Another Week

I took the week off. The whole thing. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday... You get the picture. I just didn't feel like running. Bill also had a lot of coaching commitments and I had a lot of work to do with the end of the marking period approaching.

I ran five miles on Friday afternoon. I went out at about 4:30 pm and there was still some sunlight. I did a little over four 1.6 mile laps at a local reservoir. On one side of the loop, there was tons of wind and bitter cold. On the other, there was no wind and lots of sun. So for half the run, I was sweating and warm and for the other half, I was ffffffreezing.

My leg was sore the whole time.

On Sunday, I did ten miles. After barely surviving the outdoor 5-mi run on Friday, I opted for the treadmill. Better to be bored to death than frozen to death. With the warm up and cool down, it was close to two hours. This is the second time I've run a full ten-- the first was last week.

As brutal as it sounds, it wasn't that bad. I feel like I'm conditioned enough to do this mileage-- my breathing is good and my muscles don't feel overly taxed. The soreness on my left ankle/achilles is pretty consistent and although it was a nuisance, I was able to power through it. Towards the end of the run, my right knee started to bother me, but I think its because (due to the soreness on my left) I was starting to put more weight on that side.

Aside from the physical soreness, the toughest part is mental. I mean, between a full-time job, a house and two little kids, I have almost no time to myself. Spending two full hours on a treadmill takes dedication and drive when that's your only "free time".