….aka shoot me in the shin. Just kidding, kind of.

This week was a major uphill battle for me. I think part of it was having such an easy adjustment back to New York after Costa Rica. I hopped right back into training and felt great, cruised right along at work and stayed super busy, and didn’t feel a tinge of sadness that I was no longer hanging out in a hammock devouring a book.

This week I was tired and a little overwhelmed. And it’s hard to get yourself out of a negative mindset once you step foot inside — one bad run turned to another bad run, to another and another…Luckily, I read this awesome post by Lauren titled The Uphill Climb, where I was reminded that marathon training isn’t always easy (oh…right) and that even in the beginning when the mileage isn’t crazy hard, training can be a challenge. 

And she’s right.

Monday: Optional rest or yoga
I was so happy to hop back on the yoga train, and this class felt great. I honestly can’t stress enough how much yoga has helped me as a runner; it has saved my hamstrings and my hips, and I’m way more flexible than I used to be. It also helps with the mental parts of running as I try to stay all #zen during my long runs.

Tuesday: 5 miles, core 
I busted this out on the treadmill. I try to stay off machines as much as possible, but I also know when I need to skip the 6am alarm clock and save my workout for the gym later in the day. I’m just counting down the days to when it’s light and warm enough out to run at night. Is daylight savings time tomorrow? 

Wednesday: 1 mile, failed run
This is when everything fell apart. I was running in the morning and noticed it was a bit icy. I literally told myself “wouldn’t that suck if I slipped and fell?” and about a block later… I did. I cut up my chin, knee, hip, ankle, and wrists, and also somehow managed to land in dog shit. (I wish I was kidding.) I walked the mile home and almost froze seeing as I hadn’t really warmed up yet, and realized I was getting weird stares because there was blood all over my face. Sexy. I spent an hour waiting for my knee and chin to stop bleeding (they finally did) and for my throbbing shoulder to swell up (it thankfully didn’t). I’m still a bit sore, but I was more so shaken up from losing complete control over myself. To top it off, later that day an ATM ate my twenty dollars and I managed to flush my favorite ring down the toilet. I hate you, Wednesday. 

Thursday: 8 miles, 6 x 100
This was supposed to be my redemption run, and it was everything but. I ran to Queens and felt good for the first four miles, but then something clicked and I just felt exhausted. I stopped after six miles and sat myself on the side of the road, on the verge of breaking down. After a minute I got my act together and made it to the track. I was supposed to do 300’s, but my head wasn’t in it, so I did quick sprints instead.

Friday: 5 miles, strength
This was another go at the treadmill. I was contemplating doing my weekend long run on the tred because of Nemo, so I wanted to get “used” to running on the machine. Weeelp, considering I barely got through those five miles, I knew it’d be near impossible to every stay on it for much more than an hour. Kudos to those friends of mine I see busting out 20-miles on the treadmill. That takes willpower.

Saturday: Rest
My plan prescribed three miles, strides, and some strength, but I knew my body needed rest. Also, there was that whole blizzard thing happening. And..I was out till 3am the night before being all young and in my twenties. 

Sunday: 17 miles
Holy shit this run. I stayed in the night before (marathon sacrifices…) but had a lovely evening with a crossword puzzle, wine, and my little old notebook. I got up at 9am but it took me till nearly 11 to get out the door. I had no idea what the road conditions were like, and decided I would make it to Central Park as fast as I could since I heard the paths were clear.

The first half of this run was seriously a joke. Brooklyn did this evil thing where every other block was shoveled, so I felt like I was doing an insane fartlek of “20 seconds fast, 20 seconds…walk.” There was ice everywhere, and now since I’m a paranoid fool, I kept my head down and stopped every time I saw a little piece of slush. I was doing my normal route from BK to Queens, Queens to Central Park, but decided to take a different street in Long Island City that looked a bit more clear. Long story short, I got incredibly lost and I have no idea how, and took a 3-mile detour to find the Queensborough Bridge. Once I got there, I was greeted with a huge sheet of ice. Nightmare. I pretty much walked the whole bridge (about a mile, I think?) and by the time I made it to Central Park, I considered just calling it a day. Then, I realized how stupid that was, giving I just spent well over an hour trying to get to Manhattan in one piece, and now I had clear pavement to run on and a pretty park to stare at! I gave the run another go,  and ended up finishing on a positive note (about  damn time). I was supposed to do 16 miles, but I reset my Garmin twice (once on accident, once on purpose) and apparently 5 miles + 4 miles + 8 miles = 17, not 16. Math is hard.

And now I’m going to lay in pigeon pose for the rest of the day to try to save my hips while wearing the 2012 NYC Marathon shirt I apparently paid $250 for..

Heeeere’s to getting through the week in one piece!