Not going to lie, I almost just wrote “I will see you in October” but I don’t think that’s necessarily good for me. Again sorry for the lack of specifics, but metaphorically, I feel like I am on a cruise ship with a case of bad seasickness and can’t seem to get off. I will see the shore and get hopeful and find out that it’s an illusion or the wrong direction or something. I am sure others might handle it better, and I am struggling.
WORKOUTS
(Just assume every run was hot and humid. It’s still absolutely disgusting here and actually seems worse in some ways than July/Aug, not sure if it’s being sick of it or slightly higher humidity.)
M: 8 mi, part with friends. Ave 9:22/mi
T: TM hills. 3 mi warmup, 8 x 2 hills on TM (7 mph / 4%), 2.5 min jog recoveries between, 1.5 mi cooldown to 8 mi total. This was very very challenging. I find it easier to run fast intervals vs hills. Hopefully that means it’s effective.
20 min lower body strength (Peloton / Rad Lopez)
W: 6 mi, part with friends, 9:39/mi ave. My legs were D E A D. I could barely keep up with the group when they were running 9ish pace and probably should have just done this one solo.
R: 8 easy with strides. 9:39/mi ave again, legs felt better. 20 min upper body strength (Peloton / Callie)
F: 8 mi easy. 9:27/mi. Legs continued to improve a bit.
S: 17 mi, 7 easy / 4 MP effort / 6 CD. I was really impacted by the heat (at the start it was high 70s and >90% humidity and by the end it was 82F, sunny, and still steamy humid). Look at the HR data (ignore fake 1st mi) – after the MP miles I don’t think I was able to cool down to a reasonable core temp.
S: In theory 30 min full body strength, we will see. Yesterday really took a lot out of me. Maybe yoga would be better.
I am waffling between feeling like my running is a good distraction vs not really caring about it anymore because it doesn’t seem important.
55 mi / strength x 2-3
READING
FINISHED:
I started this in July. It wasn’t the book’s fault it took over a month to read. Lots of very evidence based discussion of motivation / habits / etc. A little dry compared to say, Gretchen Rubin or James Clear. But the author clearly knows her stuff and has a gentle tone that is nice.
I am also about halfway through Bear (this one). I’d be farther but I watched about 10 episodes of Emily in Paris this weekend in lieu of reading. I *do* find that show perfect for right now and am glad there are many more episodes up ahead! This will serve as my gratitude for the day . . .
10 Comments
omg, i’ve devoured Emily in Paris. I am sorry you’re going through a rough patch.
Sorry you are having such a tough time. Keep looking after yourself.
I’m so sorry things are rough right now. Thinking of you and the fam. It’s hard to go about life and all your normal responsibilities when there’s a storm cloud lingering overhead constantly dousing you with rain. Hoping it lifts soon and you start to see the sun again. Hugs <3
I definitely think September is harder than July and August- we have so many days where it just feels steamy outside- not conducive to running. Or, of course, there’s thunder and lightning. Ugh.
Anyway- sorry you are not getting a resolution to your problem yet. This seems super hard- but it has to end SOMEDAY.
Sorry to hear things continue to be hard for you guys. This has been a long stretch of challenging times and that can really wear on a person and can start to feel like things will never get better. I hope you turn the corner soon!
It’s grossly hot and humid here today. It’s in the mid-80s and very humid which I am sure is cool compared to FL but it is so abnormal for Mn. But I am glad it wasn’t like this yesterday when I had my 10 mile race. Instead it poured for most of the race – but I will take rain over sun and humidity. And I had a great race despite feeling so tired from an intense week of work travel. And now I travel again this week to Dallas where it will be 95. Bleh. Where are you, fall??
I just started a lit fit book called ‘Absolution’ which is about a group of wives living in Vietnam during the war. Their husbands are there for the war. It’s told in 2nd person which isn’t my favorite but it’s been holding my attention.
sorry to hear that things haven’t resolved yet and uncertainty continues to overshadow. I really don’t like uncertainty and get anxious wanting it over and resolve, but that’s not how life works. What helps me is to think about the worst case scenario and accept it, that makes me feel more in control of the uncertainty. Hope running helps mentally for you to deal with it, it always helps me as it’s one thing that I can control and the post-run endorphin lasts for few hours.
humidity and heat, deadly combo for runners. I hate hate hate hill repeats on treadmill. I just did two days of hill running where we are staying and my legs are now like post-marathon sore/cramp. I did like it at the time but didn’t realize how much it would hurt now.
Sorry things are rough right now. Also the weather. OMG – last Saturday might have been the hardest run I’ve done all summer. Everyone in my group was struggling. One gal cut her 18 mi run back to 15 and another guy ditched his workout and just ran easy. We were all going slooooowwwww.
Re: running performance. I would imagine the impact of stress like this is not just mental, but physical as well. I’ve been dealing with stressful news in the last week myself and I can absolutely feel it. There was one day my adrenaline must have been so high from it all, I kept getting twitchy muscles on and off at work. l was just exhausted at the end of that day and went for a long walk instead of my planned run.
I think you should keep exercising (of course!) but suggest being gentler with yourself, and consider letting go right now of some of your mileage/time goals. Let running be an energy boost, not an energy drain.
I’m sorry you’re going through a rough patch! Just a gentle nudge from someone who also has a tendency to tell myself “someone else would handle this better…” That might be true, or it might not. But we are who we are and we need what we need. It’s not easy, but to borrow a phrase from Lin-Manuel Miranda, “compassion on full blast!” You are handling this situation the way that you need to and that is more than enough.
It’s not you. The humidity has been awful. I thought the worst was over but apparently it is not. For non-Floridians, imagine stepping into a wall of wet – it feels like walking into a bathroom where someone has just gotten out of the shower.