End of the Week = One Hard Earned Rest Day

I CANNOT wait for my rest day tomorrow.  Again, I'm feeling tired at the end of the week. My hunch is it's because Fridays I don't treat kids.  I get all day to attend meetings and to stare at my computer to write evaluations and complete all my documentation.  Once I'm out the door Fridays, my brain is fried and my eyes need a break.

Per my marathon training plan today, I had a tempo run planned: 2 miles easy, 6 miles @ race pace, 2 miles easy.

Tired legs said otherwise.

After mile 2 I decided I would take it easy and just get the miles in.  No time goal, just finish up this week strong.  Lucky for me my legs had a little extra juice to spare and I had an awesome negative split run!

10 miles

1:23:18

8:20/mile

Splits: 8:47, 8:32, 8:43, 8:39, 8:33, 8:18, 8:03, 8:02, 7:57, 7:43

Total miles for the week: 50

This week and next week are the highest mileage weeks on my marathon training plan, and then.... TAPER!!!

After the run we went to Seasons 52 for dinner.  It was my first time there and it was delish!  Lots of vegetables, which is perfect fuel for after a run.

Speaking of vegetables, I am one of the few that likes beets.  I them raw in my salads, one their own, and I've even blended them in my morning smoothie.  I was even more excited about them after reading Rich Roll's book Finding Ultra.  Rich raves about their endurance boosting properties.  I thought if it works for an ultrarunner, it might give me a little extra boost.  I can't say I've noticed a difference, but beets have tons of other awesome benefits including folate, manganese, and betaines (source).

Ok. So why bring up beets?

I found this interesting article on Runners World today: Beet Juice and Cognitive Performance.

 

 The first sentence in the article: "Exercise, if it's long and hard enough, makes you stupider." Ok. You have my attention.  As we participate in high intensity activities, our cognitive abilities decrease as our minds tire.  I know this applies to me.  I've lost count of mile repeats or struggled with "if I made a turn here with so many miles already completed, how far do I need to go down this street until I can turn around and go home."  Simple math can be a struggle.  The study found that not only did the athletes that indulged in beet juice completed more work during the sprints, but also were able to respond to cognitive questions faster.

Bring on the beet juice.