Week 12 - Hitting a wall...a brick wall.

This week I knew I wasn't going to get in my cross-training, as the weather forcast and having too much going on at work and at home were all working against me. So I made it a point to run longer distances on the days I ran instead. I figured it would all balance out. Except for one thing:

RUNNING IS NFG ANYMORE!!!

I don't know what happened. Was I not eating right? not hydrating properly? or have I hit a dreaded "wall" in my training. not sure. either way my runs for the most part this week felt horrible and my recovery from them was even worse. this does not bode well.

not well at all.

Monday - ran 4 mi. this run actually felt decent. from here on out it went downhill. FAST.

Tues - off

Wed - a dreaded OOPS run. ran 5 mi. meant to run 4. needless to say I took this run out at a much faster pace (9:15 min/mi) than I should have for a 5 mile run. BUT I MEANT TO RUN ONLY 4!! I decided to turn down a road that I was sure looped back down to the main road. You know, diversity and all. Instead, I was wrong about this loop, and it looped back UP to the main road, not down. By the time I realized this it was way too damn late. So I had to make the call - continue on and run all the way around back to the main drag (something more like 5.5-6 mi), or cut my losses, turn around and go back down the loop. I turned around. IT SUCKED. HARD. Felt terrible pretty much the whole time. And after I got home it didn't get better. my legs felt massively tired and so did I. Had tons of trouble sleeping - had to get up and take advil at one point my legs were so achy. I dunno what happened, but it is no good.

Thurs - off. felt like utter crap all day. headachy, tired, legs crampy. halfway thru the day I POUNDED water and finally started to feel better. Made the realization that I was probably dehydrated, and this is after not being properly hydrated for the run on wed. dammit.

Fri - off. still don't feel that great. I'd better not be coming down with something. considering I have the tornado's 5th bday party the next day, and then am off to Santa Fe for a conference for a week. dammit.

Sat- was planning to run 6-7 mi. made it 5.5. This run too felt crappy. Just couldn't get my breathing down. my legs felt really tired the whole time. and mentally I just wanted to stop for most of the run. NFG. buck up! I have 12 kids coming over in a couple of hours - get it together!!

Sun - travel day, so OFF. survived the chaos that is a 5 year old's birthday party. Up early and off to Santa Fe, where the 7000ft of elevation await me and my sucky training. yeah I know - GOOD LUCK WITH THAT. thanks.

final tally: 4 +5 +5.5 mi running + 0 crosstraining (BOO!) = 14.5 mi running, the majority of which felt like utter hell.

what have I gotten myself into?