My streak of making getting all my training runs in for the week ended in week 6 of Avengers training. This week was just brutal. I missed Tuesday’s training run due to feeling under the weather. I don’t know if it was allergies or the start of a cold or just exhaustion. But, by the time I got home from work, I couldn’t go. I thought to myself that I’d make it up on the weekend.

On Wednesday, I did make it out for a run. However, it was not a good one at all. I was still battling what knocked me out on Tuesday. But, I thought to myself that I needed to try. I still had the chance to get all 3 runs in for the week. So, out I went. Mile 1 was hard, but I was able to make it through in 12:12. It wasn’t a bad time to finish the mile in. So, I thought this might be one of those runs where I felt tired at the start, but pulled off a great run.

So, in mile 2, I made the switch to a 60 second walk break again. Right from the start of mile 2, I could feel it. I was going slower than I should have. I mean, cutting down my walk break from 90 seconds to 60 seconds should mean a faster mile. Right? As each quarter mile went by, I could see that I wasn’t taking back any time. By the 1.75 mile mark, I knew my 2nd mile time wasn’t achieving what I wanted it to achieve. I pressed on hoping to take back some time. However, I finished mile 2 in 12:12. Total time at the end of mile 2 was 24:24. The good news is that I was consistent. Two miles at 12:12 each. The bad news is that I had a shorter walk break in mile 2. When I saw the time for mile 2, I decided that this just wasn’t my day. So, I went back to the 90 second walk breaks to finish the run out.

During mile 3, I tried to get to a place, mentally, where I could just enjoy the fact that I could run. My finish time wouldn’t be as good as I had been getting used to. But, A slow run is better than a skipped run. Right? Mile 3 was a battle. I finished mile 3 in 12:54. That was disheartening. Even though I was telling myself that my time wasn’t going to be great and that’s okay, I still hated being so slow.

Mile 4 felt better than mile 3. However, it turns out, I was just as slow. I know I can finish 4 miles and somehow just finishing didn’t feel awesome to me. I finished mile 4 in 12:54. It’s kind of weird as I look back at the splits. The first two miles were finished in 12:12 each. Miles 3 and 4 were finished in 12:54 each. I don’t know if I’ve ever had a run like this one.

As you can see, my finish time was just over 50 minutes. I had really hoped I could keep it under 50 minutes. But, it just wasn’t meant to be. I know that bad runs will happen. Thankfully, there will be time to better than this.

I thought I’d be able to make up my missed run over the weekend. After continuing to battle this cold or allergy attack on Thursday and Friday, I thought I’d be ready Saturday to tackle another track workout. Brooke and I had some plans for the weekend that simply did not work out. The plans failed so horribly that it killed the entire weekend for running. I won’t go into specifics. Mostly, it was just something we thought would be okay, but didn’t work out.

On Sunday, I watched the Men’s Marathon at the Rio Olympics. It was amazing to watch Galen Rupp earn the bronze medal in just his 2nd full marathon! However, it was sad to see what a bad Meb had. He not only finished 33rd, but had this happen to him right as he got to the finish line. Of course, how Meb handled the situation was pure awesomeness!

This interview shows why I think so many of us absolutely love Meb. As I watched this back at the end of Sunday, it was a good thing for me. At the end of a week where I only got one run in, it’s good to know that, even Meb, has bad days. In spite of the bad day he was having, he kept pressing on and finished the race! That’s exactly what I’m going to do. Week 6 was not my week. However, each week gives me an opportunity to see progress. I can’t look back and change anything. So, I head into week 7 ready for a fresh start and an opportunity to hit all 3 runs again.

To end this post on a high note…Sunday was my wife’s birthday. We were so exhausted on Sunday that we didn’t get to do too much to celebrate. However, we did make it out to IHOP for a birthday breakfast! Colton managed to sleep through the entire breakfast. It was the highlight of the day and a really good breakfast!

So, the week wasn’t entirely bad. Just my training. It’s time for a bounce back week! Bring it Week 7! I’m comin’ for ya!