Weekly Wrap: Physically and Mentally Exhausted!

It’s Weekly Wrap time with our hosts Wendy and Holly , sharing our weeks workouts including trials and tribulations. Check out their blogs as well as others in the link up to encourage and support your fellow runners.

weekly wrap

It’s been a rough week of marathon training. Some of you may already be aware that I decided to run a marathon in high hopes qualifying for Boston. The decision came about after the most recent Boston Marathon and the brutal weather the runners had to endure to finish. I don’t know why but I found it incredibly inspiring. (A runner’s mind is complicated.) Then I read Deena Kastor’s book Let Your Mind Run and felt like I could do anything! That buzz has slowly turned to middle-aged reality. 🙁

Anyhow, this is how my week went…

Monday:

Plan…

Track work: 1 mi warm up, 20 x 400m (200 hard/200 easy) 1 mi cool down.

Actual… as above except 16 x 400m. It was so hot and humid, I started to feel lightheaded after 16 laps so I walked the 17th lap and slowly ran 3/4 mile home.

Tuesday:

Easy 7 mi run at a 9:50 – 10:20 min/mi pace. My average pace was 10:00.

After my run, my daughter and I took Sadie and the Luna-tic to the dog beach. I’m counting this as a workout because the Luna-tic was OUT OF CONTROL when we arrived at the beach and it took all my strength to keep her under control. I thought she was going to pull my back out. Someone is going to dog obedience after vacation!

Puppy Luna

Pilates in the afternoon with my other daughter. It was a great full body workout and I was so done when I got home. My arms hurt for 2 days afterwards. It’s a good hurt though, right?

Wednesday:

Work day. No workout.

Thursday:

Easy 17 mi bike ride with my sister. I had a Pace Run on my training calendar but I like to be there for my sister when she wants to ride so off we went.

Back Bay

When I got home I started feeling guilty about not doing my run so I headed out for a quick run. What was supposed to be a 1 mi warm up, 5 mi @ 9;50 – 10:05, 1 mi cool down, turned out to be 4.75 miles at 10:13, 9:44, 9:57, 10:03 then walked the last .75 miles home. I was done!

Then I went to the dog beach again but without the dogs, when I should’ve just relaxed at home.

Friday:

Work day. No workout!

Saturday:

Hard Long Run: 13mi @ 10:05- 10:50min/mi, 3 mi fast finish @ 9:50 – 10:05min/mi.

This was exactly what it says…Hard Long Run! The first 3 miles my legs felt like lead and my pace was 11:00 – 11:15, the next 10 miles I kept under 10:39 with my fastest mile 10:14. The last 3 miles that were supposed to be quicker than the first 13 were a total struggle! My legs were aching and tired. The positives of this awful run… my turn around point was at the beach and there was a cool breeze (and a bathroom that I needed), I was able to fill my water bottles at mile 11 with cold water at Carl’s Jr (that tasted so good!), and I changed my route on the way back finding shade and a breeze!

Seal Beach

I was exhausted when I got home, physically and mentally! After posting a “woe is me” post on social media I got and out pouring of support that brought me to tears (I meant it when I said I was exhausted). I hope non-runners know how much their encouraging words help. Not that runner’s words of encouragement don’t, but we get it, I hope they do too!

So that’s a wrap…wrapped, crumbled and tossed in the trash! On to a stronger, better week!

I’m here to encourage and motivate, this post was not meant to bring anyone down, it was just my reality. Know that we all struggle from time to time but we continue forward and support each other along the way.

Thanks for all your support!

Keep running my friends!

Denise

18 COMMENTS

HoHo Runs | 15th Jul 18

Thank you for keeping it real. I have struggled quite a bit this summer, probably more than usual and the exhaustion is sometimes overwhelming. It’s comforting to know I’m not alone. I also will feel sick when it’s hot and humid. That never happens to me on a winter run. So frustrating. Your beaches are so pretty. I’d go as often as I could. I have got new (old) adopted dog that weighs 85 pounds. He is such a sweetie, but I’m pretty sure I’d have trouble handling him when he wanted to run or play. Thanks for linking!
- Denise | 16th Jul 18
  
  You are not alone! Thankfully we all have each other that we can relate to. And the overwhelming support to keep us going.
  Good luck with your new (old) dog, I’m sure he’s happy to have you!
Liz Dexter | 16th Jul 18

