Theme of the week: I accept a job offer and I keep running.

Runs (and swims and strength training):

Sunday, October 3 –Run/Swim/Strength training

Run: 7 miles.  10:16 per mile.  Strides: 164 per min.  Heart rate: 130 bpm.  Temps: 60s°F, overcast.  9:52 am.

This was an easy paced, flat (212 ft. gain) run.  My heart rate is still in recovery mode, two days after Friday’s long run.  It is “not normal” for me to require two days to recover (except for very long runs, like 18 miles or so).  My weight is back up 3-4 pounds, but I’ve been eating a lot of soup, which apparently makes me hold on to more fluids (my body is very sensitive to dietary electrolytes/salt).

My heart rate barely got above 130 bpm this whole run (easy runs I target around 130-135 bpm for “very easy”, sub-130 = recovery mode).  I’m feeling much less anxiety about a potential new job now, which is definitely helping with my running.  I’m listening to books about witches now on my runs, fun!

Swim: 1:02 pm.  52 minutes.  40 laps/2,000 yards.

100 yards each breast, free, back, 50 breast kick, 100 free, back, 50 free kick, 100 breast, back, 50 back kick, 100 free, back, 50 free, back 100 elementary back.

I finally got back in the pool.  I planned to take it very easy and set a low bar for myself of at least 30 minutes, but I bumped it up to 40 laps.  My right shoulder (not the frozen one) was sore, especially with freestyle, on this swim.  I reduced the normal amount of free.  The pool was quiet today, and I had a nice, clean lane all to myself.  Good effort.

Strength training: 2:10 pm. 56 minutes.

I finally got back in the gym lifting weights, after almost an entire month off.  I reduced the amount of weight and number of reps for most things today (and skipped goblet squats in the power pitt).  I did most of my normal gym routine though, which comprises machines, a little benchwork, a lot of lifting weights with my arms in different ways, and a few squats and lunges.  I’m not feeling sore yet, and I didn’t feel like I was working hard during this session.

5 hours later and I was feeling super tired.  I haven’t tried to do this much in one day in a while, and I am feeling drained.

Monday, October 4 – Run

Run: 7 miles.  10:33 per mile.  Strides: 162 per min.  Heart rate: 130 bpm.  Temps: 60s°F, overcast, buggy.  9:59 am.

This was an easy paced, hilly (384 ft. gain) run.  I woke up with severe DOMS from yesterday’s strength training – I would have been more surprised if I didn’t have DOMS after a month off of any strength work.  I took 2 ibuprofen before this run, but it did not help (at least not during the first 5 miles).  Lateral pectoral muscles and lateral glutes were sore for most of the run.  Glute DOMS and heart rate in the recovery zone probably kept my pace a little slower today.

My heart rate was very low for these paces (again, probably due to what I did yesterday and not a massive overnight cardiovascular improvement), which made my watch predict a VO2 Max of 47 for the first time ever in the history of having a TomTom watch (August 2016 until now).  My VO2 Max (predicted values) has gone way up in the last few years.  Fixing the hypothyroidism and anemia has led to massive VO2 Max improvements for me.  I’m probably running faster now because I’m healthy, which is a fantastic feeling.

Tuesday, October 5 – Run

Run: 7 miles.  10:18 per mile.  Strides: 164 per min.  Heart rate: 138 bpm.  Temps: 60s°F, foggy/sunny.  10:30 am.

This was an easy paced, flat (151 ft. gain) run.  DOMS was much worse today than yesterday.  I took 2 ibuprofen about 2 hours before this run, but it did not help, especially not for my right glute.  The first mile was rough (and by rough, I mean painful).  At 3.3 miles in, I noticed I was still experiencing pain with every step, but I started pushing a little harder and it felt really good, and I negative split this run.  I felt much better by the time I finished than the start, which is all I could ask for in a recovery run.

Wednesday, October 6 – Run/Strength training

Run: 7.6 miles.  10:07 per mile.  Strides:  164 per min.  Heart rate: 144 bpm.  Temps: 60s°F, sunny.  10:31 am.

This was an easy paced, hilly (407 ft. gain) run.  I still had some mild DOMS, but I didn’t take ibuprofen and didn’t feel too bad today.  This was a pretty good pace for me for such a hilly run today.  I’m feeling much better on my runs lately.

I’m running so much faster than I was in August at this heart rate.  It feels good to see an improvement in such a short time frame.

Strength training: 1:45 pm.  72 minutes.

