H+S Training: Week 1/3

Monday
Scheduled: 4mi + 5 strides at 5K pace, 3K pace, Mile pace, 800m, Faster
Did: 3.09mi @ 9:38/mi avg with 5 strides, Big 5, bootcamp
Strides. Oof. I love to hate these things. 

Paces: 7:00 (too fast), 6:28 (too fast), 6:32 (on), 6:10 (on), 5:35 (um, yes)
though, really, how accurate is pace when you're running for 20s-30s in a parking lot and getting distance from a GPS watch with a limited satellite connection

Going to bootcamp after this was a bit hard, but the workout, fortunately, wasn't too leg-intensive. I was surprised to find that the wall balls were much harder than they used to be. Pre-injury, I had graduated to the 20lb ball. Today, I had to back off and only do half of each round with the 20lb and finish off with the 10lb. :( On the bright side, though, I made it the entire time through the ropes! 

finished off with 25 hand-release push-ups and 25 sit-ups

Tuesday
Scheduled: 6.26mi recovery
Revised to: 1mi WU, 3x1mi @ 7:30-7:45 PR/400m, 1mi CD
Did: 1.2mi WU, 2xmile/400, 2x800/400, 1.somethingmi CD= 6.62mi @ 8:55/mi avg, Big 5, stretch
A look-ahead at weather showed 28 degrees for Thursday and 53 for today, so we swapped our track day. It's been over four months since I've been at the track. I still love it, but my body definitely has a lot of "coming back" to do. Today's workout sucked. It's the hardest workout I've had in quite awhile, and the only workout to date that I can ever remember bailing out of. 

My first mile was manageable, but felt more like my third. I recovered, and then started on my second. Lap 1 felt like Lap 4. Lap 2 felt like it should have at least been Lap 3. Lap 3 felt like "this is definitely the last lap, right?". Lap 4 felt like a terrible slog to salvation. 

When I finished, I knew I did NOT have another set of four laps in me, so I opted out and, instead, settled for (2)-800m/400m. Even that was hard. By the time I got to the 100m mark on my first 800, I was thinking "the end is near, right? surely I'm on my second lap?". Nopity nope. 

Blitz did the second 800 with me. I could tell he was trying to pull me along to the pace he knew I could do, but I couldn't do it today, and refused to be pulled along. I let him get 100m ahead of me and held to the pace I knew I could keep... until the last 100m, which I let him encourage a kick out of me. And then, thank goodness, I was done. 

Mile 1: 7:39 (in-range)

Mile 2: 8:16 

800 #1: 3:56

800 #2: 3:56 (recall there was a HUGE kick at the end-- that's how bad the rest of that 800m was)

I'm not upset about this workout at all, though. I had a TON of reasons why this workout sucked:

• 12mph headwinds pretty much the whole way (yeah, at some point it should have been at our backs on a track, but it never felt that way)
• the wind was COLD (despite being 53 degrees, I was cold in shorts, calf sleeves, tank, arm sleeves, long-sleeve shirt, and an earband)
• with the exception of a couple 400s on the treadmill last week, I haven't done ANY speedwork in four months, and I was injured for 3 of those months-- losing some fitness is to be expected
• even if I were in good shape, going from 400s to mile repeats is pretty ambitious
• this new "eating healthy" business has dramatically changed my diet (i.e. I'm not eating any of the typical carbs/breads/crackers I used to), and maybe my body just needs to adjust
• this is also the third day in a row with a speedwork element (Sun=PRO, Mon=strides, Today=repeats), which certainly didn't help

So, I'll chalk today up to a learning experience.

Wednesday
Scheduled: rest
Did: sweet rest day :)
Enjoyed a few short walks for commute/meetings.


Thursday
Scheduled: 2mi WU, 3x1mi @ 5K PR, 2mi CD
Did: 6.28mi @ 9:38/mi avg
10KThursday went well enough. I was just really over it by the 2mi mark, though. Still trying to figure out if this is just me getting back into shape, body adjusting to a new diet, or what. According to my log, I did just hit 32mi for the past seven days, so maybe that has something to do with this funk. 


