The Road to Dopey – Week 69: Getting back to it!

May Miles: 36.6
May Average Pace: 13:51
2017 Miles to Date: 305.9
Streak Day: 207 (Maximum: 207)
May Goal: 50.0 miles

Days to Disneyland Double Dare: 102
Days to my first marathon: 119
Days to Dopey: 228

One of the Dopeys in training I follow in Instagram posted a photo of her watch face counting down to Dopey 2018 and I loved it so much I had to get it for myself. It’s so nice to see the countdown to the big things I have coming up right there every time I check the time. It keeps me excited and keeps me motivated, both of which I need.

This week I was still recovering from my lovely spring cold, but I still did my workout indoors the best I could on Sunday and Monday. Then on Tuesday, I was determined to go out again with my Dopeys. And determination turned out to be exactly what I needed to make it through that run.

We met up at the place we had intended to run, but it was way too windy, so we drove down to a place in the valley and took off despite the ominous clouds and the winds picking up. We wound up running just under 4 miles in the wind, the rain, and a little bit of hail. Lovely. But despite all that, we kept an impressive pace (I call it the “the faster we go the faster it’s over” logic).

Wednesday, I was not feeling great from having run in those elements the day before, so I decided to stay inside and do a workout. The fitness dice laughed at my logic though, giving me 22 (the highest number you can roll) jump squats amongst other things. I also did abs, arms, and runner’s yoga and then I went to bed early.

That night, I wound up getting 9.5 hours of sleep, which seems to be just the thing my body needed, because since then, I have felt like I could conquer the world. I woke up Thursday morning feeling great and decided to go after my regularly scheduled hill repeats. I’m really glad I added these to my training regimen because I think they are making a difference in my overall fitness. I think this is partially showing in the faster times I’m seeing lately (though I imagine some of that is also the very nice weather we’ve been having.

Friday, I wound up with a yoga only rest day. I had a lot going on and needed to sort some stuff out and needed a night to myself so I just stretched and called it good. I planned to do my long run with my Dopeys on Sunday, so on Saturday I did a bit more of a inside workout than I normally do on the weekends. It was nice (even if it included burpees).

This morning, the Dopeys and I did our long run of just over 7 miles. It was further than my training schedule called for, but since I missed my 9 miler last weekend and my Wednesday during the week, I decided a little more wouldn’t hurt. It was nice when we started, but as we got away from our shaded paths, the wind also died down and it got hot and I had to walk the last 2 miles to make it. We all agreed we need to start earlier for the next few months in order to continue and beat the heat. It’s only going to get warmer.

This week, I’m thinking that I want to try again at getting my workouts (except my Tuesday evening run with the Dopeys) in in the morning. I am more likely to be motivated, instead of coming home from work tired, and my runs will be cooler (the highs are going to be in the 80s this week!). I’m due for an 11 mile long run this weekend as well. Training picks back up already. Before I know it, I will be training for back to back long runs.