Weekly Wrap-Up: December 25-31

Well, it was a fitting end to 2017. (That’s not a compliment.)

Christmas Present Update: I did pretty well, even if I feel like burning all of it after yesterday’s run. I got 4 pairs of Balega socks (2 of which I used right away on Tuesday and Wednesday after I had left my running socks at home, and got a blister last Sunday from wearing 100% cotton socks), a pair of running pants, a blue short sleeved tech T-shirt, a blue long sleeved tech T-shirt, a red 1/4 zip tech hoodie, a new Flip Belt, and something that I was totally not expecting:

I haven’t put it up yet, but the holes at the bottom are to hang medals, and the space on the right side is for bibs. (Also, after runs like Saturday, I need to re-read everything that it says.)

Weight Check: 166.3 pounds, up 0.8 from last week. That’s over 10 days rather than 7, so considering everything, I suppose it’s not terrible. Also, I looked back and apparently on January 1, I was at 166.6 pounds, so I’m down 0.3 for the year. Beats the alternative, I guess.

This Week’s Runs
Day Scheduled Total Miles
Tuesday 1 mile easy, 4 miles at half marathon pace (9:30-9:40/mile), 1 mile easy 6.01
Wednesday 5 miles easy 5.01
Friday 4 miles easy 4.01
Saturday 12 miles total, 10 miles easy, 2 miles at half marathon pace 4.17

Total: 19.20 miles

Well, at least Tuesday’s run went pretty well. I was at my sister’s house, and she lives less than half a mile from a greenway, so I was able to have a nice, flat run. In spite of all the beer I drank and food I ate on Christmas day, I felt OK. It was kinda cold, but I survived, and I hit my goal pace on each of the 4 miles in the middle.

Wednesday was back in my parents’ neighborhood. It still went OK. My legs felt a little tired the day after a workout run, but it wasn’t too terrible. I was too fast on the first mile, probably due to the cold. My pace started to creep back up on mile 3, so mile 4 ended up a little slower than I wanted. I pushed the pace near the end of mile 5 and was able to finish strong.

Looking back, I can see the warning signs on Friday. I thought (maybe I was in denial) that it was just an off day, a fluke. It was one of those days where my legs didn’t seem to want to move as fast as I’d like. I got through the 4 miles, and my average pace wasn’t terrible, just a little slower than usual.

Saturday was a complete disaster.

I’ve been fighting a cold – I think that’s why Friday’s run was a little slower than I expected – and while it hasn’t affected my breathing that much, for some reason, it’s really sapped my energy, and by the time I got to mile 3, from a fatigue standpoint, I felt like I was on mile 23, and I knew there was no way I could get to 12 miles. I did manage to get to 4.17 miles to mark the end of 2017, but otherwise, it was a terrible run.

It was only fatigue, though, and once this cold goes away, I should get my energy back. At least that’s what I hope.

But man, an illness keeping me from finishing a run? Where have I seen that before? Like I said, a fitting end (but definitely not a happy one) to 2017.

Anyway, I still have a race recap for the Huntersville Half (I started writing it on Friday, and was going to continue Saturday, but after that “run”…no. Just no.) to finish, and I’ll need to do a December wrap-up and a 2017 wrap-up. Then maybe I’ll set some goals for 2018.

And I’m still going to be out there running on New Year’s Day, for the 5th year in a row.