Day 46: yesterday I ran a 43:05 10k (20:30 first 5k) and it took the wind out of me. For the 11 weeks (5th week ending today) going on right now, I'm also doing a weight loss challenge at Great Lakes Health and Fitness of Coldwater (MI). This means that in addition to running every day, I'm pushing extra calorie cutting workouts (mostly biking...actually, all biking). This is less than ideal, no doubt. In fact, considering I've gone from 181 to 167 pounds, I'm shedding muscle now too. Again, don't try this at home folks, this is year six for me and even so, it may still be dangerous.

So what does that last rambling paragraph mean other than I'm clearly not getting enough oxygen to my brain or some such physiological blah, blah? Well, it means that I'm getting tired. It's OK to be tired. Even for days at a time. I have repeatedly found that today's tired is tomorrow's "more fit." It doesn't mean I won't slow down - I will - but I won't stop. Today was  good example.

I rode a calorie busting hour on a spinning bike. At 70% of the max resistance (as measure by turning the resistance until it wouldn't go anymore and then going back three full turns) for 50:00 (plus 5:00 warm up and 5:00 cool down) it was a struggle. I find standing for long stretches simulates running, and I like that.

After the bike, I wanted to go home. And sleep. For a week. But that's now how it works, and that voice is so faint now that I can barely register it. Instead of slumbering, I ran at 7 MPH for 30:00, or 3.53 miles. I felt tired. My legs hurt (I have a little hip thing going on from yesterday). I should qualify something...my legs were sore, they didn't hurt. Hurt, to me, means broken or something's torn. Everything else is sore. Anyway, a tired and sore 3.5, but day #46 was a good one, as almost all of them have been thus far. (There were a couple single digit temperature runs in West Bend that I may not put on the "good" list, if I'm being honest.)