Running & Soccer

I suck, simply said, I suck.  I was on a role last week, running and biking, playing soccer, getting exercise every day.  Monday of this week rolls around and I decide to take a rest day, this is totally acceptable and encouraged by most coaches and training books.  We move on to Tuesday and I tell my wife that I would like to go for a run when I get home from work, she agrees to my plan.  Here is where it all starts to unwind....I walk in the door and my wife tells me that she has to run next door to talk to our neighbor about some issues their daughter and my oldest daughter are having.  No problem, right?  Well, she was gone for about 20 minutes at which time I decided I should eat dinner with my middle daughter, lest she will eat alone.  That puts us at around 6:30PM, and I can't go running after having just eaten dinner (a salad with chicken on it); I need at least an hour of digestion to occur (ideally two hours). 

So, I spend some time with the family, play Yahtzee with the girls, get them upstairs and ready for bed, and next thing I know it is 8:30PM.....time to go running.  Well, not so fast, my oldest daughter can't fall asleep and the baby is still awake.  Looks like I been assigned the "get our oldest daughter back in bed duty".  For an hour I have to continually coax her back into her bed and ultimately deal with a hysterical little girl who is feeling like her world is collapsing around her (she is 9 year old, she is a bit of a drama queen).  Eventually she falls asleep at 9:30PM, the baby is just about to fall asleep and I have no desire to drag my butt outside to go running in the 25F weather.  I curse at myself and go to bed early.

I woke on Wednesday morning feeling like a complete cad.  How was I so weak as to of not gone running the night before.  I would make up for it later.  I had soccer that night and thought it would be a good idea to get in a 15 - 20 minute run prior, to ensure that I get a full work out in.  It ended up being a relative quick two mile run (16:20 for 8:10/mile pace), at least quick for me lately.  Then it was off to soccer where we had our final regular season game against the team tied with us in the rankings.  I ran my ass off, sprinting everywhere and playing my heart out.  We emerged victorious (4 - 2, I scored the 4th goal with four minutes left) and I was wiped out, completely spent from the experience.

So here I am on Thursday morning, I slept in a bit and took a nice hot shower to try and loosen up my achy body.  I will be running tonight when I get home for sure, I have to otherwise I will start to slow descent into fatness yet again (I am gradually pulling myself from its clutches).  I need to remember that I need to stick to this loose schedule for at least three weeks.   I am hoping that on Friday night or sometime this weekend I will join the YMCA and get into the pool.

That is about it for now....well, two things to note:

#1 - I will be writing a review of a new racing shoe purchase, the K-Swiss Blade-Light Race, which I managed to get for 50% thanks to "Schwaggle" (see below). 

#2 - I am on the cusp of ordering a new running watch, the Garmin Forerunner 910XT.  My current Garmin Forerunner 305 is on deaths door, thanks to some water getting under the glass (caught in a heavy rain storm).  Once I get it ordered, receive it and use it a few times I will post a review for that as well. 

Happy training everyone.  Ciao!