Days 88 - 92

Cycling once again through the however-many stages of grief, we're back at acceptance. It's hot and humid and our schedule is erratic right now and I need 1000x the normal human amount of iron. It is what it is.

With this in mind, Thursday's pace run was slightly less depressing than the rest of the week's runs. We did 5 miles at a 9:59 pace, which is basically the EXACT pace we want for the half marathon (we're hoping for 10 min miles). So I can't complain, mission accomplished. We ran at race pace and got through the whole distance.

Friday I just wanted to do something, and I hadn't been to the pool in FOREVER, so I joined my coworker at the pool for a quick swim. Sadly, I found out that my "mile" swims were only half miles... sigh. Armed with the correct dimensions (people who design pools apparently don't know the rule that you need to measure in the same units, since our pool is 50 meters x 25 yards. Fail.) and some shiny new math skills, I swam a half mile, flip turns and everything!

Due to Chris' busy social schedule, we couldn't run Saturday morning. So I went back to the pool. I decided I was going to go for a full mile. I mean, why not? It's only 36 laps, and I'd done 25 once... Mistake. I destroyed the first half mile, but after that 25th lap, I was struggling. I'm too stubborn to give up though, so I did it. Took me about 45 minutes. I was TIRED. Oh my gosh, who knew swimming makes you THAT tired? Now that I've done it once, though, I totally have to do it again.

Sunday morning we did our long run. 17 miles in 3:04. Still seeing improvement in our strength and endurance on these runs, which is excellent--we can run a little farther and a little faster every time before we hit that barely-dragging-our-feet stage. It's good have physical verification that your training is working.

Unfortunately, Sunday morning runs are followed by dance right now. Let me just tell you, there was no Shakin' it like Shakira for me after that 17 mile run. Of course, our normal teacher was out of town, and our sub was this fiery little dancer that worked us extra hard. Excellent. But she was hilarious and the class was fun and we learned a cute little combo. It was just a bigger struggle than usual.

I paid for this weekend today. My quads were super sore all day, and then we had our 9 mile run. You might as well move me into the nursing home now. Started out ok, but by the half way point I was sort of limp-running (lunning? rimping?)... I probably looked hilarious. (Or pathetic...) The ankle I sprained in Switzerland is swollen (although not painful, which is weird), my bum hip is protesting, and my quads might spontaneously combust every time I try to stand up, sit down, or walk up a stair. (Side note: Google does not recognize "combust" as a word. What?) What's even more fun is... if we're going to do the Goofy, this is what I have to look forward to every week between the end of October and January. Seriously... they are preparing my room in the geriatric unit right now...