Training Week 30
My next race is the Stepping Up to Wellness 10K on May 23.
Day 204 | May 10, 2010: yoga
Steven and I did the Core Yoga Flow segment of the YogaWorks Fit Abs DVD in the evening. Sigh. I am not sure if I was ready to move back up to the “harder” yoga DVD. A lot of the poses that require me to stretch my arm over my head kill my back and neck. Are there any yoga moves you have trouble doing?
Day 205 | May 11, 2010: 7 m tempo run + strength
During lunch I did an awesome (sarcasm) strength workout…
Rope Pushdowns: 3 x 15 @ 30 lb
Arm Curl: 3 x 15 @ 25 lb
Pectoral Fly: 3 x 15 @ 45 lb
Lat Pulldowns: 15 @ 45 lb, 2 x 15 @ 60 lb
Shin Developer: 3 x 20 @ 10 lb
Hip Abduction: 3 x 15 @ 115 lb
Hip Adduction: 3 x 15 @ 55 lb
Leg Curl: 15 @ 30 lb, 15 @ 40 lb, 15 @ 20 lb
Leg Extension: 15 @ 30 lb, 2 x 15 @ 45 lb
Seated Leg Press: 15 @ 70 lb, 15 @ 90 lb, 15 @ 110 lb
… and after dinner, I ran 7 miles (2 warm-up around 10:20, 3 tempo around 9:00, and 2 cool-down around 10:10) by myself. It’s weird to be running alone after training with Steven for so long (he was at a meeting that evening).
It’s funny how much better this run went than last Sunday’s! It was perfect running conditions for me – overcast, 45°, with a light sprinkle of rain. I wore capris and a technical tee and felt great (I didn’t stop once, not even for water). I really started to feel like I was getting in the groove at mile 3, and again at mile 6.4. I think my legs were happy to pick up the pace! However, I was ready to call it a day at 7 – those 3 tempo miles wore me out – in a good way!
After my run, I had a date with my new friend – the foam roller. I got an amazon gift card at work and used it to buy this special guy. I rolled my IT Band, quads, calves, hamstrings and back. I know everyone says this thing kills – and I sure felt it in my IT Band! I am excited to use it to massage my muscles.
Later in the evening, my stomach was a bit upset. That used to happen quite often while running, but hasn’t in a long time. I wonder if it has to do with running a bit faster? What do you think? Does your stomach ever hurt after (or during) a run? What do you think causes it?
Distance: 7.0 | Time: 1:08:07 | 1: 10:26 | 2: 10:14| 3: 9:11 | 4: 8:58 | 5: 8:58 | 6: 10:20 | 7: 9:55
Day 206 | May 12, 2010: cross
Bike + InStyle Magazine = Yawn (but better than being at my desk!)
Recumbent Bike Time: 45:00 | Distance: 6.95 (Set on “Forest Ride”)
Day 207 | May 13, 2010: strength
I did a very quick strength workout during lunch:
Biangular Lat Row: 15 @ 45 lb, 2 x 15 @ 65 lb
Shin Developer: 3 x 20 @ 10 lb
Biangular Chest Press: 15 @ 30 lb, 2 x 15 @50 lb
Shoulder Press: 3 x 15 @ 20 lb
Leg Extension: 15 @ 30 lb, 2 x 15 @ 45 lb
Leg Curl: 15 @ 30 lb, 15 @ 40 lb, 15 @ 20 lb
Seated Leg Press: 15 @ 70 lb, 15 @ 90 lb, 15 @ 110 lb
Day 208 | May 14, 2010: 3 m run
My parents were in town on Friday, and my dad and Steven spent the morning putting a hitch on my car so…
I can haul bikes on my new bike rack! Yay!
My mom and I went to the Rollins Savanna Forest Preserve to run/bike while the boys continued to work on Steven’s car.
It’s been taking my legs quite some time to warm up during runs lately. I was actually worried in the first few minutes of this run – my gait felt all off. I had to take smaller strides because my lower legs felt so sore and tight. But I started to warm up and felt better.
I ran while my mom rode the bike beside me. There was not much talking because we had a ton of bugs flying into our faces and didn’t want to eat any! I think there were so many bugs around because there was a lot of rain and flooding, and because it was close to dusk.
We wanted to run the full loop of this park, but ran into a little flooding problem just before a mile and had to turn around. After the turnaround, another runner coming toward me yelled, “Yay, High Five” and we gave each other high fives. Random, but funny.
We saw deer, geese (and goslings!), ducks, swans and a unicyclist on the rest of the run. It was a nice, quick run. It was warm out (about 65° and windy) but it felt good to me.
I think it is fun to run with someone riding a bike (especially if it’s my mom or dad!). It is probably not as fun for the cyclist, but it is fun for me! Have you ever run with someone who was on a bike?
Distance: 3.0 | Time: 30:11 | 1: 10:17 | 2: 10:03| 3: 9:48
Day 209 | May 15, 2010: cross
My mother and I participated in the SELF Workout in the Park in Chicago. Read the recap here! At the recap, Asics recommended that I get shoes with less support than what the Brook Adrenalines are giving me. I think I should look in to it, but don’t want to spend $100 on shoes!
