Hypothermic Shock, And A Few Weeks To Go

Well, another week in the books, or actually my running journal... Yes, I actually have a hand written running journal that I've kept up to date since college. I actually have every workout I've done since my junior year of high school. I may have to document them onto this blog someday, but until then, you get to read my thoughts instead of quickly referencing them in my trusted running journal. Besides, my workouts and mileage was about half as much as I am doing now, and very unimpressive.

So, this week started off pretty well with some decent mileage and early morning runs. I was a bit sore and tired from last weeks Sunday long run workout, so I postponed any real workouts until Thursday, which turned out to be a bad decision. I was planning on hitting one more high mileage week, but towards the end of the week I brought it down a bit. There was a lot of other things going on this week such as: a field trip to the ballon museum, a Thanksgiving luncheon, and another field trip to Kris' job at the Court of Appeals, and I had to house sit up in the Foothills. So, I was mentally burned out in an attempt to not lose any kids on these field trips... And I am proud to say, I have not lost a student yet, and we've had a lot of field trips this year (4 total). So, back to running... Thursday's workout went fairly well. I did 4x2 mile tempo repeats on the river. When I woke up at 5:20am, I did my normal routine of checking the weather and saw that the thermometer read 26 degrees! I didn't take much note to it and layered up, NOT according to the weather, but to limited clothing so that I would not be weighed down. This would be a huge mistake. I got out the door at around 5:35am and headed to the river to start my repeats. It was cold, but nothing too bad as I jogged very easy. Once I started my first rep in the dark, I hit a comfortable time of 5:23 and 5:13.

I don't know if you've ever done workouts in this temperature, but when you start breathing in that cold of air, while running, it doesn't make for the most pleasant feeling in your chest. I kept debating if I should cut the workout short and do the rest later, but as an overbearing and self conscience runner, I decided to just finish it. The next two sets where hit in (5:21, 5:23) and (5:19, 5:15). At this point I lost all feeling in my hands and had only one more set to complete. The pain in my hands was unbearable, but the next set would put me 2 miles closer to my house, and only leave me with a 2 mile cool down. I ran an unimpressive (5:21, 5:23) and once I finished I thought I had frostbite in my hands. I ripped off my watch from my left wrist, which inevitably was cutting blood circulation to my left hand and tried to hold the watch as I hobbled home in pain. I was actually fearing for my hands not to be lost to any type of frostbite. I knew it couldn't have been that serious, but when you are in that situation, you only think of the worst. I managed to get to my front door and pounded for someone to let me in, as I could not grip the door handle to open it. Scotty was still home and saved my life! I rushed to the stove, and Scott turned on the kettle to boil water for tea, and I stood in front of the heat, hoping to gain some kind of sensation back in my hands. At this point, my stomach was lurching up towards my throat and I felt as if someone had just done a jump kick into my stomach! Well, to make a short story long, I stood there for about 15 minutes, got some tea and laid down crying like a little girl, not really, but I might as well have. I finally composed myself, took a hot shower and felt the cold burn in my hands as they attempted to get blood back into them, and got ready for my 5th graders and their last field trip of the week.

After that ordeal on Thursday, I took the next few days easy and got ready for Sunday's long run workout. The long run would be an out and back run of 10 miles easy, turn around and complete 2x2 miles at tempo pace, then whatever left over to finish up a total run of 20 miles. I ran from my house heading north with a nice tailwind. Once I turned around to start my workout, I had that lovely tailwind turn into a headwind. I hit those 2 mile repeats in (5:13, 5:13) 2 minutes rest, then (5:18, 5:19). It wasn't that bad, but I sure felt like I was working hard into that wind. I think it was only going about 6-10 mph, but I could sure feel it! So, all and all, another great week. I'm looking forward to my peaking phase and running a great time at CIM!

Mon - pm. 10 miles easy

Tue - am. 10 miles easy

Wed - am 10 miles easy / pm. 10 miles easy

Thur - am. 4x2 miles at tempo (5:23, 5:13), (5:21, 5:23), (5:19, 5:15), (5:21, 5:23) total:12.5 miles / pm. 6 miles easy

Fri - pm. 14 miles med/easy

Sat - am. 12 miles easy + 2x hill strides / pm. 8 miles med

Sun - am. 20 miles in 2:10:28 w/2x2 miles at tempo (5:13, 5:13), (5:18, 5:19)

Total: 112.5 miles