Friday
Scheduled: 4mi easy
Planned: 3mi easy + bootcamp
Did: 1.07mi @ 9:41/mi + bootcamp
Realized that I was about to be close to 40mi for the week last night and made some adjustments to this morning's distance. I still felt like I was in marathon training; everything was just heavy, fatigued, and didn't want to "go". 

I LOVED that today ended up being a kettlebell day at bootcamp. 

1/3= 18lb
4/5/6/7=27lb
8/10=35lb

oh, goodness, ALL the walking lunges

Saturday
Scheduled: 9mi easy
Did: 9.05mi @ 9:48/mi avg with hills galore, Big 5, ~3mi walking, and some dance clubbin'
For whatever reason, B and I decided today was a good day for a hilly run. I kind of wanted a challenge, and I also loved the idea of connecting up two of our standard running routes since we finally had enough distance to make that happen. 

I was ready to be done at mile 2, but pushed through... to be hit in the face (not literally) with a pretty legit climb halfway through. After cresting that hill, we hit another, bigger one. I had no one to blame but myself; I made the route. :P 

There's something amazingly empowering about getting through a route like that. Eventually, we hit the 6mi mark, which happened to be our turnaround for the 10KTuesday route. From there, it was just like any ol' Tuesday, running the home stretch back. It didn't feel like a nine mile day at all, nor did it feel like my longest run since labor Day. :) 

It's all about the cliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimb

Enjoyed another several miles of walking throughout the day (and several hours sitting in a car) to close out an awesome Saturday.

Sunday
Scheduled: 3mi easy
Did: 6.3mi @ 10:12/mi avg, Big 5, Cyclebar Class
My other mother runner friend, Beth, regularly posts pictures from one of her regular mountain runs; at the top of the hill is this "You Made It!" written on the asphalt. I've wanted a picture with that sign ever since she first posted it on Facebook. I wanted it so much that I pretty much planned a trip to South Carolina around running this route with her to get said picture.

Well, we miiiiiiiiiiight have stayed out celebrating her birthday a little later than expected. We'd planned to be home by 9, and ended up singing karaoke until almost 2am... which made getting up at 8 and over to the mountain by 9 a bit of a struggle. But, like 10KTuesday, this run wasn't optional. 

Yep. Definitely ran a mountain today. 

I knew this was NOT going to be an easy run, but, man, this hill's difficulty exceeded all expectations. There was literally no reprieve from the incline. The entire way up was either a slight incline, a SERIOUS incline, or way too short a stretch of "flat" to do anything but remind you that running doesn't always suck this much before the next incline began. 

I was walking before we hit a mile and a half... and I think I might have been going faster walking than I was running. "I'll just walk for a minute," I said. That turned into three, and then I only started running again because we had a schedule to keep, and had to average a 10min/mi. 

Over the course of the 2mi ascent, I took three separate walk breaks, for 3, 5, and 1 minutes. It was brutal. SO. BRUTAL.

...but then there was this

After a brief respite and some stretching at the top, we turned around and destroyed our knees running DOWN the incredibly steep grade in the rain back to the car. :P 

...and then I stretched (woo, Big 5), showered, ate some breakfast, and drove 2.5 hours back home for a track club birthday party at an indoor cycling studio. 

I totally phoned it in for the entire workout. I wasn't there to workout. I was there to enjoy hanging out with friends I rarely get to see and spin a bit. Mission accomplished. 

...and then I ate everything in sight :P 

Planned Total Mileage: 35mi
Actual Total Mileage: 32.4mi (so much for "let's just get back to 25s in January")

Week-end Reflections:
1. Food is going super-well this week. I'm really proud of the changes I've made, and, for the first time since I started this, I actually feel like I can sustain these new habits long-term. Nutrition blog coming later, probably at the end of the month. 

