Recap: Week of 1.9.17 – 1.15.17

Yeah, so Mondays are probably going to be update days now. Who knows. Yesterday Sean and I rearranged our place again. I think we nailed it this time. With guests coming from out-of-state next month for our Steamboat trip, we needed to work on the guest room and other sleeping space. So, yesterday was all about dragging furniture around, rebuilding my office a.k.a “Kim Kave” and then catching up on SNL…on Xfinity On Demand…because staying up late is hard! Why can’t SNL just go live in our time zone, eh?

And now, the running/cross training part. It was a pretty routine week. Nothing too insane but I did hit the track for the first time in a bit. I freekin’ love my track. It’s new and literally across the street and so quiet. I have my fingers crossed that it will never turn into the other crowded tracks in and around town. If it does, it’s convenient enough for me to peak out my window and keep an eye out until it clears though. To quote The Simple Life from years ago (remember that one?) … “LOVES IT!”

Monday: 

Wind. Tons of wind. Like gusts of 70-90 mph type of wind. I waited until later in the day for the gusts to drop down to around 20-30 mph. I don’t mind running at night and I have a route specifically for the dark. BUT, wind is my dang kryptonite. I’m built like a rugby player and that doesn’t make me aerodynamic. So, we’ll call this one strength and mental training during what was supposed to be an easy 8. …still not going inside!

Tuesday: 

Tracky track! I’m in a long-term relationship with my Dragon Spikes and they’ve been hibernating while I was on the roads. It was time to wake them up and take them for a spin again. I had 2 * 2 miles at 85% with 800 recovery between intervals. It was probably the most controlled I’ve felt on the track in a long time. I’ve always been about taking off as fast as possible and then hanging on for dear life. Not so much this time!

Best Buddies. Never getting rid of them. Ever.

Wednesday:

This was an optional easy or cross-training day. I chose to hit up my climbing gym for yoga since I was feeling a bit tight from track and slipping on the Dragons again. Yoga is getting easier already. Flexibility is definitely a goal.

Thursday: 

I felt recovered and loose. So, this made a moderate run perfect. I go by feel and and do my best to hit that 70-75%. For me, it’s reminiscent of what my high school coach would say: “Just go hard enough so you aren’t talking the whole way.” I love how those early seeds were planted so I can go right back to them still now.

Friday:

Another optional cross-training or easy run day. I decided on spin class. I used to do brick workouts once or twice a week and I’d like to get back into that. Spin has always been the ideal way for me to keep my muscles balanced a bit better, especially when the miles go to crazy town. Plus, working out to music is my favorite but I don’t like to wear earbuds while running. So, I get my fix in spin. I really wish we had Soul Cycle here but I don’t think that’s going to happen for a bit.

Saturday: 

Long run day (relatively at this point). Not gonna lie. I felt like junk but I don’t let the hard runs take me down. I’ve had a million of them and I know the hard days make everything else easier and make me mentally stronger. The goal was 60-75% for the first half and 70-75% for the second half. For me, it’s another effort thing until we get deeper into the heart rate deal. For this run though, I just felt like I needed to grab a snack about 3/4 of the way through. I was near home at that point, so I should have just looped and shoved a bagel in my face but I kept going. Eh well, lesson learned. I still need to get better at eating and running for Hawthorn anyway.

Sunday: 

An optional easy run, cross-training or off day. I took it off due to feeling crummy the day before. Instead, it became weight lifting with the furniture rearranging as mentioned previously. Recovery is just as important as running when it comes to getting fast and that’s the part I’ve needed work on for year. Gotta listen to the body – not fight it!

Annnnd, another week in the books. That’s all, folks.