The week that was......not......much fun

My knees really were bothering me this week.  Not comfortable running, walking, sitting or even lying down at times.  Whether it is because of overtraining, getting older, years of hard labor (used to be a landscaper) or a combination of them all catching up I don't know.  The mind was not in gear either.  The weather sucked, or blew, or both. 

Ogden marathon is next Saturday so that got me out to run, but when out running I was in discomfort with the knees and most days the weather.  I thought I recovered okay from the Greenland Trail 25K last weekend, so ran an easy 4 on Monday.  Tuesday did 10 miles, then 8 on Wednesday in miserable weather.  That was the day the knees hurt the most.  I took Thursday off - needed to rest the legs and the mind.  That seemed to help.  12 miles on Friday was okay, mixing around 2 mile sections at varying paces. 

Woke up Saturday and could barely move.  Soccer game in Denver that morning - yet another loss although the girls played better against a team that should have crushed them.  Then a drive back through town up to Woodland Park and back.  The Donut Mill looked enticing - didn't stop.  Got home and did 6 miles in the rain, sleet, freezing drizzle around home at a slug pace as the day involved too much sitting, standing around and driving 100 miles or so. 

Had a good sleep last night, today I wanted to do a Marathon simulation sort of.  But that would have involved waking up at 4:15 am.  Didn't set an alarm, so I slept, needed it.  Did 12 miles, 2 mile warm up then 8 miles at 8 min pace, 2 miles cool down.  Bit of a struggle, wanted to go faster but because I didn't I think it was good for the knees.  Then the knees felt okay this afternoon at the last Soccer game of this season.  A 1-1 tie with my big girl scoring the team's goal.   They never won a game all year, never really came close, so to see the smiles and happiness on the girls, as well as us parents - was great.  Ice cream reward was replaced by Hot Chocolate as it was less than 40 degrees.

So now, just a few days before the marathon, hopefully this week the knees improve so I can achieve something in Ogden - more on that in the next few days.