Monday morning, I was sore from the run which was a little
surprising since I haven’t’ been sore after a 5k race in a long time, but I
wasn’t training for over a week prior and recovering from an injury. I loosened
up and was fine by the end of the day, which is good because I wasn’t able to
go out for a short recovery run since we had a spring storm roll in and start
dumping snow on us all day.
The weather was horrible through Wednesday with tons of
snow, and we had plans Thursday and Friday so I didn’t get out running again
for almost the whole week.
Saturday was beautiful weather, and most of our kids’
activities (soccer and track) were canceled due to the snow still on all the
fields so we got to go out for a long run without too much squeezing. Had we
still been on schedule, our long run should be an 8 miler. Since it was my
first long run back, and we didn’t’ get to do our short runs during the week, my
plan was to do 6 miles minimum, and see how it felt. If all went well, I wanted
to add the extra 2 so I could get back on track with my training schedule. The
biggest problem I was having during the 6 mile run was that I just couldn’t
find a comfortable pace, so I’d run too fast, and then walk to recover, then
I’d start running again, but too fast still. I just could not settle into a
slower pace that I could maintain. It was a little frustrating, but I went with
it and tried to make it into consistent intervals – 2 minutes running, 1 minute
walking. That helped a little. Our run was a big loop from the house and back,
but forgot that when I originally mapped it, I had to add in a little loop in
the neighborhood next to us to get the mileage to an even 6. When we got back
to the house, we were at 5.75. That was far enough for the kids (my 7 & 10
year olds ran almost a 10k!) so they got to be done. I ran inside for a quick
pit stop, and decided I was definitely feeling good enough to keep going; not
too tired or sore. Jerry, the dog, and the kids stayed home, and I headed out
for our 2 mile loop through our neighborhood. I decided to stick with the 2/1
intervals to finish out my run. Some of my intervals became 2/2 instead, but I
made it around the loop to the last quarter mile, where the loop goes up a big
hill. Not really feeling like going up the hill to get home, I compromised with
myself. Instead of turning right and going up the hill and home, finishing with
a 7.75 mile distance, I decided to turn left, staying on a much flatter street
and go home around the backside of the neighborhood, increasing my distance to
an even 8 miles. I guess, maybe I should have gone up the hill and called it
good at 7.75, because as I headed around and hit 7.75 miles and was still a
quarter mile from home, I just couldn’t bring myself to run anymore. My hip flexors
were so tight. I ended up walking that last quarter mile home. My watch beeps
to alert me when I complete a “lap” which I have set to be 1 mile each. I had
to walk 2 houses past mine to get it to beep but I was so excited when it did.
I finished! I put in 8 miles, mostly untrained, and I did it under 2 hours.
1:56:44 was my total time, and I PR’d my 4, 5, and 6 mile times. After dinner,
I did some light stretches for my hip flexors, and used my roller stick to
relax those sore muscles.
Sunday morning, when I got up I was pretty tight from
Saturdays run so I used my roller stick again. I love that thing! I was able to
relax my muscles again before we left for church. After lunch, we celebrated
Ian and Tylor’s birthdays with a giant cookie/brownie/sugary ice cream topped
dessert. Apparently my body doesn’t like high doses of sugar, anymore, because
it made me feel sick to my stomach. Since I wasn’t feeling well, I didn’t do my
3 mile easy run. Depending on the weather, I will try to do a mile or 2 tomorrow.
Weekly totals:
8 Miles, 2 lbs lost
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