A Whiny RD Week

Did you ever have one of those weeks? I can be a whiny RD and this entry proves it. Just ask my wife, who I love, because she has these really inspirational sayings like “quit whining and just go.” I’ve said it a million times, “if you have a race on your calendar you gotta do your runs.” Congratulations for having our race on your calendar. Thank you. The same holds true for me, “if I’m going to write to you each week I gotta do my runs.” So why the whiny RD?  Strap in, here we go . . .

Routes You Love & Those Not so Much

You’ve got some routes you love and some not so much. We all do. If you don’t, you will. I love to run on the rail trail. Running around my development – not so much. However, if time is scarce – the development wins, just to get the miles. I forget what happened but Tuesday was a development day which wasn’t thrilling but it worked. Wednesday was a day trip to Atlanta. Flight out of BWI at 6:15 a.m. and a return flight from Atlanta at 8:10 p.m. That didn’t leave much time to run. I didn’t get to bed ’til after midnight and coming off a 22 hour day Thursday morning was a bust. I’m a morning runner as opposed to a night runner which adds up to – no runs Wednesday or Thursday.

My weekly routine includes: short run Tuesday, moderate run Wednesday and short run Thursday. The combined total of which exceeds my weekend long run. Monday and Friday are rest days. Having missed Wednesday and Thursday my weekly total was less than 1/3 of what it should be. Very bad. Not good. Gotta fix.

Schedule Recovery Plan

The plan: make up at least one of those days on Friday then go easy on the long run. The combined two short runs would exceed my weekend distance by 1 mile. That seemed like a fairly okay schedule recovery strategy. Unfortunately, this stuff happens. Life gets in the way and adjustments must be made. Of course, the critical element here is the Friday morning run.

The Kink in the Plan

Thursday evening my wife suggested we grab dinner at The Bulls Head. It’s a pub, a very cool pub, in Lititiz. There are certain pub foods that agree with me and others that don’t. I’m a big boy. I know what upsets my stomach. That doesn’t mean I’m always a smart boy. I ordered a dish that upon occasion raises havoc with my digestive system. Of course, you know what happened! I woke up in the middle of the night with a raging case of heartburn. I’ve discovered 3 or 4 heaping spoons of Greek yogurt fix heartburn pretty quick. At 2:00 a.m. I’m pulling a Dagwood and rummaging in the frig for yogurt.

At 5:00 a.m. I didn’t feel like gett’n outa bed. Not at all. Imagine that? However, knowing I was gonna write this and needing those miles, I forced myself. While gearing up it sounded like rain. After checking google, sure enough, rain! Upon racing downstairs and throwing opened the back door I got pelted. Ugh. Wet. Seriously? I like running in the rain on a hot summer day. On a cold day in January, it ain’t my first choice. The mental debate began. Do I want to do this? I hate to run in this stuff. I need those miles. What if I run Saturday and Sunday and bag this? That won’t work, it’ll throw off next week. Besides, what am I gonna tell our runners?  What kind of an example would that set? Just get out there Miller!

Run On!

I talked myself into it. At least it was 60 degrees. The rail trail was sure to be mud, conclusion: another development run. Two in the same week, what’s the world coming too! I started out fast. My lungs protested. My legs protested. The rain pelted me directly in the face. It was one of those runs where you constantly ask yourself – why on earth do I even do this? Drenched, walking through the kitchen door, I asked my wife, “what was I thinking?” Her reply, “I have no idea!”  Even the dog knew better! When I opened the back door she took one look, glanced up at me as if to say, “you have to be crazy,” turned around and walked back in. It was a morning!

Final Thoughts

I’m smiling as I write this. It’s stuff like this that makes us runners. I’m glad I did it and I’d do it all over again. Probably will. Noooo, I know I will. I feel good. In the end, after the shower – the body appreciates it and the whining helps. I feel like the schedule is back on track. I’ll do the long run this weekend and be back out there Tuesday. Rain, snow, cold, heat, wind, hills, fun routes, lousy routes they’re all part of a runner’s life. Some we love and others – not so much. They come with the territory. Only a runner understands.

Get out there. Build endurance. Condition the legs. April is coming. Race Day is 90 Days from today (Saturday).

Run On!

Scott Miller, -rd
Garden Spot Village Marathon | Half Marathon | Kids Marathon

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