Postpartum: Week 5

Week-beginning Thoughts:

• well, my Achilles seems 90% healed, but now I've got this small tight spot in my left calf that acts up about a mile into my runs... 

Monday

Did: Stroller Strides class

Fun family class with my husband (and two kiddos in the double)

Tuesday

Did: 6.23mi @ 10:06/mi avg, Big 5, 2x3.5mi double stroller walk

Run felt way harder than it should have for that pace, but I got through it. Added in stretching (calf has been a little tight) and two daycare walks. 

Wednesday

Did: 3.5mi double stroller walk, 3.5mi walk

Was supposed to go hiking today, but ended up just doing a few walks instead. 

Thursday

Did: 2.29mi double stroller run, Stroller Strides class, 3.25mi double stroller walk

Ran/walked to daycare in the morning, Stroller Strides with weights, and then a leisurely walk to pickup oldest one from daycare later in the day. 

jump squats with a wall press

Friday

Did: 2.03mi stroller run @ 9:52/mi avg, Stroller Strides class, 1mi stroller walk

Stroller Strides with resistance bands, and then met a teammate for a stroller run/walk

SquishLife

Saturday

Did: 3.17mi stroller run @ 9:15/mi avg, Big 5

Now, we're talking! THIS is the pace I've been hoping to see, and, oddly enough, I don't know where it came from today. I went to bed around 8:30pm, was up from 11:30pm-1am, and then again from 3:30am-4:00am with the munchkin, and finally up for the day at 5am due to volunteering at our chorus garage sale. So, by the time I got home and ready to run, it was nearly noon, in Atlanta, in early September, and a disgusting high-80s temperature with full sun. OOF.

I ended up on the greenway with my oldest, ran comfortably, and clocked a fantastic pace! :D No Achilles trouble (it was taped), but I had a little issue with my left calf, though it was higher than it had been yesterday. Guess it'll just have to work itself out. 

Sunday

Did: 4.01mi stroller run @ 9:20/mi avg, Big 5

A glorious sunrise run with my potato at the river. Today felt harder than an easy run, but nowhere near a tempo pace. I had a lot of times where I wanted to just cut my run short, but kept going since I was using it to teach the potato about math (2 out + 2 back = 4mi total). Pace was a little faster than I expected, which was nice. Achilles was symptom-free (though taped), but my calf tightened a little on me late in mile 3 (though higher than before). I was diligent about stretching post-run, and think I'm starting to get some recovery... 

Total Weekly Mileage: 17.73mi run + walking 

Week-ending Thoughts:

• It's really weird not running much. I'm glad that I've got Stroller Strides in the meantime to keep my fitness up, though, and give me some new things to build different muscles. It's a nice workout that I can do as hard or as easy as I want on any given day. 
• Achilles is improved, but still "there". I've actually been running in normal-ish shoes (as opposed to my VFFs) to test that out, and it's been fine. I'm not super concerned, but still irked that it doesn't seem to be completely resolved after two months. I barely feel it unless I'm actually pushing on the spot, though, so that's good?
• Left calf tightens up a little during runs, but the spot of tightness moves around, so I'm not worried. Probably due to all the weird/new exercises I'm doing at Stroller Strides. 
• Maternity Leave Life rocks. I'm basically just working out all day long between walking kiddos to/from daycare, Stroller Strides, and whatever runs I do.