So today was one of those days where I had totally committed to being useless when I woke up. It was gloomy and the weather said it was about to rain and I just sat in bed (not even dressed) and derped on my computer for hours. I got an email yesterday from the collegiate tri team here about an NCAA Nationals qualifying race that USAT wants Wash U to send athletes to and I was interested so I spent some time looking up more information about the whole status of women's triathlon as an emerging NCAA sport. The ultimate result of my wandering through the depths of the internet and past race results was me determining that I really need to step up my running. So when things cleared up a bit in the middle of the day, I went out and took the run I had been planning on doing before I mentally bailed on it (while blaming the weather). I don't know what I would do if it weren't for race pressure getting me off my butt to train. I need that kind of motivation and I'm really glad I found it today and did the work I had to do. Here it is!
Today's Workout: 5+ mi base run, similar to the past two days, negative split RPE was the goal (evidently did not happen - I would say it was because I got lost, but I think mostly it was because I got too excited and went out real fast).
Summary: 6.42 mi, 59:29 total time, 9:16 pace.
Pace splits by mile: 8:50, 9:05, 9:02, 9:46, 9:21, 9:25, 9:38.
Some interesting things happened today. The weather was MUCH cooler (64 F, slight breeze, overcast, not too humid) which meant I felt great starting out (and for most of the run actually) and decided that I would take it out fast because I was feeling inspired to be great and why not right? You can see where that went during mile 4, when I encountered a road that was (a) longer than I thought it was (took a new route today) and (b) on a slight uphill. The redemption in that though was that I ran at a pace that felt comfortable effort wise and tried to keep my heart rate down and recovered quite well and got back into the groove. I think my body really dislikes any deviation from my forever pace effort/heart rate so learning to cope with the inevitable ups and downs of terrain and race conditions is an important skill for me to practice.
I did get very lost shortly after that though. Part of my run involved going down the stairs at the World's Fair Pavillion because I had no idea where else I could go. I did make it back in one piece though! And the total uncertainty about what the final length of the run would be (it was about 0.5-1 mile longer than I was planning) kept my pace/effort in check. I tried to stay as quick as I could while still being comfortable and not risking dying before getting to where I needed to go. I've also realized that it is worthwhile to run in the middle paths through Forest Park. There are some nice wooded (but paved) trails which are shady and very pleasant and there's more terrain within the park itself (I need practice with terrain). I will have to explore more on future runs.
I think this run was reassuring because it was a reminder that when the weather cooperates with me, I am quite a faster runner than I am when the weather is hot. Which means I only need to build up adaptations to the heat, not necessarily to raw running fitness (however you want to define that). That'll take time and practice and a lot of patience (and I'm a very impatient person), but knowing that it really is the heat that's my issue is comforting and will help me work through what I'm sure will be some pretty rough and miserable training ahead.
I head back to Canada tomorrow briefly to pack and pick up furniture from my old house. I will try to get a run in on Thursday and a swim and a run in on Friday before taking Saturday off to make the drive back, but we'll see how it all fits in. There's some more rain expected in Windsor (although that's what I said earlier this week and I've gotten all my three runs in so far) and my mother may have plans that keep me busy, but I'll do my best. Then back to STL briefly before heading back for about two weeks just to spend some time at home. Okay gotta finish cleaning up the house and packing for tomorrow now. Good talk. (:
Much love,
Jess
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