2. Training is hard. 

3. I am SO out of hill shape. 

Rebuilding: Week 2

Monday
Planned: 3mi + bootcamp
Did: 3.11mi @ 9:43/mi avg, Big 5, bootcamp

Nice, comfortable run... in 28 degrees. Plus a few rounds of bootcamp circuit.

Tuesday
Planned: 10KTuesday
Did: 6.3(?) @ 9:43/mi avg, Big 5
My Forerunner 225 isn't syncing via bluetooth or recording accurate distances... AGAIN, so who knows what my actual pace was for this one. Run went well enough. I'm still struggling with pace a lot for the first 1-2mi of these 10KT runs, but, for the first time since injury, I had zero hamstring anything on my run, which was awesome. 


Wednesday
Planned:bootcamp
Did: 40Min Strength Training

Bootcamp was cancelled due to the inch of snow we had overnight. It would have been soooooo easy to say "oh well, SNOW DAY!" and just stay in bed. Skipping workouts, however, doesn't help me achieve my goals, so up I went to head downstairs for some YouTube-led weight-lifting. 

love these adjustable weights that we picked up for $50 a few years back 

Also did ~2mi of snow walking later in the day. :)

Thursday
Planned: 1mi WU, 4x400m/400m @ 7:30/mi (8mph), 1mi CD, 2xcore circuit
Did: as scheduled, with slightly faster intervals, Big 5
I'm so freaking proud of myself for doing this workout. After a couple glasses of wine the other night, knowing daycare was closed, and knowing the roads were still completely impassable in our neighborhood, it would have been easy to stay in bed.

But, just like yesterday, I got up, went downstairs, and got it done.

once I sent this accountability pic to my team, I had to follow through with the workout

This was my first real running workout in about four months, and it showed. Warming up at a 10min/mi felt so fast; and the 400s felt hard, despite the fact that I was doing them at a pace I used to do mile repeats at. I got it done, though, and felt incredibly proud of myself for it. 

After hopping off the treadmill, I did my Big 5 stretches plus two rounds through the Miler Method ab circuit. Abs after speedwork = seven minutes in hell. :P 


Friday
Planned: 3mi + bootcamp
Did:
I can tell my PF tear happened because it's a little sore today after yesterday's speedwork. This makes me feel even better about how slowly I've taken recovery. I'm doing the right things. :) 

enjoyed some overnight oats for breakfast (wee, still winning at this food thing)

Did 3 easy with the girls, and then enjoyed a bootcamp session with lots of core work. Blergh. So. Hard. 

Saturday
Planned: 8mi
Did: 8.1 @ 9:26/mi avg, Big 5
One of my training buddies is following the same three-week plan I did for Hearts and Soles in 2017. It's been nice to gradually build long runs with her on Saturdays, and I'm loving that I was able to run 8mi today at a pretty solid pace for the course and weather we were dealing with. 

wooo, snow/ice run

Also, the best thing about long runs is the food I get to eat to replenish the calories I'm burning. I had a kale/spinach/blueberry/strawberry/banana smoothie waiting for me in the car when I finished, and followed it up with eggs and some thick-cut bacon (OK, kind of processed, but I did shell out more $$$ for the better version) at home. 

We had to eat on the road due to afternoon obligations. I'm so proud of myself for not just asking Jerry to swing over to a Panera or pack me a PB&J. Instead, I took 8min and made myself a spinach salad and some raw cashews in tupperware containers, and brought a mandarin and banana for snacks. Healthy eating isn't hard; it's just inconvenient. :P 

side note: I ended up having a piece of pizza for dinner (because literally the only thing they sold where we ended up was pizza), and found it not terribly satisfying, especially for the amount of daily calories it cost me

Sunday
Planned: 3-4mi with stroller
Did: 3PRO + 1CD with stroller (9:05/mi avg), plus 2mi walk with stroller, and Big 5
So, I found out last week that I'm going to have the opportunity to race with a stroller at Hearts and Soles in a few weeks. While 3/5 of the Running Mamas are still postpartum and can't meet the pace requirement, the other two of us (B and me) are having a go at this "competitive stroller division", which is a bit of a misnomer, since there are no awards or anything. 

