Running Recovery Weeks

Hello there! 

This post is brought to you from the glory of being in the office on a Saturday. 

As most know my company is closing down and I am the Project Coordinator for the decommission which means fun things like closing down facilities and being a master of logistics! 

I should note that I put this work day on myself since I managed this process. I planned on taking Friday off to not totally lose the full weekend but work had other plans and I couldn't. 

Anyways back to the post.

So my spring race season has come to a close and I must say it was pretty successful!

I ran 3, count them 3 half marathons! My spring goal was to get sub 2 and see where I was at for setting a PR this year and happy to say, mission accomplished at the first one! 

Overall I ran: 1:58:13, 2:04:13 and 2:00:32 which I am happy with. 

I also mixed in a 10K the week after my sub 2 half and to my surprise, I PR'd! 

Then I was also signed up for an NYRR 4 miler. My sole purpose was that my NYRR pace was 10+ per mile which is clearly not my race pace. It is based off my 4:59 NYCM I ran in 2014 with my Crohn's flare + stress fracture. Needless to say, not a reflection of my current state! 

To my surprise I PR'd that as well! 

This all leads me to the past couple of weeks. 

After some serious racing and training, I was done. I had neglected cross training and weight training for a while during the race season and needed to back off the running and reset. 

I have had a glorious couple weeks of backing down the mileage.  I think I ran 10 miles last week and this week am over that but still below my 30+ I usually hit. 

Not only does it feel good to tone down the running but it has given me the opportunity to dig in to a lot of other workouts. 

I recently bought the weights for Les Mills Body Pump and have invested in their on demand all I can say is I am loving it so far! And that my body is sore in all new ways. 

I will post more on that soon but I am enjoying home workouts more than I thought I would. 

While I may run some shorter races over the summer months I am not focusing on another race until the fall. I have yet to determine what will be my goal half but safe to say I will be giving my PR (1:53:14) a run in a few months time! 

For now, it is all about focusing on building strength, especially core which I am being more diligent about and just sustaining my base of running fitness. I will probably still run a few times a week and keep a longer run on the weekend since that is the norm for me but I don't plan on a structured schedule (although to be honest when I trained for spring season it was a very "loose" schedule but it worked - see PR's and hitting goals ;) 

It really is good though to step back from running a lot (I haven't had a significant down week in over a year!) and focus on some other forms of workout. This will all make me a stronger runner down the line!

Now off to hopefully finish up overseeing this move out and enjoying SOME of Saturday! 

Happy weekend!

Chicago Marathon Training - Week 2

Another week down! Just okay with how this week played out. I still feel like I am not in the serious portion of training as I am not running THAT long (when marathon training "long" run is relative - I don't truly count long until past half marathon distance when going for 26.2).

Still focusing on getting in the consistent mileage (and wanting to actually run) as well as continuing strength training. I am more sore from those sessions than the running workouts!

My stomach issues are the root of why I am not wanting to run. I have such a sense of trepidation for how my stomach will be and how many bathroom stops (and vicinity) I will have to make that I am spending the majority of the time on the treadmill out of fear. Sad because it has been so lovely out. 

Monday - 5.25 miles - an easy run with 4 x 30 hard efforts - legs finally felt better. 

Tuesday - Uplift + 3 mile run. Note - for one of the 4 minute Tabata's we did ALL BURPEES. I suck at burpees. Or so I found out. Another 4 minute plank series and realizing I honestly have shit core strength. Must continue to work on. The 3 miles were easy and glorious. 

Wednesday - Swapped out rest day. Saved my run for night and I was beat after work.

Thursday - Speed work.  6.15 miles. Planned 6 x 800 - my stomach was really off so after the first 800 I changed it and did a farklet workout. "Speed" paces between 7:30 - 8:30. Just felt off the whole time. Overall pace though was 9:05 so that was good. 

Friday - Cross Train I was beat - 60 minutes on the Precor AMT one of my favorites.

Saturday - Met up with Jen for a strength class at Uplift. Amazing class per usual. Walked miles that afternoon so didn't wind up running. 

Sunday - 8.3 miles - long run. Nothing much to say. My stomach hurt - only 2 stops. Sigh. 

Total miles: 23 

The next couple weeks will be lacking in runs as I had a minor procedure and have stitches in my back and was told I can't run. I pretty much do not plan on listening to that. I kept being told it would ruin the "aesthetic" and wouldn't be a pretty straight line scar. My response kept being but will they RIP OUT? If it's looking pretty only then sorry Doc in a couple days I will run (easy though nothing intense...)