Week 14 was another rough work week. This is probably going to be the theme for the next few weeks until my work project goes live. I have definitely been relying heavily on my Nuun Sport with Caffeine. I am pretty sure I would fall asleep and then fall off the treadmill without it. Also, one of my big downfalls of being extremely tired but needing to stay awake is that I tend to eat to keep awake. I am not sure why, but that’s what I do. Thankfully, the Honey Stinger Chocolate Cracker Bars are filling enough that having that usually tides me over for a while and keeps me from even more idle snacking. Also, thanks to losing a little weight, my wrist is now a little thinner, which means the next band loop for my Apple Watch fits perfect for when I run without me losing circulation. So, as a result, my HR readings have been significantly more accurate.

Monday 2/1

Even though a had a really long day, I was motivated to get in my planned 4.25 endurance run. I did my NTC warm-up since I was feeling ridiculously tight from sitting all day. That seemed to help so I hopped on the treadmill and got in my run. I had to walk an interval towards the end, but overall I completed my run and felt pretty good.

Tuesday 2/2

Today was an even worse day at work. Ended extra late, so I just did a trainer ride instead of my planned 2.5 miles tempo run. I got in a 32 minute ride, but to make sure I got a workout, I did a gradual resistance build, then reduced towards the end. Despite the long day, the ride helped me relieve some stress.

Wednesday 2/3

Nike Run Club called for a rest day. I had hoped to get in a NTC or Apple Fitness+ workout, but I ended work even later, yet again. I didn’t get to workout until almost 10:30pm. I was pretty stressed from the day, so I did a ladder for my trainer ride, where I built up to max resistance. I got in 55 minutes for my ride.

I really need to replace my old tire that I am using on the trainer with a trainer tire. I have been starting to smell the rubber burning when I am riding lately. It is not a pleasant smell. The trainer tire has a much higher heat tolerance from the friction, so it will hold up much better.

Thursday 2/4

NRC called for a 6 x 400 meter speed workout. However, same excuse, got done work late and felt exhausted. I still got in a 30 minute trainer ride and made sure to do a resistance build. I definitely did not build as much as I would have liked though. Overall it was still a good workout.

Friday 2/5

As with all Fridays, I was supposed to do a NTC workout. Lately I have been replacing them with Apple Fitness+ workouts. I did neither; instead I rode again since I got done work really late. I ended up doing a 40 minute trainer ride where I built up the resistance. I have been really enjoying the resistance builds. I am noticing my legs are feeling it a lot more. Also, even though this is a bit embarrassing, I realized my chain was not switching chain rings when I was going to the large ring. So, now I know why I was riding at “max” resistance for so long; I wasn’t. Oh well. I fixed it and wow do I have a ways to go. But, as I mentioned already, my tire is starting to get that burning smell every time I ride. One of these days I’ll take care of that.

Saturday 2/6

Today’s scheduled long run was 8.25 miles. However, I did not run very much this week and wanted to be on the cautious side of things. Therefore I decided I would just run as far as I could while feeling comfortable. I started off with my NTC warm-up as always to loosen up and then got on the treadmill for my run. To my surprise, in a good way, I was about to get around 5.5 miles. I only needed a break half way through where I walked for one of my Galloway intervals. Despite the good news, my heart rate definitely showed a different story. Even though it was consistent, my HR seemed to get to 150 BPM during each run interval. This is almost 10 BPM higher than a normal long run pace for me. But I still felt good overall and stopped before I started having any issues.

Sunday 2/7

Even though the plan was for a rest day today, I wanted get in another run. I started off with my NTC warm-up, and then did some core strength training. For my run, my only goal was to do a short run so I could get in some miles. Not including my warm-up walk, I ran 2 miles. I was very excited to see that my heart rate was in my normal range again. I finished my workout session with an Apple Fitness+ workout, Mindful Cooldown with Molly. It was only 5 minutes, but helped me me get from cooled down to very relaxed. Hopefully work is going to get a little better in the next couple weeks and I’ll be able to have a little more consistency with my workouts.

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