edits to the training plan

The other night I headed out for a run by myself since Mike had planned to run at a different time than me. Normally, I am fine to run around the neighborhood by myself, but I really wanted to go to the trail behind our house, which is kinda dark and a little scary (totally exaggerating but I am a wimp). So, I brought along the next best running partner (and bodyguard), Franklin.

We used to take Franklin running all the time, but lately, he has been getting left behind. Mostly because we haven't been running in our neighborhood, but also because of other factors. We have been running really long distances and I don't feel right exercising him longer than 30 minutes or so.  I get into such a routine of getting home and feeding the dogs right away, so I don't want to take him out for a run right after he eats. It can be dangerous for dogs, and I am a super worrier, so ya know...

Anyway.... this run the other night totally made me realize we have got to get him back out on the leash more often. We rarely take him on the leash since we have a fenced in back yard and you could tell he was very confused by it. He is really good about coming when I call him, but he just did not want anything around his neck and sorta freaked out when it got tight at all. So I think we need to start taking him on regular leashed walks to get him back to where he was a few months ago. Plus, it is good to keep him exercised. He has a ton of energy and is always running around the house harassing Deluca, but last night he came home, drank a ton of water, and passed out hard for the rest of the night.

He loved the trail though, and it was nice to have my little companion with me during my quick 3 mile run. He tried to keep me moving quicker than I wanted to, but I still ended up at a pretty normal pace. The first mile of our run was interrupted by several off leash dogs on the trail... trying to get said dogs back to their owners slowed us down, majorly.

After my run, I realized that I don't really think the training program that I am following is the best for me. I find that after I run a long run, I need at least 2 days to recover from that. Plus, now that I am running 5 miles one day during the week each week, I need more than just a day between that and my long run. I am supposed to do 3 miles on Tuesdays, 5 miles on Wednesday, and 3 miles on Thursdays. Fridays are rest days and then Saturday should be my long run.

This week, I ran 5 miles on Tuesday and 3 miles on Wednesday. I decided not to do my other 3 miles, because my run on Wednesday felt horrible and sluggish, and I just feel like I need an extra rest day before my long run. Mike thinks I should stick with what the training says, but I just don't feel it in me. I feel much better when I have had a solid 2 days of rest before doing these really long runs. Maybe it's a bad idea, but I am trying to listen to what my body is telling me. I may go back to sticking with the plan if my 10 miles tomorrow go badly. I kinda just feel like with as high of miles I am doing, 4-5 days is a lot. Then again, I would think the king of marathons would know what he is talking about.

Well, I am currently munching on some food from a little bridal shower here at work, and the apple butter biscuit needs my full attention. :) Have a good weekend everyone!