Taking a Mental Health Week

I know that you're super concerned, but have no fear I haven't gone crazy. Yet. No really, things aren't going too badly here. Poor Kaylee did wake up with hives all over her face and head on Monday. I almost had a panic attack. I wasn't sure if they were actually hives or what they could be from if they were in fact hives. Did you know that sometimes viruses can cause hives? I didn't. Anyway the doctor's hypothesis is that a virus has caused the hives, for she also has a runny nose and cough now. Poor kid, she can't catch a break this year. Anyway hives, sniffles, and cough aren't nearly as stressful as vomit...so I'm doing okay.

As you might have guessed, I missed running on Monday. I can't completely blame my little lady, however. Having to go to the doctor's office really messed up the day's schedule, but had I been really motivated I could have run after the kids went to bed at 7:45ish. I wasn't really motivated though. I was tired. And Monday was suppose to be my longer day, which I could potentially do on Thursday, but I don't think I want to run long on Thursday because I'm running a 5K on Sunday and I want to have fresh legs. Phew, that was a mouthful! As a result, I'm taking a mental health week. I'm not going to worry about my mileage this week. I'd like to do my best to get to 40 miles, but I won't worry about the fact that I had planned to run 50. Running is, after all, my fun activity and there are 14 weeks until Providence.

Last week went fairly well as far running was concerned. I did a reasonable 15 mile progression run, a mile time trial in 5:36, and had a total of 52 miles. Overall though, I was tired. I had trouble with some of my easy runs, which isn't normal for me. Motivation was also an issue last week, which almost never happens. So the numbers were okay, but it was a blah week.

Today I had an awesome workout. One of my co-workers wanted to do 3x1 mile repeats on the track. We wound up not making it to the track due to meetings going long and other meetings later in the day, but we have a 1.25 mile loop around our complex that is mostly flat. The three of us went and banged out a stellar workout. My repeat times were: 5:38, 5:52, 5:56. Yes, the last two were significantly slower than the first, but to be completely honest I ran the first one too hard on purpose (and my shoe was untied for almost the entire 3rd mile). My goal was to keep all the repeats under 6:00. I was pleasantly surprised. The workout was hard, but we did a 2.5 mile cool down at 8:30 pace without any issues, which means we weren't completely spent.

Given my repeat times, I think I can break 19 on Sunday, and hence my mental health week. The opportunity to break 19 minutes in the 5K will bring more peace of mind than getting to 50 miles for the week. So there you have it, my training decisions are largely based on my peace of mind. Not a training philosophy for everyone, but it keeps me happy.

How about you? Do you have a strict training philosophy? Would it drive you nuts if you missed your numbers for the week?

In the spirit of good mental health, here are a couple random pics of my little ladies.

Poor Kaylee recovering from...something.

Emily is just too cute. She loves Kaylee's sunglasses. She's such a spunky punky.