>> Where was this hat when I needed it?!?

While the rest of the county was talking about how hot it was last week and dealing with dehydration during workouts, we had no shortage of water in Seattle. It rain/snowed for 6 days straight. The wind never rested. But we have a standing meeting with Roosevelt Track that "couldn't" be canceled on Wednesday at 9am. The usual suspects (Sally, me, Mason) met at the Oiselle office and after fighting the urge to go have breakfast instead, we headed out into the vertical sleet. The wind was bitter.

I forgot gloves and had two violet armwarmers wrapped around my hands, no hat, and one quickly soaked long sleeve top. I obviously thought I was going to be enjoying the rest of the country's heat wave. The two and half mile warmup felt as hard as the first 1200 should have. The first 1200 felt like a dead sprint, I was sucking cold air like I was using a straw with a hole in it. The wind was a brick wall waiting on the back stretch.

First 1200 right on pace, but I was falling apart. Mason and Sally were behind me working their pace (I'm training for the half, them the full so the paces are different). I think this was the only interval we tried to chit-chat after. The second 1200 I was off pace and trying way too hard. The third was even worse. It felt like the temperature was dropping every lap, and the sleet was cutting to the core. There were five 1200s on the schedule but after three we all knew it was over. I tried to get the pace down on the forth, but nope. Slower than ever, and harder than ever.

We saw Oiselle team member Susan Empy arrive to the windtunnel, I mean, track just as we limped away. It was a demoralizing workout for all of us. The cool down was when I really started to freeze, Mason and I both didn't have good gloves. My fingers hurt so much. I just tried to keep talking and get my mind off them until, finally, I couldn't feel them anymore.

That night I set my alarm for 4:30am to get 10 miles in before my first Crossfit. "HA! HA! HA!" said my body. And rightfully so. I woke up at midnight with a 102 fever. Mason got a respiratory infection. Susan came down with bronchitis. Sally stayed strong, and fought off sickness with extra sleep.

As runners, it's really hard to throw the towel in on a workout. Rest is a four letter word. But the rest is just as important as the work. Being smart and flexible with your training schedule will pay off in the end. As many runners know, it can come down to "take one day off by choice, or be forced to take ___days off". We were smart not to do that last 1200 and I would have been smart to move the workout another day.

Tell me about your training: How do you know when it's the time to throw the towel in on a workout?