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.