My husband and I are referring to last week as "the week that evaporated." Honestly, it felt like last week was over in the blink of an eye and it was all because we were ALL SICK. Like icky-yucky-pukey-poopy sick. It started with Jack, moved to Mark then his Sophia and I on Tuesday. I've done so many loads of sheets and pillows and couch slipcovers that I can't even bring myself to do regular laundry. But somehow...and I'm not entirely sure how I manged to increase my mileage and have a STRONG run. The first strong run I've had a in a long, long time. Here's how the week went:

Monday: Jillian DVD (Then I spent the rest of the day deep cleaning and organizing the house. So, you know, we could all get sick in a super clean house.)

Tuesday: 8.22 Miles outside at puke pace (puke pace in this instance was NOT fast). I woke up felt fine. Took a sip of water. Sat down to put my shoes on stood up and felt queasy. I decided that I may as well try to run, I could always cut it short. Plus training has been sidetracked by so many other things that I was stubbornly going to get this run done gosh-darn-it. Puke pace ended up being a 9:00/mi. At times I felt OK and at others I wish I'd never left the house. I got home and promptly curled up in a ball, slept, threw up, spiked a fever, slept some more, puked some more and woke up Wednesday feeling better.

Wednesday: REST Spent most of the day re-hydrating and trying to eat. But had very little appetite and queasy feeling was still there.

Thursday: 8 mi on treadmill. Easy pace for first four (stomach was still feeling sloshy) then 3 min hard, 2 min easy for last four.

Friday: 10 miles on treadmill. I read recently a commentary on attitude. That the best athletes are able to look at a bad-streak and not feel defeated or disappointed, but instead feel encouraged because they know they are due for a great performance. I feel like I've been slogging through a lot of runs (maybe that's the cold, maybe it's the treadmill...or maybe it's my attitude). I've been discouraged by setbacks in weekly mileage, by sickness and tight muscles. But that streak of "bad training" meant I was due for a good strong run. I was able to pull that off on the treadmill on Friday. I'd planned to rest Friday, but moved Wednesday's workout because of being sick. I ran a four mile warm up. Then ran four miles alternating between 3min hard and 2 min easy. I was able to really push the pace on the hard, faster than I have before all while the incline was at .5%-1%. I then ran 1 mile alternating 1 min hard and 1min easy. Then finished off with a two mile cool down to complete ten miles on the treadmill. Friday finished off with a 75 min Barre class. I was definitely tired, but the stretching was exactly what I needed after the long treadmill run.

Saturday: 1 mile. Had planned to run my long run on Saturday. I went a half mile out stopped and came back. For a number of reasons (mostly related to family) I decided Sunday was a better day for it and I'm glad I did. It was 30 degrees warmer on Sunday than it was Saturday.

Sunday: 19.32 miles. We were in Maine for the weekend and I had the chance to run along the beach for much of my run. I ran 9 miles solo and they went by super fast, then was joined by a friend for the second half. Miles 14 and 17 felt difficult, I was tired and ready to be done. But finished strong. For the most part my paces were super steady: each mile within a 3-5 second range.

Weekly total: 46.55

It's a week I feel like I can build on. I felt really strong later in the week and ready to push this week.

I opted not to go to the USSA Snowshoe National Championships. I know that it was the right decision for my family, but after seeing some race pictures I do feel a little pang of regret (even if I do qualify again, who knows when the next championships will be within driving distance). Although when I think about what it would have taken to get there it would have felt very chaotic for my family, instead we had a very peaceful weekend in Maine. And that was the better choice.