Weekly Rundown- I’m TRYING To Rest…
Oh, hello! Thanks for stopping by the Weekly Rundown, hosted as always by Kim and Deborah. My big workout this week was a long run on Sunday, and then my focus for the rest of the week was rest and recover. I made a serious effort to get at least seven hours of sleep a night, which was more successful some nights than others. Let’s just see how it all went down. Sunday This was my last long long run before my race- there will be one more short long run coming up. For this run, I ventured off the trails onto the roads, and ran from my house to the beach… …and then turned around and ran back home. I had to throw in some extra miles in the neighborhood, and the end result was a 26 mile run. Honestly… it sounded like a fun idea, but dealing with the traffic, train tracks, and drawbridges made this run a little stressful. I’ll stick to my trails from now on! Monday Oof. I’m tired. I mean… did I not know running 26 miles would be hard??? I didn’t expect to be this sore. I took my tired legs to the gym and did what is known in certain circles as the “Cool Bloggers Workout.” 3/12/30- 3 miles per hour, 12% incline, for 30 minutes. It actually felt pretty good, and when I was done I used a couple of the abs machines. On days like this I like using the machines at the gym for core, because they isolate the abs and don’t stress out my sore hip flexors. Tuesday Time to run again! I walked for a mile and then ran 3. Followed by dead bugs and plank. Wednesday Strength day at home. I wasn’t up to much- I did Runners Touch, the Knees Over Toes exercises, and dead bugs. Then I spent the day in Jupiter! My daughter was playing in the All-County band, and they had rehearsal from 8-4. Jupiter is an hour away, so rather than spend four hours in the car driving two round-trips, I opted to stay up there and had a mini-adventure. Details coming up next week! Thursday I’m starting to feel back to normal- I walked a mile and ran 4, followed once again by core. At night we had to drive to Jupiter for my daughter’s concert. The concert was fun, but we didn’t get home until almost 11 pm, which messed up my efforts to get more sleep. Oh well (but I’m wondering- couldn’t they have this concert on a FRIDAY next year? Just a thought.) Friday Hmmm. It seems like if I were doing things correctly, I would spring out of bed in the morning, cheerily exclaiming “Top of the morning!” to my husband. Instead, the alarm went off and I muttered “Egads!” before getting up and literally staggering across the room. My feet are always sore in the morning- it helps if I can stretch them out in bed first, but this morning the cats were meowing hungrily and I had to get my daughter up and moving. Arg. Instead of a gym day, I did strength at home again. It actually turned out to be a pretty good workout- I did squats, Bulgarian split squats, overhead shoulder press, all with dumbbells. I also did dead bugs and the Knees Over Toes exercises. I’m making some progress with those! My right knee is less achy while doing them, which I count as a win. Saturday Top of the morning! Just kidding. I grumbled a little again as I got out of bed, but then it was out the door for a 5 mile run before work. No core after this run because I simply forgot. Sunday Ahhhhh. On tap for today- OFF. Sleeping in, a little cooking (it’s my husband’s birthday so we’re making a brunch) and then reading, relaxing, and football. I’m making a Detroit style pizza for the Lions game tonight! How was your week? Did you get enough sleep? Have you ever made (or eaten) a Detroit style pizza? – I haven’t, but I’m up for the challenge!
