Travel Week, CO Race

Monday

bootcamp
Today was "full body day", and was the most satisfying class so far. Not only did we have more variations in exercises, but there was also a second instructor, who was a much better personality fit for me. If he were going to be leading the morning classes, would probably stick around. Unfortunately, he's only doing evening classes...

Today's class had three major strikes against it:
1) It started late (and ran late) I am a total stickler for punctuality. This is non-negotiable for me, especially when I have something to do immediately afterwards. 
2) I was encouraged to use a weight that I felt was too heavy for me to keep form with... again. This is a safety concern in my mind. 
3) One participant wasn't moving between exercises and we were all made to do extra jumping jacks as punishment. I dislike group consequences for individual actions, and am NOT motivated by someone telling me I'm not making my workout count.

...and, with that, we've decided not to return. 


Tuesday
Scheduled: 6-8mi recovery run
Did: 3.26 @ 8:46/mi + 3.17 @ 8:48/mi = 10KTuesday

I came home from work yesterday feeling sick, and opted to sleep in this morning, rather than pushing myself to wake up at the usual 4:30 for our group 10KTuesday run. That was a good call, since I felt nauseous and congested off and on all morning. By lunch, I was feeling about 85%. Since I had an appointment about a 5K away from the house (and was working from home), I decided to run there and back to knock out 10KTuesday.

The run was hot and sunny. I’m not used to running in almost 70 degrees in the sunshine. The only time that happens on a regular basis is during the latter half of longer training seasons’ Saturday LSD runs. Still, I knocked out a pretty awesome pace, and one that felt surprisingly comfortable. I’m always amazed by how much faster I seem to naturally run when I’ve been awake and moving around for a few hours versus rolling out of bed and landing in stride on the pavement.

Unfortunately, “doing it for the hashtag” was NOT the right call for my body. By 2pm, I felt completely blergh again, and had to miss chorus rehearsal.

Wednesday

Did: nada

Sick + long day at work. The only thing of note from today was that I think I may have twisted my ankle walking back from getting some takeout for lunch. :/

Thursday

Did: naga

Sick again, and definitely did something to my ankle yesterday. Today was the worst.

Friday

Did: nothing

I had hoped to do a quick run with B this morning before leaving for the weekend, but 1) being sick and 2) needing to get up at 5am to work for a few hours before departing scrapped those plans.

When we arrived in Denver, I felt even worse. Not only was I still sick with whatever has taken me down this week, but my head was pounding, appetite gone, and nausea intermittent thanks to altitude sickness.

Saturday

Did: skiing, 7mi walking

So much for our weekend ski trip getaway… I was in bad shape this morning and, thanks to Dr Google, was able to confidently self-diagnose altitude sickness. The worst thing for it, of course, would be going up any higher into the mountains (especially since the ski place we’d chosen was actually one of the highest ski resorts in the area).

We ended up having a good time, despite the initial disappointment. When I was finally able to get out of bed, we spent the day walking around the town, reuniting with some college friends who live in the area, and, of course, getting to bed early.

Sunday

Did: 0.32mi warm-up, 5K in 25:12, over 20K steps for the day

Jer and I have a life goal of running a race in every state. We’ve pretty much knocked out all the easily driveable states (Indiana and West Virginia are the closest ones unchecked right now), so, of course we had to do a race while we were in Colorado. I’d found a suuuuuuuuper small local race online that ended up being absolutely perfect.

Hola, Rocky Mountains!

I was pretty nervous going into this race. While I had zero ambitions for a solid finish time, I had three things that worried me:

1) my ankle- it hadn’t bothered me much yesterday, but I still noticed it a little and hadn’t tried to run at all…. Would it hold up?

2) I haven’t RUN at all since Tuesday. I could look back at my ultimate spreadsheet of ultimate running history, but I’m pretty certain this is the longest I’ve gone without running since I had my baby over a year ago?

3) Altitude. After being SO SICK on Friday, would my body even allow me to run at all up here? Would I get a half mile in and have to stop and walk?

All signs pointed to a “hey, if I can finish this thing under 30 min, that’ll be a success” kind of race.

