Recovery Week

 Week-beginning Thoughts:

Calves are soooo sore. 

I think I'm gonna go back to focusing on my nutrition and strength for awhile. Maybe I'll do the whole LIFT4 program again (8 weeks). Maybe I'll just go through a week or two. Maybe I'll just do today's workout and then focus on something else... 

Monday

Did: 2mi lunch walk

Calves = sooooo sore. Did lunch walk and felt nice. Planned on going home and doing LIFT4, but didn't think my legs could take it. 

Tuesday

Did: 5mi run/walk

Strapped my calves into compression socks and went out for a 10KTuesday walk/run this morning. Legs are soooo sore. Got a little jogging in, but wasn't comfortable doing much more than that. Finished the 10K with another walk at lunch. 

Again, my motivation to get lifting is tied to how my legs feel... Guess I'm not as into returning to lifting as I thought this week. :P 

Wednesday

Did: LIIFT4 W1D1

Enjoyed a little bit of lifting this morning. I think I'm going to try to re-commit to this program, and actually use the right (read: heaviest I can handle with good form) weights this time, instead of doing what feels comfortable. Not sure if I'm interested in doing nutrition too, but at least this gives me something to focus on since I'm struggling to run due to my calves this week.

Thursday

Did: LIIFT4 W1D2, 5Kish double stroller walk (with a little run thrown in)

Lifted in the AM. We lost power before I could start, but I was able to get the exercises (all lifting, no HIIT today) off a website and make it happen. Took the kids out in the afternoon for a walk, but ended up running a little (like, about two minutes) towards the end due to kid needs. My ankles and feet felt really wonky, but I blame running in non-running shoes for that. 

Friday

Did: LIIFT 4 W1D3

I want to run. :( My right calf still has a little bit of a sore/tender patch (only noticeable when I push on it), though, so I'll wait... 

Saturday

Did: 3.74mi stroller run @ 8:56/mi avg, 1.25mi stroller walk , plus 2mi of trick-or-treating :) 

Went out for an easy walk/run this morning, part of which I joined up with a friend running his first full and walked alongside him. Calves felt fine, so I guess this means I can kind of go back to easy running. 

Road Runner and Coyote :D

Sunday

Did: 4mi stroller run, LIIFT4 W1D4

Enjoyed finishing out my first week back at LIIFT4 with leg day. Oof. Then headed out to the river with the single stroller for a nice easy run. I'm confident that my legs are healed up after last weekend's beating and looking forward to committing to another week of easy running combined with the second week of LIIFT4. 

Total Weekly Mileage: 10.9... that's... odd. (but, bonus: I hit 1400mi for the year!)

Week-ending Thoughts:

• I've kind of tried to do nutrition along with LIIFT4. It's haaaaaard to eat less carbs and more vegetables. I'm finally good on fruits and protein, though, in my default eating habits. 
• I'm really enjoying weight lifting again and feeling strong. 
• I'm not ready to launch into another running training plan yet, but think I'll try to at least do a tempo run this week with my easy mileage, and look at making that a regular thing for myself. 
• I do want to do the miler method plan again and try for that elusive sub-6... just not quite yet

Miler Method #4: Week 7/6

Week-beginning Thoughts:

..and so begins week 7 of my 6-week plan. Our coaches said we should expect to maintain the fitness we'd built over training cycle for another few weeks, and encouraged us to give the mile test another go if we felt like it. Considering I don't feel like I even really tried yesterday (omg, was it really just yesterday?), I'm definitely setting my sights on another trial this coming weekend. 

I'm hoping for better weather (last weekend wasn't awful, but we did have notable wind), but I'll focus on what I can control, including:

-maintaining my focus and enthusiasm for the mile throughout the week

-maaaaybe not having bourbon, taco shells, and poptarts the night before

-considering doing some 200s to lock in on my 90s/400m goal pace

Monday

Did: 2.46mi run @ 9:38/mi avg, 15min lifting

Up sans alarm around 4am, and decided to take advantage of the opportunity for some nice, easy miles. Stuck with 2.5ish just to shake out legs from yesterday, then did a little chest/back weight-lifting. 

Other random comments from today:

1) it's super weird to be driving down the road at 7am with kids and realizing I ran this same stretch THREE HOURS AGO

2) I'm constantly starving at work... uggghhhh, this is so bad for focus 

Tuesday

Did: Strength circuit, Core cirtcuit, 10KTuesday @ 9:28/mi avg, 2mi lunch walk

Got up at 3:30am thanks to the cats pawing around in their litter box (seriously, are they looking for buried treasure, or what?) and meowing. Pretty sure they're going to be locked in the basement overnight soon... 

