Rebuilding: Week 1

Monday
Planned: bootcamp
Did: bootcamp

Plus 2x through:
10 chest-to-ground burpees
20 elbow-to-knee sit-ups
1 fence run 

No hamstring, calf, or toe issues. Made the mistake of going out without pants for my first fence run (31 degrees), and did NOT repeat that error on the second time through.

Had some time to myself tonight and wound down from the day with a 20min yoga YouTube video. 



Tuesday
Planned: 10KTuesday, maybe some miles at ATC meeting
Did: 6.28 @ 9:38/mi avg , Big 5 + 2.14 @ 8:16/mi, partial Big-5 (didn't use timer, but went through all stretches)
These 10K runs are tough. By mile 1, I'm already thinking "just get through next mile". No toe issues at all (pretty sure it was nail-related), and only some slight hamstring stuff. Should probably get back to pointed stretching/PT exercises to keep that at bay...

We stopped twice on the run: once at the halfway point, and once for a street crossing. After just a short break each time, I felt renewed and able to go for another half mile before feeling "blergh" again. I'm taking this to mean that my cardio is the limiting factor. I'm not surprised by this. While I cross-trained a bit through the PF tear, I rarely felt like I had any extended cardio workouts. I couldn't get my HR up high enough on the bike, and struggled too much in the water to have a consistent cardio workout. This too, will come back in time.

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This evening brought a wonderful treat: a trip to the track club for annual business meeting/town hall. This year, they advertised a "group run" of sorts, which ended up being more of a "run-on-your-own-but-other-people-will-show-up-too" sort of thing, but was perfect. I got to see some of my RL friends that I haven't seen in far too long, acquaint myself with other members, and recapture the feeling of being part of the track club. Oh, and, hello speed. I don't know if it was the weather, the flat terrain, the desire to get away from some of the funky smells, or the sheer excitement of being "back", but I FLEW on my loops. Feeling good. :) 

Wednesday
Planned: rest
Did: 3.62mi @ 9:47/mi w/stroller
Sunday weather does NOT look promising for a stroller run, so I opted to run today rather than risk losing the weekly miles. Had a soreish right calf (probably from going faster than usual last night), but just a "you pushed hard" sore, not a "uh-oh" sore. Oddly enough, on the run, it was my hamstring that felt more sore than anything else. I tried to keep this as much of a recovery run as possible, but it was hard to do when I had the little one with me saying "No walking, Mommy!  Wanna go faaaaaaaast". We were running. :P 

Sadly, my parental duties distracted me from stretching post-run. It just completely slipped my mind. Guess it's not quite a habit yet... :P 


Thursday
Planned: bootcamp
Did: 30min weights
Sick spouse = morning kid duty = no bootcamp ('cause I wouldn't be home in time to get the munchkin). I really wanted to say "oh well" and just stay in bed, but I'm on a new fitness kick for the month of January (trying to drop some extra weight, which means strict diet and a commitment to strength training). I convinced myself to get out of bed and go lift anyways, because "you're already 1/3 of the way through, no sense in stopping now". 

Made my own "board", and used it loosely. Ended up with everything on the board, plus some tricep kickbacks, various straight arm lifts, and, because I'd forgotten about them last night, ended with the Big 5 stretches. 

Friday
Planned: 3mi + bootcamp
Did: 3.11mi @ 9:13/mi, Big 5, bootcamp
Wooo, first 4:05am alarm in awhile! It felt good... until 11:30am rolled around at work and I was like, "um, what do you mean it's still MORNING?" :P

I'm back to comfortably running a 5K distance (especially in 60 degrees with light rain), which feels good. It was hard to finish up the run and know I was going right into bootcamp, though. I was glad to have a 15min buffer to change out of wet, sweaty clothes and into dry, soon-to-be-sweaty clothes, do my Big 5, and chill until class began. 

I'll confess that I did not give this workout my all. I had more of an interest in chatting while casually working out today than pushing myself, but I'm sure I got more out of coming to class and half---ing it than I would have from another at-home workout. 

Saturday
Planned: 6-7mi
Did: 7.21mi @ 9:43/mi avg against 20mph headwinds, Big 5
When I hear the wind howling at 4:30am and know I'm about to run longer than I have in 4mo outside in THAT, I am so grateful for my teammates. Uncomfortable runs in less-than-ideal weather are so easy to bail on when it's just you that you're bailing on, but the thought of skipping on seeing my teammates is never even in my head. :)

Great, dark, COLD, and WINDY run with B&B this morning. I had zero leg problems. Around miles 2-3, I had a hard time with the idea that I had 4+ more miles to go. If I'd been able to bail without any difficult, I totally would have... but we were 3mi away from the cars and I had friends who had 4+ more miles to run, so I kept going. 

I was rewarded nicely for it. At mi 6.5, I felt like I could have gone another 3-4mi. :) The comeback continues!


Sunday
Planned: 3-4mi with stroller
Did: rest day :)
Almost thought about joining a friend for a run this morning... but remembered I haven't had a rest day all week! 


Planned Total Mileage: 18.22-20.22
Actual Total Mileage: 22.78mi (yassssssssss)

Week-end Reflections
I feel really good about this week. I feel strong and capable again. It's hard to believe that I've been back for only a few weeks. Injuries are funny like that; when you're IN them, you hate everything and think you'll "never run again", but then you come back and it's like "oh, yeah, I took some time off... but I barely remember it now". :P

I'm also kicking butt with this diet overhaul (stop eating processed stuff) thing. Tracking calories and weighing foods again is a lot of work, but I've done it before and have all the "systems" and "tools" already at my disposal. Plus, I know that once I do it for awhile, I'll remember what healthy portions look like and can stop being so meticulous. 

The hardest thing has just been maintaining the willpower to keep with it, especially when I just want a quick lunch and have to choose between putting 5-10min worth of effort into preparing something healthy or nuking a can of chili/grabbing some frozen chicken nuggets from the freezer (yes, that would require less work because I'd just eat them frozen). Keeping a food diary is holding me accountable for my choices, though, and I'm glad I know what works for me. 

I'm committing to follow through on it for at least the month of January. I want to give myself time to overcome all the obstacles that come with making a change so that I can really evaluate if I'm getting what I want from the diet and want to continue instead of just saying "ehhhh, this is hard" and quitting. 

Plus, it's not like I'm going to get what I want (losing weight/body fat-- mostly motivated by wanting to be faster, but sliiiightly motivated by vanity) in just a couple weeks. This is the sort of thing that requires a long-term commitment. I've already done one of these "overhaul" things in my life. I can do another one. 

life before running, when I used to eat a whole box of Nutrigrain bars in a single sitting and think it was okay because "they're healthy" :P