Weather was cold, but comfortable. Jerry and I arrived a little after 8am (when bib pickup started) for a 9am race (11am our time, which was kind of weird), grabbed our bibs, and decided to walk part of the course to warm-up and scout it out a little. “Scouting” the course wasn’t for race strategy, though; it was to determine how snow/ice-covered it was and if I needed to be in my trail shoes. lol.

Race Start/Finish

The course was along a wide sidewalk through a park. While there was a little snow on the grass, I was pleased and surprised to see the entire path was cleared. Way to go, City of Denver (they really do have a HUGE active community)!

I wasn’t planning on warming up, but when Jerry took off to do so, I figured it couldn’t hurt to figure out if I was able to run BEFORE the gun went off. I did a little over a quarter mile. I had a bit of soreness in my ankle to start, but attributed that to not using it much this past week. It went away quickly, and I decided I would be able to run the race, just at whatever my body decided was an “easy pace” for today.

...but then the race started and I realized I was in position to get a top three overall finish, so I asked a liiiiiiiiiiiittle more of my body that I'd planned. 

The first half mile felt fine. I was clocking around a low-8, which should have been a comfortable pace for this sort of distance, except I was running a mile above sea level. My arms and legs felt cold, but I felt hot. It took me a minute to realize that was the oxygen deprivation manifesting. 

I ran the first mile or so with the woman who ended up taking third overall female. It was nice to have some "company", even though we didn't talk. At one point, the female leader stopped to tie her shoe and we both thought we might catch her, but she resumed her 7:45 pace just as we were coming upon her. Shortly after, there was a bit of a downhill, and I solidified my second place. 

Since the course was a simple out-and-back, I was able to see Jerry on his return trip. Probably the coolest thing about this race was the two of us flashing each other two fingers, and acknowledging that each of us was currently sitting second in our gender. :D

halfway U-turn 

The back half of the course was the hardest for me. I haven't had a race that was controlled by cardio in a really long time. Not only was this cardio-controlled, but it was also a different type of cardio. I had the systems in place to get my blood around my body, and they were well-trained, but not for the environment I was in. I could tell I was physically limited and that I didn't want to go any faster (or any further), but the "why" was a completely new sensation. 

Oh, look! Garmin actually has an appropriate elevation scale out here.

This was the first race where I've also actually checked back over my shoulder in the last 800m to see if I could hold position. I did NOT want to go any faster, but, if I'd seen another woman behind me, I would have tried to hold second place. Fortunately, third place wasn't even in view when I snuck a glance. 

Good thing, too. I had ZERO kick going into the finish line.
ZERO.

I was SO done when I crossed the finish line. Jerry tried to hug me and I pushed him away (second time this month that's happened at the finish line, lol), and then reached back out for him a few paces later for support.

sweet "podium" pics
fun fact: 3rd Male and 1st Female are also a married couple

Great picture for our states map :)
Also, race bling is definitely the BEST souvenir we could have brought home from our trip. 

Weeeee :D

Recovery Week

Monday
rest day
REST DAY IS THE BEST DAY. It felt amazing to go to bed on Sunday night and know that I didn't have to get up and do anything the next day. Instead, I slept in until 5:15 (yes, that's sleeping in when your normal alarms go off between 4:20 and 4:30), showered, and got to spend the morning with Jerry and baby boy (even dropped him off at daycare on my way to work!). 

While times like this show me how calm my mornings could be without running, the rest of the day reminded me of how much I need the stress relief and endorphin high of running. I went straight from daycare to traffic, to a busy day at work, to a stressful commute home, through a quick family dinner, and right off to quartet practice. At least tomorrow's 10KTuesday.


Tuesday
6.32 @ 9:21/mi
We had a "Galentines" run today since all the guys were elsewhere. First mile was slow, as usual, but then the pace dropped to about 9:00-9:10/mi for the back 5. Hamstring felt fine (still braced it as a security blanket, though), but may have had the brace too tight since I felt my outer IT and quad tighten a bit around mile 4. 


