Head for the hills!

I'll admit, my training hasn't been that great now that I'm back at school.  I really do aim for at least four runs a week, but I'd actually like to do more.  Generally I don't like having more than two off days in a week because I start to feel lazy.  But, last week was one of those weeks where running just didn't work out. Do you ever have a week like that after a really good run? I was so pumped about my super half marathon but then I felt like the rest of my runs were sub-par all week.  Who knows, maybe it was just my imagination.  After all, I didn't get much in anyways.  Sunday I ran with Ryan and did some toe running, which made my calf muscles burn for days.  Monday I took an off day. Tuesday I did speed work and boxing.  Wednesday I had planned to go for four - five miles, but got stuck at work later than planned and ended up only doing 2 before boxing.  Thursday was an off day and then I did 7 on Friday.  I'm ok with Friday's run because I went through Nahant to get in some hill work, and I most definitely did that.  As tough as hills are, I'll admit, I love doing them.  No, not because I get to go downhill, I just really like the challenge of getting up to the top.

Link to my 7 miler through Nahant: enjoy this picture of my beautiful Hoka's instead of a picture of my running map in the meantime.


After that though, I knew the chances of running Saturday and Sunday were slim.  We went to Vermont on Saturday and stayed overnight and then I had a family party on Sunday.  By the time everything was over, I was just too tired to run.  We did manage to walk about 2.5 miles on Sunday, so not all was lost. Even though I was planning on running on Monday, I ended up not having time between school, meetings, and boxing.  But at least I got in a workout, so I felt ok.  Today I did speed work on the treadmill at Title before doing the power hour. It wasn't terrible, but I still hate the treadmill.  Wednesday and Thursday this week I have crazy work meetings and so I'm going to have to tough it out and run between the end of the regular school day and the beginning of the meetings. I'm determined to get in at least 5 miles tomorrow and another long run by Friday night.  Saturday I have class all day, so that's probably going to be my off day this week.  Hopefully Sunday will set everything right again, and I can go back to long run Sundays and hills, speed, and short runs during the week!

Warm up run

This morning I went to my usual 8 am kickboxing class, run by Lucas.  It's far and away the best class at Title, except it's getting a little too crowded.  I know I have to expect that, but I find it difficult to kick and punch to the fullest when there's people on all sides of me.  Mostly I'm afraid I'll miss the bag and hit a person instead.   Hasn't happened yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if it ever did.  I would also like to take a moment to reflect on the fact that I can go to kickboxing and then run 10 miles less than 5 hours later and my legs are fine.  However, ask me to squat for more than 30 seconds and I feel like my legs are on fire....
After kickboxing I went home for a few hours and took a break, mastering decimal division, until my afternoon run.  If you're wondering why I was mastering decimal division, it's part of a program we use at school.  The students play math games and earn points.  As a teacher, we get a log-in to play as well, which I use to challenge the students.  Sadly, most of the children are ahead of me in sticker points.  However, that means that the students are learning and playing, which is really what's important here.
Anyways, we went for a 10 mile warm up run this afternoon.  It was a pretty basic route, through Salem and Peabody and then back into Salem.  There were some hills, but I hear there's a large hill in Philly at mile 9, so I'm ok practicing on hills now.  During the run, I managed to somehow spit in my own eye.  Honestly, I can say that's a first and I have NO idea how it happened.  Later I side-stepped a curb (or pothole) and sort of rolled my ankle.  Except it was really my foot, but I'm not sure how to describe that.  No big deal, but it came seconds after I almost fell face first into the street after slipping on some leaves layered over the brick sidewalks.   I love the fall, but I would love it even more if the leaves were being taken care of on the sidewalks.  The weather was actually nice even though it was fairly cool.  Luckily I have an Adidas Climawarm running hoodie built specifically for this weather, so I felt good.  I also practiced some toe running.  I noticed during barefoot kickboxing, that when I run around the gym, it's easier to run on my toes than on flat feet.  So I attempted it during the run today.  I'm fairly certain I'll never adopt it as my long distance running technique, but it wasn't so bad for short distance.  I was able to make it at least a mile without any serious problems.
So I'm excited for next weekend, even if I don't PR.  Now that I know I can run a marathon, I'm going to have fun in Philly.  I'll be running for time, but if I end up having to slow it down, at least I know it's not a big deal.  I am way more excited for this one than I was last time.  Last time I was excited but mostly nervous.  This time I'm just excited.  CAN'T WAIT FOR NEXT WEEKEND!!!!