paying for it

i'm dragging this morning. dragging and sore. i've been commenting on other folks blogs about how 6 hours vs. 8 hours of sleep will result in 50% less effective immune system, and add on distance training to that and you're talking a fragile immune system.

okay, mr. kettle, this is mr. pot. you're black.

monday, tuesday and now wednesday night have netted me only 6 hours of sleep a night. add on some really hard running and i'm completely pooped. there's still a hint of energy like yesterday morning, but it's draining quickly.

i had a really strong hit out yesterday with my 10 miler at lunch. usually, i can expect to be wiped out and have a hard time staying focused after that kind of mileage at lunch, but i was ON FIRE yesterday afternoon. got tons done at work and felt pretty good.

the legs, though, beat up. that fast five miler on tuesday and then another fast 10 yesterday have them feeling like doodie. i ran back bay, up san diego creek, past the university and along the 405 freeway for an out-and-back course. wind was good, weather was good, but pace was too fast. i honestly felt like i was holding back at 7:45, but ever so slowly, the pace started creeping down into the 7:30's and was in the 7:15's by the time i finished. it felt wonderful at the time and i finished up with a 1:15:41, so a 7:34 pace.

one thing i noticed, was the different feeling in my legs late in the run. i take fluids and gu with me on anything 10 miles or greater. for runs of this distance, i'll have cytomax, about 3oz every mile (two mouthfuls) and a gu about every 45 minutes. on this run, though, i was out of gu and figured my gatorade and honey concoction would be sufficient. while i felt hydrated, i really noticed a different feeling in my legs. not heavy, or leaden, but...um...fatigued? but not really tired. i could have kept going at that pace...i don't know how to describe it.

anyway, i'm going to try an experiment and skip the cytomax on these mid length runs and see if the legs feel the same, and then do some with the cytomax and see if the feeling goes away. there's a claim on the cytomax packaging that says it lessens 'perceived effort' and does muscle buffering type stuff. i'm wondering if what i was feeling was the lack of that type of chemical reaction going on. anyway, we'll see.

today it's 5 miles with 6x30 second strides. i'm taking it easy today and will hopefully be in bed before 10pm tonight. i need at least seven hours tonight. at least.