Wednesday

​bootcamp
The Groupon we'd been using for our bootcamp since December expired last week. While both Brandi and I loved the classes, we weren't sure we wanted to pay almost $100 a month (especially when we'd only be attending two classes a week) to continue. She heard about a bootcamp closer to my house offering a "30 days for 30 dollars" deal, so we figured it was worth a shot.

While I realize that all bootcamps are different and that expecting a workout like what we had at our first place is unrealistic, I can say without a doubt that this is NOT the strength training place for me. Today's workout was, essentially, 45 minutes of squats. I never felt respected or encouraged, only looked down on and found every single exercise presented in a very punitive way.

I'm beyond grateful that I'm not the girl I was ten years ago. I'm stronger now, and confident in myself. I was able to tell the instructor "no, I'm not doing that" when I felt like what I was being asked to do wasn't right for my body (and would compromise my ability to do speedwork the next day). I was also confident enough to know that I wasn't giving up because I was lazy or weak, but because doing 200 jump squats in two minutes is completely unrealistic, and doing them after 45 minutes of essentially nothing but actual squats, was a good recipe for injury.

We're going to try it again on Friday (arms/upper body day), but I'll be surprised if we actually attend more than four classes here...

Thursday
5.13 @ 9:33/mi avg
I wonder if I'm ever going to do a ladder workout... Today, B and I had plans to do one, but the track we normally use was totally locked up. Since it was clear we weren't welcome there, the four of us turned the day into an "easy" run... which really ended up being more of a progression (9:52/mi down to 9:17/mi) wandering around the surrounding sidewalks. Boo public schools not letting the public use their tracks...




Friday
bootcamp
We gave it another shot today, and faced more of the same. While we didn't have 45 minutes of "variations on a single exercise", we were, IMO, definitely set up for failure. Tricep kickbacks for women, especially when your target audience is women looking to GET in shape rather than stay in shape AND you have a ~two minute work period, should NOT have 10lb dumbbells as the lightest option. 

While this was better than Wednesday, I didn't leave feeling empowered, happy, or accomplished. 


Saturday
5.09 @ 9:00 with the stroller
Was hoping for 8+ today, but forecast of heavy showers kept me from committing to anything. Got up, wandered over to where BB&K were meeting up, and actually ended up connecting with B&B on the greenway :) We got in five easy miles (the last two of which were sub-9... WITH THE STROLLER) before the rain came. 

Run Run Run and Done

Sunday
10.00 @ 9:26/mi avg
Oh, hey there, double-digit mileage. Haven't seen you since THANKSGIVING. I realized on my run yesterday with B&B that, if I'm going to funrun the Publix half in a month, I need to at least have a single 10+ run in the month before it. So, I got over to the river early today, joined the SundayRunday crew for 6, and then finished up the last four with my running mamas crew. 

It was strange to be running a longer distance. I had to remind myself the night before to eat more than usual at dinner. This morning, I had to remember to bring a GU to have in-run and a bar to eat afterwards, since I'd be hanging out at the playground for about an hour before I could go home and refuel. All things you don't have to do when you're maxing out under 8mi a week. ;)

I was a little worried about how my body would handle ten miles, but it was totally fine. The group held me at a 9:00 pace for our first six, which actually felt good. Mentally, breaking the run into six + four was easier to handle than "TEN". The last four were a bit slower, but not because my body wasn't feel up for it, just a result of having kiddos along that required a few stops and starts to ensure no shoes were tossed over the boardwalk and into the river. 

I felt great after the run (refueled with French toast...mmm!), and remembered how wonderful I feel when half training. I do love these middle distance sort of miles, but it's also really nice to not HAVE to run them. 

Also, started with the brace on my ham, but took it off halfway through 'cause it was more of a bother than an assist. I think I'm healed :) 

Race Week

Monday
Scheduled: 3 w/4x150 accels (50 accelerate - 50 cruse - 50 close)
Did: 3 @ 9:16/mi avg, bootcamp, stretched at bootcamp and before bed
I haven't felt this good on a morning run in awhile. While I was still a bit worried about my ham (and wore my brace atop my capris), I felt like I could actually breathe today, and enjoyed a loose-feeling first 2.5mi, with B & B providing great company. 

