Whew!  What a difference a week makes!

Call me insane, I guess.  I didn’t stick to the schedule this week.  I’ve said for 4 weeks straight that I am going to stick to it, but it just doesn’t work out.  Maybe I need to change my schedule…

So, last Sunday, I ‘ran’ 14 miles in hot, humid Houston.  It was bad.  I ran slow, I was tired and weak and even thought I was going to die at one point – really.  I was so out of breath that I was gasping for air and NOTHING WAS COMING IN.  All I felt was a big ole’ lump in my throat.  Like I said, it was bad.  After a suggestion from my long run partner, a.k.a. husband, we planned a do-over for the 14 miler. 

I had a rest day on Monday that I was SO happy to have.  I was tired and dejected after the debacle on Sunday.  I ended up running all of my runs on the treadmill this week.  Not so good, but at least I got them done.

On Friday, the day after Thanksgiving and the day before my do-over run, my head started hurting and my shoulder and neck were aching.  …SIGH…  I think the headache was mostly sinus/allergy related but had no idea what brought on the shouder/neck pain.  I took Aleve on Friday morning and again Friday night.

On Saturday morning, the alarm went off (in the wonderful bed at the Four Season’s Hotel, no less!) at 6:50.  My head was pounding and my shoulder was hurting so bad I couldn’t turn my head to look at my husband to tell him I couldn’t run.  …SIGH AGAIN…  “Would you be disappointed to run on Sunday at home?” I asked him.  He had no problem, rolled over and went back to sleep.  I, on the other hand, was upset.  Was I crapping out on this run because I was nervous and scared of a repeat?  After all, we WERE back in Houston.  It was around 70 degrees and humid.  I don’t think I manufactured the neck/shoulder pain.  It was REALLY hurting.  And after I layed (lied?) in bed for a few minutes, I realized what the headache was about.  I am a caffeine addict.  I hadn’t had coffee in two days.  DUH!  Alright.  Don’t judge me.  I could be addicted to FAR WORSE…  And plus, coffee is delicious.  🙂  So, I got up, showered and went down to the hotel’s Il Cafe and had some coffee and an apple.

Back at home and on Sunday morning, it was cold and windy.  I guess ‘cold and windy’ is relative, BUT I am a Texan and ‘cold and windy’ for me is 43 degrees with 20 mph winds.  (It felt nice in the sun, but in the shade, it was treacherous.)  We drove down to White Rock Lake to run the trail.  I’d never run WRL.  It is absolutely beautiful!  Didn’t even feel like I was in Dallas.  Very nice.  You can see some info about it here:  http://www.whiterocklake.org/?page_id=498. 

So anyway.  We started running and almost immediately, I had a sinking feeling of dejavue.  No bueno!  I struggled to breathe and was tired for about 3 or 4 miles THEN I REALIZED WHY!!!  We were cruising along WAY faster than I normally run.  Hmmm…  When I realized it, I just thought, “Okay, I’ll just keep running like this until I pass out.  Wonder how long that’ll take.”  We ran and ran and I finally got into a little bit of a rhythm.  Stuff was hurting but I am old and ‘stuff’ is gonna hurt at some point.  😉  I didn’t get really fatigued until about 12 miles.  After that, we were so close that the happiness of it all kept me going.  We finished this run about 20 minutes faster than we (I) finished the 14 mile run in Houston last week.  WOW!!  VERY NICE!  I was happy and felt very proud and thankful. 

So it’s been 9 hours since the run and I feel fine.  I’m a little stiff when I stand after being seated for a while but that’s about it.  🙂 

What a difference a week makes.  Last week I was in the dumps for real.  I feel great today! 

So, here’s what this week looked like:

• Monday:  OFF cause I ‘ran’ long on Sunday
• Tuesday:  7 long miles on the treadmill
• Wednesday:  5 miles on the treadmill
• Thursday:  off
• Friday:  5 miles on the treadmill at the Four Seasons Hotel where the fitness room attendant brought me water to the treadmill 🙂  That is what I call GOOD SERVICE!
• Saturday:  off because my head, neck and shoulder were KILLING ME!!! 
• Sunday:  14.07 miles 😉

Next Week: 

• Monday:  off
• Tuesday:  4
• Wednesday:  7 miles on treadmill at marathon pace – UGH – not looking forward to that
• Thursday:  4 miles on treadmill doing intervals
• Friday:  off
• Saturday:  5 miles
• Sunday:  16 miles, yes SIXTEEN miles!!