I brought my mom to the gym today on a guest pass.  I took her through some of my normal strength training with the machines and free weights.  This was an easy effort, since there was a lot more standing around than I’d normally do at the gym, but it was still a pretty good workout.  Hopefully I won’t be sore tomorrow.

Thursday, October 7 – Run/Swim

 Run: 8.6 miles.  10:21 per mile.  Strides:  165per min.  Heart rate: 142 bpm.  Temps: 60s°F, overcast, drizzly at the end.  10:06 am. 

This was an easy paced, flat (202 ft. gain) run.  It started out very humid, and towards the end there was a misty rain.  I listened to the audiobook Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier on this run, which was perfect for the weather and atmosphere today.  I attempted to read this book last year, but it was much better listening while running.  This was a pretty good run.

Swim: 2:55 pm.  59 minutes.  50 laps/2,500 yards.

100 yards each breast, free, back, breast kick, 400 yards free, 100 back, free kick, 400 free, 100 back, back kick, 400 free, 100 back, IM, 25 back, 50 free, 25 back, 100 IM, 100 elementary back.

I went to the pool earlier in the afternoon today because my mom came to the YMCA with me again, this time to do water aerobics while I swam laps.  This swim happened in the middle of afternoon fatigue time, which was “not ideal”.  Once I got going (honestly, probably about 30 minutes into this swim), I started to feel better.  I finished my laps and then did about 10 minutes of aqua jogging and treading water while I waited for my mom to finish class, chat for 5 minutes with people she knows, and then take a shower.

Friday, October 8 – Long Run

Run: 7 miles.  10:36 per mile.  Strides: 162 per min.  Heart rate: 143 bpm.  Temps: 60s-70s°F, humid.  9:55 am.

This was an easy paced, hilly (396 ft. gain) run.  A thunderstorm last night (from sometime around 11 until at least 1:45 am) kept me awake and I did not sleep well.  It’s also that time of year where wet leaves in the street cause breakthrough allergies for me due to mold spores.  I woke up very groggy and felt mostly out of it all day today.  I took a 200 mg caffeine tablet before this run (I don’t recommend!), which definitely made my heart feel like it was racing the entire run, but in no way did the caffeine help conquer the grogginess.

I’m reminding myself that not sleeping well and allergies are both contributing to my tiredness today, and it doesn’t mean I’m backsliding into hypothyroidism.  This run was fine, except I was more groggy than normal, and I chemically elevated my heart rate which maybe wasn’t ideal for this run today.

Saturday, October 9 –  Two runs

Run#1: 3.6 miles.  10:18 per mile.  Strides: 165 per min. Heart rate: 137 bpm.  Temps: 70s°F, sunny, humid.  10:17 am.

This was an easy paced, flat (183 ft. gain) run at the soccer fields before my nephew’s game.  Running after sitting in a car for 40 minutes driving to game felt very different than my normal runs.  My legs felt stiff and heavy.  This run felt much slower than it was.  The run was ok, I guess.

Run#2: 3.6 miles.  10:56 per mile.  Strides: 162 per min. Heart rate: 133 bpm.  Temps: high 70s-low80s°F, sunny.  3:25 pm.

This was an easy paced, flat (102 ft. gain) run.  I like to run 7 miles a day when possible, but this run happened during my daily afternoon fatigue “tired time”, after eating potato chips and cake during a brief visit from my sister (from Illinois).  I’m well aware I cannot eat foods high in fat (like French fries or any fried foods) and go running the next day.  It turns out potato chips and then running also does not agree with my tummy.  I felt so sick this entire run.  The fact that it was up to 80 degrees out and sunny, also not helpful.  It’s October and it’s in the 80s today.

I know I should enjoy the warmth before heading to the frozen tundra that is New England in the winter, but I’m done with running in the heat for this year.  (And by done, I mean I’m sick of it – I will absolutely run in the heat if that’s the only choice I have, but I will not be happy about it.)  I so very much wanted to quit this run, but kept going anyway.  I also forgot to take my 2^nd dose of T3 which I take around noon (I took it after the run).  This felt like a death march of a run, which at 11:00/mile, means my easy run pace has improved leaps and bounds over the last few months.  This run felt awful though.

Running wrap-up

1.)  My mileage is way down this week, and I also did not do a long run.  That’s ok.  (Long run as defined by my own running cannon is 10 miles or longer.  I did two runs of 8 miles or more, so it’s not like I’m not getting some endurance running in, but if I were scheduled to be running a marathon anytime soon, I’d be in trouble.  (I will need to rebuild some running endurance, but I also need to move and start working full time so there are priorities to be worked out before I start building long run mileage back up.  That being said, I’ve frequently done 16-18 mile runs with zero marathons on the schedule, and those are a lot easier to do when it is colder out.)

