Well, I resisted going out to run on Sunday, but mentally bargained with myself that if I rested Sunday, I would run a few miles Monday to make up for not doing a “long” run like my training plan had called for over the weekend – I was only supposed to run 6 miles, but instead opted to participate in a 5k.
Logically, I know that missing 3 miles this early in training is not going to keep me from crossing that finish line in November. Heck, if anything skipping it and gradually increasing my training load would probably help prevent me from getting an injury from ramping up too fast! But I just couldn’t get over the mental hurdle of feeling like I didn’t stick to the plan that I committed to, and felt the need to “make up” some miles on Monday morning.
Sunday night the forecast was calling for thunderstorms on Monday morning, so I pulled an outfit and laid it out on my treadmill to make the morning as easy as possible. I woke up before my alarm went off, and managed to sneak in a few minutes of cuddles with my cat before rolling out of bed and heading downstairs.
I decided to stack a few peloton classes – a 5 minute pre-run stretch, a 30 minute Disney run, and then a 10 minute core class.
The class wasn’t anything particularly special – I followed along as the instructor shouted to increase and decrease the speed, just at a slower average pace than I was used to. The incline is still broken on my tread, so I avoided any ups and downs, and just stuck to trying to run as much as possible. When the class had ended I had 2.5 miles done, and I rolled out a mat to do some core work.
I had to modify some of the standard planks to forearm planks in the core class, as I have been having some carpal tunnel issues with my wrist, but other than that I put in as much effort as I could. It was a bit frustrating to not be able to perform the exercises as well as I used to, but I tried to remind myself that fitness isn’t always linear, and I needed to give myself grace as I worked on building back up. The core class was the beginning of a 5 week challenge that one of the peloton instructors was hosting, and I decided it would be a good motivator to get me to do more core work.
Monday night I met Sophie at the gym, and we took a TRX class together. Back when I did orange theory regularly, I was familiar with TRX – but now, I felt like a fish out of water. It almost felt comical at times, but with a few modifications I managed to survive the class.
Tuesday morning I had what is becoming the standard morning run routine of rolling out of bed and heading to my parents’ house for the morning run. Dad got a good laugh when I ran by a dumpster in front of a house and a squirrel popped up and gave me a surprise as I went by. It was a morning in July, so of course it was hot and humid. It was a slog through the three miles, but I was happy to be done when my watch chimed at the three mile mark.
On Tuesday night I once again headed to Emerge (my favorite yoga studio), this time for a massage. I had booked it a few weeks ago, as my shoulder had been bothering me, and when the same thing happened earlier this year combining acupuncture and massage got me back to feeling normal. It was an intense deep tissue massage, complete with cupping that I almost want to call painful (I was, surely enough, bruised from this the following day, to my mom’s shock when she saw my back the next morning), but my shoulder felt so released after it was done. Before leaving I scheduled another one for next month, just a few days after the NYRR 12-mile training run. I know if I book it, I am more likely to go through with it, and I really do feel like it helps my body recover. After I got home from the massage I begrudgingly did my 10 minutes of core that I committed to, and then spent the rest of the night not working out.
My body seems to be getting on board with these earlier wakeups (and earlier bedtimes), because on Wednesday I woke up 15 minutes before my alarm for the third time this week. My cats were annoyed that I was exiting the bed, but Dennis did not even notice. I got ready and hopped in the car to head over to my parents’ house, where their bikes were waiting in the driveway. As soon as I got out of the car, I realized I was missing a crucial item – my Garmin. Ugh! I had dropped it into my backpack the night before when I got the massage, and never put it in my morning run pile, and my sleepy brain totally forgot about it.
So, I am not even sure that this run counts since there was no running watch involved (that’s how it works, right?). I settled for tracking the run with my phone and got on the road. I really didn’t have any time to waste since it was my first 4-mile morning of this training cycle, and I hadn’t gotten up early to account for the extra mile. A mistake? Perhaps. It was the kind of morning where the humidity makes the air feel soupy, so I knew it would be a somewhat difficult run.
