Life of a College Runner: The Big Weeks
Hello dear readers! I’m back from Florida and I have quite a few stories to tell. So settle in because I’m planning on telling as many as I can without having this be too long.
First of all, vacation was wonderful. Florida was absolutely beautiful and it felt so nice to have two weeks of nothing to do but read, swim, and run. I had to adjust my training a bit because of the climate there. On my first morning run, I could hardly breathe! It was so humid. In the afternoons it wasn’t as humid but it was way hotter. So there really was no good option for me. I decided to split up most of my runs so that I was doing doubles every day. I would often run 5 miles in the morning and 2 or 3 at night, or vice versa. I tend to run better at night so I would sometimes save my longer runs for nighttime.
Running was tough. I wasn’t used to the humidity and so my times were a lot slower than what I was used to. I felt disheartened, like my training thus far was all for naught. I had to keep telling myself that it would get better and that my training will make a difference in the long run (haha running pun).
But I also had a lot of adventures while on said runs. One night my mom, dad, and I tried to outrun a storm. We got about a mile away before we saw a huge bolt of lightning and heard thunder that shook the ground, and we sprinted back home. We had to wait out the storm and run the rest afterwards. But after that storm passed, I had the best run on vacation. I felt like I could fly. For just a few miles, I felt my inner demons let go of the reins and I just soared down the path! It felt amazing. The sunset that night was also gorgeous. The sky was all done up in purples and pinks with some golden hues leaking around the edges of the clouds. I love nights like that.
So we were staying on Gasparilla Island, and the island has a bike path that stretches almost the entire island, about 7 miles of it. From my house there was about 2 miles of it to the left and 5 to the right, though I didn’t run the whole thing. To the left it led to a pier where people would fish. I ran out there one night with my mom, and when we got to the end of the pier we saw some dolphins bopping up out of the water, so we stopped to take some pictures. I actually got to see the dolphins one other time on my own, which was pretty cool. On one of my long runs, I got to see some armadillos as well. It’s always fun to run in new places. They also usually had sprinklers on Main Street, so I would run through them in the mornings. People walking by would kind of give me an odd look, but I didn’t mind because it was hot!
So that was Florida. I had to run on a treadmill a couple of times for the nights we stayed at a hotel on our way home, but that was okay. Now I’m back at home and it’s far less humid. My first run back on Monday morning felt so good. I could breathe!! And speaking of…
Monday
I ran 3 miles in the morning with my mom. We ran the 2 mile loop around town one and a half times. I did a lot of leg and core work over vacation with my extra time, so I felt pretty sore. But it’s a good kind of sore. I ran without a watch this morning because I forgot to charge it, but our time was around 24 minutes I think.
At night we went to the trail at Garrison and ran 5 miles. My mom and my sister walked the dogs while I ran. We missed the dogs quite a bit on vacation and my mom and sister were especially excited to spend time with them. My right quad actually started to hurt quite a bit, so I slowed down a little. It felt like I was running on a cloud for the most part. And — surprisingly — I found myself using my arms a lot more than I usually do, which is good. I wanted to work on my form this summer and I can feel it starting to get better (or maybe tonight was just a fluke). I did have to roll out my quad after the run, which did not feel good at all. But my time tonight was 40:06, 7:58 per mile. It was a lot faster than my runs down in Florida.
Tuesday
I ran in the morning because I had to work in the afternoon. I did 7 miles out on gravel, and I did pretty well, considering it was pretty hilly and I haven’t done hills for two weeks, and it was a morning run. It didn’t feel too bad, even with the hills. I kind of had to get creative with my route and ended up doing a couple of out and backs. My time was just over an hour, 8:35 per mile, which is kind of slow, but I’m not stressing it. My quad didn’t hurt until the last mile or so. Bailey (my sister) felt a knot in my leg last night after I was screaming in pain from trying to roll it out.
Wednesday
I took today off. My leg still hurt a bit, especially after all my rushing around at work last night. I got home late and knew I wouldn’t be able to wake up and double. I decided to call this entry “The Big Weeks” because there are only 4 and a half weeks left until move-in. It’s crunch time!! I’ve done so well with summer training so far, and I want to be in the best shape possible for the start of preseason. The other reason I called it that is because this week and next week are my 50 mile weeks, the most I’ll be running all summer. I haven’t had a 50 mile week since the end of March, so it’s kind of a big deal for me.
