Days of the Week

Lately, thanks to my work schedule, I never seem to know what day it is! It's pretty typical for me to have a couple weekdays off and work the weekend, which totally throws off my sense of time. My "weekend" is always different than everyone else! And as I mentioned briefly before, my work schedule and my training plan don't really go hand in hand either. In fact, since I started working full-time I've only been able to loosely follow my plan, and I've had to rework almost every week to fit in the important stuff like long runs. Throw triathlon training into the mix and things start looking even stickier. Anyway, this week was no exception. When I got my schedule I noticed that I started early and worked full shifts all weekend, making it impossible to fit in my 15 mile run. My only solution was to do my long run much earlier than usual - Thursday before going to work at noon. This meant taking Wednesday as a rest day instead of my planned 5 miler. Sometimes you just have to work with what you've got.

Now that September is underway I'm starting to get super excited for fall! Sacramento finally got it's first glimpse of cooler, fall weather Wednesday - all day the sky was dark and full of heavy clouds. That night they finally gave way to our first rain of the season! Hooray! I can't wait to run in the rain : )

A storm was brewing...

 

Thursday I headed out a little past 8am for a solo 15 miles along the American River parkway bike path. The air was cool and fresh from the rain the night before, only warming up a bit toward the end of my run. Within the first mile I had yet another run in with wildlife when I spotted my first coyote! It looked kind of like a skinny dog and before I could even think what to do it trotted off toward the river. I forced myself to go slower than my last couple long runs since my 13 miler the previous weekend was so disastrous.

I felt pretty good from the get go although the miles seemed to be extra long leading to the turnaround. Then disaster struck. Ok, maybe that's a little dramatic, but once I was on my way back I realized I was extremely low on water. "No big deal", I thought, "there are water fountains along the bike trail where I can refill." Except that there weren't. During miles 9-11, which were mostly exposed bike path, all I could think about was water. I was so thirsty, and was almost tempted to drink from the river, just to quench my thirst. Around mile 11 I passed a couple of women and asked if they knew whether there were any water stops up ahead. I think they could tell I was parched so one offered me some of her drink, which turned out to be lemonade! God bless kind strangers. That got me to mile 12 where, mercifully, I spotted a water fountain that was my equivalent of an oasis in the desert! My mood improved tenfold after several gulps of water and a full bottle.

Made it home with exactly 15 miles at a 10:21 average pace, but only had 30 minutes to get ready for work! Not wanting to bonk later I scarfed a pb and banana sandwich on the way, my hair still wet, and made it with just minutes to spare. The thing about doing a long run on a Thursday is that it throws off my already confused sense of time. For example, this weekend now feels like the middle of the week. Wait, what day is it again?

So Friday became a rest day, as did today. I was hoping to fit in a ride after work but only had about a half hour of daylight left when I got home so I decided it wasn't worth it. My first tri is now just a week away (ummm what?!) so the plan for the upcoming week is to fit in one more brick, a long ride (~20 miles), and an open water swim (yikes!). Unfortunately I work all week so it's gonna be another tough one trying to fit in my workouts. I also want to try and get some rest before the big day. Stay tuned!