I added a big old loop to the front end of the run, because in my head that meant I was getting the extra mile out of the way first, and then could continue onto my standard loop. By runner logic, it made the whole run feel shorter. Dad and I chatted a bit as we passed along miles, and Mom lingered a little behind us. When I checked my phone to see the distance as I knew we were approaching 4 miles, dad was surprised to hear that we were already at 3.9 miles, and he faked outrage that we had gone more than the 3.5 miles he petitioned for the day before.
I hit 4 miles about a block before getting back to my parents’ house, so I took a little cool down walk to finish off the morning. I did have to rush a little when I got home to get out the door for work, so I only had time to mix a protein shake and grab a superhero muffin.
That night I planned to do my 10 minutes of core before bed, but after going out to dinner with my husband I was stuffed to the brim, and instead committed to making up the 10 minutes another day of the week.
Thursday morning I once again headed out with my parents for another three mile loop, and for the first time in this training cycle it felt routine. It was still slower than I wanted it to be, but I was able to settle in and enjoy the miles - It felt like it used to when running was really a steady routine for me. My knee felt a little sore after the run, so I made a note to add some resistance band training into my routine for the rest of the week.
After work I met Sophie at the gym and we did two group fitness classes together. First a 30 minute arm class, and then the stepper class again. By the time I got home I was POOPED! I snuck in my 10 minute core class, took a quick shower, and then got in bed around 8:30 pm, so it was an early night for me.
Even though I went to bed super early on Thursday, I slept as late as I could before work on Friday - my body felt exhausted! My brain was in a fog that morning after such a long night of sleep. The only exercise that I did Friday was a 10 minute core video, to check off a box for the core challenge that my friends and I are participating in.
Since MIke and I are planning to run the NYC marathon together, we want to do as many runs together as we can. While this isn’t practical on weekdays because we have different work schedules, we try to sync up our weekend runs whenever possible. I had plans to head into the city to see “Little Shop of Horrors”, so between that and the heat of summer we knew we would need to get out early for the run. My parents agreed to bike along and pass us waters as we ran, so we agreed to meet at their house at 6 am. I picked up mike on the drive over, and we quickly got on the road.
This was my first time running with another person (at least with someone else who was also running) since March, and I had almost forgotten how much misery loves company. Now don’t get me wrong, I love having my parents join me on their bikes for my runs, but it is just different when you have another runner along. The four of us made our way around the neighborhood, Dad making sure we stayed hydrated despite the heat. Mike and I caught up, cutting each other off as we flowed from one story into another.
The plan was for a 6 mile run, and at mile 4 we decided to take gels, even though it was a short run - in part because of how hot and humid it was, and in part because we both like to practice our fueling on every “long” run, to make a consistent habit out of it. The 6 miles flew by - in my mind at least - we certainly didn’t break any speed records. But we had a good time, and I even ran through a sprinkler at the end to cool down. Since we weren’t in a rush after the run, we loaded up the peloton app on the TV and took a post-run stretch together.
I spent the rest of my Saturday in Manhattan. Dennis and I met up with some friends and went to brunch, followed by seeing the “Little Shop of Horrors” revival, which was very good. After the show we headed to a bar, and then found a restaurant that served super yummy tacos and quesadillas. By the time we got home I was ready for bed, after an awesome Saturday that was both fun and productive.
I had one thing on my Sunday schedule - cross training! Where I live we have community pools, and we had finally gotten around to picking up our pool pass, so I wanted to swim some laps. My knee was still feeling a bit sore, so I figured it was a better choice than biking. Dennis walked with me to the pool, which is just under a mile away from our house. When we got there I was able to snag a free lane, and popped on my aftershokz open swim headphones with an audiobook playing to entertain me as I swam back and forth. It felt really good to get into the routine of a stroke and I knocked off laps for a half hour.
We walked home together, and finished our weekend with a nice pasta dinner, and some mindless TV to relax.
I’m hoping that as my miles continue to ramp up in this training cycle, I find time to get to the pool and swim more often.