So this week was my fourth week of the training and it came off the heels of a race, like I mentioned above. The training schedule has my "long runs" at fairly short distances so far, so today's long run really wasn't all that long because I did taper back to meet up with the distances on my schedule. My schedule for this week was as follows:
Tuesday - run 30 minutes (run/walk/run)
Thursday - run 30 minutes (run/walk/run)
Saturday - run 2 miles (huh? how is that a long run?)
So this week was again super crazy busy at work, so I ended up missing my Tuesday run. Bad me, bad, bad, bad!! No excuses, just exhaustion.
Thursday I stayed late at work to finish some things up, then I threw my running clothes on and headed out to Myrtle Edwards park to run. This time though, I was taking the new overpass to the park instead of running half a mile to one of the two entrances to the park. This entrance is super convenient because it's in the neighborhood of my work, brilliant.
I'll get more pictures of this overpass, I just didn't have my camera with me when I went. So I crossed the overpass and ran along Myrtle Edwards. Beautiful day, crisp cool breeze and cloudy but not raining. I got to listen to the water lap onto the shore as I ran and that was the best music to my ears, so peaceful. I got my 30 minutes down and pushed my pace a bit for my first mile, I was totally out of breath, but it felt good!
So today, Saturday, for my long run the schedule said 2 miles. I kinda laughed at that, considering I'd just ran (mostly) 6 miles the weekend before. So I decided I would go with the intention of 2 but gave myself the option for 3 if it felt good. I should also say that last weeks mileage called for 4 miles, so I think I outdid myself a bit last Sunday. Today also was solidly raining.
That's the construction going on across the way from me, and you can almost see the rain if you look at the lower level. Rain is tough to capture on camera. Regardless, I knew I had to dress appropriately for this run so I wasn't miserable the whole way. So I donned my new wicking thermal layer, Brooks capris and Brooks waterproof vest. I felt pretty snazzy in black and white today!
I had talked about my lack of appropriate running clothes for the fall and winter in this post. So luckily that weekend I stumbled on some great sale finds on the Brooks website and bought a couple of cold/wet weather essentials. Today was my first test.
It was also a HUGE non-scale victory for me today. I actually fit (not like sausage casing tight, but comfortable fit) in a Brooks XL size. I don't think I've been able to fit into a female size piece of workout clothing, well...ever. So this also made me really excited for my run!
I got out there and in the rain, I logged my miles. My legs felt so heavy when I started running, so I took it slow as prescribed today, but my route is mostly uphill for the first mile, so it was a struggle. I got to the two mile mark of my out and back and was starting to feel really good, so I continued on for another half mile to get the three miles. When I came back home I felt awesome! I always forget how amazing I feel after a run and try to remember to tell myself that on those days I just don't want to run!
Here's a soggy picture of me. I'm wet but happy! The vest worked like a CHARM! My whole core was dry (save for sweat) from the rain, so I may have been wet on my arms and legs, but I was warm!
You probably can't see it, but both my shoes and socks are COMPLETELY soaked. I'm thinking about getting waterproof running shoes, have any of you used them? What did you think?
Then I grabbed my favorite fuel of choice right when I got home. This chocolate milk is A-MAZ-ING!!! If you haven't tried it, you really should go out and get some. Chocolate Peanut Butter milk!?!?! It also has 20g of protein and I know we all need some protein after a good run. :)
So today during my run I did realize that I had made the right decision by not signing up to race both the Dawg Dash 10K and the Snohomish River Run 10K on back-to-back weekends. I may have had a great three mile run today, but I know that I would have been miserable if I tried to add three more miles to my run, my legs would have protested in the most astonishing fashion.
Overall, this has been a good week. Not as much mileage as I should have had and I'm sure if I had those miles I might have felt a bit more "prepared" for my longer run today. I always feel a bit off when I run after having a long break in between runs, so I'm going to work REALLY hard at getting all my runs in REGARDLESS of other stressors in my life. The run will do my body good!
Questions for you: Have you owned or used waterproof running shoes? Did they work well for you? Or were they not all that helpful? Would you recommend people to use them?
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