For those that like to follow someone else's training here is week 1. For those who don't I'll be sure to title each one "Training week..." so you can skip these. Writing it down keeps me accountable and helps me figure out what and why. Personally, I've gotten some aha! moments reading other people's training blogs so who knows perhaps I can pay it forward (or back) So here goes.
Week 1 Here is the link to the full schedule
Monday: YAYOG ladders. Push ups w/ knees on the floor; swimmers;
military press with hands knee height; pointers. It was hard. I had to remind
myself that of course it's hard. That's why I need to do it. I've decided I'll
repeat these each Monday for the first segment (6 weeks) of my training.
Hopefully I'll see improvement.
Tuesday: Run three miles. I am very
proud of this run. I got home from work at 4:30 and had plans with friends in
West Chester at 6:00. I didn't blow off the run. It was a mad rush but I got it
done. No excuses :)
The first two miles were great. I had minor shin
discomfort the first few steps. I think this was leftover from the hike last
weekend. The boots I wore were too big and too heavy. Anyway after mile 2 I felt
discomfort in my right calf. This moved up behind my knee and my leg began to
feel tingly/numb. Then I noticed I was leaning to my right side. Strange. Once I
focused on straightening myself up the discomfort in my leg disappeared. I'll
have to pay attention to that on both counts. Not slouching and figuring out why
it's happening. Garmin Connect Stats.
Wednesday: Bike time plus strength and Stretch. With
daylight at a minimum right now I was only able to get a four mile ride in. I
did it anyway because I feel like now is the time to create the habit. I have to
work on getting my headlamp situated better. It kept slipping and when I tried
to adjust - one handed - the strap pushed my ear covering off. After the ride I
had dinner with Dave and then went up to do 30 minutes of tabata style exercises
using YAYOG. I combined sumo squats, hip extensions, single leg dead lifts and
back lunges. 15 sets. I'm feeling energized! :) I followed the exercises with
some IT Band stretches and foam rolling. Tomorrow will be the toughest day this
week I think. 60 minutes moving and this week calls for some hills. Garmin Connect Stats
Thursday: As expected tonight's workout was the most challenging so far.
Still, I think I passed. My schedule called for 60 minutes
with emphasis on hills. Why I started with hills I'm not sure. Probably because
I worked backward from other weeks when I thought I needed to not do hills. My
plan was to do a couple miles easy maybe even with run/walk then head over to my
nemesis, the 8th street hill in Media for some hill repeats then finish off the
60 minutes with easy miles again with run/walk intervals if needed.
I
overdid my strength work last night. Too much in the legs and I was really
feeling it today. The thought of hill repeats was making me kinda dizzy. I never
considered not doing the workout or shortening it - thank you no excuses - but I
was worried about getting through it. In the end, I figured I had nothing to
lose and a lot to gain so I headed out with the intention to see
if I could just keep running for 60 minutes. I began with a loop around my
neighborhood which, by Media standards is more or less flat. Then I headed over
to Media Borough for a lap of the Media 5 mile loop. One lap is 2.5 miles. I
plodded along focusing on form and and my breathing just to keep moving. I
didn't care how many miles I would eventually cover. As it was I ended up going
up the 8th street hill twice; the second time in the last 5 minutes of my hour.
In 60 minutes I only managed 4.91 miles but I ran the whole time. Don't
misunderstand me, please. There is no shame in walking but for tonight the
mental boost of running the entire time is a big step. Garmin Connect Stats. I think the elevation chart here does not do justice to the 8th street hill. But then it may just be I have a 'thing' about that hill.
I'm giving myself a success rating for this workout even though I didn't do the scheduled hill repeats. Given the circumstances I think I gained just as much for what I did do. It was slower than I know I can do but not all workouts are about speed.
Tomorrow (Friday) is rest
day and Saturday 6 miles at 3/1 intervals.
On Saturday I ran the Betzwood Trail with some running buddies. You can read more about that here. This was my first long run (6 miles). I wanted and did keep to 3 and 1 intervals. I still had a little muscle soreness from Wednesday's workout but by the end of the run I felt fine. And I have not had any since. I am glad I ran on Thursday, I'm pretty sure that sped up the recovery. My only regret - if you can call it that - is going out too fast. It always happens especially when I'm with a group and at the end - the last half mile or so - I was feeling the effects. I guess I should be happy it took that long. :) I forgot my Garmin - although strangely enough did have the heart monitor on - so no stats for this run. Some stretching upon returning home and some foam rolling later in the evening.
Sunday - Today's schedule called for 60 minutes cross which I really want to spend on the bike as much as possible. It was not raining when I woke up - although it looked like it might any minute - so I did go out for a bike ride. I did not push the pace on this ride at all. As you can see I didn't even get to 10 miles in the hour I was out. I tried to keep my legs turning as much as possible. At the end with about 5 minutes left I decided to head down Ridge to Olive Street to go around the corner and up 8th Street before going home. Let's just say it was a humbling experience. I did not expect to sail through that but still... First it's down hill on Ridge and around the bend on to Olive. Then uphill then around the corner and continue up hill on 8th. Despite what it may look like on the report off my Garmin I did not walk the bike up the last part of 8th street. I probably could have walked faster however. This is something to be conquered :) Garmin Connect Stats
Today was another day to be excited about. Similar to Tuesday's run I had plans today that in previous training cycles I would have used as an excuse to skip. I didn't. It was only an hour afterall. I had plenty of time to ride, shower and change before I had to head out.
Week one is a success. Really excited about week 2 now :)
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