End of Week Four and on to Week Five!!

Week 4, Day Seven: Much to my disgust I had another runner's hangover this day. It must be noted that I went to bed stupidly late but I'm usually fine after four hours sleep and I sure wasn't. I had to get up to go and get measured by the choir seamstress for our uniforms for our big concert this month (come out and support if you can...pleaaaase! Hahah) and I had to drive through our back-crack crazy town to pick someone up so that added to my headache. When I got back I managed to get a very light snooze on the couch. I was supposed to go to the gym today for the first time in years as my friend was doing a hardcore boot camp class but I have never done that workout and I didn't know what to expect and if I could handle it when I wasn't feeling 100%. Once I napped a bit I felt better but I still decided to take it easy with a short cross fit session. I didn't do as much today as I wasn't feeling up to it so I started off with some moderate to vigorous jump rope and then powered through a do-as-fast-as-your-can body-weight routine faster than I usually complete it...but I timed my pre-workout snack badly and I started to feel it trying to pay me a visit again. I did about eight minutes more of some quick weight exercises and then I called it a day. I hate not completing a workout but its unwise to push yourself when you know today is not a day you can handle that. I was glad I did something. Oh and I had to teach a class later so I couldn't use up all of my energy!

And then it was Week FIVE!!!

I have been dreading Day One of Week Five since last week because this was the day that we were upping the mileage to 12 miles. The night before I felt as prepared as I could be...I had marked out the trail myself this time, I had the Gatorade that I was going to plant six miles in chilling in the fridge, I decided beforehand what I was going to have for breakfast and I went to bed at a pretty good time.
Just as Murphy's Law would have it, I set my alarm for 4:50 AM which is when it went off...and then I foolishly put my head down for a second and when I checked the time again it was 6:00AM and I was running at 6:30!!! I flew up out of bed and raced into the kitchen. I needed to have a breakfast that I could move about with so I could get ready and eat at the same time. I was really upset because you're not supposed to eat solid food so soon before a run but I was not running 12 miles on a protein shake as a pre-run meal. I didn't have time to photograph it but I had a banana and two small slices of rye bread with soy cheese and a mini, 4 oz protein shake of skimmed milk and whey protein.
You should have seen me, I was stretching my legs while putting on my socks and eating my sandwich and then putting on my shoes while packing the drinks and finishing my shake. I somehow managed to get ready, make breakfast, stretch, pack the cooler and my duffel bag, drive out and plant the drinks and mark the six mile turnaround point and get to my friend's place in thirty minutes...but I admit I got there very harassed and anxious about how the run would be since I ate so late.
I tried to be upbeat with my running partner but in my mind I was rattling about thoughts like, 'Just great...I haven't digested...today is going to be the day I have a GI disaster...I can feel it...Am I going to get sick on the run? I forgot to pack my Tylenol. I don't know if I should do this...I don't know if i CAN do this...' and it just went on and on until I found myself already running out on the road.
A few minutes in, there was a little conflict about the trail as I had measured it and so did my running partner but we measured slightly different routes so we had to separate much earlier than we usually do. This bummed me out a little more as misery loves company and my running mate doesn't really take too well to the early starts either. However, this afforded me to run my first mile faster than I usually do as I didn't treat it like a warm up mile this time.
It was a long run and a new route with waaaay more hills. We were basically running from my friend's house to a mile before mine and back. This route is much more scenic but it's hard to focus on the view when you're charging uphill and avoiding cars. I was worried that I had started too fast but I realized that this time I was trying a couple other things differently as well.
Instead of starting with Gatorade I chose electrolyte enhanced Smart Water (it has no carbs) for the first leg then Gatorade back on the second leg to hydrate me and also since we upped our mileage we needed to take in two gels this time.




These are the same Powerbar gels as the first time. Still caffeine free!