I finished off with a series of 150m accelerations, which I'm sure I'm doing wrong because they're more like strides, but whatever. Felt good.

7:29, 7:21, 7:25, 7:22

I kept the brace on for bootcamp, but didn't really notice anything during the workout. I did, however, keep it super easy, avoiding intense speed or sharper movements that might jerk the muscle (touchdowns). At the end, I took some time to just sit and stretch it lightly too. I'm cautiously optimistic about this week...

Tuesday

Scheduled:10KTuesday

Did: 6.32 @ 9:18/mi avg, stretched post-run
Hamstring is doing "alright". I braced it again this morning and it's not as noticeable as it was Saturday, nor does it give me much pause in-run. I do still feel something there, though...  Run felt a little faster than what I wanted to be doing, but still completely manageable. 

Had a massage with Tony this afternoon. I need to stop scheduling these on my WFH days. I took two hours out of my day for a 30min massage with traffic in the rain... even though my appointment was at 2:15. :P While I had a bit of tenderness, it wasn't NEARLY as bad as what I'd had before Loco last December, and we both agreed that I can still race on it Saturday. I have a follow-up scheduled for Thursday, but may cancel based on how speedwork goes tomorrow night... 

Wednesday

Scheduled: 1.5WU, 8x300 (67s)/100, 1.5CD

Did: 1.3ish WU, 8x300ish/100ish, 2+ish CD, Big 5 post-run
I love being in a city, and I love running downtown. This evening's run was a fun opportunity to indulge my fantasy of working and living in a city. After work, I changed into my run clothes and did my warm-up down the street to the park. The training groups do their speedwork here on Wednesdays and, though they don't start until 6:30ish, I figured it would at least be nice to see a few familiar faces. 

tonight's track

I do not like speedwork at the oval. It's not a real track. I have to think about markers and start/stop points. Finding the 300m start/stop points was hard enough for me on a track that had it clearly marked. Andrew was able to give me some guidance, but the "purple tree" I was supposed to stop at didn't look the same from the track as it did from the steps. I definitely struggled figuring out where I was supposed to be starting/stopping. 

Splits were supposed to be 1:07 for the 300s, which was supposed to be ~0.186mi
My watch is usually over on track distance, but short on road distance, so I'll never know what distance I actually ran.

I hated this workout. I was a bit paranoid over my hamstring, even though I had the sleeve/brace thing on. Then, I went out WAY TOO FAST on my first one. Even if I was 0.01-0.02mi short on the distance, I wasn't anywhere close to a 67s split. My legs felt that repeat the entire rest of the workout. The 100 rest felt soooo short, and I was sure I was absolutely slugging them around a 12min/mi. I only let myself rest briefly at the halfway point to grab some Powerade and then went back to it. I thought about cutting out early, about only doing six. Or just cutting it right there at four and going home. I didn't really want to be out here doing this workout, but I wanted to have done the workout. 

The one thing I liked about the oval was that,because it's double the distance of a track, you commit to doing two repeats as soon as you start. So, when I was on #7 of 8, I could trick myself into saying "this is last time around the track". 

On lap 8, I felt something weird: my right quad (opposite the injured ham) tightened up. I was a little worried about it going into the cooldown, and figured I had my brace on too tight and jacked up my body's natural load path. After a bit of a stretch, I went out around the park for my cool-down, saw a few friendly faces, but never really felt recovered from that first interval. At least I've got a massage tomorrow... :P 

Thursday

Scheduled: rest

Did: massage, Big 5 

Oh goodness. My left hamstring and my right quad are so sore today (right ham was the problem muscle before). I did that first 300m way too fast. 

Massage went well. I feel a lot more confident about Saturday since we got to the point where it almost didn't feel like Tony was doing anything to my ham. :) Very glad I've gone this week.

Friday

Scheduled: 3 easy

Did: 3.11 @ 9:46/mi, stretch

I was really worried about this run, since it was 29 degrees and I've got this hamstring thing going on. It went fine, though. In fact, this run felt so easy that I don't even remember doing it... and it's 7:30am. 