January Runfessions
Here we are at the last Friday of the month! Unlike October-December, when I want time to slow down, I’m always happy to see January end. Let’s move right along to February and get the year officially started off right. But first, I’m joining Marcia for runfessions. Yep, I have a few! On Sunday I had my last long long run of this training cycle (there will be another “short” long run before the official taper.) I ran 26 miles, and I runfess that I was so glad to be done, it didn’t even occur to me to run the extra .2. However, I give myself credit for a marathon, because at one point I stopped my watch to cross a busy street, and ran for a few minutes before I remembered to start it again. When I say I “give myself credit,” I mean I mentioned it to my husband about a dozen times: “Oh, could you bring me my tea? I ran a marathon today, you know.” (YES. I KNOW.) I’ll also runfess that I’m ready for this taper. My feet have been especially achy lately. I thought the issue might be fixed with new shoes, so I went to REI to get another pair of the Altra FWD’s. They carry the men’s version in black, but the women’s only in white. When I asked if there were any other color choices, the woman said “Yes, online there’s a light gray and purple option. We could order it for you, if you’d like.” YES, I would like! I would like that very much! Those are my colors. But it was the night before my long run and I really wanted new shoes right away, so I opted to buy the ones they had in the store. The last thing I’ll runfess is that on my long run, I re-listened to two old episodes of the Florida Trail Runners podcast that recap the race I’m doing (Forgotten Florida) from previous years, and I succeeded in scaring myself thoroughly. There was a lot about water, knee-deep mud, and people getting lost. ACK! Well… I wanted a trail adventure! It sounds like I’m going to get one. White/peach or light gray/purple- which would you choose? Are you ready for January to end? Header photo by Laura Chouette on Unsplash
Training and Life Updates
Some of you have been asking about my upcoming race- I’ve been training for the Forgotten Florida 50 mile race, and I can say that I feel completely ready to run it on February 3rd! Unfortunately, that’s not when the race is. That was the original date of the race, but a couple months ago we were informed that it was changed to February 17th. At that time, my long runs were going great. I felt invincible! I didn’t tweak my schedule at all to accommodate the change- I just figured it would give me time for one more long run. Well… I no longer feel invincible. After my long run on Sunday, something was telling me that I’m done training. That “something” could be my achy right hip and low back, or my two heels that hurt when I get out of bed every morning. Whatever it is, I don’t think I have another big, long run in me before this race. That’s fine- I’ve done numerous runs over 20 miles, and back-to-back long runs totaling 36 miles. I don’t need another long run- but the problem is, if Sunday was my last long run then I’ll have a four week taper before the race. That’s… a long taper. I’m thinking I’ll do another semi-long run? That’s probably what will happen- but I haven’t decided yet. In some ways, life is mirroring training (or is it the other way around???). I feel burned out and tired. January is always a hard month for me. I normally get sad when Christmas is over, but this year the festivities didn’t end with Christmas. My daughter went to Rome, we had New Year’s (when I did my back-to-back long runs, which was such a fun adventure) and then we went to Tampa. It was nonstop fun, until we returned from Tampa and my son went back to school the next day. It felt like the official end to all the holiday and post-holiday fun, and it’s always so hard to say goodbye to him. It was like Christmas was ending all over again, and I’ve been feeling “blah” ever since. I know- we all have hardships! I’ve been through worse Januarys. When I lived up north, I could hardly get out of bed in the winter (which is, once again, why I now live in Florida.) It just takes time. I’ll feel better soon (I always do) and I do have a race to start planning for! (Did you notice in the top picture, the town where the race starts is “Christmas, Florida? It’s the perfect race for me!) Thanks for listening to me whine. How is your January going???
Weekly Rundown- Winter, Florida-Style
Hello from cloudy Florida! Wait… what? We have had the gloomiest month here, and you should hear people complain! It’s pretty funny (do you people know what’s going on in the rest of the country???). But, lots of people (like me) moved here to escape SAD. I thought we lived in the Sunshine State! Did I move to Seattle without realizing it? Well, we will live through this hardship. Meanwhile, thanks as always to Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly Rundown. Here’s how the week played out. Monday Ugh. My son went back to school today. It’s always so hard to say goodbye, AND he had to leave for the airport at 4:30 am. My husband drove him, but I got up to see them off. Then I went back to bed and slept until 7:30- which meant I had to run after work. Note to self- I don’t like that schedule. I’d much rather just get up early and run first thing! Tuesday Strength day at home- runners touch, squats, Knees Over Toes exercises, and dead bugs. Wednesday After I dropped my daughter at school, I ran 5 miles on a grassy trail in the park. Still trying to get in as many miles on the grass as possible. Thursday Leg day at the gym! I pushed and pulled the sled, then did squats, dead bugs, Knees Over Toes exercises, abs, and low back. My low back has been cranky lately! Friday 4 mile run, early. It was still dark, and made even darker by the fact that it was, once again, overcast all day. Post-run core work- plank and dead bugs. Saturday What is this strange light coming from the sky? Oh yes- it’s the SUN! It was a beautiful January Florida day… 70 degrees and sunny. It was a day off from exercise. I worked in the morning, my daughter had a concert in the afternoon, and we got together with friends for dinner. AND, I got all ready for the next day’s adventure, which is… Sunday On tap for the day- 26 mile long run. Then, waffles and lots of football! The forecast is showing 47 degrees in the morning and… once again, cloudy. Brr! I’ll have to pull out my “cold weather gear” (aka hat, gloves, and arm warmers. To go with my shorts and tank top.) It’s the penultimate long run before my race- how exciting! Are you watching football today? Who are you rooting for? – KC and Detroit… but I was also rooting for Green Bay and Houston, soooo….