to please ease up on the humidity in the coming weeks. isn't it supposed to be fall anyway?

in need of motivation:

I think another problem I've had the last few weeks is a serious lack of motivation, particularly for the workouts throughout the week. I get up early to run because otherwise it's way too hot, but with the workouts I don't need to. then it gets to that awkward mid-morning stage where I think to myself, "it's 8.30 now, even if I work out from 9-9.45, it'll be 10.30 at the earliest before I'm showered and ready for the day." and it's not like I do a whole lot with my days, but if I do have any errands to run, I like to finish them in the morning before it gets too hot. so then I sleep for an extra 20-30 minutes and skip the workout. I know the weird crick I had in my neck was also a contributing factor, and I think I've managed to banish it, so hopefully that won't factor into my decisions about whether or not to work out.

another problem is that I am bored of running in my parents' neighbourhood. I've branched out a bit and started exploring a little, but I definitely need a change of scenery. for Wednesday's run I think I'll head to Shelby Farms and run on the path there to have some new sights to look at. I'm not sure what I'm going to do for Saturday's 12-miler, but I'll figure something out between now and then.

I know my race is only 4 weeks away, so I'm hoping I can change things up just enough between now and then to keep my motivation levels from dropping too much. and with the weather becoming so much nicer and the onset of fall, I think I'll be alright.

only 4 weeks to go!
woo pig.
xx

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