Saturday

Scheduled: 2WU, 5K race, 2CD

Did: Hearts and Soles, 5th Place AG

Sunday

Scheduled: rest

Did: 2mi stroller run plus 1/2mi walk, 30min strength training
Did NOT feel like running this morning, but wanted a shakeout run. Did a super easy 2 @ 10:36/mi with the girls on the Silver Comet this morning before our usual brunch date. Hams and quads felt fine, but my right calf definitely got a good workout yesterday. I think I'll be taking tomorrow as a rest day... 

Oh, and I managed to force myself to do 30min of various weight-lifting to close out this week and stay on track for my NY resolution, too. 

Race Report: Hearts and Soles

Hearts and Soles 5K

Previous Distance PR: 23:33 (Lab Rescue 5K, 11/20/16)

Results: 22:48, 5th AG

Today was my first official race in the "Year of the 5K", and it did not suck. After five weeks (is that all?!?!) of actually being in-training, it was time to see what I could do. I've nailed every split asked of me throughout the training, only missed a single workout (due to illness), and logged 133 miles of training runs. All signs pointed to an amazing race... except for this nagging hamstring. 

#CTSO ("cross that shit off")

Day Before

When my coach texted me last night with her suggested tiered goals for me, my face looked like this:

'A' Goal (10% chance of making it) = 22:50

'B' Goal (50% chance) = 23:00

'C' Goal (90% chance) = PR

I thought about them for a moment, though, and agreed with all of them. 

Sidenote: it was really nice for someone else to be doing all the evaluation of past weeks' runs and decision making on what were reasonable goals for me. 



Pre-Run: 2mi warm-up @ 9:49/mi avg
B, B, and I met up at the training tents and did a few warm-up miles together. They were slow. I was cold. I was worried about my hamstring. I was worried about being too cold during the race once I took my layers off. I was worried about being too hot during the race if I didn't take my layers off. Just like Resolution, though, having friends to run around with gave me something to take my mind off of myself. 

We ran around the parking lots, and then down and up the major hill on the race course. Every time I've done this course, I've been pushing hard, and there's this hill from 2.5 up to m3 that always feels like a mountain. Well, when you're just running it as a warm-up, it's absolutely nothing. Like, I almost wondered if we were on the right road, because I literally didn't see any mountains. Guess that's perspective for ya, though... 

We made it back to the In-Training tent just in time for the choreographed dynamic warm-up. I haven't done this since I was a RL. Maybe I should start. >_>

I held Jerry's 8:00 pace group sign for a brief minute during this part of things, and remember saying, "whoa, I'm going to be running faster than this, the fastest group in training, for my race". 

"WOOOOOOOOO, RACE PACE!" he replied with a smile. 



Corrals
I lined up in Corral 'A' (7:30/mi or faster) for the first time ever (well, in a race longer than a mile). It felt bizarre to be up there, with the "fasts". Two years ago, I'd gaze with amazement on Corral A and think of how incredible it was that 75% of the people there (*cough*inaccurate-self-seeding*cough*) were actually going to run under a mid-7 pace the whole way. That was crazy fast. 

Now I'm crazy fast. 

Having friends around really helped. Of course, I had B, and knew that we'd be, more or less, running the whole way together. I also got to start with a handful of other ATC friends (more "fasts"!!!), including Jerry. He'd evidently decided to run with me. I gave him quick instructions on how to be an effective motivator for me during the race. He counted down the seconds until the gun. And then we were off.

green = elevation
grey = pace

Thoughts from Mile 1 (7:18)
Don't go out too fast. Stay easy. Weeeeeeeee, downhill! (galloped down and banked some time) 

Thoughts from Mile 2 (7:29)
Use your arms. Why didn't I get any water before the gun went off? Where's the turnaround? Grrr, why are you people slowing down around the turn... get out of my way.  