It’s always comforting to hear about people’s hard weeks, so thank you for your honesty and openness. Also I don’t think that was not strong or good a week, that long hard run looks BRUTAL. I had a 14 miler to do yesterday in prep for my 18 mile race in a month’s time: I went out later than usual to get some heat training and it was pretty hard. I was beating myself up a bit about having to stop a lot and being so.tired. but what the heck, it was a 14 mile run in the sun! I hope you have a week you’re happier with this week.
- Denise | 16th Jul 18
  
  14 miles in the heat is hard! I’ve been reading a lot of posts about “heat training”, I’ve never heard of that before. I naturally assumed training when it’s coolest would be ideal, never considered waiting for it to get warmer. That sounds like self inflicted torture. Great job on getting your sunny 14 miles in…no matter how you did them!!
kookyrunner | 16th Jul 18

Training for a race in the summer can totally suck all of your energy and mojo. I can totally relate to how you are feeling after training for 2 Fall marathons previously. I will say that this moment will pass! you’ll have a really awesome run and then you will be back in the training spirit.
- Denise | 16th Jul 18
  
  Thanks! I probably should’ve planned for a spring marathon but this one sounded like a good qualifying opportunity. You’re right, this moment will pass…hopefully soon. 😉
Wendy | 16th Jul 18

You are doing great, even though it doesn’t feel like it! Just keep going. You’ll have one of those runs (like I did yesterday) that lets you know all your training hasn’t been for naught.

You know I’ve been struggling too and the support from everyone (including you) is really what keeps me going! People who post how great everything is make me question if they’re telling the truth.
- Denise | 16th Jul 18
  
  I tend to agree with you about the “every run is great” people. I’m going to keep going, hoping I have one of those runs soon! Thanks for your support!
Liz Dexter | 16th Jul 18

I can’t comment on your reply so hope this makes sense. I learned in my first marathon to train for the worst conditions, not the best – I trained in the cool because it was going to be be cool on the day and then it was NOT cool. So I wanted to get a long run in in similar conditions to how an August run starting at 9am might be, just in case, to check I could actually cope! Thank goodness it’s a walking and running event with a VERY long cut-off. Normally I do run in the cool of the early morning, though.
- Denise | 16th Jul 18
  
  It won’t let reply to you on my post either. I have to go to my admin page for some reason. It is wise of you to train in the worse conditions, not the best. I usually think of course conditions and not weather conditions…hmmm, maybe I need to up my training. 🙂
Lacey@fairytalesandfitness | 16th Jul 18

Good job getting your runs in despite the heat.
- Denise | 16th Jul 18
  
  Thanks, it’s been challenging.
Kimberly Hatting | 16th Jul 18

Well, I appreciate you keeping it real. We’ve all had heat to deal with, and we all have had struggle-bus runs. It’s always reassuring to know it’s not just “me” who questions what I do when I lace up 😉 I’m exploring new speedwork ideas this year…I’m gonna try your 20-400’s sometime (but I probably won’t do 20…maybe 16?)
- Denise | 17th Jul 18
  
  I starting to like my speed work workouts, they tend to go by fast, and I hope they are making me stronger.
  I think we all struggle with rough runs, good to hear others understand. Good luck with your speed work!
The Accidental Marathoner | 17th Jul 18

It sounds like a decent week to me! I work 12 hour shifts and have been working extra to cover some vacations, so I can’t get all the runs in that I need to get in. We do what we can. Right now I could BQ as an 85 year old woman, so as long as I can keep this pace for another 30 years, I’m golden!
- Denise | 20th Jul 18
  
  Lol! I’ve said the same thing about finally qualifying when I’m 80. 12 hr shifts are great because we have 4 days off but not so great for getting anything else done on a work day. Sometimes I do stairs when it’s slow in the ED but not very often.
Marcia | 18th Jul 18

Oh Denise. This brings back memories from when I was REALLY training for BQs. Every week I was SO exhausted by Thursday. I swear to you this is normal and it WILL pay off. Just keep on keeping on. Luna tic…hahaha!
- Denise | 20th Jul 18
  
  Thanks Marcia! I’m going to keep on, I don’t want to disappoint anyone. Do you think you will ever train for a BQ again? I’m thinking if I qualify this time, that will be enough.
  We love our Luna-tic. Lol.

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