Felt strong and got some strength and core work in before today's run with friends.

Wednesday

Did: 14min WU @ 9:45/mi avg, 5min tempo @ 7:00ish, 3min recovery, 4x200m/200m (44.6, 47.4, 44, 45.6), 10min CD @ 9:50/mi avg = 4.41mi @ 9:16/mi avg

I wanted a lower-effort workout this week, but still craved some way of feeling like I was preparing for the mile. Soooo, I opted for a shorter-than-usual "tempo" as a more intense warm-up, and then a few 200s, trying to lock in on my 6:00 pace. 

The tempo felt nice, despite some of the wind (I swear, it looks like no matter what, we'll be dealing with wind during the next trial... might as well get used to it). It feels like forever since I had tempo, even though it was only 7 days ago. 

For the 200s, I opted against having anyone call splits for me, deciding instead to glance at my watch at the 100m mark and see how close I was to the 22.5 I ought to have. 

#1: 20s 100m, 44.6s 200m

I was too fast off the line this time, and still a bit fast at the 200m, considering it probably takes me +/-1s to lap my watch. 

#2: 23s 100m, 47.4s 200m

I was very intentional about slowing this one down, but it looks like I went a bit too far... 

#3: 21s 100m, 44s 200m

Still a little fast, but much improved. This one still felt too easy to be going "that fast". Guess it's good to learn how I'm supposed to feel off the line, though... 

I'd originally only planned on 3x200, but wanted another go to prove to myself that I actually could lock in on the 6:00 pace.

#4: 22s 100m, 45.6s 200m

Alriiiiiiiight. 

Thursday

Did: 30min yoga, mile walk

Enjoyed some Yin Yoga this morning... until the meditation part was interrupted with baby crying. Finished the day with a short stroller walk through the neighborhood.

Friday

Did: 2mi treadmill run @ 9:36/mi avg

After a great night of sleep, I got up a little after 5 with the littlest, and ended up setting him up in the basement to eat breakfast next to the treadmill while I ran. I had a few hop on/hop off moments to fetch thrown food, toys, etc., but it ended up being a good way to combine:

-sleeping "in"

-taking early morning parental duties off of my husband's plate for a day

-still getting my run in

I felt really strong on the 'mill this morning. I wasn't going fast, but I'm finally feeling the way I know I "should" during a taper: I've got this churning ball of energy inside me, just humming along, waiting to be unleashed. :D

Saturday

Did: Mile Trial (Take 2), 4.27mi @ 8:37/mi avg

WU, strides, crash-and-buuuuurn mile, jog/walk, 400m @ 95s, hang out, call splits for teammate, 200m @ fast, then CD

Sunday

Did: 10.07mi @ 9:12/mi avg

The worst part of these last two weeks has been not getting my long runs (because I had to taper). So, I got that in this morning, with my teammate, at our usual 4:30am. We did a hilly route, with some drizzle, and still wound up with one of my fastest 10mi times this year. 

I'm both pleased and angered by this. If I could run this fast today, clearly I had it in me to hit 6:00 yesterday. :P 

Total Weekly Mileage: 29.6

Week-ending Thoughts:

Meh. Didn't get it again... 

Recovery Week

Week-beginning Thoughts:

It is REALLY, REALLY nice to sleep in. I have so much time if I don't run in the morning. I can sleep. I can do yoga. I can curl up in my reading nook with a book and a warm cup of coffee. I can sprawl out on my couch, ALONE. I can calmly make breakfast. I can DO WHATEVER I WANT. 

Also, my legs are definitely tired and sore. I should have gotten up and done yoga this morning instead of going back to sleep... but sleep was nice. :) 

I need to figure out what I'm doing this week. Part of me had wanted to take a week "off" from running (and by "off", I mean maaaaybe 20mi/week). But, we're super close to finishing the Great American 5000 relay, and are kind of "racing" another team... so that means mileage. 

My next Miler Method camp starts on September 7, three weeks. I think I'm going to try to get back to 25-30mpw of easy running in combination with a lifting/yoga program to prime myself. Decisions, decisions... 

Monday

Did: 2.11mi walk, yoga
Didn't get up in time for much yoga, but did opt into a lunch walk with my husband. My left calf (not the one from Saturday's incident) is a little sore today, but I'm otherwise feeling alright. 

Got yoga in post-dinner, felt super relaxed... and then had to snap back to reality rather abruptly. Ugh. 

