Sunday, February 5, 2012

Not the best week but...

I knew coming into it, that this was going to be a tough week for training, and it was. I had a ton going on at work and at home, so I scaled down the training plan and decided to focus on sticking to my run schedule - the rest will be what it is.  What I didn't count on is catching a gastro bug that is going through my school right now.

Thursday's run was good - I decided to bump it up and do the Furman FIRST tempo run - 1.5km warm up at 6:40/km, then 5k at 6:20, and 1.5 km at 6:40.  Only problem was I forgot my Garmin so I had to use Runkeeper on my iphone which meant I really didn't have much of a clue as to my current pace, and subsequently, I ran faster than I was supposed to, a lot of the time. I was pretty sore the next day and things were too busy to jump on the trainer that night anyway so I figured it was just was well that I had an extra rest day for my sore feet/ankles/calves. (Why does speedwork always hurt so much???)


Saturday I woke up feeling really run down and by late morning, I was wishing I hadn't eaten any breakfast. I spent much of the day hunkered down on the couch, ate very little all day, and finally started to perk up only slightly on Sunday morning. By late afternoon Sunday (now), I am starting feel a little more like myself and I'm torn about whether I should attempt to get my 2 hour run in now, or give myself another day of rest and try to do it after work tomorrow. I'm still a little nauseous and fatigued but I might be able to do it - I have not decided.  I just took some more acetaminophen for my head and I did have a little lunch so maybe I'd be ok.  I'm just not sure what the best course of action will be.

As for the diet, things are going pretty well in that regard. I was actually down a pound early in the week and now over the last 2 days, I've lost another, but I won't actually count that until I feel well enough to eat a couple of full meals.

**UPDATE - At 5 pm I was feeling MUCH better so I pushed myself and got out and did the whole 15km.  Yay!  Here's the Dailymile report. 

So this week's plan?

Mon - trainer (or my missed 2 hour run)
Tues - appt after school, quick dinner, then class at 7:30-9:00...
Wed - meetings until 6:30ish, then dinner. Not sure if I can do anything, maybe trainer in evening?
Thur - (45-60 min run)
Fri - strength and trainer?
Sat - long run (2:00)
Sun - swim and weights

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Another Update

As a followup to my last post, my training has gone really well over all. I did do the planned swim and strength workout on Sunday, Jan. 22, including the PT stuff to strengthen my glutes (walking lunges, step ups, and one legged leg press), but once again, my quads and glutes were trashed for 2-3 days afterward and I had to adapt my run on the Monday.

I had a hectic week with appointments on my usual run days (Tues/Thurs) so I switched things up and planned to run Mon/Wed instead.

Here are how things went:

Mon (23) - 3km treadmill, 3 km elliptical (adapted due to soreness)
Tue (24) - Rest day
Wed (25) - Great run - hilly 6.8km in 45 min, snowy/icey in spots, but decent pace
Thu (26) - Trainer - 29.6km in 1:02 - much better pace. 30 min 80rpm, 30 min 90 rpm
Fri (27) - Busy day - no time to train
Sat (28) - Long run in the snow, 14.5k, 1:45
Sun (29) - Gym (pool busy) - Rowing 30 min 5.6 km, strength machines

On Sunday's strength workout, I tried something different. I cut back to two sets of 12 rep of the leg machines, and in a couple of cases, cut back one notch on the weight.  I did the PT exercises as well, but also cut down on the number.  Subsequently, I was able to run, relatively pain free on Monday. I think I will continue with this reduction of those specific exercises until I build up a little more strength.

This current week is a very hectic one at school.  I will not be able to train every day but I will endeavour to get my runs in. When I ran on Monday, I went a little longer so I could hit 100km for the month, for the first time, and I made it!  101 km for the month of January!  I felt pretty good on the run, and had a pretty good pace once again.

I didn't get my training in today, but I do plan to run tomorrow again. I'm not sure if I'll get anything done on Friday, but everything should be back to normal on the weekend.  I guess I'll just consider this a 'rest' week. :)

Mon (30) - 63 min. run, 9.4 km
Tue (31) - rest day (too busy)
Wed (1) - full stretch and some strength and PT work at home

And the rest of the week?

Thu (2) - I plan to run 45 min
Fri (3) - 1 hr on trainer or nothing
Sat (4) - 1:45-1:50 - 15km, 6:49 pace
Sun (5) - Swim and weights



So now that I've managed to hit a 100km running month, let's see if I can do that every month until May.


Weight/Diet

My weight has fluctuated a bit but seems to moving in the right direction, however slowly.  More interestingly though, I pulled out my measuring tape and found I've lost at least an inch on the waist, hips, upper thighs etc so I am definitely feeling 'slimmer' even if the scale isn't showing big changes. This positive trend will help motivate me.  I am really finding it tough to keep updating Sparkpeople with my meal info so I can track my calories, for more than a day or two, but I will continue to try.