Thoughts from Mile 3 (7:22)
Maybe I should have taken Jerry up on that cup of water. Just get to the turn, then you'll be free to kick. Oof, where did this hill come from? Steady. Focus on your cadence. Keep breathing. Half a mile to go. Two loops on the track. Wait, Brandi's speeding up again. No, not yet. I don't want to go yet. I can't hold a kick that long. Ugh. I can't let her go NOW. Push, keep up with her. You're going to have to make it hurt earlier than you want to make it hurt... that's why it's called "making it hurt". 

Thoughts from the last 0.1 (5:15/mi, yes, that's accurate, even though I look like I'm walking in the photos)
Your coach is watching you. Make her proud. Use that kick. MAKE. IT. HURT. 

finish chute pics, courtesy of my coach :) 

I didn't really focus on my watch at all during the run. Sure, I glanced down from time to time, but I was pretty much just trying to keep pace with B, stay ahead of Jerry (I think my subconscious knew he was pacing us and that, as long as I didn't see him in my periphery, I was okay), and save something for the rest of the race. I didn't know what I was going to finish in until I saw the mile 3 clock, and, even then, I didn't know what our start time was relative to the actual gun time, so I thought I'd totally missed 23. 

It wasn't until I stopped my watch that I realized we'd done it. :D

Running Mamas and Brandi :) 

Post-Race: 2.26 @ 10:48/mi 
After cheering in some other friends and celebrating a few other new PRs, B, B, and I went off to do our cool-down. The second I started running again, my entire lower body ached. Oof. This was going to be a looooong two mile cool-down. I wanted to walk after the first mile, but having B&B there kept me going. After slugging through the requisite mileage, I enjoyed a good long stretch, took a moment to thank my coach for her dead-on estimates of what I could do, and then headed home for some leftover pizza, and then a yoga+beer date with a few runner girl friends.



Quick Reflections/Notes:

• Hamstring didn't bug me at ALL during the race. I credit using the compression sleeve early, this week's two sports massages (Tony at Georgia Sports Massage is fantastic), and stretching. 
• I believe in the power of the warm-up and cool-down runs
• I LOVE my running friends 
• BodyGlide should be applied under top part of arm sleeves (lesson learned in the shower today)
• Having something easy to eat at home post-race is key
• The faster you run, the faster you have to run next time. :P 

The Week Before the Race

Sooooo, I have a goal race. Coach just put it on my calendar this past weekend: Hearts and Soles next Saturday. Weeeeee! :D



Monday

Scheduled: 3mi with (4) - 150m accelerations

Did: 3mi w/(4) ~150m accelerations + bootcamp
Run felt tired and sluggish (unsure if it's because this 6 days/week thing is catching up with me or because baby boy struggled to sleep last night and I was on mommy duty), but pace was good. I still have no idea if I'm doing this 150m things correctly... Tried to pick up the pace each 50m and then gave myself a slight reprieve between sets, soooo maybe? :P

maaaay have started off a little too quickly on the first set of 150m... 

Bootcamp was harder than usual this morning. I forgot to snap a pic, but we did:

3x60s work/10s rest
walking lunges: oof, my quads were on fire doing these after "speedwork"
forearm plank with hip drop, toe touches with legs straight up (30s ea)
pulsing prisoner squats, high plank with hip slab, bicycle crunches (20s ea): bicycle crunches are my nemesis
high knees/butt kicks (2x15s each)
diamond push-ups, flutter kicks (30s ea): no, scratch that, flutter kicks are my nemesis

THEN

3x55s work/10s rest
mat springs: but, really, B and I were doing these more as "mat jogs"
deadman burpees: I started these strong every time, but was dead 10s in
cross-reach sit-ups

Good, tough workout. I'm really proud that I've been able to keep up my strength training 2x a week goal for a whole month so far... and really glad I only resolved to do two a week. It's hard enough to fit these in! 

Tuesday
Scheduled: 10KTuesday 
Did: 6.32 @ 9:26/mi avg

so, I'm a cover model now.... ;)

Wednesday

Scheduled: rest day
Did: rest day :)


Thursday

Scheduled: 1 mile warm-up, 3 sets of: 800 in 3:35 -3: 40/200 jog/400 in 1:36 - 1:40/600 jog, 1 mile cool-down
Did: nailed it (6 @ 8:35/mi avg)
I love Speedwork Thursday. I think I say this every week, but I don't know how I went so long running so consistently without varying my purpose for each run. 

