Weekly Rundown- So, That Happened…
Hi Everyone! My week was… different. SIGH. Read on to find out why… I’m linking up with Kim and Deborah for this Weekly Rundown. Let’s just see how the week played out! Sunday I usually start my weekly review on a Monday, but this time I’m rewinding to Sunday. It was the day I ran my 5k time trial, and I went on and on about how fun it was, and how I’m going to start working on my speed and sign up for races. WELL. Later that day, after I had been sitting for a while, I got up and noticed that my right hip flexor was REALLY stiff. Weirdly painful. That’s strange, I thought… I must have tweaked it during the run, although I didn’t notice it at the time. Monday Day off, as always and it was a good thing because that leg was still really sore. Hrumph. Tuesday Leg was still sore, but I thought maybe just a slow, easy run would help loosen it up, so I did four miles. The first few steps were painful but then I could run on it. Followed this run with pull-ups. Wednesday What the… leg is STILL SORE. Another slow, easy four mile run. Even in the Sunshine State we get rain, and I got rained on for this one. It was later in this day that I realized something was not right with the leg. Slow easy runs weren’t helping. Rats. Thursday Lower body weights. Found that single leg moves weren’t going to work with that right leg, but I could still do squats and deadlifts. Later in the day I had a stroke of luck. I called my sports chiropractor who is usually booked up weeks in advance, and they told me that they just had a cancellation and could fit me in on Tuesday, which is my day off of work. PERFECT! He’ll be able to fix everything. Possibly. Friday Here I had a conundrum. Running was out of the picture. My bike was in the shop. My pool flotation device, which I use for pool running (SCREEEEAAAAM!) had been stuffed into the fence to stop up a hole, to keep the cat from getting out. Instead of cardio I did an upper body strength workout. It was better than nothing. Saturday I give up. Life has no meaning. I slept in as late as I could, considering that I had to be at work at 9:00. BUT THEN… A miracle occurred! The shop called to tell me my bike was ready!!! They had originally told me it would take two weeks but obviously they had a message from the Universe that a rush job was needed. My lovely husband went to pick it up while I was at work. And so… My road bike is still in a time-out in the garage (long story) and this is my older hybrid bike. I had taken it into the shop to get it tuned up and to get tires specifically for gravel trails. Hooray! Sunday I got out to my beloved trail, this time on the bike! I rode for a little over two hours. Did I wish I were running instead? Yep. Was it 100 times better than sitting at home doing nothing? HELL YES. When life throws you a curve ball, you have to take a swing anyway… and enjoy the game. Who did a long run this weekend? -I’ll live vicariously through you. Has anyone else had a hip flexor/quad issue? – To be clear, I’m talking about the muscle in front of your leg, at the top, that lifts your leg up in front of you.
