Sunday, September 23, 2012

NYCM Training: Week 12 Recap

Just a quick note about my week of "training"

Total RUNNING Weekly Miles: 20
Total hiking miles: 14


Monday: 6 miles at 8:00 pace
The legs felt tired, but a good tired today. They felt like they had worked super hard - a feeling I love. What they did not feel like was 10,000 lbs (which was the case for a few days prior to Monday). It was that feeling of "yeah! I ran 16 miles yesterday! And I am that much stronger today!". I had to be super cautious of my form since my legs were still recovering a bit from the long run, but I enjoyed it!

Tuesday: Tornado warnings = no run for me = sad Dani.
Wednesday: Parent night until 8:30pm = no run again = sad Dani again.

Thursday: 8 miles at 8:07 pace. 
By this point in the week I am suffering. Teaching has definitely been the hardest thing I have ever done. I have no time to sleep, and barely any time to run. My legs drag on runs now because I am standing up so long during the day and because I know I am not getting the rest I need at night (sleeping). This was a slow run and my body was tired throughout. I am constantly telling myself to just get to the next mile and then I'll worry about the rest from there. One step in front of the other. Slowly but surely I get to the finish and I feel thankful that I pushed through.

Friday: 6.35 miles at 7:49 pace.
Finally! I felt good today. We had a half day of inservice which allowed me to sit for THREE hours! Hallelujah! You just would not believe the difference that three hours of sitting would make on tired legs. I felt like I could finally enjoy a run and I did. It was a gorgeous afternoon and I was so thankful to be out there.

Saturday: 14 miles of hiking. 
I found out that I do not like hiking, especially for 14 miles. I woke up exhausted (that is what 6 hrs of sleep a night will do to me) and could not get out of the funk the entire time. I will spare you the details and internal monologue I had with myself throughout the hike, but let's just say that I was more than happy to get back home when we were done.

I can't be so negative, because the view was great, and the people I was with were even better. Just next time, I'll know to be better rested.


Sunday: Forced day off. 
My body needed a day off. My mind needed a day off. It drives me crazy to see that I only ran 20 miles in what is the peak time of my training. But I cannot push my body. Runner's World tweeted a post about overtraining this week and I took it as a sign. I know I can run a marathon. I know I have the endurance and the mental power. However, I don't know if I'll have the energy if I continue on as I am.

My goal for this week is to get 7 hours of sleep on at least three school nights. Do I feel confident in the goal? Sadly, no. But to stay sane, I must try my best to accomplish it.

I would love to hear how others are doing! How was your weekend? How is your running going? Since I didn't get in a long run this weekend, how did yours go? 

6 comments:

  1. Girl you got to sleep!! I'm lucky because since I teach afterschool, I usually don't have to go work til 2 in the afternoon!!!!!

    But seriously, you have to sleep! I know it's tough because you have papers to grade, curriculum to write etc. but think of it this way: If you're not fully rested, you can't put your all into your work! Or your running. Teaching is EXHAUSTING! There are days where my 24-hour weeks leave me feeling completely bushed. We have a lot of things to pay attention to and accomplish and there never seems to be enough time to get it done.

    I think your body will probably adjust a bit better to your new schedule soon. A word of advice is to watch your immune system; depending on the condition of your school and the age of your students. I work in a very old building and have younger children who get a lot of sniffles and flus, so in my first 6-8 months of working I got sick way more often than I ever have!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you so much, Mongie, for the words. The biggest challenge is accepting that I can't do it all and that I can't be perfect. It certainly does not seem like there are enough hours in the day. But you are so right; I need to take care of myself to be the best for the students.

    That really horrible about your school and how often you were sick. Hopefully you are now immune to most of the things the kids have!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Exactly!! It helps if you befriend one of the other teachers, so you can help each other out with getting work done.

    Yes, it's just realities of public school systems. They're building us a brand new school that will be ready by the next school year, so good things come to those who wait I guess!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We are getting a new school as well! It is very exciting!

      Delete
  4. You are certainly trying to balance a lot and it IS very hard to do! I am glad you took the day off to rest a bit and I too, was looking at an over-training article a couple weeks ago and had many of the signs. You are in incredible shape so taking a couple/few days to really recharge yourself will only make you stronger (I know accepting that is hard though). You still had a great week of workouts but I hope things settle down for you soon...I'd be exhausted too! BTW, are you running Boston? I just found out yesterday that I got in and it would be awesome if you were running it again!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. oOoohh! That is awesome that you are running Boston!!! I really wish I was running it again, but my time was too slow (thanks 89 degree race day). Have you done Boston before? The atmosphere there is incredible!

      Delete