Training week 2

I could call this Pfitz week 14 but that just confuses me.

Monday: rest day.

Best.day.ever. Well, running wise. It was also the first day of school- middle school for Emma and kindergarten for Harry. The kids seemed better with it than me.

Tuesday: 8 miles with 10 X 100 strides.

Lunch time, 91 degrees, 71% humidity.

First four miles were great- worked the strides in at somewhere around a 7:00ish pace. And then the heat hit me. Stuck my head under a faucet in a park. That helped for the next mile. Ran home, reloaded on water, stuck my head in the kitchen sink, and went back out for another grueling 3 miles to finish my 8 total. In retrospect, probably should have just called it a day when I was trying to crawl inside the kitchen sink.

Wednesday: 5 miles recovery.

Lunch time, 90 degrees, 70% humidity.

Still hot, but not nearly as bad thanks to a frozen water bottle and a slower pace. Hard to stay slow.

Thursday: 10 miles general aerobic.

4:30 a.m., 78 degrees, 91% humidity.

I couldn't bear the thought of a repeat of Tuesday (sure no strides, but an EXTRA two miles?!) so I decided I'd get up early. So there I was, out the door at 4:30 a.m. I had my runner's Mace attached to my hand, my water bottle, my iPhone, and a flashlight. Nothing like traveling light! Running in the dark wasn't that eventful- most of the streets were lit enough to leave the flashlight off, the sun wasn't wilting me (obviously), and there was no real traffic. There were two horrible Chihauhaus by the stadium and a little old lady moving her trashcan at 4:45 almost did me in, but I finished my 10 miles. And as a bonus, I got the kids to school on time with lunch boxes.

Friday: rest.

Noon, 90 degrees, 70% humidity.

To heck with rest. I did 4 miles at a recovery pace today to free up Saturday!

Sunday: scheduled 15 miles.

4:37 a.m., 78 degrees, 94% humidity.

Again, with the early stuff. 4:37 a.m. out the door with all my junk. The two Chihauhaus by the stadium have friends- another little one and a big boxer looking monster. The big one charged me (with his little friends following)- I yelled "NO" and kept backing out of the way. They charged a few times- never closer than 15 feet but close enough. Note to self: practice using Mace. I had my finger on the spray thing, but realized I didn't know the range. Second note to self: surrender stadium route.

So at least I was awake. Nothing else exciting happened except my Garmin died at 8 miles. I pushed on for a little over an hour. I had told Ted I'd be home around 6:45, so I called it quits. I think I got in about 14 miles. My Garmin was fully charged, but it's almost 5 years old. Next time I'll take Ted's...

That last missed mile made me a little crazy, but I've worked through it and think I can call this week a success (minus one mile... d'oh!)