Back. Sadly back. I spent two weeks in my favorite place in the world (Maine!); one week of vacation, one week of remote work. I got to spend some good time with my family but I also stuck with my training schedule about 80% of the time.
I got up mornings to run between 8-17 miles. I stuck with my eat then run routine but my body is so adapted to a certain cycle that it actually was 1.) eat bagel + drink diet mt. dew , 2.) sit in bathroom for an hour and a half waiting for my body to get all it's pee needs met so that I don't have to beg bathroom usage along the route, 3.) go outside and stretch, and 4.) run. The reason for hiding in the bathroom is that while I was getting up at 5-6, everyone else was not. I needed to avoid annoying everyone and since I didn't hear any complaints I considered it a success.
The routes I ran were pretty fun. If I ran to the right I would go about two miles out and run into a beautiful view of the sea. If I went to the left I go to run a mile and get to the pier and see the carnival rides! I've been going on vacation to the same town for 32 years and I still got to see new things by being on my feet vs in the car.
Breakfast was supplied at the main house for our group but I missed it most of the time because of my timing. I did get to eat the favorite meal of french toast twice, but I did miss out on some conversations by missing out on breakfast.
I got to spend a lot of time resting on the beach. That was definitely a good thing. The bad thing was that even with that rest I still felt exhausted a lot of the time which lead to missing out on some of games in the late evenings. That exhaustion got worse the second week when I was running/working/playing at night.
I look back at the vacation and don't regret the time spent training. I expect next year to be on a less rigorous schedule and be more relaxed about when I would run. I also got to do some runs with my cousins which was really fun. I just wish I wasn't so different in my schedule than the others were.
With the above said I am becoming increasingly concerned with overtraining. I don't think I'm there - yet. My main problem is the exhaustion. I also am concerned that I might not be eating enough for how much I am training. I find myself fighting against my body on long run days when I get really hungry. I get hunger pains and sometimes resist eating which makes no sense. I got so hungry yesterday that nothing appealed and I didn't eat. Bad.
I feel good about how well I am doing with my training after 7 weeks. As I enter week 8 I'll be back to the strength training that I missed while I was away, will look at scheduling another massage, and will be rotating in new running shoes. As always I will be watching myself to not overdo it but at the same time challenge myself. Balance!
