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Monday, April 28, 2008

Bodily Rebellion

Let me clear something up real quickly with regards to my last post. I have an excuse for still being in my PJs with messy, yucky ponytail hair . . . I had been working from home for most of the day (with the exception of a quick mid-morning cleaning frenzy) and just “hadn’t gotten around to” taking care of that whole getting dressed/personal hygiene thing. So yeah . . . I’m not quite as lazy as you might think. I just work a lot, is all ☺

And I actually had planned on running that evening, considering I only got ONE run in during the preceding work-week . . . but Guitar Hero just seemed like a much better use of my time (I am sleep-deprived, what can I say?) As sorta/kinda disappointed as I was in myself for choosing a silly video game over running, I learned yesterday that perhaps it was for the best.

Yesterday, I attempted a long run of seven miles. It should have been a piece of cake by now. But sadly, that simply wasn’t the case. Wilson and I set off for the park at the rather late hour of 5:00 p.m. Even, as we were just starting out, I was feeling pretty ragged and run-down—but I figured it was only natural, considering my crappy 70+ hour stress-a-thon of a work week. Wilson and I kept trucking along, and I kept hoping maybe my tiredness was just a “phase” I would snap out of once I got into a decent rhythm. Well, unfortunately, I never quite got into that rhythm. We stopped at a water fountain somewhere around mile-4 to get a quick drink, and it was nearly impossible for me to get going again. I used every trick in the book to attempt to delay the inevitable . . . took 5 separate drinks from the fountain, stretched out every part of my body, pulled my ipod out of my pocket and searched for a song to get me motivated . . . EVERYTHING. Finally, Wilson convinced me to get moving again.

We took off, and I immediately could tell that my body was just not going to make it to seven miles. About a half mile later, I was literally dragging my legs behind me . . . I was so far beyond a shuffle, it wasn't even funny. I was just way too exhausted to continue on, and felt like I might collapse at any second . . . So I abruptly stopped. Wilson was all, “wtf?!” and stopped too. I explained my issue to him, and he suggested that a) I should quit my job (so helpful!), and b) maybe I should just walk a short loop (2 miles), whereas he would finish running the big loop (3.35 miles), and we could meet back at our little entrance to the park.

I was not a happy camper--I was practically in tears about the whole thing. I tried to convince him to let me run the rest of the run with him, but I knew deep down inside that it was probably one of those super pesky times when it was best to listen to my body. So I reluctantly told Wilson to continue on his way, and I took the turn off for the smaller loop. Only apparently I momentarily forgot about the whole “listening to my body” thing . . . because I immediately started running again. I decided I would try to at least finish the small loop, which would put me at a little over 6 miles for the day. Unfortunately, my body was SERIOUSLY pissed at me for not listening to it, and it decided to make it so that I couldn’t NOT listen to it. I covered another half-mile before I realized my body just wasn't willing to make it the rest of the way. I grumpily slowed to a walk, and finished the last mile up at a pace so slow, I could have most likely walked on my hands faster. I finished up with 5 measly miles of running. My (running) splits were as follows:

Mile 1: 10:04
Mile 2: 10:07
Mile 3: 9:35
Mile 4: 9:36
Mile 5: 10:03

Hmfph. I had no idea we sped up so much during miles 3 and 4 . . . but um yeah. That probably didn't help matters any. Anyway, the plan for now is to get a LOT of rest this week, with some easy runs and cross-training mixed in there. I'm also going to go to the doctor and get a physical (gasp!) But not yet . . . ha, I have to work my way up to that one ;) It's quite a BIG step for me . . .

3 comments:

*jen* said...

That stinks. I know your pain though. I went through the exact same thing last week on my long run day and I was shooting for 7 as well. It was disappointing but you do have to listen to your body. You should also listen to your faithful readers who say you work too damn much and need to scale back a bit. :)

The Laminator said...

Yeah...what Jen said. Oh Irish, why you torture yourself so? The point is to run a couple of 3 or 4-milers during the week AND THEN do a 7 on the weekend. Hope you rest well.

P.S. Don't skip out on the physical. It's like peeling off a bandaid, the faster you go through with it, the less it hurts.

Chris said...

Not much more to say. Jen and laminator or both right. And I hate to say it, but I liked Wilson's bad advice: "quit that damn job", but I recall we have been down this road before.