Step by step, mile by mile

AM - off.

caught a stomach virus. would have been okay to run yesterday if i hadn't worked, that def slowed recovery. i'm probably good now but i'll just do my two runs before and after work to play it safe. not that there's good timing for stuff like this but with storms the next couple days i wouldn't be running workouts anyway. should still have good enough weather to get in my hills and intervals, maybe a long run too.

ended up feeling better and ran 4.25 at 11. was gonna do 5 but got hit with some wicked stomach cramps right after 4. threw in some light surges(about 6-flat pace) in the middle to loosen up

PM - 1.75 after work. stomach still felt bad.

AM - 1. stomach still felt bad

PM - 5. stomach felt good! ran on the turf field, threw in lots of 60 yard strides that last mile and a half. hopefully this break from running was short enough that i won’t have to deal with my usual hiccup stemming from jumping back in too fast

AM - 5. managed to start before 4AM and felt extremely good with that in mind. did some strides the last 1.5 again to see if it does anything for my next run

AM2 - 15 miles @ 7:07 pace. ran out of clif bars yesterday so all i had eaten between runs was a dark cherry & cranberry juice smoothie(plus my usual black coffee) so those last couple of miles sucked, even if they were my fastest. finishing 20 miles before 9:20AM... this is what i live for

PM - 5 before work. really had to use it

PM2 - 10 after work. biggest mileage day ever with a shift worked; i'd say it's good enough to be a 40-mile day, but i'll keep it at 35. also fastest average pace on a quadruple i believe

AM - 5 miles. legs felt good all things considered, had to use it as bad as i ever have that last 2k

AM2 - 20 miles. the difference in mental difficulty between a 15 and 20 miler is palpable, i swear every mile feels twice as long. it was muddy, windy, and my hair was constantly in my eyes and/or mouth so it was pretty insufferable. very happy i got it done, now i'm gonna eat and lie down for about 4 hours

PM - 5. was going to get a pair of secondary trainers at Ross, but all they had were some flyknit fly's(essentially 4% knockoffs). i'm personally on the side of the fence that the whole "carbon plate acting as a springboard" aspect is cheating and never planned on getting a pair, but for $44.99 i thought about it and realized my real problem is them being used for ratified world records(yes Kipchoge is 100% the fastest marathoner ever, and i still think Bekele would have ran faster than the old world record without them too, i just think Nike cheated the system a little bit to get him under 2 hours(Nike if you're reading this i'm sorry give me my contract already)). wearing them around my apartment after the run, i understand the hype. they really force you on your toes when you move forward. i'll have fun doing workouts in them.

PM2 - 15 easy. learned the hard way it’s not a good idea to drink like 4 cups of coffee before this run lol

AM - 5. before i even got out of bed i could tell my legs were thrashed, so decided to give themselves a few hours to recover a bit. it's understandable; i did just set a two-day mileage PR by 5 miles with 80(just in case anyone thought the 200-mile week was a fluke :) ). i don't think it's anything serious considering i felt fine on the run, but i feel it a bit after. i'll just do 5 after work and two 10-milers after work this weekend and should be back monday good. 

PM - 1 after work

so i honestly can't remember if i felt this before the morning run or not, and i didn't during, but after i felt a very slight issue in my left knee. i've never had a problem from running that felt anything like it before, but i can describe it to a T. it feels like one little spot in my knee is bruised, like someone punched me in the kneecap and it's the day after. it isn't in the muscle or tendon or anything, it isn't painful and doesn't affect my running form, and stretching doesn't aggravate or relieve it. i'd probably not be talking about it if i properly recovered today instead of working the most bs shift yet(i got the employee of the month laurel(let's pretend laurel is a noun(that doesn't mean shrub))) anyway despite that it went away completely over the course of the shift anyways, but i felt it the first step of the run and it didn't get any better(or any worse) a mile in so i stopped there. barely felt it getting groceries after, i rolled my legs out and jogged in place and walked around and didn't feel it at all. hopefully it's just some very weird minor thing, i'll barely run tomorrow and hopefully it'll be gone by sunday. gonna ice it and take advil like tijuana donkeys take viagra the next day or two and i'm gonna be money again

oh and favorite part of the shift:

patient: *points behind me* hey look at that fine young lady

me: *turns around, sees him pointing at my reflection in the mirror*

PM - 2 after work

didn't feel my knee at all during work, didn't feel it until about a half-mile in, didn't get much worse by the end. def felt better than after work yesterday, but my 6th sense is telling me it's an issue that would be better off letting rest than training through. simply put, i got greedy after the time off from the stomach virus and went full throttle too fast. it's really annoying, but i guess the silver lining is knowing i can do that much still. i'd say a full day of recovery would get rid of it, but 2 shifts of 13 hours on my feet with an 11-hour break in between isn't full recovery, so i'll be back either monday night or tuesday morning, and let next week be a sort of brick week to get back to the fitness of a couple days ago the right way.