I'm totally a sub-9min racer when I'm healthy and not pushing a stroller. But, after coming off this injury, I wasn't so sure that pace would be in my wheelhouse in just a few weeks. As a "sanity check", B and I decided to meet early this morning and try a 3mi progression run with the strollers, just to see how it felt. I think her original plan was for our last mile to be a 9:00, or just under.

bundled up kiddos 

We started off slow, "too slow", I thought, glancing at my watch. This is going to suck. We were also talking the entire time, because we had a ton of stuff to catch up on and talk about, and that made it all so much harder than it should have been. But, despite that, we had a solid progression. So solid, in fact, that I may have gotten a little carried away on the last mile. 

-1min/mi is a bit extreme for a progression run... oops :P 

It felt "hard", but not too hard. More importantly, both of us gained the confidence we need to sign up for the stroller division at H+S. :) 

We cooled down with a "slow" mile, which felt like 10 even though it was only a 9:38, and then continued to cool-down meeting up with one of our postpartum mamas for a nice 2mi walk, with a little bit of running. 

bonus: we both got to try out the other mama's double stroller! 

Planned Total Mileage: ~25
Actual Total Mileage: 28.52

Week-end Reflections
Woohoo, almost 30 miles for the week. Running feels good. I'm finally feeling like I'm ready to start training for something, and will probably jump into B's H+S training for next week, which isn't too different from what I've been doing these past two weeks already.

The food side of things is settling in. I still find myself craving animal crackers or tostitos from time-to-time, but I haven't given into those yet. More than anything, I'm finding myself able to say, "yeah, maybe you want that, but it's not going to taste as good as you think." This week brought some new challenges with regards to spontaneously eating out at a place I had zero familiarity with, but I rolled with it. One night of pizza isn't going to break me, and, surprisingly, I found it totally unsatisfying, and wished I'd been able to blow 700 calories on some steak and veggies instead. :P 

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.

-

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

Hello, 2018!

Monday
Planned: some sort of warm-up, 1mi race, stretch
Did: 1.94mi total @ 8:11/mi avg, Big 5 stretches
Had a great time freezing everything off at the Resolution Run One Mile at Piedmont this morning. It was 21 degrees with 11mph wind and snow flurries-- i.e. NOT PR weather. 

My hamstring didn't bug me at all during the warm-up or race, though I think it might have just been too cold to notice it. I started off fast, but slowed by the quarter mile mark. Still finished sub-7 (woo!) and had a great time with our little #10KTuesday #team, who SWEPT the 25-39 age group awards. 

Tuesday
Planned: 10KTuesday, stretch
Did: 6.26 @ 9:51/mi avg, Big 5
Oh, man, guys. The power of the hashtag is real. Today was so cold that I had to add a new row to the top of my personal "what I wore/how it felt" sheet in my ultimate running spreadsheet, because I've never run in anything colder than 18 degrees.

If we didn't have this hashtag, NONE of us would have been outside today, but we did, so we ran. B, Blitz, and I dutifully showed up just before 5am, with more layers than I think any of us has ever worn before, for our weekly madness. 

Truth be told, it wasn't that bad. I had dressed incredibly appropriately, and was pleased with how my body felt... except my toes, but there's not much to be done about those running in Vibram FiveFingers (I had some Injini socks, but really needed this model instead of my KMDs). I actually felt like my hands and lower arms needed LESS layers/insulation. Guess that'll be something to note for my next 13 degree run... :P 

The run itself was fine. I'm still struggling to keep pace for anything more than a 5K these days. Hamstring felt okay enough, but, again, I think so much of that is it being too cold to notice. I'm still having some dull aching, but it moves around so much that I'm still comfortable running on it. 