Day 210 | May 16, 2010: 3 m run
I was all ready to run 10 miles at the Rollins Savanna. Steven was going to run 3-5 then bike with me the rest (we even used the new bike rack – so easy to put on the car!). But I started running and my gait felt so funny. Steven said it looked like I was mall walking. After .5 miles it got a bit better, but my lower legs just felt funny and sore. The left leg feels weird under the knee on the outside of the leg and that damn right calf feels weird too.
So I stopped at 3 miles. I wanted to run more and felt like I could, but just didn’t think I should. I felt really bummed and frustrated.
I had fruit with me to eat after my long run (snicker) so I enjoyed that while I iced my leg in the car. Can you tell what I am using to ice my leg?
It’s the cooler portion of this sweet salad bowl (photo below) that my mom got me. You refrigerate that part, and put condiments around it, dressing in the white container, and the salad in the bottom. Put the lid on and you’re ready to go! I think I will bring this on my long runs so I can ice my sore body.
Distance: 3.0 | Time: 32:25| 1: 10:37 | 2: 11:04 | 3: 10:41
Week Summary: 13.00 miles
I feel like I had a great week of workouts, but am frustrated that my lower legs feel so sore! I feel like they have knots in them or something. I am trying to stretch and foam roll (used it a bit each day this week)… but I fear I should cut back on running, and I don’t want to. I think I have to. And Steven and I talked about how I haven’t been icing. Time to start doing that again. I just got lazy with it.
I hope next week is better. Someone please say something encouraging to me! I need it.
I have this weird injury mentality – because I hurt my shin so bad last year, any pain that is not in my shin, I kind of brush off. Dumb, right? What, do I need to go through every injury before I realize I need to take all pain seriously? Does anyone else do this? Time to re-read my own post about interconnected injuries and when to cut back on exercise. The thing is, I don’t particularly relate to any one stage I described – so I will just see how much I can cut back.
Something funny: A few weeks ago I was complaining about my plantar fasciitis (what’s new?) and Mica was kind enough to recommend this product! I couldn’t make it to REI to pick up exactly what she recommend, but I did find two of these dryer balls for about $3 at ALDI! I keep one at home and one in the office and use them quite often. Me so cheap.
A link to share: I thought this article about training for a full marathon by coach Jenny Hadfield was very helpful. She emphasizes the importance of not racing your long run every weekend, but taking it slow to give your body proper time to recover. She also touches on the importance of getting 7-8 hours of sleep – something I definitely need to work on!
Themocracy
That was quite the week of exercise!
I am loving my foam roller. Hurts so good!
i LOVE foam rollers! and instead of using one of those cool spiky ball things for my feet i just go the cheapo route and use a tennis ball. hey, it works! love all the pics of you, pretty lady! good luck on your upcoming race!
You & your mom are adorable!
I just bought a foam roller today too & I gotta say…it’s a tough massage! But it really does make your muscles feel good 😀
Next week will be better! Just take it easy & don’t push through the pain if it’s not worth it.
Have you read Born to Run? Because if you haven’t, I highly recommend it and it talks a lot about injury.
I haven’t read that book! I will have to see if our library has it 🙂
You are lucky those geese didn’t attack you! Glad you had a great weekend with your mom. And good luck for next week – hope it goes better for you!
I love Aldi!!!!
I love my bike rack but mine is one you have to take on and off each time (unless I want to chance it getting stolen) and that drives me nuts!!!
We have to take the bike rack on and off too. It is bolted on to the hitch, but if I left it on, it wouldn’t fit in the garage!
I LOVE ALDI big time too! 🙂
My stomach (or GI) gets upset late during races when I speed up or maybe just think about speeding up or maybe just think about how close I am to the finish. I have no idea why. Not sure if it’s nerves or if I haven’t trained properly to be able to speed up at the end. The worst is that it doesn’t matter the length of the race- as soon as I have a mile or so left (even in a 5k) it will hit me. I started taking tums before races and it seems to help but I have only done that twice.
My stomach was really upset this morning. I think this had to do with two things. 1-my ongoing stomach issues, and 2-the fact that last night we had a fire in our fire pit and ate smores for dinner. Yummy, but that does not make for a good run the next morning!
::Sending positive vibes your way for a better week:: I think you can really put the fact that last week’s training did not add up to your plan behind you, because you respected your body. You’ll be in the game a lot longer by doing that than by pushing yourself on a 10 mile run when something isn’t right. Just go back and try to use your log to best determine what might be throwing you off course and try to re-route 🙂
I was going to say that maybe all that time on the trampoline worked muscles you don’t normally work but then I realized that your legs were bothering you before then. Hmmmm. Sounds to me like you need lots of stretching! And I know that ice is supposed to be the best, but what about using heat to try and relax your calves?
What do you recommend for heat? Some of that stuff you were telling me about at the Race that’s good for Life?
You know, I was reviewing my training posts yesterday and it has been a month that I have had a tight calf! What the heck?!
interesting. if my stomach hurts during a run….it usually means something bad is about to happen. But, once that is over I am home free.
You are SO hard core if you think that a foam roller feels good. I yelp like a little girl.