running for my mind

Planned rest day.

I was still pretty wiped out from yesterday's long(er) run.

Goals for this coming week - 10 to 12 400s on Tuesday - Tempo of 7 miles on Thursday (I am going to be playing this one by ear because we are headed to Jackson Hole for the day. So, I might bump this to Friday.) - Saturday long run of 18 - Total miles of 60 again. 

8 easy miles with Adam this morning.

I was feeling a little tight in my knees, but nothing out of the usual little tightness. For some reason my stomach has been unsettled on almost all of my runs lately. Even this slower easy run gave me some issues. I need to figure it out.

9.25 - 2 mile warmup - 10 x 1/4 mile repeats - 2 and a bit cool down.

Well, the last 24 hours have been less than desirable. I have been working for almost a year for a firm downtown. I have technically been a clerk waiting for a full-time offer. If you know anything about the process of law school and finding a job, up to this point I have done everything "right." I have tried to check every box. I was in the top of my class, got on law review, and got a clerkship my second summer. That clerkship has continued and I have been working part-time during this school year. Yesterday, I met with the managing partner of the firm and he told me that they will not be extending me an offer. His exact words were, "don't count on it." He was kind enough to say that he would write me a good recommendation though!

So, when I got home I wanted to put on my shoes and just start running until I couldn't go any farther. I then realized that that type of a run would not fit well into my training schedule! (stupid logical mind got the best of me) So, instead I just waited for this morning's run. However, when I woke up I just didn't have the fire that I did last night. 

It is hard to do a track workout when you get to the track and it is locked. I tried to not let this bug me, but I was really looking forward to trying to shred the track apart with my 400s. I improvised and decided to just do some 1/4 mile pickups or repeats on my normal route. Because my route has a decent amount of change in elevation, I decided that I would be happy with running my 1/4 miles in 80 seconds, and hoped to run some in 75. (75 was my original goal for the track)

Overall, I felt OK with this run. I didn't feel great, but I finished it. By the end I was pretty spent dodging cars at a 5:00 min pace!

Sorry for such a long post. I guess I needed to vent a bit.

 [update] Tyler pointed out that this post doesn't make me seem too stoked on today's workout. I am. I just am still upset about the work situation and that obviously has shown through this post. Sorry.

PM - Came home from school and ran 2.5 miles with Whit and Grey. Whit is just getting back in to running so it was a nice slow pace. She did great though. It was nice for me because I was, and am still, feeling pretty tight in my calves from this morning. This short jaunt loosened them up a bit. I look forward to a nice easy run tomorrow.  

9.75 easy miles this morning. Met up with Adam but he had to head downtown for work so we only ran 5 together. Felt great on the run but my legs are still sore from yesterday as I write this (it is about 8pm).

We left Salt Lake about 1pm today and drove up to Jackson Wyoming. I am going to still try and get in my tempo in the morning but I have no idea on which streets to run.  

8 miles behind Adam. 2 mile warmup, 4 a little quicker than marathon pace, 2 mile cool down. 

Had thought and was planning on doing my tempo this morning in Jackson but we awoke to snow and wind. We luckily wrapped up there early and headed home.

Adam hadn't run yet so we headed to Wasatch for a tempo session at about 5:15pm. Lack of sleep and driving almost 600 miles in 24 hours showed on this run. It didn't help that there was a headwind for part too.

Overall, I still feel good about the run. Because it was a little shorter tempo than last week I think I still might try and run several miles at marathon pace during my long(er) run Saturday.

8 easy, 2 solo and 6 with Tyler.

It was a good morning. Nice and clear and crisp. We finished just in time I think. Small flakes started falling right when we finished. Tyler told me it is supposed to snow a lot tonight. Should make for a fun long(er) run tomorrow!

18 miles - 10.5 of the miles Adam was nice enough to join me on. 

I feel better right now after 18 this morning than I did last week after my 17.5. That is a good thing. It was a fun run overall. We had snow coming down pretty heavily for the first 9 miles. It was then nice and clear with the occasional nasty road condition.

Mile 10 was actually a good 30 seconds or so faster, for those of you who really want to get nitpicky. I managed to step in a huge puddle and completely soak my right foot. I thought I paused my watch while I was assessing the situation, but didn't.

We clipped off 4 miles at marathon pace to see how my legs would hold up. It felt good to let the legs loose for a bit. Every once in a while it was a little sketchy at that pace with the road conditions and cars flying by, but overall it was fun. We slowed up for mile 15 and then I tried to close the last 3 miles strong after dropping Adam at his house.

Overall, I feel good about my goals even though I didn't hit them right on the head. I mixed them up a bit and feel fine about that. I ran a few more miles than I had anticipated, which is fine with me. I got in my 400s, but missed the full tempo. That is ok though because my tempo ended up being at a high exertion level and then I got in another 4 at marathon pace during my long run. I feel like it was a successful week.