The warm-up mile felt really hard today and I fell to the pack of the back quickly and without regret as we climbed the hill out of the YMCA lot. I'm not sure if this is a result of the volume I'm doing, the fact that I'm already over 40 hours for the week at work, lack of sleep due to sick husband + kiddo, or something else. It's been happening for the first mile pretty often on my runs, though.

The actual track workout was awesome. I enjoyed having something different than just straight repeats, and this is the first time I've really done multiple distances of "hard effort" in the same workout. I had a hard time controlling my pace enough on the 800s to "save some" for the subsequent 400 (and the rest of the workout), but really enjoyed the 200m "reset" between the 800 and 400. It was also fun to have to switch to a different pace gear for the 400. The 600 recovery felt looooooong, but gave me the strength I needed to be able to nail the next set of splits. 

Results:
3:39, 1:37
3:35, 1:36 
3:25 (oops), 1:36

Proud of my consistency on the 400s, and for hitting 2/3 of my splits on the 800s.


Friday
Scheduled: 5mi easy
Did: 5.21 @ 9:29/mi avg, plus bootcamp
Wooooo, 4:30am run with Brandi and Birgit! This run felt long... especially because I knew the entire time that I'd be going to bootcamp afterwards. Still, it was nice to run with friends and even better to be running a new route. 

Bootcamp was pretty tough today too. We had THREE whiteboards of exercises: a set of bodyweight stuff, a set of kettlebell work, and then a "finisher". Our instructor did a great job of mixing things up and making the workout push me just to failure on almost every set. Definitely a morning full of accomplishment.

Saturday
Scheduled: 8mi easy
Did: 8.52 @ 9:02/mi avg (whaaat?)
It was too cold today for baby boy to ride along in the stroller, and I assumed that meant I'd be running solo in the afternoon, after Jerry could take over. Less than 24 hours out, though, I had a great opportunity to share a sitter with a friend and meet the girls for a stroller-free long run down Peachtree street. 

I haven't done a long run without the stroller in quite awhile, and it was so refreshing to have the opportunity to run in a pack of friends along Peachtree Street! Since I'm not doing the Saturday ATC runs this season, I haven't run outside of my suburb at all this year. It was fun to have the chance to run part of the Peachtree course, enjoy the scenery, and be someplace different. 

Quick photo op before B & I turned around and Shelly/Birgit continued on for a bonus 3mi of hills

I'm told this is a thing... and it has something to do with our pro football team and a really big game tomorrow? ;)

This was a good run. There were definitely a LOT of hills, but I felt strong on them. I didn't even notice the distance one bit, probably because I felt a little sore/tight ball starting to form at the bottom of my right hamstring again halfway through :/ It didn't bother me enough to stop, but I am a little concerned about it going into race week. Will commit to some serious stretching and rehab exercises every day... and at least doing the Big 5 after each run this week. I'm in my 30s now, and probably need to start taking better care of myself if I'm going to ask my body to keep operating at this level. :P 

Oh, and I treated myself to some Caribou post-run :)
Hooray, Midtown!

Sunday: 

Scheduled: 3mi easy stroller run
Did: 3mi easy @ 8:52/mi AND I STRETCHED AFTERWARDS (!!!)
Weather (35 and sleet) kept the running mamas from our usual Sunday stroller run, but I got out and ran with some other friends after lunch. My hamstring's been kind of funny since yesterday's run, so I dug out my brace from this past December and wore it for my easy three. My splits were 9:12, 8:57 and 8:32, but it felt easy. Not sure if I'm getting stronger, or if this was a result of running in the afternoon instead of at 4:30am. Haha.


While I definitely felt something in my hamstring on the run, it wasn't painful and didn't make me even think about stopping. I'm still a little nervous about it, but plan on continuing to stretch before/after runs, before bed, and I've got a sports massage scheduled for Tuesday. Overkill? Perhaps, but I've had such a great training cycle that I'm not taking any chances the week of my goal race...