Tapering. Yes.
34.8 miles this week. After the last several weeks of 50+ miles, this week was a piece of cake, at least when it came to the legs.
As for the rest, it was in like a lamb and out like a lion (Yes, I know it’s usually the other way around). Sometimes, I’m fine. Sometimes, I feel like a walking nerve ending. My emotional state has started to vacillate wildly from “I LOVE YOU MAN” to wanting to light things on fire–both literally and figuratively. I don’t trust my reactions to even the most basic of things–the calibration is off and I’m over-reacting to things sometimes in major ways. But these responses don’t always register as overreactions at the time. I know that I don’t usually get moved almost to tears while listening to Sibelius 2. Or the Marriage of Figaro. I don’t even like Mozart. I don’t usually ugly-cry while watching sports on TV, even marathons.
I’m also not sleeping well. I wake after a couple hours and can’t fall back asleep for a long time, and when I finally do, it’s not restful sleep. I’m tossing and turning a lot. On the upside, my sleep patterns have been erratic for the better part of the last year, so I know I function. But it doesn’t help with my emotional fugue-state this week.
But my runs, if short, were solid. The easy runs were 4 or 5 miles. I had one strength workout that consisted of two miles to warm-up, then 2 at MP-10, 1 recovery, 2 more at MP-10, and 2 to cool down. Felt really good. And then the last down digit run: 2 warm up, 8 at MP (8:23), and 2 to cool down. Again, it went well. Two days off this week, and a mere 4 today. I felt good. Even with more days of 90%+ humidity, I felt good.
So mostly now it’s a matter of not falling too behind in my classes and the grading. Also, I need to be careful not to trip over myself and sprain an ankle or cause myself other kinds of random injuries.
[Creative Commons licensed made by Flickr user Eva the Weaver]
