Refocusing.

Once again I have fallen behind. I hate this feeling of being overwhelmed. Time to play a quick game of catch up:

Weekly Mileage

Nov 9-15 --> 70 miles
Nov 16-22 --> 60 miles
Nov 23-29 --> 58 miles

Key Events

Dirt Dog Cross Country Championships (Morely Field 4 Miles)

After a 30 mile week due to being more sick than I can remember being, then ramping the mileage back up to 70 to get on pace, i was pretty sure I was headed for disaster with this race. Woke up without any desire to run. Somehow managed to change my attitude between changing into the singlet and downing some espresso and realized that I am so lucky to be running, I LOVE running, and who cares if my body wasn't going to be at 100%, i was going to enjoy this amazing experience.

So imagine my surprise when I not only felt strong and confident after the gun went off, but managed to have a pretty good race. The hilly course and slow terrain probably worked to my advantage, as the slower pace of the race helped me settle in and feel comfortable despite the lack of quality workouts as of late. Haven't enjoyed a race as much as I did this one in this entire series. Go figure.

Overall: 6th
Time: 25:40
Overall for the Dirt Dog Series: 7th

18-mile Sunday Run

This deserves its own caption. It was a new threshold in running. I've gotten to the point in my mileage where I can bang out a 12 miler, what used to be my long run, as if it was just a normal run. My 16 mile long runs don't even feel like such an insurmountable task anymore. That being said, this run rocked me. I started out with the boys, which forced me into an honest past form the get-go. Add in Torrey Pines road (which can be just as brutal coming down as going up) and by the time I hit 14 miles I felt like I was in some unchanging desert and it was all I could do to put one foot in front of the other. I wasn't too tired to keep going...i was still clipping at a decent pace, but my mind was done, and I just wanted the run to be over. It was a whole new running experience for me. I couldn't eat after I ran (and I can ALWAYS eat) and my knees were totally F'd up for a week and a half afterwards. I know I'll be doing it again. But, Wow. wow.

O'side Turkey Trot 5K
Newsflash: If you don't do any sort of speed workouts the body is not going to enjoy running sub 6 minute pace. I have not been doing workouts. Between being sick and about a thousand other things getting in the way, I've been getting in the miles but the quality has not been good. This race was my first indication of that. I felt like I was flying. And not because I felt good, but it just felt like I was running so incredibly fast, yet I was only averaging low 5:50s. This race has indicated I really need to reevaluate my training if I want to improve. Miles just aren't going to cut it.

Place: 3rd in age division, 6th overall, I think.
Time: 18:22

Wrap up Thoughts

Quite a few things on my mind and not much time to get into it.

1. Vegas Half is this weekend. I'm concerned because of my lack of workouts, but hoping that because of the distance my mileage will help carry me through.

2. WTF happened to my workouts? I don't even know. I was doing okay until I got sick, then all of a sudden workouts just stopped. I need a new plan to get my ass out the door and doing some speedier stuff. I hate workout out alone and I hate stressing out at work about getting out in time to make a workout. Last year there were 6AM workouts at UCSD that I went to. I think I need to look into getting back into those. I can't improve with the crap training I've been doing. There is no quality.

3. I'm getting burnt out. I've been running non-stop since July, building mileage. I'm not sick of racing and I'm not even sick of running...but I'm just a little burnt out. I might need some time after Vegas to regroup both phsyically and mentally.

4. When was the last time I went to the gym? Am I TRYING to get reinjured?