MTP Week 4 and 5 Overview...

Week 4 Recap = GREAT!

Week 5 Recap = Sick as a DOG!!!

I love basset hounds (they are my favorite dog), so he seemed like the perfect mascot for my week o' misery...his name is Walter by the way!  Isn't he cute?!

Looking back, week 4 went really well, training-wise.  Here are the details:

Monday: 3 miles in 26 minutes flat...my best time yet.  I was tired at the end, but so proud of my time that I didn't even care!

Tuesday: 8x200 meter hill repeats with 1 mile run to the hill and one mile run back afterward.  My butt didn't hurt as bad this week as it did the week before, and I was also pretty proud of myself because I did the hill repeats on my own, without the motivation of the group, and finished the whole thing...even though there were moments when I definitely wanted to quit!

Wednesday: 7 miles in 67:42...Normally this would have been my rest day, but I was headed to Bend the next day to spend my 4 day weekend with Michael, and since I was going to be in the car most of the day getting to him (and I knew I wouldn't want to run the 7 miles once I got there) I decided to get it out of the way the day before...and ran it in a pretty good time if I do say so myself!

Thursday: Rest/Drive to Bend

Friday: 13 miles in 2:08:35...again, normally I would have run this on Saturday morning, but since Michael was in class until 3pm, I figured it was the perfect time to get my long run in.  I did my run through Eagle Crest Country Club, which after visiting Michael so much, I thought I knew pretty well...but apparently not.  I got lost on a couple of occasions, the routes of which took me up some pretty steep hills.  When I finally finished my run, I was a bit disappointed with my time...that is, until I plugged my Garmin into my computer and realized that along my journey, not only had I gone 13 miles, but I had gained almost 1000 ft of elevation!  No wonder I was so tired at the end!!!

Saturday: Rest/Quality time with the bf

Sunday: Rest/Quality time with the bf

After such a great week of runs, I was looking forward to seeing how well I would do on my Week 5 mileage.  There was only one thing standing in my way...the fact that my wonderful boyfriend had been horribly sick the entire weekend that I had been to visit him.  And there is one inevitable fact about boyfriends that never fails...if they are sick, you will eventually get sick as well.  Therefore, my recap of my Week 5 runs is unfortunately quite short:

Monday: 3 miles in 26:11...I wasn't feeling very sick at this point, so this run went fairly well, though I did feel pretty wiped out by the end.

Tuesday: 9 x 200 meter hill repeats with 1 mile before and 1 mile after...my brain was starting to get a little fuzzy at this point, and I lost track of how many hill repeats I'd completed until I checked my watch at the end and realized I'd done one too many.  If I'd known it was the last training run I was going to be able to complete this week, I'd have done several extra.

Wednesday: Stretch/Rest/The beginning of the cough, chest congestion, fever, and runny nose.

Thursday: This was supposed to be an 8 mile run, but unfortunately it ended up being a day of me coughing up a lung, running a fever, and generally feeling like crap...so no run for me.

Friday: Rest/Sick again...I was foolishly optimistic enough to think that I might be able to make up my 8 mile run today, but I was again so sick that I could barely make it to work, let alone manage an 8 mile run.  At that point, I was facing a major dilemma...I had a 14 mile run the next morning, and didn't want to miss it since I had already missed one of my runs this week, but I wasn't sure if trying to complete the mileage while I was so sick would in fact do me more harm than good.  So I called the amazing people from my Marathon Training Program at Fleet Feet...

                       
...and one of the coaches wisely recommended that I take the day off, get better, and come back strong and well next week. So that's exactly what I did.

Saturday: Rest/Sick as a dog...I thought there was maybe a slim chance I would miraculously wake up well enough Saturday morning to meet up with the group and go for our little 14 mile jaunt...

...but no such luck.  I was still unbelievably sick and could barely lift my head to drink my orange juice, let alone bend over to be able to lace up my running shoes.  I felt bad missing my mileage, but I have a feeling I would have felt worse had I tried to complete the mileage feeling the way I did.

Sunday: Rest/Still sick, but feeling a bit better...I'm trying to rest up today.  I'm starting to feel a bit better, and am hoping that if I lay low today and really take care of myself, I'll be able to get back on the training program schedule starting tomorrow.  Keep your fingers crossed for me as Week 6 posses quite a challenge after a 5 day hiatus from running...

Monday: 3 mile run
Tuesday: Our very first Interval Training workout!
Wednesday: Stretch/Rest
Thursday: 4 mile run
Friday: Stretch/Rest
Saturday: 15 mile run
Sunday: Stretch/Rest

What's your best strategy for getting back into your workout routine after you've been sick?