Tuesday

Did: 30min yoga, 10KTuesday in 3.5mi@ 10:04/mi avg + 3.11mi @ 9:16/mi avg

Opted out of meeting up with anyone today in favor of: 1) sleeping in and 2) letting my calf rest a bit more. I got up around 5 and fit in a nice yoga session solo. That was really nice. Plus, I got to enjoy the post-yoga zen for a bit before the fam woke up. Ohhhhhmmmm. 

Wasn't sure I was going to run today, but my calf felt good, and the weather was PERFECT (like, cool enough that I wore a shirt, which was so weird). I did a 5K after kiddo drop-off, and then another one pre-dinner. Feeling good. 

Wednesday

Did: 30min yoga, 2mi walk, 2mi treadmill walk, 5K @ 8:17/mi avg, 1mi treadmill walk/run 

What a day. Another morning of sleeping in until 4:30am (BLISS), followed by yoga, and a post-drop-off walk before starting my work day. 

...and then my husband sounded the alarm. 

Our virtual cross-country relay team was in an intense race to the finish (for 11th place in our division... lol). We'd started the day 40mi ahead, but the other team was rapidly gaining. 

"20 miles to the finish line, we are up by ONE mile. This is gonna end today, on thing that's left is who's first," he posted in our team forum.

For the next hour, I had the most fun I've had this entire quarantine. Our team had a flurry of messages back and forth, with each of us trying to figure out how we could maximize our contributions for the rest of the day. The adrenaline was pumping, and the team spirit was exilierating. We had about half the team drop what they were doing and go run RIGHT THEN, updating each other on how many miles we planned to do, and locking them into the databse as soon as they were complete. I took a late lunch and busted out a faster-than-usual 5K run, feeling SO energized, like I was actually running a real relay race to the finish, with/for my team. It was awesome.

The flurry of messages seemed to indicate that, once my husband finished his 5, we'd be done. I drew a quick finish line on our street for him to cross, and grabbed our trusty cowbell to cheer him in.

...and then I looked at the tracking site. 

We'd been counting down miles to the next waypoint, i.e. the New York state line, NOT the actual finish line, which was about 25mi further.

...well, I feel a bit silly. 

So, we all had a great laugh about how we just exerted a ton of effort for... nothing. Haha.

...but then we re-doubled our efforts as a team later in the evening, with our guys carrying us through to the finish, running and walking until the wee hours of the night (well, 10pm-- that's late for us). 

We proudly finished 115th overall, and solidifed our 11th place division finish (pretty sweet since we were in the 12-person team division, but only had 9 on ours). 

Thursday

Did: 30min yoga, 30min strength training (21 Day Fix Extreme: Upper Fix Extreme), 4mi @ 9:03/mi avg

I am loving this sleep in + yoga week. :D Also treated myself to a weight lifting session over lunch, as a reward for staying so focused at work this morning. Weeee. 

Finished off the day with an easy 4mi (that was surprisingly fast) and celebratory Zoom call with Team Pink Elephants on Parade.

Friday

Did: 30min yoga, 1mi walk

Another morning of yoga, followed by a full day of work... then around the park with the kids.

Saturday

Did: 13.11mi @ 10:07/mi avg with the double stroller

I was solo with the kids today while my husband took some time off. When I asked my kids how far they wanted to run, and the older one said, "A HALF MARATHON", I didn't give it a second thought. I mean, I've been running 10mi every weekend without any issues since, like, March. What's another 5K? 

With a double stroller? A LOT. 

I haven't run more than about a 5K with the double for awhile, since my husband pushes the kids whenever we run as a family as a "pace equalizer". Today was a looooong run without him. We stayed entertained with singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "C is for Cookie", making up stories about a dinosaur and his family vacation across the Pacific Ocean, up to Russia, and up to the North Pole to search for Santa Claus. 

Had some calf issues during the run-- little sore spots that always went away within a tenth of a mile, but were still noticeable. Biggest "issue", though was the soreness I had in my wrists throughout the afternoon and evening post-run. I guess pushing 110+ pounds of stroller+stuff+kid is demanding.

Sunday

Did: 4mi hike

Opted for a family hike today instead of our normal Sunday Runday. This was a nice change of pace. 

Total Weekly Mileage: 26.9 (and I feel like such a slacker... lol)

Week-ending Thoughts:

• Starting my days with yoga and sleeping in has been really nice this week. I'm glad I gave myself the week "off" from morning runs. I missed them for sure, but it was a nice temporary change of pace
• I think I'm going to try to do 14 days of "21 Day Fix" from Beachbody over the next two weeks (until Miler Method starts back up). That'll give me something active to do each day, but also be more strength-training than cardio. I'll also try to get back on that container nutrition plan, since it worked out really well for how I felt before. 

