Catching up

I've been running, I swear.  I even had a running partner for one and did some speed work another day.  See, this is what happened after the amazing Pocatello 1/2 Marathon: I ran my typical crappy post-half run (2.14 miles at 11:28 avg pace) and then we went on a week long vacation on the Middlefork of the Salmon River where I did nothing but fish, row a boat, and sit around and drink beer.  It was awesome.  We came back from vacation a day early, so I laced up my running shoes and took myself out for a 7.7 mile run (avg pace 11:33/mile) the day after we got back.  It was a little rough and there was some walking, but I did it.

And then I didn't run for 8 days.  I will say that Josh and I did start going back to bootcamp at Warrior Fit during that week, so I wasn't completely lazy.  I was, however, rather sore.  So the running took a break while my muscles figured out how to function.  It was then that I got the bright idea to run to bootcamp.  Bootcamp starts at 6:00 AM.  We live 3 miles from Warrior Fit which means I need to leave the house by 5:25 to get there in time to cool down before I push myself to the max for another 20-25 minutes.  And that means I need to be out of bed by 5:10 so I feel just the slightest bit awake for the run.  Here are the dates I ran to bootcamp (all at 5:30 AM unless otherwise noted):

9/26 - 10:34 avg pace
10/1 - 10:40 avg pace
10/10 - 11:17 avg pace (after work)
10/12 - 10:52 avg pace

The kid was not doing particularly well with school stuff and there was a lot of lying going on, which is one that that really, really pisses me off.  On 10/3 I couldn't handle being in the house stewing about how much lying was happening that I decided to go out and do some speed work to take my mind off it.  This was what I did without any planning.

1/2 mile run @ 9:55
1/4 mile walk
1/4 mile run @ 8:26
1/4 mile walk
1/4 mile run @ 9:10
1/4 mile walk
1/4 mile run @ 9:11
1/4 mile walk

Josh went rafting the weekend of 10/8.  I wanted to run to bootcamp but that meant I would have to borrow a huge hiking fanny pack from the kid to stuff my boxing gloves and water into it.  I did that once earlier this year and swore I'd never do it again.  Instead, I loaded everything into the truck and drove to Warrior Fit.  Then, I went for a run in that area (2.29 miles at 9:57 avg pace) before heading into punch and kick some stuff.  I drove home and did pretty much nothing for the rest of the day.

On 10/9, I made plans to go for a run with a gal I know.  Tamara has been injured lately, so I figured it would be a nice easy morning even if we had 7 miles planned for the morning.  We walked quite a bit because her doctor demanded it, but even with the run/walk business we averaged 11:37 mile.  It was nice to have a partner for the morning!

On Friday I took my running gear to work and took a long lunch so I could get in 5 miles.  I averaged 10:29 for that run and it was a fairly warm day, so I was surprised at my pace.  I had plans to run 10 miles on Saturday morning but that just didn't happen because it was lefse-making day at our church and I promised my mom I would come help.  Of course, there's always a party after lefse, so Sunday was spent 1) hungover and 2) not running.  I needed to run more than 7 miles and I hadn't.  So today I did something I've never done: I did a long run on Monday morning.  Today's 8.12 mile run felt fantastic!  I was well rested, well hydrated, and took some Clif Shot Bloks with me (I had 2 at mile 6).  I finished in 1:27:11 and an average pace of 10:44/mile.

Maybe what I haven't mentioned is that I have another race planned - the Chicago Monster Dash on 10/29 with my favorite running friend, Jamie!

This is officially the longest post in history and I'm cutting myself off.  I'm promising myself that I will not let my running blog get backed up like this again because the thought of anyone actually reading through this whole thing without falling asleep makes me cringe fall asleep.