It's getting to that point~

Nothing major, just, well...
I have chronic digestive issues which are or aren't helped (depending on how you look at it) by my favourite snack/study food ever: popcorn. I've had to make other long-term alterations to my diet these past few years and I've been pretty consistent with those, but I have a hard time tearing myself away from those fluffy little puffy strumpets of delight. However, limiting quantity and/or frequency seems to work. Sometimes I have to eliminate it altogether until things simmer down, but I've been doing pretty well. I think I eased off medication in April or May thereabouts, which was a big deal. The heat of summer is another trigger, and I'm happy that I made it through unaided.

However, I've been slipping up recently: more studying = more popcorn. And this additional popcorn has been colluding with other triggers, more stress, more running, and more stress. This has been creeping up this past week or so, but kind of really became apparent at tonight's speedwork session.

Soooo....it's getting to that point in training where I give up popcorn. I've done this the last few times I've trained for something important, and it helped, I think. I have about 1/3 of a bag of SmartFood left, and maybe one more downstairs, and then that's it for a while. I'll have to switch to something else, because I need to graze....I think I will go to Herb&Spice and buy some dried fruit or something wholesome. Or maybe I can get some dried seaweed somewhere.

Anyway, today I ran 15.18ish miles, not counting the .5 of a mile jogging to work this morning. I'm not counting that one because it sprung from poor planning/procrastination, etc. I should be properly chastised for it. LOL

After work, I jogged about 6 miles with the dog, to loosen up mainly. And that worked. I got some kinks out and felt better by the end of the run. Most of my runs seem to be recovery runs of this nature, actually. Nowadays, I'm especially working on my right quad, which is a little tight just above the knee in front. There's always some little thing slightly off, and it shifts around, so I'm not worried. Just have to stretch/yoga/roll regularly. I'm in a modified Hero Pose right now. Having a laptop permits simultaneous typing and torture, which is really quite convenient.

Then it was speedwork, and thank goodness for Gazelles 1 and 2 (I was definitely #3 this night)....it was a strangely tough workout and I really felt like quitting. Especially at one point. But they hauled my arse about the Hill with a minimum of mocking, and I'm very grateful to them.

2X1200M
5:07/@6:51/mile
4:57@6:38/mile (this one was too fast, in retrospect...)

3X800M (it was actually a bit longer, but close enough to not fuss about six-seven seconds less/mile. oops, I did look it up anyway...busted!)
3:22@6:44/mile
3:44@7:28/mile
3:25@6:50/mile

4X400
1:33@6:14/mile
1:32@6:10/mile
1:32@6:10/mile
1:34@6:18/mile (probably slowed down by Usain Bolt-ish victory celebration, lol)

Guess which one nearly had me crapping my pants? I started off with the others, and then there was a tremor in the force, and I felt it prudent to walk for a bit.

But, no. The same sort of thing had cut short a sprint workout a couple of weeks ago or so, and I felt sort of like a failure afterwards.

Instead of walking and FAILING, I kept going as fast as I could bear. The discomfort did not abate during the repeat, but after the rest interval, I felt pretty much back to normal. Thank goodness. I'm proud that I got through it without quitting; I wish my times/paces had been more consistent, but one can't have everything.

The problem sort of re-emerged during the 400M intervals, but it was ok. I was pretty tired at this point, so they probably wouldn't have been much faster, if at all, anyway.

Tomorrow will definitely be an easy day of running, and yin yoga in the evening. Meanwhile, I have gotten out of that Hero Pose--slowly!--that's the worst one for me, I think, which probably means that it's the most beneficial one. Kind of like the most tasty things, like popcorn, being the least beneficial. Funny how life works like that.