Day 189: Losing Focus

Run Day: Monday Nov. 8.

Oy, waiting 3 weeks to post on a run was not a great idea. I'll make the most of my notes and get on to the next, more exciting posts.

I'll start off by pointing out it had been two weeks since my last run, and my toes were still sore when I went for this run. I believe I set off with the mindset that I would run the 5K, but I think I was just going to be happy with however far I made it, given that it had been a few weeks.

So I had made some homemade mini raw bars and ate some of them, a Dew, and a little water. I was rocking my compression pants, and I felt a little sick (now, I believe that was like sinuses, not tummy, not sure). I packed my mp3 and took off. My legs were very heavy, which was likely due to the compression pants as much as the break in running, and I had the wind in my face.

When I got to the very bottom of my Figure-8 route, I went an extra block before I turned around and ran back onto the route. This would make the route go from just shy of a 5K, to just over.

The worst part of leaving a massive gap in between runs is this run. It's like a throwaway. I know I can't do a 5K out of the blue, but running a shorter distance, and then having a rest day, before I can truly attempt the 5K again is just so frustrating.

Running back to the middle of the Figure-8, I was super tired, my left knee hurt, the bottoms of my arches hurt, I had slight side cramps. I tried to focus on ANYTHING, but my mind was just jumping around, and no tricks were working. I kept telling myself that I wouldn't be stopping at the house when I got close. Just. Keep. Going.

As I approached the turnoff for the post office, which would take me into the top of the Figure-8, I remembered my injured toes, but they weren't hurting! I quickly tried to think about something else before I thought them into pain! Per usual, there was a lot of traffic at this intersection, and I decided not to cross. I was nearly tapped anyway, and only a block from my street.

I kept running down the main road, and unbelievably, I ran past my street. This will stand as one of my more amazing running moments. There's a slight uphill on the other side of my street and despite fearing it, I just kept going. I was so impressed with myself for not going home, that I started thinking about how my revised route could be 'fixed' and still be 5K.

Really, I wanted to go for 30 minutes. Or as far as possible.

I made it 31 minutes, about halfway down the main road (where I turn off to go to the hills on the street with no sidewalks). I believe I was just starting to decide if I was going to try to walk a bit, then run it out, when I realized I had full-on jelly legs. I think I have taken jelly legs in vain on here before. My legs were jelly. I turned around immediately. I could hardly stand up once I stopped running, and I wasn't sure how I was going to make it back home.

I made it back very, very slowly. As I walked, I became aware that everything hurt. My knee, feet, legs, teeth, hair, and I had a headache. It was a rough walk home. After I got home, and sat down for awhile, I got up and my toes hurt super bad. And I couldn't remember why, thank you, Exhaustion. Rough day!

Weather: 71, Sunny, 16mph wind, 31% Humidity
Time: 12:30 pm; 31 minutes
Distance: 3.8K (2.36mi) - I was super-stoked when I saw just how far I had run after a break. It's not a 5K, but I was happy with it.
Elevation: +48.5/-39.6/net 8.9 ft
5K/10K: 41:42/1:28:09

It wasn't until today that I realized just how great this run actually was. My previous best times for straight runs were 30 (3.91K), 28 (3.52K), and 32 (3.96K). Yay!