MCM Week 12: Twin Lights Run

The weather was looking questionable for the week, making the training volume tougher to plan. I was determined to do the best I could between the rain migraines, appointments, and busy work week.

Here's the plan breakout for Week 12:

·       Sunday – 16 miles Long

·       Monday – 6 miles Easy

·       Tuesday – 10.5 miles Strength: 1.5 miles WU, 3 x 2 miles @ MP-10 w/ 0.5 mile jog, 1.5 miles CD

·       Wednesday – Cross-train

·       Thursday – 12 miles Long

·       Friday – 6 miles Easy

·       Saturday – 8 miles Easy

What actually happened:

·       Sunday – 16 miles Long (Rumson)

·       Monday – Rest

·       Tuesday – 4.32 miles Tempo

·       Wednesday – Heavy Lifting

·       Thursday – 12 miles Long (HHT)

·       Friday – 8 miles Easy (Hartshorne hills)

·       Saturday – Beach Yoga, 4 miles Easy

It poured all morning on Sunday. It was a complete downpour; my head was killing me from my weather migraine. I knew that it would stop raining closer to lunchtime, so I allowed myself to enjoy my morning curled up with a good book. We watched the cyclists that were participating in the Twin Lights Ride get off the ferry with their ponchos and raingear looking weary yet excited for their 100-mile journey around Monmouth County. If I signed up for this cycling event, I would be out there, but I got to choose when I started my endurance run. There was no need for me to catch a cold or get blisters that would keep me off my feet for days, so I started running a little after 1pm. It was humid and a bit misty at times, but I enjoyed the break from the hot, sunny long runs I’ve had for most of the summer. I ran south to Sea Bright, then crossed over the new bridge to run through Rumson to Little Silver and back. I almost got run over twice by fancy cars rolling through stop signs and not looking both ways. I also encountered a buck eating at the side of the road that I was running on, so as I approached, I made sure there weren’t any cars coming around the bend before I ran in the middle of the lane to avoid him. Although the deer around here are barely bothered by humans (especially on Sandy Hook), I wasn’t taking chances with the strong buck with very pointy antlers that could gut me if I made the wrong move. I imagined the headline of NJ.com reading “Runner Gets Stabbed by Antlers in Rumson” and all the social media comments blaming me for running on a county road in broad daylight. My pacing felt great, and I felt like I could have gone longer. I didn’t want to overdo it, and I was glad I stopped when I did. My body was confused about running in the afternoon, so I recovered by watching football and went to bed a little earlier than usual.

I could have run the prescribed recovery miles on Monday, but I mentally wasn’t up for it. I made it a rest day, and went for short walks at work between clients. In retrospect, I wished I ran a little bit to get the jitters out.

I was supposed to run with 2 clients back-to-back to get the full workout, but I went out too fast with my earlier client. She’s speedy for short runs, whereas I need a good warmup these days. I didn’t see my second client outside to join him and slow down closer to his speed for the second half of my workout, so I didn’t bother. He didn’t even make it outside at all so I was pissed because I hate working around other people’s schedules. I would have preferred to run at home for the last few early sunrises.

I lifted heavy on Wednesday as planned. It was another rainy day, so a migraine was in full force and my right knee felt off from the speedy run the day before. I took my time on my lifts and really focused on my form.

Thursday was September 11, so it was already a weird day. I scheduled an oil change, so I had to wait to run until they picked up my car to bring it to the shop before I could leave. As soon as they got it, I was off running the same direction (but at a much slower pace) on the Henry Hudson Trail. The car service the past few times took most of the day, so I was surprised when I got the text mid-run saying that it was completed and they were on their way for the courtesy drop-off. I texted back feverishly and trying not to trip saying I’d be back in about an hour because I was 6 miles away and running, and the lady texted back “LOL take your time, no rush”. Even though they said not to rush, I picked up the pace to complete my 12 miles, then walked for a half mile cooldown. I got there just in time for me to give me back my car and keys before I showered. Nothing like a deadline to get me to speed up!

To add on to a busy Thursday, as I was doing laundry I spotted a big, white dog behind our laundry room running around through mud. When I came out of the building with my hands full of clothes that needed to be air-dried, the dog got spooked and darted across the street, nearly getting hit by a car. There was no collar on him/her, and it looked lost. I followed the dog across the street, through some person’s property and cornered him by a fence. I was trying to entice the scared dog to trust me and let me pet it while also calling the police to have them help me find the owner. He growled at the cop, but let me pet him through the fence, so I had to loop a makeshift leash around the dog. The cop walked him around the neighborhood while waiting for the Monmouth County SPCA, but they eventually found where he belonged down the street. I was both happy and sad; I was glad he got back to where he belonged, but also sad that I couldn’t adopt him right on the spot. He looked like a giant Golden Retriever or Great Pyrenees mix full of fluff, and I felt so calm petting him. As stressful as that was to chase him down, it felt like a sign that I needed a dog. Someday, we’ll get our dog.

The sweet dog that I found running around lost in my neighborhood. We found the owner, so I couldn’t keep him :(

I swapped mileage again on Friday to run the Hartshorne Battery Loop to run 8 miles instead of 6 miles. I had a busy work from home day, so I was glad to be outside and moving for a little longer. These hills are always humbling, but I knew training on them would help prepare me better in the long run.

On Saturday I went to Beach Yoga and ran 4 easy miles on the Hook after. I was a bit tired and wanted to save my energy for my Sunday long run. I caught up on writing and took a few walks throughout the day to keep my joints happy before the next day.

This training week had wins and losses. I could have just not bothered with my long run at all because of the rain, but I made it happen. My tempo run later in the week felt great despite having to rush home. And although I was about 14 miles off goal volume for the week (yikes), I knew I’d catch up in other ways. I was mentally burnt out; no need to physically burn out too.