Weekly Rundown- Baby Steps
Hi there! Welcome to the Weekly Rundown, hosted by Kim and Deborah (thanks as always for hosting, ladies!) This felt like our first official week of summer, and I have some big plans! I want to work on strength and speed… but my #1 priority is to NOT GET INJURED. As you will see, I started things off with that in mind. Monday First run back after my race! My right hip was still feeling cranky but I decided to try 2 miles. It felt good! I followed it up with some planking, including side planks. I’ve decided that side planks are my new thing! Tuesday Back to the gym! I hadn’t done lower body strength in over two weeks, and I hit it pretty hard. I started on the Stairmaster for 10 minutes to warm up, then did Bulgarian split squats, single leg RDLs, squats with the bar, and ended with side planks. Everything felt good, but my legs were shaking by the end. Wednesday Ah. I woke up to that VERY SPECIAL FEELING, the one you only get the day after leg day (after not doing legs for two weeks.) My legs and hips were SO SORE, I literally couldn’t sit down or get back up without groaning out loud. I went for a 3 mile run, and while I was running the pain mysteriously disappeared, only to reappear the moment I stopped (why does that happen??) My grand plans to do side planks every day immediately vanished- my legs were so sore, I couldn’t even imagine it. Thursday Still sore! I did a total body workout from Sally McRae’s app- focusing more on upper body. There are some lunges, which I did with very light weights. Ouch. Friday STILL sore! (Or, sore all over again?) But I reported to the gym for some speed work on the treadmill. Yes, this is one of my goals for the summer. I started off VERY cautiously- after a warmup, I did intervals of one minute of running at a pace faster than normal, but not quite at my 5K pace. At least, I HOPE this isn’t my 5K pace, but I really have no idea. If I ran a 5K right now I would probably run way too fast for the first mile and then collapse by the side of the road. So what I’m saying is- speed work is definitely needed, but I have to ease into it. I actually like speed work on the treadmill- or, put another way, the treadmill and speed work were made for each other. I ran a total of 3.5 miles and then did some ab work. Saturday OFF! My legs were happy for a rest. Sunday On tap- “long”-er run with “hills.” This is another thing I’m implementing, but have to ease into. I’m determined to get some hill work in this summer, so the plan is to go to a nearby park with a cross country trail. I’ll run on the trail- 4 or 5 miles for this week- and then go out to the road where there’s a very slight hill, which will probably feel like a mountain to me. I’ll run up and down it a few times and call it a day. Once again- baby steps! How was your week? Do you feel like summer has started? Do you have any special training plans for the summer? Top photo by Simon Infanger on Unsplash