Will I ever learn???

I am really good at overtraining and wearing myself out. Last week I ran around downtown Boston after work for a nice 8 miler Tuesday, starting to get some speed back and averaging in the low 9's again. I felt really good. Wednesday I did my weekly Ayer run with Kim and we killed it. Super hilly loop finishing up one giant hill. I tell myself hills are good for you and I love them. Thursday, I did an easy 7 miles around the Charles River. It was ridiculously windy. I'm talking 50mph gusts windy. I felt like I wasn't even moving at some points. Still averaged a decent pace.

So, after 20 miles in 3 days I took a rest day despite the gorgeous weather we've been having tempting me to run again. I knew I had a big weekend planned so I saved my legs for longer miles. Instead of running I decided to kill some time at the mall. Walking around for a few hours is a good active recovery, right? And retail therapy is always fun.

Saturday, Kim came to Lowell for our long run. We decided to revisit the 10.75 mile loop that haunted her from weeks before when we ran it and it didn't go well. This time it was a totally different experience. She OWNED it! The first 3 miles of the run are pretty much all uphill and it beats you down before you're even halfway into the run. I told her to ease into it and conserve energy for the entire run rather than going all out and leaving it all on the first hill. We started at about a 10:30 pace and then after we reached the top of the hill we settled into a comfortable pace just under 10:00. The miles were flying by and Kim was picking up the pace. It was a perfect day, in the high 30s maybe even 40 and sunny. Quiet and peaceful on the backroads through Andover, we made our way back to my house. Just a few more hills and we were home. Kim maintained a perfect pace for the run and even finished the last mile in a 9:19 UPHILL!!!
Here's the elevation for what we ran:
After the run Saturday I ran a few errands, cleaned my house, did some laundry, and then met up with a friend for late lunch at Life Alive. Even though we went there at almost 2:00pm it was still packed! Proof it's the best place in Lowell to eat. We hung out and chatted for a while and then walked around downtown for a bit. The day flew by and before I knew it, I was ready to pass out on my couch. I set all my clocks ahead and tried to go to bed early knowing that it would totally suck to wake up in the morning AND I needed to run 16 miles for my marathon training plan.
And this is what my 16 miles looks like:
Sunday I rolled out of bed and had a few cups of tea and some breakfast then headed out for my 16 miler. It wasn't bad. I expected to be a little slower considering the hard run the day before. I just wanted to feel good. I didn't care what my Garmin said for pace, I just ran by feel and kept a comfortable pace. I was consistant as usual and finished strong with the last mile being the fastest. Then I went to the grocery store and got my ice and some food. Did my ritual ice bath and showered before going to a party in the afternoon. I got home around 7:00 and crashed. Exhausted. The weekend went by so fast and I didn't even really get to relax like most people do on their weekends.

Monday came way too soon. I wanted to sleep in in the worst way. Mother Nature was tempting me too. It was 70 degrees and sunny in Boston and absolutely beautiful! I needed rest and recovery no matter how nice it was out. So, after work I met up with my friend Erin and we walked around back bay and then went to dinner at the Life alive in Central Square. We sat and talked for a few hours and then I headed home. It was an amazing afternoon. Perfect in every way. I even found a dime on the ground walking back to my car!

Tuesday, the amazing weather trend continued. I brought my running gear in and changed after work and headed out towards Boston to do the same 8 mile loop I did the week before. The first mile felt a little off, slow and sluggish and only about a 10:15 pace. Not awful but it's totally flat and I usually start out at a 9:30 pace in the first mile from work. Oh well, pushed through it and though, the first mile is always the hardest. I decided to run out along the marathon course and do an out and back instead of the loop, just in case I continued to feel off. I made it to the bump that goes over the Mass Pike right at mile 25 (only about a mile and a half into my run) and just couldn't go anymore. I ran out of gas completely. I turned around and cut the run short. Attempted to run again a few times but had nothing left in the tank. It ended up being a total of 3.5 miles by the time I got back to my car and it took me about 45 minutes! Today I'm suppose to run with Kim in Ayer and praying that I feel better, but I didn't sleep well because there was an insane thunderstorm last night that kept me up all night. I was having really strange dreams all night too. The thunder sounded like plow trucks driving by but there's no snow so I was really confused and then a flash of lightning lit up my whole house so I figured out it was a storm. I fell back asleep but was restless all night. I woke up and my heart was pounding. My resting heart rate was 70bpm! Yesterday it was 50bpm. Hoping and praying that yesterday was just a bad day and I feel better today. We'll see how it goes. I have a half marathon on Sunday. If it goes anything like last night's run I may have to DNF for the first time in my life.