Weekly recap (7/31-8/6): Sigh

Sigh, sigh, sigh. That's really all I can say about this week. I had planned to get started with pre-training for fall this week, but you know what they say about plans, right? The universe laughed at me and my little plans this week.

This week was nothing but frustration - the weather, work, sick husband, tantruming threenager almost every night who refused to sleep until 10 p.m. I'm exhausted. All that's left to do is sigh.

At least I got 4 runs in? And I posted a Recent Snapshots blog post.

Oh, and we broke ground on the new house. And I had a birthday, but this wasn't much of a fun birthday week at all. It was stressful, exhausting, and I was over it by Monday morning. That made for a long week.

Sigh, sigh, sigh.

Here's the weekly breakdown (literally):

Workout summary

  
   Monday
   3.01 miles at 8:35 pace
  
   Tuesday
    Nothing 
  
   Wednesday
   Nothing
  
   Thursday
    Nothing 
  
   Friday
   3.13 miles at 8:28 pace
  
Saturday
    3.01 miles at 8:39 pace 
  
   Sunday
   7.01 miles at 9:22 pace
  
   Totals
   4 runs/16.16 miles

Monday

What I planned: Nothing
What happened: 3 easy miles at 8:35 pace

Even though I don't normally run on Mondays, it was gorgeous on Monday that I couldn't resist. The humidity and dew point were still atrocious and bothered my asthma a little, but the temps were in the high 60s. In July/August in Charleston, you can't beat that.

Tuesday

What I planned: 5 mile run @ easy pace
What happened: Nothing

After running on Monday, I actually did make the conscious decision to take Tuesday as my rest day for the week instead of doing my originally planned 5 mile run. Had I known what the rest of the week would look like, I wouldn't have done that. Hindsight.

Wednesday

What I planned: Yin yoga + 3 mile run @ easy pace with friends
What happened: Nothing

Sick husband, total work insanity, dog with a vet appointment over lunch (my normal yoga time) = no yoga (even though I desperately needed it for my mental state) and no run since he was sick and we didn't have a sitter.

So I missed both my yoga therapy and my Wednesday night running friend therapy last week. No wonder I was a mess.

Thursday

What I planned: Stretch Zone + 5 mile speedwork session + HIIT workout
What happened: Stretch Zone

I should know better than to try to schedule three things in one day, even though it's technically possible: pre-work run, lunchtime Stretch Zone, and post-work HIIT session. However, technically possible doesn't mean realistic.

Because my husband was sick, I was also up in the middle of the night Wednesday into Thursday for a few hours. By the time I got back to sleep, it was almost time to get up, but I ended up oversleeping until 8 a.m. because my little beagle alarm clock also had her schedule knocked off by the middle of the night wake up and she overslept.

Oversleeping meant hurrying to get B to school and then immediately getting to work. Post-work, I couldn't go to my HIIT class because we had to meet with the builders to go over the house site (exciting stuff!). And then I was on kid patrol, so that was that.

Friday

What I planned: Sports chiropractor visit
What happened: Sports chiropractor visit + 3.01 miles @ 8:28 pace

After all the stress of the week plus my lack of running, yoga or any other workouts, I was really feeling it by Friday. It was pouring rain, but I went out and ran anyway. Because sanity is important. And truthfully, I love running in the rain as long as it's not cold outside, which it wasn't. So this run ended up being pretty perfect.

Saturday

What I planned: 3 mile run @ easy pace
What happened: 3.01 mile run at 8:39 pace

Birthday alert! I woke up with a raging headache, but was determined to run. I popped some painkillers and guzzled some caffeine, then headed out before B's swimming lesson.

I didn't feel awesome, but the run felt good and I was pleased with my easy pace even though I wasn't feeling well.

In the afternoon, we stopped at the store and picked up a small cake (because B thought mommy should have a cake for her birthday). He picked it out and then informed that I was going to share it with him. Okay then.

Sunday

What I planned: 8 mile run @ long run pace
What happened: 7.01 miles @ 9:22 pace

I'm not even entirely sure what my "long run pace" truly is right now. I think I've got the 3-5 mile easy thing nailed, at least when I run by myself. I slow down when I run with other people. But for long runs, with the wonky weather that pace can be all over the place at the moment. And that's what happened on Sunday, too.

Summer was back in full force with a 90 degree heat index (when I ran, it got into triple digits later in the day), 82% humidity, and a "you might die" dew point. I was also a bit tired from being out late the night before for birthday celebrations, but still getting up as early as ever because of B. It wasn't my favorite run ever, but I'm glad I did pushed through.

So yeah, you guys. It wasn't the greatest week, although it ended much better than it started. Mentally, I'm absolutely spent, and while I'm not huge on birthdays (at least my own) anymore, it still irks me a little that my birthday week was so icky. I've had crazy weeks like this before where I was able to fit in more workouts and the stress doesn't get to me nearly as much. Running really is therapy and I get cranky when I miss it.

On the bright side, both Stretch Zone and the sports chiropractor have me feeling great so once I do get back out there regularly (hahahaha!), I should do well. My running form is so much better. I'm not certain that it ever really recovered from pregnancy until now.

Oh, and I'm fairly pleased to see my easy pace drop just a teeny bit and stay consistent for several runs in a row, including last week's long run when the weather was good. This bodes well for fall when the temps really drop.

How was your week? Do you use your workouts to help relieve stress?