All I wanted to do when I got inside was shower, but I made myself take five minutes to stretch. Gotta keep the streak alive! ;) 



Wednesday
Planned: dance, stretch
Did: stretch/strengthen dance class, hip-hop dance class
I thought that there was no 5:30am bootcamp today, so I planned on some dance classes instead. I only dance about 5 times a year, but, when I do, I'm always reminded of how much I love it. Going to the occasional dance class has been a good substitute for the performance outlet being an active member with Song of Atlanta gave me.

Motown Philly by Boyz II Men
yassssssssss

Thursday
Planned: 2mi run, stretch, bootcamp
Did: 1mi @ 9:25/mi, Big 5, bootcamp
This "feels like" of 3 to 7 degrees stuff is making running outside pretty difficult. I opted for a treadmill mile this morning instead of braving the cold. Ran on the 'mill, did my Big 5 stretches, and hit up bootcamp with B 

Friday
Planned: bootamp, stretch
Did: 2mi @ 9:37/mi, Big 5, bootcamp
Another frigid "feels like <10 degrees" morning = to the 'mill! Wasn't particularly excited about 2mi on the treadmill, but I need to get my base mileage up before any training can start.




Followed up my two miles with a Big 5 stretch session, and then another semi-private bootcamp ;) 




Saturday
Planned: 5-6mi, stretch
Did: 6.23mi @ 9:23/mi avg, Big 5x2
I didn't have anyone to run with this morning for a variety of scheduling reasons. Couple that with it being another "feels like single digits" day, and I was NOT motivated to go out and run. If I were training for something, I totally would have done what was on my plan. But I'm not. 

...but I AM trying to get my mileage back up, so skipping today's run wasn't an option.

Enter the treadmill. I swear, this thing has saved me this week. I only had time for a 5K this morning, which meant I had to do the other 5K in the afternoon. Two-a-days are not fun when they're solo and on a treadmill. I truly felt like today's run was some sort of penance that I just had to get through, rather than something I wanted to do, which means I'm even more proud of the fact that I got it done. 

Treadmill entertainment: a closed-captioned The Crown and
a baby monitor broadcasting my "supposed-to-be-napping" kid's singing

Sunday
Planned: rest easy 2
Did: 3.11mi @ 9:13/mi avg with the stroller, Big 5
I decided mid-week to swap my "run-free" day from today to tomorrow, and ended up going out mid-afternoon with the little one. Wanting to have him fall asleep and nap, I ran a bit longer than my planned two.

It felt SO good to be running outside again after almost a week on the treadmill. Temps were in the mid-30s, but I was dressed appropriately. 

I had some weird physical stuff throughout the run: a bit of random calf tightness almost immediately after starting (which made NO sense, but worked itself out within a few minutes), and then a sharp pain in my left pinkie toe around the 2.5mi mark (kind of felt like it was just super cold, but none of my other toes felt that way-- got super sharp, so I stopped to walk, and felt nothing stomping on it, bending it every which way, etc, but it resumed when I was running-- best I can think of is that I might need to trim my toenails?). 

Pretty proud of myself for getting my five minute stretches in post-run. It's sooooo easy to say "oh, I have the kid, I need to get him in the car and I'll stretch later", but, real talk: he was out in the "cold" for 30min already, and five more, especially without the additional wind created from running, isn't going to hurt. Got it done and felt great :) 

Total Weekly Mileage: 20.54
Plans for this month include continuing to be mindful of how I fuel my body (I did really well this week!), keep up 2x week strength training, and gradually build mileage up so that I'm back to comfortable 25mi weeks by the month's end. 

After that, I'll start looking at adding distance to my weekend runs. Once I'm back up to a comfortable 10mi weekend long run, I might be ready to look at a 5K training plan....