Good Exhaustion

I finished my long run this weekend with great nostalgia.  It was my first run back where I ran in the intense summer heat that had me chugging every last drop of water out of my bottles.  I had Cytomax, two Siggs of water and Muscle Milk….gone.  I couldn’t wait to get home, add some ice to a glass and hydrate more.  I craved cold fruit, an ice bath and a light breeze.  I love those days.

This week begins the “complex endurance phase” of my training.  Sound scary?  It is.  My workload is increasing yet again. Intensity up.  Mileage up.  It is time to reincorporate intervals into my training so I can be ready for racing this summer and fall.  I thrive off of this workload.  I simply adore the exhaustion that comes with training hard (as opposed to the exhaustion from our four-month-old not sleeping through the night).  This type of work gets me in shape quickly.

The past 3 months have given me a good base to launch into this type of work and it is so fun continuing to see improvement.  Everyone loves improvement.  I won’t fuss over what my watch says tomorrow because I can’t compare it to the fitness prior to giving birth to Piper.  But, my watch better show a faster time next week, and the week after that, and the week after that…