When (co)Work(ers) Trump Training

In the times when work days were long, oxygen was sparse, and drinks were plentiful, running got strapped down in the backseat.  Or maybe in the trunk.  Ok honestly it really didn’t make the trip with me at all.

Four days in Salt Lake and I didn’t run a single time.  I thought about it.  Dressed for it a few times.  Set alarms for it.  Complained about not doing it.  But in the end, work and coworkers trumped training.

I don’t talk about work here (sans the brief mention of stick’ing at my desk and wearing sweaty lunch run clothes all afternoon) because frankly it’s boring and probably unprofessional to blast the internet about it.  But there are a few relevant work-related points to make in order for this post to make sense, and to validate me skipping a bunch of training.  So, real quick… :

I worked in the OH office before moving to CA to open the satellite office.  I made lots of friends there.  Sometimes they get to come out and work in our office.  It’s fun.

The day I announced I’d be competing with SR for #1 blogger/fisherwoman title

Sometimes your coworkers turn into bffs and they stay at your place “to save the company money” (slash be allowed to stay a few extra days for playtime) when they visit.

Going on the record to say that all of those things were done after hours and on our own dime. JIC somebody with a sarcasm handicap or the ability to fire me is reading.

And then sometimes, if you’re really lucky, not only do coworkers turn into bffs, but bffs turn into coworkers!

So can you really blame me when I opted for quality girl time with EB & L this weekend rather than suffocating through speedwork on a hotel treadmill in the land of elevation and no air?  Didn’t think so.

I don’t regret it, not a single bit, but knew I’d have some work to do to get my ass back in gear once I came home.  So early Weds AM I woke up and took my fat happy ass to the beach path for some shakeout miles.

Four days, lots of travel, and lots of indulging (in the liquid and snacks form) is enough for your legs to forget how to operate properly.  I’m going on the record to tell you that right now.

It’s true.

I spent the rest of the day freaking out.  TRAINING IS RUINED!  EUGENE IS BUSTED!!  MY RAGNAR TEAMMATES HATE ME!!!  BRING ME A CUPCAKE, DAMNIT!!!!

Logic set back in somewhere THAT afternoon, thanks to a few level-headed individuals responsible for my run-sanity, and it was decided that it was time for my first double run day.  Ok.  Neat.  Probably good for Ragnar training.  And my pride.  Let’s do it.

So I pulled those AM run clothes out of the hamper (ok fine, off the bathroom floor) – the sweat had dried by then, don’t worry – and laced up for run #2.

Important information.

Getting started, my legs still felt heavy and awkward.  ‘STUPID LEGS. STUPID WORK TRIP. STUPID LAZY ASS SNOOZING ALL OF THOSE ALARMS. STUPID OUAL.’

Something angry and awesome (Linkin Park? 30 Sec to Mars?) came on my ipod and I decided to just get the miles over with.  Picked up the pace a little, and wouldn’t you freaking know, running fast felt better.  The backlight on my garmin is broken and I didn’t really want to be bothered with watching my pace, so I just ran.  Hard enough to feel like I was fixing my weekend woopsies, but not so much that puking/collapsing/dying on the path was a viable threat.

I convinced myself I wouldn’t be pissed if it turned out I was actually running 13 min/miles at what felt like tempo effort.  I’d be happy with just getting the miles in and getting back on track.

Good thing I didn’t have to own up to that promise.

 B’s watch, my run. Pinky swear.

Even better than surprise fast runs?  Surprise negative splits.

8:09, 7:54, 7:48, 7:36, 7:13.  Booyah.

Sidenote : Please don’t try to use this as collateral for watch-free running.  I see the benefit of not stalking pace but how would I have proof of awesome runs if there were no garmin face collages to share?  Hmm?

Confidence definitely boosted.  Maybe SLC didn’t wreck everything afterall.

Yesterday was 7.5ish miles of hill work and this AM was an easy 4 miler.  I’m either going to show up for tomorrow’s 21 miler refreshed and back in the game, or without a shot in hell at survival.

Here’s hoping for the former.  Or at least a lesson learned.

* * * Anybody racing this weekend?  Wear clothes off the bathroom floor?  Have coworkers as awesome as mine? (didn’t think so)

Sarah OUaL