I ran three miles and wrote 3.5k words on Monday.
And then my week went to s*it.
The calm before the storm
The Stress Out, Freak Out
It was not just that I was busy and could not run or write. Tuesday through Thursday were bad, emotional, stressful, and occasionally tear-soaked days.
I had long, rough cases that allowed me to see sunlight for 3 hours on Wednesday, and that was it.
On top of that, my company came ridiculously and suddenly close to losing our major account in Savannah. It would not have rendered me unemployed, but would have changed my life drastically. I (and others) had to step out of comfort zones and basically fight for our jobs.
The danger has been squashed and my job is safe, but needless to say, I was emotionally drained for my (once again, tough) case on Friday. But I got out before the sun set and as exhausted as I was, I really wanted to run.
Stressed Out, Freaked Out Pace Run
So next up was my first race pace run, 3 miles @ 9:50 per mile.
I knew I would need help learning the pace and what it felt like to my body. I set my phone app to tell me average pace every quarter mile, did a warm up walk, and set off.
Well, either the GPS was off or someone at Nike+ was having a really fun time… first checkpoint told me I was going too slow, so I sped up. Same for the second checkpoint.
Now I was sprinting and critically reassessing my goals for the half marathon. I had no idea how much harder speed work was compared to, well, running a marathon.
The third checkpoint said I was right on-course.
I thought “Ok, so I’ll just finish this mile, vomit, and then go find a new hobby.”
Fourth checkpoint, “You have completed 1 mile in 8 minutes and 54 seconds”.
?Dkgdlfgjdsl;fhkjdflkgjdflkgjdlfkjdfg ARE YOU SERIOUS????!
I slowed to a walk and tried to assess if I was going to vomit or stroke out. Then, I pulled myself together and starting running again. But at that point I really only had two gears, a gear right below what I was previously running (still too fast) and walking really, really slowly.
So I ran really fast and just let the emotions of the week release from my body.
I pushed myself physically as much as I felt I had been pushed emotionally and mentally. I ran a 9:15 mile, took another walking break, and finished the third in 9:26, averaging 9:12 for the whole thing.
And with that, I ended my rough week and went out with friends to celebrate.
Some much needed down time.
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