Week nine! How did this happen? It’s going by so fast…

I survived being sick the week of Thanksgiving. Had it been any other week, I probably would have done some of the workouts I skipped. But I went to a City Council meeting on Monday (to stand in support of those opposed to a resolution that would have put the City’s endorsement on a business’ right to discriminate based upon the owner’s religious beliefs), baked two pies on Tuesday (to give to folks who donated to my CFF Cycle for Life ride), baked two pies & cornbread (for stuffing) and other prep work for Thanksgiving on Wednesday. By the time I was finally done on Thanksgiving, I was weary and very happy to sit down. The short, easy run I did on the Friday was nice; it not only let me know I was well on the way to recovery, it did away with the Imma-kill-someone-if-I-don’t-go-for-a-run-soon edginess I’d been fighting for a few days.

Ironically, the week after Thanksgiving was a recovery week. I decided to honor it (mostly). I did a 5-mile run Saturday that was supposed to be easy; my pace was much closer to steady: I averaged 12:33/mile through 5.7 miles. I kept thinking, “I feel so slow,” and then I’d see I’d just run a 12-minute mile. I think I wasn’t slow, but I was pushing myself and that made me feel weary.

My concern was getting weary on a five-mile, 12:30/mile run is not a good sign for someone who’s training for a 50K. But alas, I was just sick, my sinuses are still bothering me (oh, the snot rockers I’m launching!), and I’d eaten a pretty crappy diet the day before (more on that below). My concerns are a little premature, so I’ll use them as motivation to work hard (as the body allows).

The reason my diet was so bad on Friday was two-part: I was traveling, and I was really tired. Wednesday morning, I drank a cup of regular coffee with breakfast. I only got 3-4 hours of sleep that night, if that. I didn’t start to feel tired until around 2 p.m. Thursday. (Clearly, I am not allowed to drink regular coffee ever again!) I drove to Spokane Thursday evening. I ate about five servings of some oatmeal-raisin cookies I’ve got in the freezer prior to leaving. I can’t fathom why, other than I crave sugar when I’m tired.

I slept fairly well Thursday night, but I had to be up by 6:45 a.m., so I wasn’t able to make up any sleep. I succumbed to the temptation of the cookies provide by the host of the CLE* I was attending. Lunch wasn’t provided, and because I went to the Gonzaga University bookstore (gotta show some Bulldog pride in Pasco), I was short on time and stopped at the first place I saw: Bruchi’s. Yay, fast food. Leaving Spokane, I didn’t want to stop and get anything to eat. When I arrived at Ritzville, I needed to stop for gas. I decided to get something at Subway, too. I should have just bought some jerky at the gas station. I ordered a reuben – not great, but okay. Bottom line: a day of fast-food sandwiches and cookies was less-than-stellar fuel for Saturday’s run.

* Continuing Legal Education. The State bar association requires we have 15 hours of training per year. I usually have about 30 credits per year, but this one sounded interesting and it was an excuse to get out of the office.

Monday’s run was an easy run, and I forced myself to stay within my designated easy pace. The Garmin 910 allows me to set up a workout with both run and walk paces; the Vivoactive doesn’t accept workouts generated on GarminConnect, and it’s available paces aren’t slow enough for my walks. Another reason to keep using the 910. (My foot pod died, and the Vivoactive is able to determine cadence by my arm swing; the 910 doesn’t. I should buy another foot pod, but they’re $70, and I’m trying to focus on paying off some debt, not buying new toys.)

The Deception Pass 25K is this Sunday. It’ll be a really good test. It’s half the distance of the Badger Mountain Challenge, but it has 3,000′ of elevation gain & loss (compared to BMC’s 5,500′ over 50 km). The cutoff time is six hours, so I can be a little pokier than I would need to be on the BMC. The trail is a good challenge – constantly up & down, rocky, roots, muddy, twisty – and I’m looking forward to it. I feel pretty good about my ability to complete the race within the cutoff.

I’ll be driving over Friday, which potentially puts me at my parents’ house fairly late. (The earliest I’ll arrive is 9 p.m.) I intend to sleep as late as possible on Saturday morning. Getting the sleep is more important than being tired enough that night to go to bed early. I rarely sleep well the night before a race, and even though this one is just a training race, I’ll still be a bundle of nerves. I’m volunteering at the 50K Saturday afternoon, and I’m having lunch with my former boss beforehand. I’ll spend Saturday night in a hotel in Oak Harbor. It seems silly, given that my parents live on the island, but I know how stressed out I am the morning of a race. When I made the reservations, I assumed Jim was coming with me; the drive up from Greenbank would have been stressful for both of us. I’m traveling alone, but I still want to stay in a hotel: my parents don’t need to see  how unreasonable I can be before a race. (We spent the night at their house the night before the Whidbey Island triathlon, and we’re still speaking, so maybe I’m exaggerating. I just know that the less contact I have with people I otherwise want to get along with, the better.)

I’m hopeful I’ll have a better idea of my fitness after I’ve run the Deception Pass 25K. Maybe there will be a glowing report here on my blog page. 🙂