Recap: Week of 1.16.17 – 1.22.17

It’s Tuesday. How about I go with, “Ima update this thang at whatever random day and time I think of it.” Boom. Scheduling problem solved. I win.
Definitely a confident running week to report on. It doesn’t take long at all before I start to feel the fitness come back. It’s been pretty interesting watching my heart rate creep downward a bit too.
Before coach’s reset after a pretty hectic year, I wasn’t being too consistent and got distracted a lot. It was just too busy with stuff that needed to get done. But, now that I’m settling into a routine and running like clockwork again, I feel it. I’m not thinking “Ugh this run is going to be slow and painful” and dreading the result of feeling worse than when I started. It’s now that mindset of “Hey, yo! You’re going to feel so much better after you get this run done. And you’ll feel like freekin’ rainbows and sunshine during it too.” Much better and so much more normal.
Being out of shape really made me understand why people hate running though. Getting into shape sucks. I hate it. I started running as a kid and never stopped until recently. So, I had no clue how much it sucks to work for it. But, maintaining fitness…well that feels even better than a high quality nap. And I love high quality naps.
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Anyhoo, the week:
Monday
Easy 8 @ 65-75%. This was the breakthrough run right on time with my two week rule. I’m about two weeks post holiday traveling with no interruptions. The routine set in and I’m in auto-pilot mode. Thinking or struggling while running is a miserable experience. I need it to be zoned out and basically not even thinking about running while doing it. The weather may have helped. I love the quietness of snow and being the first to put some tracks in it!
Monday’s ghost town snow run
Tuesday
Other than incorrectly entering a part of the workout into my Garmin, this went well. I just counted out the mistake part rather than pay attention to the watch. No biggie. The workout was hard, timed pick-ups for 90, 75, 60, 45, 30, 15 seconds and then 85% for 2 miles after recovering from those. I feel that turnover and it feels dang fiiine. Hard to explain, but running a normal training pace after doing speed is easier than just going out the door for a training run. Speed loosens me up more than anything. Plus, that push-off in my lower legs is starting to kick in. That’s something I notice first when getting fast again. My legs feel like springs from the knees down.
I also climbed for about 45 minutes later in the day. Pro tip: Do not quit climbing during a busy semester and then go back to climbing with chicken arms and crappy posture. You will pay! (I paid in pain. Obviously.)
My gym. I’m still on the left in the easy/intermediate stuff. My goal? Lead climbing on that gray beast of a wall to the right. Seriously, some spider monkey people are always on that thing. I NEED to be like them.
Wednesday
Optional easy run or cross training day. So, I bricked it An hour in a spin class and then I hit the treadmill for an easy 3 miles. Totally in-shape me does 7 miles after the class but I’m going to work on building up for a bit.
Thursday
Optional moderate 8 miles
or
4 x 40/80’s (60 steps)
4 x 30/60’s (45 steps)
4 x 20/40’s (30 steps)
I chose the latter because I just want that speed so badly again. I was feeling a little tired (maybe from the brick on the previous day) but it was still a satisfying workout. I like feeling that I’ve done as much as I can in a day. A moderate run probably wouldn’t have done that for me. I’m happy to be doing more quality stuff now. Waking up with a little soreness is such a comforting feeling and I’m glad I’m working hard enough for it to come back.
Friday
Brick addict here. I did the same workout as Wednesday as it was another easy run or cross train day. Why not both again? It already felt easier. That muscle memory is so dependable with me. I never have to worry much about coming back and regaining strength. That’s probably what makes me lazy too. I know, once my mind is set on getting in shape, it’s not a long road to getting there. I spent a lot of down time thinking, ehhhh, I can do the whole thing pretty quickly it if I want to anytime I want…because I can. It’s just about getting the mind in the right spot!
Saturday
Shorter long run this week at only 10 miles but I spent all morning snowboarding first anyway. It worked out. We just went to a mountain about 45 minutes away (Eldora) because the routes leading out to the bigger resorts were backed up to almost Denver. We all saw that and noped out, grabbed some coffee and turned around.The snow conditions have gotten so good that the entire planet seems to be rushing the big ones. But hey, Eldora was still great and it’s less time wasted driving.
Another perfect weekend of snowboarding. It was a great day at Eldora!
For the run, it was some work on marathon pace after warming up. I was already super warmed up from snowboarding and felt great. I have a route with a big uphill and then a really steady downhill. I like this one because it gets my legs going late in the run. So, anything over 10 miles is usually involving this loop. I’ve gotten some good times on it out of nowhere even on days where I feel kind of cruddy.
Sunday
Optional cross train or easy run day. It wasn’t a brick workout but it was something I hadn’t done yet. I started with climbing for about 45 minutes and then hit the treadmill for an easy 3 miles. Not bad and definitely something I’ll do again. Climbing is the cure for my ol’ hunchback I got going on after working from home and being so sedentary for 8+ hours per day. It’s getting better though. My PT exercises are doing wonders for it also.
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Boom. Another week down…and it’s starting to get fun

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