Feb 1-5: Squeezing in Runs - p

This week was crazy work-wise.  The go-live of a big, year-long project was on Feb 1.  Monday and Tuesday of that week had reasonable hours, as we were just making final preparations.  I didn't sleep well the night before.  Praise be to God, the project went well.  Sometimes, something is so massive and complex, with so many things that could potentially go wrong no matter how much time and effort into it, and when it goes about as well as you can expect, it makes you know that it was all God. 

The next 3 days, I worked 13-14.5 hrs/day and slept 5 hrs per night on average. 

FIT:
Wednesdy night, I did a strength session.

Thursday night, it had been 3 days of no running, so immediately after having dinner at 8pm after I got home, I squeezed in a 3.1 mi run.  I was tired, and at one point, I was actually jolted awake by the sensation of being pulled excessively back by the treadmill.  No falls.  Running right after dinner, plus the fatigue of long workdays and little sleep made the run VERY difficult.  3.1 miles took what felt like forever...  I remember one point where running a mere 0.03 miles seemed to take a long time as I watched the distance meter.  Eventually, I finished the long 3.1 run.  It was difficult, and I was breathing hard.  I was going at 8:15 pace.

Friday night, I was tired and knew that I'd be trying to squeeze in two ~8mi runs on Saturday and Sunday to try to at least partially hit this week's planned runs of 8, 8, and 7 mi.  So I just rested.  For the first time in like a week, I didn't dream about work that night.  Working long hours and then going home to sleep only to dream about work the whole time made for what felt like 24/7 of working.

Saturday, I went on a run in the cloudy and chilly morning.  I started slowly, but it got easier.  I felt like I needed a mini-Clif Bar at mile 4.5, so I had it.  I ended up eating a lot over the weekend, maybe making up for the workweek where I didn't drink or eat or have time to go to the restroom very much.  It was busy.  I didn't have much fruits or veg, either.  I didhave restaurant food, though, which I usually only eat if it's through work.  I was at the park, on grass, and the distance wasn't that hard to cover.  Splits> 6:51, 31, 21, 21, 18x2, 24, 13, 06x2, 02, 01.  These are ~0.75 mi splits, taken at each lap around the park.  8.9 in 1:15:37, 8:30ave.  I went to Saturday night church, which I've really been liking.  Unlike on Sundays where I think about lunch for much of the sermon and about getting on with the rest of my day (major distractions), on Saturday, I can focus much more, and I feel like I wish that the worship time at the end could keep going and not stop.

Sunday, I didn't know if I'd run in the morning, afternoon, or vening.  In the morning, it was slightly raining, maybe, so I figured I'd wait til the afternoon, since it was supposed to be cloudy, which I wanted, to avoid sunlight.  But it got sunny, so I waited until the evening to run.  I thought it might be harder today than it was yesterday because my body would still be recovering, but today felt easier.  I again was hungry during the run despite having first dinner like an hour before, so I had a mini-Clif bar at mile 4.5 again.  It was in the low 60s, but there was some wind, so it wasn't too hot.  I did 8.2 in 1:09:14, 8:27 ave.  It was getting kind of dark, and my legs were starting to get a bit iffy, so I didn't do another lap around the park to match yesterday's distance.  Splits> 6:29, 25, 26, 26, 21, 18, 23, 12, 10, 01, 5:57.  Thirsty afterwards.