SLACKING OFF AND VOLUNTEERING

I don't always volunteer at races, but when I
do, I take selfies that make it look like I have
poofy 80's bangs.

Well, my step back week ended up being a little more of a break than expected, but that's okay. I had my trail run on Monday and group run on Wednesday. I was planning on running Thursday but it was cold and raining and I just couldn't bring myself to do it. So then I planned to run on Friday, but after a long week at work the last thing I wanted to do was run (plus it was still cold and threatening rain). So I chickened out. However, I don't really care. I still got in 21 miles for the week and it was a step back week anyways.

If I were training for a marathon, I would have gotten my butt out there. For now though, I'm still in somewhat of a "break" period (just need to make sure I am in half shape for Indy) so I'm more flexible with when I run. I used to run only three days a week until I started training for my first marathon, when I bumped it up to four. I'd like to keep it at four, but from time to time three isn't the end of the world. One of those three was a trail run that really worked my legs in new ways, so who knows, the week might have been just as effective.

Saturday I volunteered at the Soles2Souls 5k/10k in Beaverton. This is the 5k I won last year (the date moved up two months). I was going to run the 10k this year, but put off signing up because of the way I was feeling earlier in the year. So I was about to sign up last week but kept seeing that they were desperate for volunteers. I decided to help out instead of struggle through a 10k and be reminded how much slower I've gotten.

I ended up providing course direction about 1.25 miles into the course. It was a lot of fun! Volunteering for races is always fun, you get to encourage the participants and feel a part of the race without actually having to run it (ha). I must have said "good job!" and "way to go, keep it up!" about 50 million times. The 10k was the 5k loop twice, so it was fun to see those people again and joke with them about how much more scenic the second lap was going to be. Anyways, people must have seen the winning times from last year because this year the field was much more competitive. I had zero chance of placing in the top 3 of either race, so I was happy to just be volunteering!

My long run was on Sunday this weekend so I was nice and rested for it. I planned to do ten, as part of my step back week, before shooting for a half marathon distance next Sunday. Happy to report it went really well. Averaged 9:09/mile and felt great the whole time. I am happy to report ten is now again "no big deal" which wasn't the case when I first came back from the overtraining episode. Did another big squiggly circle loop from my house and incorporated some new territory to mix things up. It all went really well and I'm feeling positive where I am running shape wise. I'm nowhere near as fast as I once was, but I feel back to my normal self.