A Cure for the Mondays?

Apparently, since the dawn of the workweek, employed humanity has been grappling with a weekly 24-hour bug called "the Mondays".  Symptoms include grogginess, heavy eyelids, general malaise, soreness, stiffness, inclination to buy lunch at a drive-thru, and increased caffeine consumption.  The cause for this disease seems to be the awareness that from around 7 am on Mondays, there are around 120 more hours of workweek to get through.  This has been hypothesized to cause a reaction in the body which makes it harder to wake from sleep, harder to perform basic tasks, and an absence of familiar work ethic and motivation.  I have had this virus many times, and have never been able to find a cure for it.  Perhaps I was looking in the wrong place, and I needed to be in a different paradigm to find the answer (at least my answer for my particular strain of the Mondays).  Currently, I am not employed, but have spent the past few weeks on various interviews, and also attending my graduate class.  So, while my weeks have not been exactly like those of one who works, I do wake at 7 am each morning, prepare a bagged lunch, breakfast, coffee, and clean errant dishes and such--all before 8 am.  So while I don't go to work after that, I am more than prepared to do so.  All that aside, I may have found the way to break the chain of downtroddenness.

I will be bold and say that, perhaps if I start the day with something exciting, something inspiring, something positive on Monday, I will break the virus before it takes hold.  You see, since I began this running venture, I have learned from various sources that of the 3-5 times that a person runs each weak, one of those sessions should be the "big run".  The Big Run is the session where you push past the last week's limit.  So since last week, I ran 4 miles on the Big Run, this week's big run will be...5 miles.  Now, when a runner does his or her Big Run is up to that runner and his or her schedule and preferences.  Since I don't run on the weekends, I am fully rested and recovered by Monday.  Thus, it makes sense to push myself on Monday.  I have been doing this for the past 3 weeks, if I remember correctly.  So, as I lumbered up the stairs to my apartment, sweaty and breathing heavily (ladies, restrain yourself), I realized that I like Mondays.  Every day that I push myself to the limit, and accomplish something that I'm proud of, it makes that day much better.  So if I save the Big Run for Monday, I can start off the morning with a bang, and cruise into Tuesday high from the fumes of victory and the soreness that comes with pushing your body further than before.  I dare any of the drugs that I may or may not have tried to beat that!

The only problem with this plan is that once I get to being able to run 10 miles, there won't be anything to push past on a weekly basis.  I will have to run more than 10 miles at some points, but not on a regular basis. Perhaps I will have to settle for doing more speedwork on Mondays, and basking in the knowledge that I have bested my last time for a given distance.  Also, it's getting to be a bit colder outside, and I lack gear to deal with that.  Sure, I have a raggedy hoodie and I have a few hats, but that exhausts my cold weather workout gear.  My only options will be to save money once I am employed and find some clearance workout, moisture-wicking gear, or find a gym to join that has an indoor track.  But those worries need not hold me back now.  For now, I've got the cure for the Mondays, while supplies last.

Today's tally: Unfortunately, I miscalculated and ran just shy of 5 miles, clocking in at about 44:30, with no stops (save for a car at an intersection once).  I'm counting it as 5 miles, since I could've gone longer.  This will make next Monday's goal 6 miles, which will bring me into near-10k territory.  I might scale back a bit, and stick to just under 6 miles, so that I can just plain do 10k the week after next, but we'll see how the variables play out.