The plan was to have my first gel about five or so miles in and then I would have the second one in the middle of the second leg back (each leg is six miles on this run). This made a huge difference in my overall energy. I never reached a point where I felt like I was running on reserve energy which is usually how I feel on the last couple miles. I was able to keep just about the same pace as the 10 mile run throughout and I'm very fortunate that I didn't feel sluggish (or worse) from my late breakfast.
3.5 miles into my run I had a fun experience though. I was chugging up a hill at a decent pace and from out of nowhere this woman bounds past me up the hill! I didn't even hear her coming. I was in complete awe of her. She had an incredible stride and the speed in which she took that hill was insane! She was definitely a seasoned runner. She tossed me a melodious 'Good morning!' sounding far too composed and I watched her skim past me noiselessly up the hill. Her core was tight (and defined), her legs sleek and the stride! I can't get over the stride! It was almost as long as I am tall! She looked like a angel to me...and then she turned the corner at the top of the hill and left me in the dust. I finished the hill keeping my pace though I was feeling sheepish about my what now seemed to be a hobbit-sized stride...but when I looked down the road she turned down she was gone!! Great Scott! She WAS and angel!!
Okay just kidding...but she was walking. I then realized that she was doing a tempo run incorporating pushing uphill. And man was she good. I hope that someday I'll develop form like that. She definitely gave me something to think about for the next couple miles or so of my run.
The rest of the run went really well considering the chaos that preceded it. My second leg didn't feel terribly harder than the first leg to the six mile mark and I managed very well on all of the extra hills including the final hill just before the finish that I managed to run harder on my way up. I finished the run at two hours and one minute which puts me at an average of 10 minute miles throughout! Woohoo! 

These are the calculations done through runnersworld.com based on my times.

Based on a 12 miles race at 02:01, your projected finish times for the following distances should be:

1500m	8:06
the mile	8:44
3000m(3k)	16:54
3200m(about 2 miles)	18:06
5000m(5k)	29:03
8000m(8k)	47:48
5 miles	48:06
10,000m(10k)	1:00:34
ten miles	1:40:17
a half marathon	2:13:31
a marathon	4:38:23

I put in red the times that I really was looking for about this run.

Based on a 12 miles race at 02:01 your pace is:

10:08 Pace per mile 5.92 Miles/hour 6:18 Pace per kilometer 9.52 Kilometers/hour 2.65 Meters/second

Not too bad for running two hours straight!

Here's the joke though. The run went so well so in true Anna fashion...something had to happen.
It started to rain while I was refilling my Gatorade bottle with water right after my run and this was such a thrill to me because I imagined how wonderful the rain would feel on my hot skin. I bolted back outside not realizing how slippery the stairs were and being stiff-jointed from the run, my feet shot up out from under me and I went careening down the stairs. Thank God I didn't hit my head...but my backside was murdering from slamming down on it and skidding. I sat there in stunned silence...looked around to see if anyone saw and to my relief there was no one in sight...then I noticed I miraculously didn't spill my water...and then just stayed there sprawled on the stairs enjoying the rain.


Sitting at the base of the stairs getting rained on while my joints slowly seized up from the run and the fall.











A protein shake and some stretching later and I felt alright. My left hamstring didn't feel so great but it could have been a lot worse.

We went to Subway for lunch and took our meal in the car out by the sea!

Subway salad with all the veg - minus jalapenos. and their veggie patty for protein. I was so stuffed I didn't even touch the lettuce underneath.










I went home for a nap not long after and that's when my leg really started to act up. When I stop moving around it seizes up but once I give it an intense stretch it's as good as new.
Dinner was my own recipe for Chinese five spice salmon with pumpkin and spinach. I figured I'd want the extra Omega 3s for joint repair that day...

I also made a point to drink a bottle of water an hour. Then before bed I drank a vitamin water and then regular water until I felt sick. I really didn't want to wake up dehydrated again!!

Week Five, Day Two: What a relief! No hangover! Finally I'm getting the hang of this! I recovered extremely well this time around. My leg hurt when I first got up but I rubbed it and stretched it and it loosened up beautifully. I was able to do my strength training with no problem! I focused on abs and upper body strength today with intervals on the stationary bike to spike my heart rate. The bike didn't bother my leg at all so that was perfect. Then some light yoga later in the studio before a super quick business meeting then rehearsals. At last! A nausea free and productive Day Two!!

Today is Day Three and I'll be doing my workout after work today...so I will fill you in tomorrow as this post is long enough and I've already had to retype half of it again!

Sorry for the delay in posting and thank you for following!! <3