Also, I’m not going to lie here. I am not perfect, and I did miss quite a few miles this summer. I’ve missed 17 miles total out of the 8 weeks of training I’ve done so far. But I have done significantly better than last summer. I found my training plan from last summer and my running log, and I totaled up my mileage. I was 80 miles short last summer. 80 miles!! I had done really well up until July, which is when my training fell apart. I took a couple of days off and just wasn’t mentally tough. When I’m at home, I usually get discouraged about how I’m doing because I never think I’m doing enough. But this summer I resolved to change that. And I think (not wanting to speak too soon here) that I’ve done a good job of it.
Thursday
I felt much better after taking yesterday off. My legs feel good and back to normal. I actually felt really weird this morning because it felt like I had skipped a run. I ran a workout tonight, and it was back to one minute easy one minute hard repeats for 7 miles. I ended up doing about 3.5 miles of the workout after a warm-up mile. Then I ran the last 2 miles as a cool-down. I don’t feel too bad about it because I know I ran hard and that was the best I could do today. My time tonight was 56:48, 8:07 per mile.
Friday
I ran about 3.5 in the morning and did leg circuit three times afterward. I’ve gotten into the habit of doing leg circuit at least twice a week, as well as bands twice a week. Core is not the same because I haven’t really started a routine yet. I’ve done it a few times but not as much as I should. I also started doing some push-ups every day, however, because I want to get stronger (and better at push-ups). My time was around 28 minutes because of the extra half mile. I want to make up for the mile I missed on Monday.
Tonight I ran 6. I like getting back into doubles. They were one thing I really liked about this spring. Waking up and running is a great way for me to start the day; it makes me feel productive, more awake, and it shakes my legs out for the afternoon. The 6 miles tonight felt pretty okay. It was kind of strange because at around the 4 mile mark, I felt kind of dizzy and felt that way for the rest of the run. I realized towards the end that I probably didn’t eat enough today. That was my mistake. I really need to take better care of myself. I also almost fell asleep in the car on the way home, which was odd. Usually after runs I feel tired but alert.
Saturday
I think something might be wrong. I only went 7 miles today because at around the 3.5 mile mark I felt dizzy again and turned around. I also was breathing heavier than usual. My watch died about 5 miles in, so I don’t know exactly my time, but it was around 55 or 56 minutes. After the run, instead of stretching or walking around, I just sat down. I almost fell asleep in the car again (don’t worry, I wasn’t driving). My mom had me eat food as soon as I got home. I’m not sure if it’s because it was a morning run and I didn’t eat a lot beforehand or if it’s something else.
Sunday
So… the long run didn’t go as planned today. I only did 8 miles this morning instead of 10, and I’ll tell you why. I found it harder to breathe and started feeling dizzy at around 3 miles again. Luckily, my mom and dad were nearby, and they had me go another mile with them and turn around. My mom thinks I have an iron deficiency, which I suppose would explain why I feel so tired all the time and why running feels more difficult. She had me take iron yesterday after the run, and again today once we got home. I was a lot slower than I wanted to be. My time was 1:12:22, 8:50 per mile.
I feel like all I’ve done this summer is getting erased. I know that’s probably not true but when I’m hit with a barrier like this, I can’t help but think the worst. Maybe it wasn’t just the humidity that made running difficult on vacation. Maybe I do actually have an iron deficiency. I know that a lot of runners, especially female runners, have problems with iron levels. And I know that there is an easy fix. But I can’t help but feel like I’ve done something wrong and that this is going to impede my progress this summer.
I had to work until 8:30 tonight, but when I got home I changed clothes, laced up my shoes, and went on another run with my mom. I was absolutely determined to run 50 miles this week so that’s what I did. I ran anther 2 miles to make up for the ones I didn’t do this morning, and then I ran another mile for the one I missed yesterday morning. So 50 miles! Yay!! Now I just have to do it again next week!
This week was not entirely good but it wasn’t all bad either. I feel like that’s how it goes for a lot of weeks. This was a lot longer than I intended for it to be, but all I’m doing is sharing my story. I hope you’ve enjoyed it and that you’ll stick around for next week!
Thanks for reading!
— Morgan
