Hey friends–happy 1st day of February! One month into the new year, it went by quick, am I right? It doesn’t really feel like February with the temps in the 50’s today, but I will take it! I just checked my mileage log and I logged 79 miles last month (which is a lot for me as of late!) I am looking forward to seeing how this month shakes out as my training continues to increase!
So, last week I spent Monday-Thursday in a work summit which meant very early mornings and even later nights, so I am really happy that I managed to work out every morning like usual–it was a miracle really! HA! I just finished week 5 of my Rock CF half marathon training, so let’s see how it went with the Weekly Wrap Up!
Week of 1/25-1/31
Monday: I had 4 miles on the books, I only made it 2. It was a terrible run, I stopped and stretched but nothing helped loosen my calves. At 2 miles, I threw in the towel. There is no use hurting myself or beating myself up over it…some runs are good, some aren’t. This clearly wasn’t a good one.
Tuesday: I did a full body strength training circuit and managed to lift between 5 and 10 lbs heavier than usual on certain body parts which made me really happy, I’m hoping that all the strength training I am incorporating not only makes me stronger and able to lift heavier, but makes me a stronger runner too!
Wednesday: Speed work day-total of 5 miles. I warmed up for 1/2 a mile, then did 7x400m at a 7:30 pace with 400m of slow running recovery in between each set and did a mile cool down. During the recovery a few times I had to stop and quickly stretch out my calves, but overall I felt pretty good. It does surprise me though at how I used to be able to do repeats at this speed and it felt a heck of a lot easier than it does right now, but I’m getting there, baby steps right?
Thursday: After a really late night out at work that included too much dancing and a few drinks (which is very unusual for me) I was happy that I made it to the gym in the morning. I was exhausted but once I got going with my strength training circuit I felt a million times better. I did a full body circuit and then foam rolled my calves and IT bands.
Friday: I think the week of being away at a work summit took its toll on me because when I woke up in the morning, I felt like I was going to vomit I was so tired. By the time I made it into work, I was still super tired, but not so sick so I did my “easy” 2 miles and foam rolled in prep for my long run on Saturday. I did both miles in my Altras and felt pretty good!
Saturday: I had 10 miles on my training plan (my longest run since 2014.) I was up at 5 am and needed to get my miles in before a super busy day with my boys, so I quickly got dressed and grabbed my water and Nuun and headed downstairs to get it done! I had saved up a few episodes of Jane the Virgin (don’t judge, I love that show) and watched the last 2 episodes so I was all caught up. I ran the first 3 miles with my Altras and they felt great. I really wanted to keep going in them but played it smart and switched my shoes out to finish the last 7 miles. I ate a piece of an orange around mile 5 and then at every mile took another slice or two throughout the rest of my run. I really was unprepared with fuel for this run, but I actually felt fine with the Nuun and the orange, so I went with it.
All in all, I surprisingly felt great, maybe it was my body repaying me for my terrible run on Monday?? I was anticipating this to be much harder, but it looks like I just had a great running day! I did the 10 miles at a 9:24 pace, which felt very comfortable for me and then did a short .3 mile walking cool down.
I finished up my run, had some breakfast, showered and did my hair before Ashton woke up, which was perfect timing! We had a really busy day ahead of us with hair cuts, birthday parties, friends coming over the house, etc so I was really happy I got my run out of the way early so I didn’t have it hanging over my head all day. Plus, this was a huge confidence booster for me as 10 miles just felt so long to me since it had been so long since I ran that long. I have three 10 milers and one 12 miler on the books for this training cycle so I was happy this one went so well!
Sunday: A day of rest!!! Robyn tweaked his back late Saturday night
So, there you have it my friends, the Weekly Wrap Up! Overall, it was a good week of training, I’m feelings stronger and hoping this week is just as good!
Have a great Monday–I will see you later this week!
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Question of the day
How was your weekend? Do anything fun?