Deep thoughts on a Friday
Hello! My last post was a little… complaining… so I thought I would make this one more upbeat. Or at least less whiny. There should be no whining on a Friday! Here are some interesting things from this week: When All Moments Have Equal Value I love David Cain, and his website, Raptitude. In his recent article he talks about embracing all the moments that make up your life. All moments can be appreciated, on a basic level at least, when you value the two opportunities each one offers – to respond skillfully to what’s happening, and to experience being alive for another moment. When this is what’s valued … an unpleasant moment is just as good as a pleasant one, sometimes better. It’s so easy to grind through the day, looking forward to the next pleasurable experience- but the hard moments are just as much a part of our lives as the fun ones. I love his concept of responding skillfully to every moment, good or bad, and taking pleasure in that. The Pitfalls of Patience In his newsletter, The Positive Split, Peter Bromka puts forth a different view on patience than what we normally hear. He embraces the need to settle into a journey of long-term progression, but contends that it must be balanced with our dreams and aspirations, and not knowing when our big moments will arrive. As runners we push past patience so frequently, and encounter injury so often, because we dream that on one special day we might escape the typical confines of muscle fatigue and oxygen debt, and bound freely toward a better version of ourselves. And speaking of Peter Bromka… Peter Bromka on Pacing the Pros and Seeing Desiree Linden Break the 50k World Record This podcast where Jason Fitzgerald interviewed Peter Bromka was really fun. On the day that Des ran her world record 50k, there were a few other runners on the course running a marathon. Peter Bromka ran as a pacer for Chirine Njeim, and led her to a 2:36 marathon PR. He and another pacer ran ahead of her, and her coach, Ryan Hall, was behind them on a bicycle. It was fun to hear about the teamwork that went into that run, and how invested Peter was in the outcome, even though he had never met Chirine before that day. Since the course was two out-and-back loops, they also were able to see Des on the course (she would call out to them “Looking good!” in true Des fashion.) It was a great story about the camaraderie that exists among runners. That’s it! Hope this brightens up your Friday! I’m off to work where I will be focusing on skillfully responding to every moment… I’ll report back on how that worked out! Do you like hearing stories about elite runners? Would you say you’re a more “patient” runner, or do you push past it in the hopes of a magical outcome, even though you risk injury? – I definitely fall into the “risk injury” category, while my husband is the patient one.
“What’s Up With That” Wednesday
Hi there! Glad you dropped in because I have JUST A FEW bones to pick on this Wednesday. Let’s get started! What’s up with Hoka? Last week I got new Hokas. I’ve been wearing the Cliftons, and I ordered a new pair from JackRabbit. Same shoe, same size, same width (wide.) When they arrived I tried them on and thought they felt a little tight. I double checked the size and width and decided I must be imagining it. WELL, a week later and the right shoe especially is pinching my toes. The entire reason I wear Hokas is for the wide toe box. Let me present Exhibit A: Come on! The one on the right is much narrower, right??? Or it has a different shape… or something. Anyway, I don’t like it. Why would they do that? Is anyone really complaining that the toe box is too wide? Anyway… now I’m on the lookout for another “second” pair of shoes. My first pair being the New Balance 880s- at least those are still wide enough. What’s up with Spotify? Okay, I realize I’m being a cheapskate here because I use the free Spotify. In addition to the fact that they add their own songs to my playlists (and for some reason seem to think that I love Train) there are way too many commercials. Before my 5k time trail on Sunday, it gave me the option to get thirty minutes of uninterrupted music if I watched an ad video. Perfect! I watched the video and looked forward to an ad-free run. Well, it played two songs and then they started. Every two or three songs I got an ad for mammograms (thanks, but I already already had one this year,) an ad for the Covid vaccine (ditto) and an ad in Spanish (absolutely no idea what was going on there.) It’s like they’re trying to make it just bad enough so that you’ll give in and pay for it. We’ll just see about that! What’s up with the anti-anti-maskers? I get it… the mask thing is complicated. When I went to Publix today, instead of the usual sign saying “Facial Coverings Required” I saw this: I know. No one knows who’s vaccinated and who’s not. And like everything else, it’s political. I felt like if I wanted to take my mask off, I should carry a sign saying “Not a Trump supporter. Fully vaccinated and just want to take off the frickin’ mask.” A Publix employee was nearby cleaning off carts and saw me studying the sign. He shrugged and said “It’s gotta end sometime.” Amen, brother. Are places in your area lifting the mask restriction? Are you still wearing one? Do you use Spotify? The free or paid version? Please recommend any shoes you know of with an extra-wide toe box!!!
