So, I ended last week with a pretty nasty rolled ankle. Unfortunately, that seemed to set the pace a little bit for this last week.
Tuesday
4 miles @ EA. Actual run was 4 miles @ 10:06/mile. Thank goodness for starting off the week at low mileage/pace. My ankle was still pretty darn tender. Not unbearable, but definitely not a pleasant feeling.
Wednesday
7 miles @ LR. Actual run - nada. My wife is a doula and had a client go into labor on Wednesday. She had to go to the hospital immediately after I got home. My oldest daughters were with their grandparents, leaving me with the 4 y/o. So, Wednesday's run got cancelled. And really, given how tender my ankle still felt, I think it was a good move.
Thursday
7 miles @ EA. Actual run - 6.3 miles @ 9:41/mile. I knew that I had a function after work on Friday that was going to interfere with running plans. Not wanting to miss two runs in a single week - especially back-to-back - I moved the Friday up to Thursday...and I now realize that I was supposed to do 7, but instead did 6. Also, it definitely wasn't a blind run. Screw ups all over the place. Other than that, it was fine. A little on the cold side, but my ankle felt better - maybe about 80 percent.
Saturday
6 miles @ EA. Actual run - MISERY. Pure misery. You guys, this run sucked so bad. So, I got up Saturday morning and it was raining with no end in sight. It was also only about 35 degrees. I contemplated waiting for a while to see if it would let up, but I had stuff I had to get in Saturday afternoon. I'm also a big proponent of "practice like you play" and since I won't be able to put off any Disney races next month if it's raining, I just decided to go for it.
I put on my normal cold weather running gear and my new shoes that I'm going to break in for the next month, but instead of my running hoodie, I put on my Columbia raincoat, figuring I'd sacrifice a little bit of warmth, but stay dry longer.
This run was awful pretty much right from the start. It wasn't raining too hard at first, but it was really windy and since I run on the outskirts of town, there was pretty much nothing stopping the wind. I stayed dry enough and did my best to avoid any big puddles in the streets or sidewalks, but when it's raining steadily, you're going to get wet. By mile 3, I had the wind to my back, but began to feel the rain soaking down through my layers. When I turned south around mile 4 to head back toward home, I had the wind whipping across from me. My shoes and feet were getting pretty wet by this point, too. On the bright side, my ankle was pretty much too dumb for me to feel any discomfort.
Around the beginning of mile 5, all hell broke loose. The wind and rain picked up significantly and I got drenched. I shouted at Mother Nature several times, but she just responded with more rain. I was soaked, but just kept my head down and plowed ahead. There was no point in quitting because I still had to get back home. Even after the 6 miles were up, I kept running a bit (into the wind) just to get home faster.
Actual run - 6.4 miles @ 9:19/mile
Sunday
7 miles @ EB. Actual run - 7 miles @ 9:11/mile. It was raining against Sunday morning, which was actually fine. I wasn't planning on running since we were taking off to take my youngest daughter to Frozen on Ice. I'll spare you all a trip report on that, but it was a lot of fun. Here's a pic:
We got home around 2:30 and I was out for my run by 3. It was kind of spitting out, but nothing too miserable. My legs felt kind of dead-ish for most of the run, but I got through it. I was a little damp when I got home, but nothing unbearable.
So, what was supposed to be a nice and easy week was just kind of meh. I had the sore ankle, miserable weather and a really sore shoulder for most of the week (seems mostly better by now, but still a little tight). This has maybe been the only week of training I really haven't enjoyed since my second marathon when I was taking time off at regular intervals for a bum foot. It has nothing to do with the training and I'm still psyched for Dopey, but I'm definitely glad to put this week behind me.
Miles This Week: 23.8
Year To Date: 1,324