Half-Marathon Hunger

Above is the run I did with Zack "the Dynamo" Young on Saturday morning... the distance of a half-marathon! A great work-out for this early in the season. Definitely much farther than I would have gone on my own.

It is an incredible luxury to have a training partner like Zack, with his seemingly limitless energy! Not only did we go 13 miles, we ran it outdoors... in -5 degree weather! Now that is something I would never have done on my own! We ran at a steady, but solid pace, and talked the entire way. Even considering the conditions, it was a very enjoyable work-out!

Afterwards I was ravenously hungry. Thankfully Mandy was awake and made me eggs, bacon, and toast as fast as I could eat. What a gal! I took about an hour nap before going to work for 10 hours, then came home and passed out.

It has been three days since the run, and my appetite is just today returning to normal. It felt as though nothing I could eat could make me full! Last year I didn't feel like this until toward the very end of my training. It's a peculiar feeling.

Have had a bit of a let-down with workouts since the run. My right foot has felt a little damaged, and my "on" week was grinding me down, so I decided not to run for a couple days. I must have gotten all the 'cold' I could handle on the run, too, because I couldn't convince myself to go swim at the gym... jumping in is always such a shock to the system. The plan is to start back up tomorrow. No more resting on the laurels of the long run. My right foot feels like it's back where it needs to be, so it's time to get back to it.

Tonight I got in a good spin after picking up an extra shift, covering for a sick co-worker. It's amazing how much shorter an 8-hour shift feels compared to a 10-hour shift (my typical shift). I had so much more energy tonight than usual. Tomorrow I'm picking up another 8 hours, and then I'm off until next Wednesday. I'm definitely ready for my "off" week.

(Thanks to Zack for mapping our run at www.mapmyrun.com, a really cool website for all your mapping needs!)

WORKOUTS

• 1/23 day off (rest prep for long run)
  
• 1/24 13.1 mile run (outdoors)
• 1/25 day off (recovery)
• 1/26 day off (recovery)
• 1/27 Pilates
• 1/28 Pilates, 12 mile spin