Recovery Week?

Week-beginning Thoughts:
I am still riding the high from this weekend's mile PR. Man, that's a GREAT feeling.

I've already got my next few endeavors planned:

1) Do another round of Miler Method, actually enrolled in the Boot Camp this time, with my teammate beginning September 7. Goal: 6:00 or better

2) Between now and then, do 10 days of 10mi, with that same teammate. Another teammate of ours did that challenge this month and "it seemed fun". 

3) Focus on my core. Do 10min of ab work at least 6/7 days each week.

Monday

Did: 2mi run @ 9:27/mi avg, 10min HardCORE

This morning felt too peaceful and nice outside to miss out on a run, so I got in two short miles around an outdoor mall area that I haven't been to since pre-pandemic times. It felt nice to be somewhere "real", even if there weren't any people around. 

Kicked off my self-driven abs challenge with a short Beachbody workout after the kids were in bed. Especially when I'm working from home, I feel like I shouldn't have any excuses not to execute a ten minute workout.

Sidenote: ten minutes of ab work is no joke. Either that, or my core is super weak :P 

Tuesday

Did: 10KTuesday @ 10:10/mi avg, 10min Trainer Abs

I felt like something different this morning, so I ran down a big hill (and then ran up it) for 10KTuesday. It felt nice to go out and just "enjoy the run". 

Then hit up Tony Horton's 10 Minute Trainer for an ab workout. Again, it's "only ten minutes", but that's a SOLID ten minutes. I was already wondering when I'd be done two minutes into it :P Guess that means this'll be good for me, eh? 

Wednesday

Did: 9.17mi double stroller run @ 10:24/mi avg, 10min abs

Kid has been asking to run to school for the longest time. Since I was off work today, I decided to make it happen. We ran with the double up hills so steep I had to walk them, but I had a couple happy campers when we arrived at school. The great thing about pushing a double stroller full of child on the way TO school was that the back half of the run, pushing a double stroller empty, felt a ton easier, despite the hills. 

Also did an ab video that CRACKED ME UP, because the trainer reminded me of 

Thursday

Did: 3.03mi run @ 9:32/mi avg, 10min abs

Family run this morning ended juuuuuust before a torrential downpour. 

Friday

Did: 4.12mi run @ 10:00/mi avg, 2.63mi stroller walk, 10min abs

Got up and ran solo before the sun this morning, then followed that up with a stroller walk and ab work later in the day.

Saturday

Did: 10.11mi family run @ 9:55/mi avg

Enjoyed a cool(er) run with the family this morning along the greenway. Good thing I got the run in, too, because today had ten kinds of stress afterwards, not the least of which was a f l a t tire in the parking lot of Total Wine while I was doing a curbside pickup (yay, they have these now!) with my older kiddo in the car. NOT the day to be wearing a dress out and about... especially when trying to change a flat. UGH. 

the "You Got This" sign along the greenway always makes me smile

Had some soreness in my right central arch in the evening-- not sure what that's all about. 

Sunday

Did: 5.33mi run @ 9:49/mi avg, 10min Hard Corps Core 2

Broke up this family run with about 2mi out, 1/2mi running with the oldest, and 2mi back. Arch felt fine during. Got my abs in pre-run.

Total Weekly Mileage: 40.1

Week-ending Thoughts:

• PEOP is about halfway through Illinois on our Virtual Relay Across America. It's been fun to have that to "check in on" throughout these months of pandemic life. I mean, y'all, it is AUGUST. 
• It's super fun to share running with my family, and I'm both saddened by the thought of my oldest phasing out of stroller runs but excited by the idea of running alongside him biking or even running with me soon
• I can't believe I PRed last weekend. Time goes by so slowly, but so quickly at the same time.
• This "abs challenge" thing I'm doing is harder than I thought. My right side core is definitely weaker (I notice it a LOT in side plank hip drops), so it'll be fun to build up over the next few weeks. Even just ten minutes a day is SO LONG. I'm struggling to keep the energy level up for that long, but know it'll be rewarding to see the progress each week. 

Miler Method: Week 4/6

Week-beginning Thoughts:
I had a slight pain in my left calf while out in my backyard with my kid yesterday, and it's got me a little worried about how this week'll go... 

Monday

Did: T25 workout, 2.3mi of treadmill desk walking
Opted for a quick Beachbody workout this morning instead of a run to let my calf do whatever it needed to do. Wore compression sleeves all day. Felt a slight pinch in my calf during some of the jumping exercises, and stopped those immediately. 

