I Passed!

I know, I know -- my recap is a day late. Sue me. It's been an eventful week in these parts.

For starters, I passed my thesis defense on Thursday!

Naturally, this required a celebratory happy hour. And then two more days of celebrating/doing what I wanted. Run in the morning, drink wine with friends in the evening. 

But back to the running (since that's the focus of this blog). 

Last week's workouts (week ending 6/9)
Running - x5 (35.24 miles total)
Cycling - N/A
Core - x3
Strength - x2
Foam rolling - x2 (or maybe 3 -- I didn't do a good job of logging my foam rolling sessions)
Salt bath - N/A

I ran more miles last week, and did an extra day of core. I feel like the core work may actually be helping my posture. Or maybe that's just in my head.

I decided to run along the Leif Erickson Trail on Sunday. I had a long run planned (10M), and needed to clear my head, so a trail adventure seemed perfect. During the first mile, the scab from my heel friction wound ripped off. Once it ripped off, I didn't feel any pain and I just got lost in my thoughts and the trails. It felt so good that I decided to extend it another mile. Once I finished, I discovered a very blood-stained Achilles. (I'll refrain from posting pictures, but it took 3 rubbing alcohol-soaked cotton balls to clean the blood and trail dirt.) I'm convinced it was due to the PureFlows (when I wear the Mirages, I don't notice any bloodshed), which is odd because I've used those shoes without issue for two months. Looks like it's back to the Mirages for a little while...

During my 6M run on Wednesday morning, my mind was in it, but my body was not. My legs just felt like lead weights, and I felt under-fueled. It was as if I didn't eat enough or drink enough water, which is possible -- when I'm stressed, my appetite tends to decrease. Another possible explanation: maybe caffeine gives me an added boost?

Overall though, I'm happy with the mileage (my first week of 35+ miles in about two months), and met my goals for ancillary core and strength work. Using one of my rest days for core work seemed to work out nicely.

So what's next (on the running front)? I think I should try a morning run (about 5M) right after waking up and without any fuel (food or coffee) beforehand. That should (hopefully) answer my questions about my issues from last week. Also, keep gradually upping the mileage (MCM training starts in a few weeks!), and keep up the core and strength work.

Keeping it Short and Sweet

Y'all. I defend my thesis in three days. I'd say that I'm calm, cool, and collected about the whole thing, but I think y'all know me well enough to know that that's not the case. I've also started planning my move out of Portland. Not to mention this job search that seems endless. Between all of that, I'm surprised I haven't melted down yet. I may have procured a pint of Ben & Jerry's Cannoli ice cream the other night to help with stress relief. Bad news, people. Especially when you have lactose issues. (Damn you, Ben & Jerry's! Why do you have to be so delicious and irresistible in my times of stress??)

I will, however, say that I'm ready for the thesis dreams/nightmares to end, and to stop thinking about this presentation on my runs. (Yes, that did happen.)

Last week's workouts (week ending 6/2)
Running - x5 (30.34 miles total)
Cycling - N/A
Core - x2
Strength - x2
Foam rolling - x3
Salt bath - x1

I met my goal last week of doing two strength workouts and two core workouts. I ended up using one of my days off from running to focus on core. I think it worked out nicely.

The weirdest thing happened on Wednesday. I was running, and after about mile 4.9, my right heel felt like it had rubbed against the back of my shoe too much. I was only planning on 10K, so I decided to tough it out. When I finally stopped, it looked pretty raw. I was wearing my PureFlows (which I've used since March without issue), so I figured it was the socks (they were very worn and thin).

My heel, post-run

Fast forward to Thursday. I used thicker socks and my Mirages. Same thing, except this time, the damn thing bled on my shoe. And with the exception of a few hours on Thursday night, I wore my Birkenstock clogs exclusively between that run and Saturday morning.

Fast forward to Saturday. I decided to wear a pair of Balega socks, because they cover the affected area. Still pain, along with a bloody sock and shoe. I had to Google "removing blood from clothes" to find a good laundry trick for getting the blood off of my sock and shoe.

Fast forward to Sunday. The masochist in me decided that I didn't want to miss a day of running for something that doesn't even seem like a legit injury. Before I left, I had the brilliant idea of putting vaseline (and by vaseline, I mean antibacterial ointment, because that's what I had on-hand) on the scab. And you know what? It worked. Now if only I knew what caused the issue in the first place.

And with all of that being said, I'm off to try and keep myself relaxed. And (hopefully) not aggravate my lactose issues.

PS "Spirit of the Marathon II" comes out on June 12! Who wants to come see it with me??

How do you deal with stress (other than running, of course)?