2.)  I accepted a job offer this Friday.  There are a lot of details to be worked out – such as when I’ll be starting (which is dependent on submitting a supplemental grant which has specific deadlines – the job doesn’t depend on getting this grant, the salary is the same whether I receive the supplemental grant funding or not, it just is helpful if I can bring in additional funding for the lab and would be good for my career and good for the lab).  Finding an apartment, buying a car, moving, changing driver’s license, car insurance, utilities – I’m still mostly in denial, but I have packed up about half my books into 5 boxes now.

I am excited about the new job!

I am less excited and perhaps overwhelmed by the idea of moving, but the anxiety has not been bad so far.  I just found out yesterday that my sister told my nephews I was moving and my 6 year old nephew was upset and said “I don’t want Sarah to move”, so now I’m a little heartbroken.  I’ve been fortunate enough to live close by from the day he was born, held him in the hospital hours after he was born, and I’ve been able to watch him grow into the sweetest little boy.  I’m going to miss a lot of things moving away from Ohio, but not being able to spend so much time with my nephews is the hardest thing I have to give up. I just took my 2 year old nephew on a stroller run and to the playground yesterday, and held his hand walking down the stairs together, which he said “marching” while we were doing it.  It breaks my heart he probably won’t remember all the time we’ve spent together. 

3.)  My weight is still down.  It looks like some of the anxiety weight loss is going to be permanent.  I don’t have any profound thoughts about my weight right now.  I’m continuing to eat normal amounts, and now that I’m back to swimming and strength training, my appetite seems like it is back to normal.

4.)  1-3 were kind of depressing so here is one benefit of moving – new running routes.  I frequently feel trapped by my local routes – I should at least be able to find new routes close to where I will be working (in an urban environment) and where I will be living, if that is not close to the where I’m working.  I’m also going to be “near” a coast of some sort, so there may be opportunity to run next to water.  I haven’t looked for apartments yet because that stresses me the heck out, but I have already looked up what to do if I encounter a black bear (slowly back away, make noise, make myself appear as large as possible, and fight back if attacked – grizzly is very different, but as far as I know, there are no grizzlies in Connecticut).  Somehow, I did not know this living in a rural area of Vermont where bears were often seen, but never by me.

Am I avoiding very stressful topics (looking for an apartment) by looking up bear encounter information?  Probably.  We don’t have any bear where I am now, so it is important to know what to do if I ever encounter one in Connecticut.

Total walking + running miles this week (October 3 – October 9): 62.88 miles (down 2.95 miles from last week)

Total walking + running miles this year (2021): 2,786.42 miles

Total steps this week (October 3 – October 9): 113,380 steps (down 4,790 from last week)

Total steps this year (2021): 5,311,420 steps

Average steps per day (October 3 – October 9):  16,197 steps (down 684 from last week)

Average steps per day (2021): 18,835 steps

Total running miles this week (October 3 – October 9): 53.13 miles (down 2.02 from last week)

Average running mileage per week (2021): 56.70 miles

Total running miles this year (2021): 2,284.4 miles

Average running speed this week (not including hill repeats) (October 3 – October 9):  10:24/mile.  (4 seconds faster per mile than last week)

Average running speed this year (2021): 11:27 per mile

Average running heart rate this week (October 3 – October 9): 138 bpm (down 3 bpm from last week)

Average running heart rate this year (2021): 138 bpm

Average resting heart rate this week (October 3 – October 9): 54 bpm (down 1 bpm from last week)

Average resting heart rate this year (2021): 57 bpm

Elevation gain this week (October 3 – October 9): 2,038 ft. (down 291 ft. from last week).

Elevation gain this year (2021):  104,099 ft.

Average elevation gain per week (2021): 2,584 ft.

Swimming distance this week (October 3 – October 9): 90 laps/4,500 yards/2.56 miles

Average swimming pace this week (October 3 – October 9): 1:14/50 yards or 2:28/100 yards

Current thyroid medication: 137.5 mcg/day levothyroxine + 5 mcg x 2 times a day liothyronine. Started on Aug. 11, 2020.

Weight, weight fluctuate

Weight: 159.1 lb (up 0.6 lb from last week).

Weight January 1, 2021: 163.3 lb

Weight change since Jan 1, 2021: -4.2 lb

Previous week:  September 26 – October 2, 2021

Next week:  October 10 – October 16, 2021