And the exhaustion has finally taken its toll...

After 3 months of grad school and adjusting to a new and better role in my company, I have finally begun to truly feel the effects of exhaustion. All this week I've barely been able to get out bed, only to have drunk so much caffeine or gotten my mental state so worked up that I can't sleep. Today was the last straw. I got home and promptly fell asleep on the couch instead of running. Upon waking, I realized that I had to get the run in or not run until Saturday, which is a long run. I drag my poor tired body to the Greenway, and sure enough didn't have the energy to continue running past a mile. It was a good 11:40 mile, but my energy was gone. I did try to run some more after taking a couple walking breaks, but after about 25 minutes I gave up and just walked. Some good things came from it though...

I saw 6 deer! Holy cow that was cool! And they were really close too. The sad part is that they must be so desensitized to humans to have come so close to me, but they were beautiful. I also saw a cute little squirrel about two feet from me. Again, sad that he let me get so close, but he was cute!! I realized how awesome it is to run outdoors today. You don't wish you had brought your camera running inside a sterile gym.

I think I have discovered the cause to my post-long run headaches. I don't know if I've mentioned them yet, but after my long runs on Saturdays I have been getting killer headaches. They're not dehydration (as long as I'm mindful of my water intake) and they're not migraines (I get an aura before migraines start). Turns out they're tension headaches. I figured that out last week. Now I think I know why I'm so tense. Not only do I have a tendency to be stiff with my upper body when running (thanks to Coach Jim for pointing this out), but I think I'm lifting my head too high in an effort to not look down. I've had it in my head so much to stop looking at the ground that I think I'm overcompensating. I guess it was good that I was able to walk today and have some time to figure this out.