Weekly Rundown- Easy and Breezy
Hello! Welcome to the Weekly Rundown, hosted as always by Kim and .Deborah- thanks, ladies! This was a cutback week for me, so no long run. After our great cool down the previous week, our temperatures were back up- but 80s instead of 90s, and breezy instead of muggy. It felt pretty good! Here’s how it all played out. Monday A sled-tread workout at the gym! I started by pushing and pulling the sled, then did a 3 mile treadmill run. I alternated one minute at a 4% incline, one minute easy, one minute at 5k pace, one minute easy… repeated for three miles. When I do the sled first I don’t feel like I need a running warmup- I just dive right into the workout. So a word about “5k pace.” I think one of the reasons I keep having shin problems when I do speedwork is that I’m being overly optimistic about my paces. I’ve been running at my old 5k pace, which isn’t my current 5k pace. I decided to humbly and realistically pick a pace and stick with it- easy to do on a treadmill. I’m hoping this approach to speedwork will work better for me. I have to do SOMETHING- otherwise I’m afraid I’ll just get slower and slower until I’m moving backwards. Tuesday Strength day at home. Runner’s Touch, squats, lunges, overhead dumbbell press and dead bugs. I don’t always mention it, but I do tibialis raises almost every day. So far, so good- my shins are feeling good. Wednesday 8 mile trail run! This run was so fun. I definitely didn’t need two bottles for an 8 mile run, but I wanted to try my double hydration vest again. In the past I haven’t liked it, but I would like to be able to carry two different beverages. I just ordered some Tailwind to try on my next long run, but that gets kind of gross if it’s all you have to drink (especially if it gets warm.) It wasn’t so bad! And the weather was warm- 80 degrees by the end- but breezy, so the heat wasn’t oppressive. Much better than 90 and humid. Thursday A 4 mile run that felt pretty good. And then… I got out my pull up bar for several sets of negatives. Yes, I was proud of myself! Upper body- I did it! At night there was a high school football game. To be honest, I didn’t want to go. I was tired after work and just wanted to stay home and relax. But there aren’t that many games left, and my daughter’s freshman year is speeding by. I don’t want to look back and regret that I missed anything, so I got my lazy ass off the couch and to the school. I’ve never seen this before, but the visiting team brought their band! They also performed at halftime, and then came over and sat with our band for part of the fourth quarter. They played some songs together and the kids LOVED it! It was so fun, AND our team won, AND that means we’re going to the playoffs! It was an exciting night- we returned home late and very happy. I’m so glad I went! Friday Wait a minute. Whose stupid idea was it to have a football game on THURSDAY NIGHT? This is terrible! We woke up at our usual time of 5:30 and I was not happy. I remember at the beginning of one of Matty’s classes on Peloton, he said “If you didn’t sleep well last night, skip this workout and go back to bed.” What a great idea, but I still had a daughter to get to school, and by that time I figured I might as well continue on to the gym. Sigh. I forged ahead and had a pretty good leg day- pushing and pulling the sled, squats, deadlifts… the usual. Saturday A lovely 5 mile run! Starting off in the dark with a full moon (I thought of Kim!) Ending in the daylight, but there were some nice clouds that kept this run from being too hot. Sunday Off! I’m loving my Sundays off. I get to sleep in, and since I work on Saturdays I like to have one morning at home with my family. At some point I’ll probably be switching my long runs back to Sundays, but for now I’m relishing my leisurely Sunday mornings. There will be waffles involved. So what’s up for next week? A planned 16 mile trail run, AAAAAAND…. Wednesday is November 1st, which means it’s time for NaBloPoMo! Once again I’ll be joining San and crew for 30 posts in 30 days for November. I’m excited about it! How was your weather this week- unusually warm or cold? Are you ready for Halloween? – I’m ready for trick-or-treaters!