a slow slide into fall

so much to update. I fell prey to the mind-AND-body snatchers of certain science courses; finished the first round of midterms and started the 2nd (yes, multiple midterms) and I have had a few nights of low sleep, including a bizarrely invigorating 40 minutes (the next day was great, the day after that awful) but now I feel like I have a bit of breathing space. My laptop didn't make it through, though.

I have been running, just not as much. There are multiple culprits, including races (more on the latest), less sunshine (bought cod liver oil this week), studying, and that ccyst which is still on its way out...I prefer this slow deflate to a big bang, but it's been draining in more than one fashion. My total this week is just over 50 km which is low, but I am not feeling like I'm getting much or anything out of running apart from exercising my dog. Runs are not fun. This happens sometimes. So what if November is a down month?

Fortunately, Bodyrock.TV has been a great outlet. I have been doing those workouts 3 times a week--this week, 4! That is a burn I can relate to better nowadays and so I pursue it.

And it has had a positive effect on running. Last week, I ran a 1/2...last minute decision, a friend couldn't use her bib, etc. I was feeling dull but, hey, a race! I showed up and it was cold and there was a lineup for the porta potties, but I had to join it...they delayed the start because I was not the only one, but that extra five minutes of standing around took its toll. My feet were so cold, they didn't seem to be connected to the rest of me properly.

Once the race started, I was able to warm up, but at a price: I knew I was going too fast (just had my watch, but sub 5- min kms are easy math). slowing down was not in the works: I was cold, I was hanging behind some people including someone dressed up as Beetlejuice, and it was a lovely sunny crisp fall day...I was just going to have to see what would happen. The 1/2 is my most natural distance, my strongest PB and my best pacing, etc, etc...time to wrench it out of the comfort zone. I did 5K in 23:30, not sure how fast that was but it was way too fast for the first 5K of a half, but, so what?

I lost much time in the 2nd 5K...the turnaround was at 10.5 km and I was running on unfamiliar paths which was a lot of fun but there was a false turn at one point so I stopped cold for whatever reason and accidentally dropped a gel. i was still breathing hard and had to get used to the idea of doing this for over an hour more...anyway, I hit the turnaround in just over 51 minutes and I was alone. I lost the people I was trailing and I felt like I was going so slowly.

But, somehow, Bodyrocking kicked in and my abs knitted into this painful but solid platform and I was very aware that slowing down would just mean prolonged discomfort. After a few kms, I noticed that they were still sub 5-minutes. I thought that was a fluke, but I started doing math, as long as I got under 1:50, etc, etc, but the kms were still sub 5-min and somehow the math was skittering away but meanwhile, I was still going. It didn't matter that I was alone, I didn't care, I just wanted to get back. There were hills, and the 2nd last one came out of nowhere and ripped up my guts pretty fiercely (honestly, I forgot I was human for a few moments or even a separate entity because everything became a swarm of agony, reddish veil and all--it was a pain similar to the last few reps of weights where I don't know what I'm doing anymore except pushing against pain, which somehow distances itself and lets me go deeper), but once I got to the top of the last hill with less than 1 km to go, I could see the bottom and the end...and then I noticed that the race clock was still under 1:43.

Usually, it's my legs that feel sore, but this time, my guts took the heat! I got a core now.

This was a huge boost, not only because it's so close to my PB which dates from a leaner meaner pre-op time when I was faster at speedwork and about 10 pounds lighter (but now I have 10 more pounds (ok, 5?) of muscle), but ALSO because I went out harder and managed to hang in. I had gotten used to 8 miles of slightly faster than easy pace and 5 miles of more discomfort for a 1/2, I had become too conservative, too scared.

I'm not sure what will happen next year in Kansas (yes, we're moving again) but I have plans for the rest of my time in Ottawa at least. Definitely, I'm going to continue the crosstraining, if only because it's so thrilling making horrendous exercises less so (I actually got three relatively fluid dive bombers in a row). No more races this year, but I have to run an homage to my city of birth before I leave. This is going to be epic and might encompass daylight hours completely, hopefully.