Turbo Fast Update

Falling massively behind, so giving a Cliff Notes version of the weekend/running. But first, found this definition which pretty much sums up my feelings on treadmill running:

treadmill (n.) - A primitive torture device first imagined by medieval jailers and perfected in the late 20th century, designed to destroy one's mind through sensory deprivation and monotony.

Curses to this crappy weather which has made me run more on a treadmill this month than all of last year combined, curses to this cold/whatever I have that is sapping all my energy, curses to work for giving me a stress level I never knew I had, and mostly curses again to Mother Nature who is making it impossible to keep up a consistent weather block where I can run outside in peace!

Friday night, got in a make up run before the blizzard that came through. Was cold and windy, ran slow because I felt like crap. Didn't get in the long run I wished for, but planned on it for Saturday morning since Tim said I could go to this parent's gym with him and hit up the treadmill. Light stretching afterwards. Total mileage: 6 miles - no idea how long I was out there, 50-54 minutes?

Saturday morning, woke up bright and early to get in a treadmill run. Picked up Tim around 7 a.m., headed over to his parent's gym and busted out some treadmill time. Awesome that the treadmill had little tv monitors on them, so was watching all sorts of shows. Not awesome that the gym had poor air circulation, so within 10 minutes I was DRENCHED in sweat. The heat was not making running any easier, as I had problems sustaining 9 minute pace which made the lower 8's almost intolerable towards the end. The treadmills had 1 hour timers - after it finished, told Tim I had to go outside to cool down because it was so hot inside. Coolest scene was us outside in the cold just resting, and you couldn't see hardly anything around us because of the steam - wish I had a camera. Decided we were done with the torture in the sauna/gym, headed home to do some outdoor running. Did around 4 miles outside, was snowy/icy and windy, but much more tolerable than the first hour of running. Total mileage: ~12 miles - ran for around 1:45, splits were everywhere. Supposed to be 1:30 (3/1), but had no energy.

Mardi Gras that night, just mayhem and words can't explain the crowds, drinking, debauchery, craziness, etc. Went down with Tim, Pat, and Crystal, hung out with Tim and Barrel a lot, have pictures I need to post! Consequently, woke up on Sunday feeling like I was going to die. Legs were mush, decided to take a couple days off to recharge since the last week of runs were pretty much crap, and I am battling some sort of cold. Week mileage was about 37 miles - not bad, not good.

Monday, was going to take off but was guilted into it by eating way too much food. Did treadmill run, wasn't very pretty and I was pretty tired. Some silly girl got on next to me and decided to push the pace which was aggravating to me for some reason, so my competitive juices flowed and I got in a nice little battle with her as to who could go the fastest. Ended up going from mid 8's to marathon pace, not a good idea because I felt like poop. Air circulation was an issue, as was the beaming light above me that was emitting more radiant heat. Total mileage: ~5.5 miles - total time ran was about 44 minutes.

Tuesday, got home after work, completely passed out in exhaustion for 5 or so hours. Woke up late, was pretty windy and cold. Scheduled 20X400's, considered skipping and pushing back but remembered a quote from Ben that went something like - "every run missed is an opportunity to get better". Absolutely guilted myself into running (with a little pep texting from Tim), left my apt. at 10 p.m. to do the workout. Track is covered in snow and ice, so ran down towards the trail and measured out a quarter mile on the straightaway which is somewhat flat. Slight curves, had to draw a long, thick line in the snow to have a marker (light post/street sign was the other marker). Fortunately, found a mailbox that was right about the 200 meter marker (and coincidentally by a street light), so had some ability to watch my splits. Was cold, dark, windy, just awful to be outside, but finished the workout. Was supposed to divide into sets of 5, and decrease each set by 2-3 seconds, but found it nearly impossible to do so since I was running in the dark on the roads, and kept going out the first 200's in 38-41 seconds, consequently having to slow down considerably towards the end. First 10 went by pretty fast, but was a pain because the wind (going one way was downwind, the other was into the wind). Got my legs back for 12-16, but was definitely feeling the deadened leg feeling. Made it a point to relax as much as possible on the last set, consequently hit my fastest splits there. Despite splits being all over the map, was very pleased. Total mileage: 7 miles - 400 splits were: 1:25, 1:29, 1:25, 1:28, 1:25, 1:28, 1:26, 1:27, 1:26, 1:29, 1:26, 1:25, 1:25, 1:24, 1:23, 1:23, 1:21, 1:22, 1:17, 1:17.

1 mile cooldown back home, suddenly felt this feeling of dread that I forgot something. Got back home, no keys to be found. And it was 11:30 p.m. - FML!!!!!! Knocked on any neighbor's door that had light on, finally found one that was still awake. Thank God that everyone in that area knows I run a crapload, so she wasn't surprised I was out running. Asked for any old credit card, so I could attempt to pick my lock (this has happened before). After she found an old student I.D., she watched incredulously as I picked my lock in about 30 seconds. Did long stretching, opted out of corework since it was so late and I was exhausted.

Tonight, easy run, probably will do some drills or plyos to make up for tomorrow's workout which is improved because of the symphony. Will do some sort of run, haven't detemined what yet but will try to make it challenging :)