Mississauga Marathon training: Week 7

Could it finally be almost maybe sort of a little bit spring? The week started out freezing and horrible, as has been usual, but by Friday it was above freezing and I was ready to break out the bikini and the frozen drinks. Then it all sort of fell apart again on Sunday, but hey, at least there was a taste of spring.

Monday: Rest. After leaving it all out on the course at the Chilly half, my legs were sore.

This is a totally normal thing to do on your lunch break at work.

Tuesday: Still sore. Very easy 6k at lunch. Weather = cold. What else is new. Why has it been January for like 12 weeks? Mother Nature, can we get another month happening over here?

On the plus side, PANCAKES! Chocolate swirl, no less.

Wednesday: Worked at home in the morning and built some time in for a run - easy 11k on a super boring route near my house. The DOMS from the race was gone, so I also started back up with my physio exercises. Unfortunately that left calf remained a problem - back to being stiff, although it felt fine after warming up for a few minutes, and wasn't an issue at all during the run.

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME WITH THIS BULLSHIT.

The afternoon was spent getting a root canal. In a tooth that had already been root canal-ed about 6 years ago - did you know they could fail and have to be re-done? GOOD TIMES. My life right now consists of 1) kids 2) work 3) running 4) dentist appointments. At least I enjoy 3 out of those 4 things? Although all things considered, the actual procedure was fine (I've had cleanings I found worse). It's the sore tooth for a few days after that is annoying.

Thursday: Unscheduled rest day due to a combination of work events and my husband's travel schedule. Probably a good thing to give that calf a break anyway. In downer news, my husband took one of my Simple Hydration bottles on his trip with him and managed to lose it going through airport security. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Now we have to share the one we have left? That's not going to work at all.

Friday: Physio in the morning. Massage, ultrasound, and hydrotherapy (fancy). Leg felt great, although it felt great before I even went to the appointment, possibly due to the pain medication I was taking for the aftereffects of the root canal.

11k at lunch, where the temperature was above freezing! Best day ever!

Look at me, all wearing a vest and not a jacket. WARMTH!

Although the run overall was fine, I did feel a bit sluggish. And my legs were pretty tired in the evening. I always forget how a hard race effort really does linger with you for a while, even once the DOMS is gone.

Saturday: 30k long slow run. Emphasis on the slow part. Met Patty and Sam and the run was, somewhat surprisingly, great. As great as 30k can feel, anyway. My problem calf felt fine, even on the uphill sections, so that was a good thing. My longest training run ever - I've run 30k at Around the Bay before, but never reached 30k in training before.

At one point we stopped for a break/nutrition and got surrounded by squirrels. It was very weird - they almost looked like dogs begging for food. It sort of felt like a horror movie, where the ominous music starts playing in the background and the audience is yelling "RUN AWAY BEFORE THEY BITE YOUR FACES OFF" while the clueless runners are all 'oh look at the cute little* squirrels!'. Fortunately we escaped before any face-ripping could occur.

*they weren't little. Clearly they beg for food a lot because those were some fatass squirrels, yo.

BEWARE.

Sunday: 8k recovery run. Man I hate the spring forward time change, this day sort of disappeared on me. And it takes a week for the kids to sort out the new schedule. Run was alright, even though it was all stupid cold again. At least the sun was shining!

Ice at the edge of the lake. Pretty cool!

Weekly Summary: 65.9 km. Damn it, I couldn't have added on another 100m somewhere? D'oh.

Next week, peak miles before the Around the Bay taper. Will be interesting to attempt to fit everything in around work and the kid's March break, but at least the weather forecast is promising.

I'm pretending Thursday doesn't exist.