Monday, April 1, 2013

Weekly Goals and Workout Recap: Rusty Running


A spring-like picture because I *think* it's finally spring in NYC! 
After close to four weeks where I felt either exhausted during a run or felt some pain, I felt almost scared of running this week. I'd had knee pain that refused to go away during a 3.5 mile run last Sunday, so I wanted to be cautious, but I also was just feeling like no run was going my way so I avoided running.

Until Sunday. I have a 10 mile race this Sunday, so I knew I needed to get outside and get at least a few miles in. My run was tough for the first few miles, since a run after some time off always feels rusty. But I kept a 9:08 average pace, hitting an 8:51 in the last mile, which made me feel a lot better about where I am fitness-wise, despite essentially not running for two weeks.

PS -- today is Foodie Pen Pal reveal day, but I'm postponing that till tomorrow because I wanted to recap last week's workouts and post my goals for this week, rather than waiting until Tuesday for that. I got a great box and am excited to share it tomorrow!


Workout Recap

Monday: 30 min. yoga and foam rolling. Focused on IT bands, which I thought were possible culprit behind knee pain (think this might be true).

Tuesday: Strength workout with Abby. 10 min. elliptical w/u. Focused on heavier weights and fewer reps -- weighted lunges, hamstring curls, deadlifts, chest flies, and bicep curls all made an appearance.

Wednesday: Rest.

Thursday: Rest.

Friday: Refine Method class. My first time back at Refine in a while and it was a great class! Felt quite sore by the evening in all the right places (AKA running muscles, what I want to strengthen!).

20 min. elliptical. Did a brief cross-training session to work out some lactic acid in the legs and see how they felt.

Saturday: Refine Method class. Any time Brynn, Refine's founder, is teaching, it's always a good workout. Her abs section was much tougher than the typical Refine class's abs work (which is my only real complaint about these classes). I loved feeling the burn! Also walked 3 miles with my dog.

Sunday: 5 mile race pace run. While I'm hoping to run a bit faster than 9:08 at the NJ Half in May, I considered a 9:08 average pace to be a "race pace." This run was hard at first because my legs were so rusty (and I was starting on the rolling hills in Central Park), but felt great by the end! Splits were: (1) 9:03, (2) 9:14, (3) 9:18, (4) 9:14, (5) 8:51.


Weekly Goals


My yoga goals from last week failed because my trainer didn't teach her class on Monday and Sunday's brunch ran long so I didn't have time to both run and hit a 4:30 yoga class. I think I can only get in one class, so otherwise will be focusing on getting in lots of stretching and foam rolling as I ramp up training again!

Here's what I want to accomplish:
• 1 speed session
• 1 easy-ish 5 mile run
•10 mile run (Cherry Blossom 10 Miler in DC!)
• 2-3 strength workouts
• yoga!


What are your goals for this week? Have you ever felt "scared" of running?

4 comments:

  1. Hope your knee starts feeling better! My IT band has been bothering me a lot lately. I really wanted to run Cherry Blossom but I just made the trek to DC last week and that's a lot in a short amount of time (plus, my wedding is in 33 days but who's counting!)

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  2. You are being smart - best to be cautious with injuries (although I am awful with that myself). The running will come back in no time. Best of luck and sending good thoughts your way!

    Last year I was out for 6 weeks with an undiagnosed "overuse" injury. They scared the crap (pardon the language) out of me saying they thought I had a hip stress fracture. That stopped me dead in my tracks until I had the MRI to rule it out. Coming back from that injury and time off definitely made me stronger!

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  3. Race week, race week! Sending positive vibes your way and hoping your knee pain vanishes soon. Random: Loved that you and Abby focused on high weights and low reps for your strength training workout. That's what my coach has me doing, and it definitely works!

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  4. Great job on that race paced run! That's not easy after taking some time off.

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