Mind Over Matter (Weekly Wrap-up Edition)

Last week was a busy week and it flew by!  Lots of work outs and lots of fun to be had.  We had a little bit of a cooler spell last weekend and that was short lived and got to the upper 90's by the middle of the week.  My workouts did suffer because of the heat, but my mind pushed my body to finish.

Sunday - I had to get out there on Sunday because I wouldn't be able to get a run in on my normal Friday.  I knew this would be hard as it would make 4 days in a row of running (including Monday), but it was only 3 miles and it was going to be a very easy run.  My knee was holding up, but I wanted to wear my big knee brace just in case.  The run was very good and I felt good. I have a hard time getting out there on days I don't need to get anywhere.  I want to sleep in, but then it gets so hot even early in the morning.  But I got up and got it done.  Only 30% of the run was spent in Zone 4 (or walking) so I knew it was good.

Monday - The 4th day in a row of running.  My knee was starting to feel it on this run, but not bad, just annoying.  It was another good run mentally and physically.  I spent 37% in Zone 4 and again, my heart rate was exactly where it needs to be, between 140-147.  And this sunrise was amazing, I'm so glad I could see it.  I saw my physical therapist that afternoon and he fixed me right up.  He needled the front of my hip and the pain went away almost immediately.  I so don't know what I would do without him this training season.

Tuesday - Instead of going to the gym for my strength class, someone from the marathon training team was offering a free class of water jogging.  I had started to do some water jogging in the spring when I had a calf injury and still needed to train for a half marathon.  I went into the class thinking he would instruct us on the best way to do it, position and speed and all that.  But it turned out that it was just a normal class that happens every week.  It was fun, he had us do ladder sprints and I actually broke out in a sweat.  The pool was all deep end, which is nice as the one at my gym goes from 4 feet to 6 and I can only water jog in the middle and I'm turning around frequently (in true water jogging, you are not supposed to touch the ground - helps with the stress of the joints).

Wednesday - The heat is back.  It was a hot morning with 95% humidity.  I knew that either my time would be slower or my heart rate would be higher or both.  In the end, both were a bit high, but really not by that much.  My knee felt great on the run.  I did spend 47% of the run in Zone 4, and that was expected.

Saturday - Ahh, Saturday.  Saturday was interesting.  On my way to meet the training team I saw this huge shooting star.  It didn't go very far, but it was beautiful!!!  I wish I could have gotten it on camera or something.  Because of the heat, I decided to start 30 minutes early.  I couldn't leave too much earlier because it was dusky at that time.  But OMG was it HOT already.

Left: At the start at 6 AM; Right 4 hours later at the finish

As you can see by the image above, the feel like was already 86 degrees at 6 AM.  I walked out my door and it felt like an oven.  I got to the stadium and realized that I had forgotten my iPod.  I couldn't believe 16 miles with no music or book on tape to listen to.  How was I going to do this?  I've only done 3-4 miles without something to listen to and once during a half marathon (but there was so much to look at and have fun with I didn't notice).  But this was going to be hard.

I decided just to go easy and listen to my body and heart rate alerts.  I knew this wasn't going to be a pretty run, but we were out there to just finish.  I started out and a couple miles into it a few people from my team had caught up to me.  They had started early too, and it was good to see people out there with me.  A mile or so later, people from the fast group who starts first caught up to me and passed me quickly.  I tried not to get caught up in their speed.  About mile 5.5 others from my team that started on time caught up to me.  Not too bad.

By the time the sun started coming up above the trees and we started getting direct sunlight on us, we were heading over the bridge.  I like being on the other side, as it is so beautiful!  I love seeing the river and nature, it just makes me happy.

A coworker of mine that usually runs on Sundays had caught up to me.  I was glad to see him as he stopped and walked with me for a little bit.  Most people won't slow down to hang with me and he was nice enough to do so for a couple of minutes.  I wish I ran at his pace as he is a lot of fun.

Because I didn't have my iPod, I did have fun listening to little bits of conversations as runners passed me.  These are the one liners I heard from people as they passed me:
"Do you program?"
"It's a mobile platform for travel."
"And that's why we got our mortgage."
"And there was all this foam."
"I'm friendly with Andrea but not that friendly."
(as we approached another hill) "I need a reason to slow down." (and they continued to run up it)


By the second half, I really started to feel the heat.  Most of that was spent walking with a little bit of running here and there.  Most of that part of the run was in the shade, which was great.  And we even would get a breeze now and again.  As we wound about and hit the scary bridge to cross the river again I was almost walking exclusively.  Though I ran over the whole scary bridge cause I knew the more I ran, the faster I'd get over it.

You can see all the way down!!!

As we came up to the last SAG people were really starting to fall apart.  There were people there to drive the ones that were too over heated to continue back to the stadium.  By this time, even though I was walking almost every step, I still felt strong.  I knew I could finish it.  After the SAG we hit part of the route that had absolutely no shade.  A couple coaches drove the course and asked if anyone needed a ride back to the stadium, some took them up on the offer but even with the sun coming down on me, I knew I could finish.  They say that running is a mental game and I brought mine with me!  I mentally felt so strong at that point and it was good thing as I would have taken a ride if I didn't.  Even though my heart rate and time sucked, it felt like one of my best runs.  Towards the end, I would walk a block and run a block.  I wanted to get done and I knew I could do it.  My heart rate was constantly in Zone 4 by this point and I was just trying to keep it out of Zone 5 as much as I could.  I found what shade was left and put one foot in front of the other getting the16 miles done.

I saw this at the very end of my run and thought it was perfect.

"Can't Stop. Won't Stop"

I finished strong.  I felt tired and very hot, but I felt good.  I was in Zone 4 for 76% and Zone 5 2% of the run.  I wore my big knee brace just in case and that was a good thing as my knee started to hurt a little on the last few miles.  Again, not painful, just annoying.  An Icee well deserved when I got back to the stadium.  My time was slow and my heart rate higher then I would have liked, but I'm proud of my mental game.  The feel like temp was at 100 degrees when I finished, so to know I finished strong was what I wanted.

When I was back at the stadium I heard stories of those that had a hard time.  One guy said that he laid down in someone's lawn and either fell asleep or passed out.  That sounds scary.  I think the coaches and other runners out there were really looking out for each other.  There was one coach that ran a person in and then ran back out to go run the next person back in.  I'm glad I was able to do this run with a team with the moral and SAG support.  And dinner was well deserved!

What was the hottest temperature you have run in?  Have you run without music and felt like you would do it again voluntarily?  What's your favorite meal after a long run (or race)?

Linking up with Holly and Tricia's Weekly Wrap Up.