Long Hours and a Return to Running

This past week has been quite exciting, yet very busy for me.  Following the 50-mile race was the 7-hour drive home and the inability to fall asleep.  Apparently endorphin overload and the runner’s high works as an incredible sleep deterrent.  So, I was up until 1:30 AM.  The following night, I was still wired and was awake until 1:00 AM. ..........

Two nights of late bedtimes is hardly the way to start a week.  Also, the return to teaching left lots of paperwork and several nights of extended hours.  The day before the race, while I drove to Chicago, all my students took tests.  Usually, I grade tests as they are turned in, but instead I had a pile of 160 tests to grade on Monday.  It took 6 hours.  Then, Lincoln had an eye appointment on Tuesday in West Des Moines.  This meant making sub plans and again poring through a pile of turned in homework when I returned.  To compound the hours, there were also parent-teacher conferences two evenings this week.  The first night kept me in the building until 8:30 PM and the second lasted until 8:00 PM.  I could use some endorphins to wake me up right now, but I think my supply is still being replenished.

All of these work hours are almost a blessing in disguise.  While I have returned to running, I have only been doing workouts with the cross country team I coach and have not had time to do additional running for myself.  Additionally, this is the week of the state meet, so they are tapering, which is keeping my mileage down while my body recovers.  We have 3 freshmen and 4 seniors running and we enter the state meet as the 13th ranked team.  The whole week has been full of extra team bonding activities and preparation.  Ultimately, we'll be ready to go Saturday morning and I fully believe we will finish in the top 10.  Below is a copy of the poster I made for the team.

So my return to running began just 2 days after my race.  Monday was painful, but I was happy I did it.  The team did a hybrid workout of an easy run with some 30-second surges.  The fast surges at roughly 5:30/mile pace felt a lot better than the steady state pace of 7:45/mile.  Tuesday was an easy run, which felt pretty good.  Wednesday we did a track workout with some 600/400 repeats.  I let loose on the last 400 and ran 58 seconds.  I’m happy to see my speed is still there.  My quads were not nearly as happy with me and I woke up that night with leg cramps.  Thursday was another easy run with a couple of pickup miles in the middle.  I am thrilled to say that I came through with no injuries!

My next blog will include details from the state meet and one last commentary on the 50-mile race.  Then, it will be back to training for the LHF race.