Catching up...a breakthrough!

Well, I've been busy, sort of. I'm still looking for a job and telephone interviews have whacked my schedule somewhat, and also something more fun...fortunately, this is supposed to be an easy week anyway, though perhaps not this easy.

Wednesday

This was a bit of a breakthrough for me. We were supposed to do 4 min repeats; last week was 3 min and those were really tough for some reason. I've lost a fair bit of speed, like I've done the past two summers (exception being any distance under a minute, lol), and that's a bit discouraging. However, it's been at least a few weeks since I've done speedwork: have to start somewhere.

Wednesday was hot and humid too. It was supposed to rain. I can't remember if it actualy did; might have been for only a few minutes. Oh, well. At least it was nice and overcast...until I stepped out my door and headed off for my run. I turned round the corner at the end of the block and the sun came out. This has happened more than once to me this summer and it's highly annoying. Plus, it hadn't rained enough to clear the humidity, so the humidex was pretty high. I was not looking forward to the workout.

My jog to run club was ok--very slow--and then I met up with the group and we ran to the workout site and then around for a bit to 'warm up'...I could barely keep up with them while sticking to an easy effort. I was astonished how hard I seemed to be working already. It was an easy decision, then, to not worry about pace during the workout--I would aim for a certain level of effort and try to maintain it. And if I did the minimum of repeats, that would be fine too. I got through that ok, feeling a little nauseated, and then I saw a friend on the street whom I hadn't seen for a long time. That was pretty exciting. She was off to work, so we chatted for only a minute or two, and then I figured, what the hey, might as well do the next repeat, and I did, and also the final one after that, which was perhaps the fastest because I almost kept up with a faster runner in the group.

So that was pretty exciting. I didn't think I'd be able to push myself that far, but I guess my brain is wimpier than I thought it was. It's fine to jog in hot weather (the humidex during that workout was in the mid-30s at least), but I feel so crappy when I push it. I keep forgetting that I have one advantage--I've had heat exhaustion. I've pushed myself through hot weather in the past, and felt queasy, hot, out of breath, etc, and it didn't go further almost every time. The one time it did, however, I also suddenly felt strangely emotional--soon, I was almost hyperventilating because I was quasi-crying for no reason, and soon after, it felt like my heart and breathing quadrupled in frequency and I was moving sideways, or everything was moving sideways, and I had to stop. But, by then, I was too disorientated and tried to resume the run. Fortunately, my husband was there. He made me stop and dumped water on me. So, I should know from experience that physical discomfort is ok, but not emotional. Interesting how it works. And, at any rate, Wednesday's workout helped me push the bar a little higher.

Thursday

This day was actually cooler, less humid, and with a fresh breeze. I took the opportunity to run 6.3 miles with the dog...we still stopped a few times for him to drink, but we didn't have to take walk breaks, and he was having fun. This was really good. It's been at least a few days since he's been able to run anything much beyond a mile, and I think he was missing it. I wish there was somewhere nearby where he could swim...I'm keeping my eyes open. He doesn't like playing fetch on land very much, but loves swimming and retrieving things in water. We do this at my parents' cottage. He also loves tearing around and chasing things, but that's unfortunately unacceptable downtown, except in the backyard--funny how it's been ages since I've seen a squirrel in there. Anyway, we had a good run on Thursday.

Friday

I slept horribly. Actually, pretty much every morning now, I wake up later than I usually do, feeling crappier than I usually do. I've been trying to get to bed earlier, but it still takes me a while to settle down. It was like this during the first month of my husband's last deployment, too. Maybe I should start going to early morning tai chi in the park nearby. Anyway, I felt awful on Friday and I couldn't stand another day of job searching--this last month has been like one big horrible endless day--so I decided to go with my cousin to a spa. It was a nordic spa out of the city, with a variety of outdoor pools, a sauna, a steam room, hammocks, chairs, a nap area, a cafe....it was very relaxing. I came back relaxed and to a phone call about another job, so I called back. Will see where this one goes. It sounds more interesting than data entry or filing. It would really suck to have to go back to that, but I can't be too picky. Data entry still beats having to work in a restaurant or cafe, or staying in Maryland.

So, anyway, after the spa and all, I didn't feel like running. I got caught up on gardening instead.


Today

I don't feel like running today, either. Someone is supposed to phone me this morning about a job, so I'll hang around for that, and then do something with the dog.