Tuesday

Did: WU, 4x45s hill repeats, 4x60s hill repeats, CD = 6.22mi @ 9:59/mi avg, Chalene Extreme workout

I didn't sleep well last night. Went to bed around 8:15, but woke up at 9pm and 10pm on my own. Then baby was up at 11:20pm... and didn't go back down until almost 1:30am. Ugggghhhh. I'm proud of myself, though, for the way I handled it. Got myself back to sleep by 2am, dismissed my 4:30am alarm, and woke up at 5:40am.

OK, I can still make my run happen and get the kids out of the house around 7am.

...but then the baby was up again... and the older one was even up. WHYYYYYYYY.

Maybe I'll just run later? 

...but then I have to cross busy roads and run up/down a hill with a lot of traffic. Not a good plan.

OK, so maybe I can at least get the workout in with minimal WU/CD.

Yeah, let's do that.

So, I set off and super husband manned both kids to enable my morning meditation time on the road.

I was a little worried about my calf, but felt nothing throughout the warm-up. I took the 45s hills a bit easier than I had last week, and struggled through the 60s ones (my watch workout got set up wrong), but made it happen. 

...and even had enough time to finish out the 10K, shower, and be back at my desk before 8am. 

...and then drank a whole carafe of coffee over the next three hours. 

Wednesday

Did: 3.3mi @ 9:55/mi avg

Scouted some places for tomorrow's time trial, easy running. 

Thursday

Did: 800m Time Trial

Friday

Did: 5.05mi @ 9:41/mi avg

Oooh, yeah, my legs can tell I pushed them hard yesterday. I was planning for an easy 3 this morning, but saw "5-7mi recovery run" on my plan. Guess I'm running 5mi today...

Got up at 4 with the baby, then worked for a couple hours, dropped kids at school, and hit the greenway for my mileage, telling myself: 

It doesn't have to be fast. Just enjoy being outside. This is a recovery run. 

Slow, steady, and enjoyable it was. Best part: I came back to an ice-cold protein coffee shake in my car, courtesy of freezing some coffee into ice cubes the night before. Winning! 

Saturday

Did: 12.05mi @ 9:55/mi avg, Big 5

Nice, easy run with the family along our local greenway. 

Sunday

Did: 15min WU, 16min tempo (2.01mi @  7:58mi), 15min CD = 5.03mi with double stroller @ 9:09/mi avg
and 1.7mi run/walk with double stroller @ 10+mi/hr

and 2.5mi run/walk alongside older kid biking @ 14:19/mi avg

= 9.24mi total @ 10:57/mi avg

Uggggh. Today was a struggle. We stayed up late (~9:30pm) last night to do a pretend mountain vacation for my oldest, catching lightening bugs and making smores. I passed out while I was waiting for him to put on pajamas post-shower, and my husband had to take over... Oops. 

Then baby got up at 12:30am, and stayed up until 2am. I finally got back to sleep around 2:30am... and promptly slept until... wait for it... 8am. 

OMG, I haven't slept that late in forever. It felt like I'd wasted the entire day. Uggggh.

...and then I had to run tempo with the double at the river... later than I wanted, which meant lots of people (obstacles) to dodge while pushing the pace. 

Warm-up was slooooooow (like 10:30/mi). I really thought the tempo was going to be close to 9-9:30, but, surprisingly, I was able to drop it to around 8:00. Yessss.

...but, man, I really needed that cool-down. I took it super easy, and then let the older one out of the stroller for his own "run" at the end. That ended up only lasting about a half mile before he had to go to the bathroom... which meant I went from a walk to another pseudo tempo run to get him home in time. 

...and then we finished the afternoon with my oldest's first bike ride along the greenway. I knew I'd be running alongside him, but I never thought I'd see 6.8mph on my watch while doing it. OOF.

Lots of stops/starts and sprints/slows, but we made it 2.5mi. SO PROUD.

...and now for some serious re-fueling.

Total Weekly Mileage: 40.1mi

Week-ending Thoughts:

• Woooo, another 40mi week (I mean, there was some walk/run in there, but still)
• It's amazing to be able to share fitness and outside recreation with my kids
• I'm still feeling the time trial from Thursday in my legs, but really proud that I was able to run another 26mi in the three days following it 
• Pink Elephants on Parade is still trekking across the country. We're currently 131mi from the Nebraska border :D 

Track us here: http://trackleaders.com/greatamerican20i.php?name=Pink_Elephants_on_Parade

Follow us on Ista: https://www.instagram.com/pinkelephantsonparade_relay/