Weekly Rundown- Never Give Up
Happy Sunday! I hope everyone had an awesome week. I switched things up this week and instead of doing a long run, I did a 5k time trial! It was fun to do something different, and definitely a learning experience. But first… I’m linking with Kim and Deborah for this Weekly Rundown! I’m going to be brief in the first part of this, so we can get to the fun stuff later in the week. Monday Day off, always. Tuesday Easy four mile run, followed by pull-ups. Wednesday Five mile run with two miles at tempo pace, and I’m still trying to figure out what that is. I’m just starting to add in some speed work, which I’ll be talking about later on… Thursday Lower body strength. I focused on single leg activities like Runner’s Touch, single leg squats, calf raises and side planks. Friday Easy four mile run, followed by Gauntlet Plank workout. Saturday Three very creaky miles. Everything felt achy and I thought “How am I going to run a time trial tomorrow???” I hoped it would be like a theater performance, where I bad dress rehearsal means a good opening night. Followed this with pushups- my “ten down” routine which equals out to 55. Saturday Night Here’s where things got fun! There’s a SLIGHT chance that going out to World of Beer the night before my 5k time trial wasn’t a great idea… but my husband and I and another couple wanted to go out to celebrate the fact that we’re all fully vaccinated, and this was the night that worked best for everyone’s schedules. I didn’t want to be a wet blanket and say “I have to be very careful about what I eat and drink because I’m running a race tomorrow… well, not an actual race… I’m going to run as fast as I can and then write about it on my blog…” No. I just went out like a normal person and enjoyed myself. It was the first time I had been to a restaurant since the pandemic started, and it was amazing. Sunday Oof. Started out a little fuzzy, but drank a large glass of water with electrolytes (note to self: next time, do this the night before.) I got outside and did a two mile warmup. I actually felt okay- the electrolytes must have done their job. Then I did some drills and strides, and was ready for my 5k. A note about pacing. I haven’t run a race since the pandemic started, had an injury in September and have hardly done any speed work. I actually have some experience with this situation, and the last couple times I ran a race with no speed work after coming back from injury, my mile pace was 8:40. I’m kind of mad this is actually a category in my life, but it is what it is. You have to know where you’re starting from or you’ll never get anywhere. So my vague, hopeful pace was around 8:40. WELL. It turns out that was a GREAT pace… for two miles. I tried to find that 5k pace where it’s painful, yet sustainable but when I started the third mile I started to feel awful. I seriously wanted to stop. I had to remind myself that it was a 5k- if I were running a live race would I really want to DNF a 5k? Or walk it in? I knew I slowed down, but forced myself to keep pushing as much as I could. I didn’t allow myself to check my pace, because I was afraid I would be so discouraged (I felt like it must be around 9:30 at that point) that I would just stop. I just kept pushing to the next telephone pole, then the next, and then next… and finally my watch beeped 3.1. I still wasn’t ready to look at the time- I just turned it off, and when I stopped wheezing I ran a slow cool down mile. The pace for my cool down was 11:42- that’s how wasted I was. When I got home I finally screwed up my courage and checked my pace. The first thing I saw was my average pace- 8:47. NO. WAY. How could my average pace be 8:47 when my last mile was so slow? Then I checked my splits- first mile 8:37 (excellent.) Second mile 8:49 (hey! I didn’t know I slowed down there) and third mile… 8:55. Really??? I though it was much, much slower. Now I’m kind of mad I didn’t check my watch during that last mile- instead of discouraging me, it might have encouraged me to speed up a little. Physically I was exhausted, but our minds are so powerful. My takeaway from this was: NEVER, EVER, GIVE UP. Sure- 8:47 isn’t what I set out to do, and it’s slower than my usual coming-back-from-injury pace, but I was so close to stopping in that last mile. At the end of the day, 8:47 is something to feel good about- quitting before the end would have felt terrible. And hey, the first two numbers are right- let’s just say I ran 8:4x and call it a day, ha ha. This time trial got me really excited to race again! Where else can you experience exhilaration, dejection, redemption, and learn great life lessons, all in the course of half an hour? I’m going to do some speed work and sign up for a July 4th 5k. And this time I won’t spend the evening before at World of Beer- that might help. Did you race this weekend? Do you have one coming up? Have you ever given up during a race and regretted it?