Monday, May 31, 2021

May 24-30 week in review: Funky weather, a work snafu, and my longest run in weeks

I have my computer screen shots back! (There was a secret folder in my trash I hadn't emptied. Ha.)
Things were almost completely back to normal by last week. I got a good start to the week with my usual Monday and Tuesday trainer rides and mobility or PT, and core on Monday. Ho, hum.

Wednesday evening I came back inside from my run to find about 16 texts from my assistant director and work team trying to sort through an "emergency." I usually do an easier weights video or barre workout on Wednesdays but I wasn't able to make it happen last week. I did squeeze my mobility work around writing content and sending emails, but I didn't even eat my reheated dinner until 9 p.m. I couldn't make a weights workout happen that day.

On Friday it was randomly freezing cold outside. I was determined to run after work but had to layer on leggings and a light hat and gloves. Ridiculous for the Friday of Memorial Day weekend. I tried to make it a speed run with two rounds of three miles descending, but I wasn't shattering any records. Still, it was nice to try to run a bit faster for the first time in a while.

On Sunday I decided I wanted to try for a long-ish run. For me, "long" is anything between 10 miles and 2 hours; anything longer than that is almost exclusively reserved for marathon training. It would be my first double digit run since my virtual half four weeks ago. It went almost perfectly fine. I had some random sharp, stabbing pains in my left knee right at the turnaround point, enough that it was starting to affect my gait, but this has happened before. I tried to land as softly and with as good form as possible, and it seemed to work itself out after another mile or two. Any day I don't have to call home for a ride from my long run is a good day.

The weather was pretty much back to normal by Sunday and it's looking to be typical summer temps starting this week. Hopefully I won't have to break out the hat and gloves again for a while.
Decent week overall.
By the numbers, last week was:

Bike: Four times, all in the trainer, for 76.5 fake trainer miles in about 4:39.

Run: Three times, all on the road, for 26.25 miles (total happenstance) in about 4:11 (which is also right about my marathon PR!).

PT/Pre-hab: Six times, three mobility and three running PT, for about 3:45.

Weights: Twice, one core and one heavy/body routine, for about 1:45.

Yoga: Three times, all with the Down dog app on run days, for about 45 minutes. I had good intentions to do a longer session on Sunday after my run, but I decided getting groceries was more important, and did my usual short session later.

Total: 18 sessions in just longer than 15 hours. Not a bad week at all, even if I had to cut out one mid-week weights workout.

My outdoor pool is open and in full swing and I want to get out there for some laps soon. I didn't want to try to manage the crowds over Memorial Day weekend, but I hope to get in a few weekday swims in the next few weeks. I don't have any races on the calendar yet, so right now it's all about getting in the runs, trainer rides, PT, weights, and yoga when I can.

I hope you are still staying healthy, safe, and warm... or cool... whatever the weather is throwing at you these days.




Monday, May 24, 2021

May 17-23 week in review: Back from vacation and back in the swing of things

My husband and I had a very nice, quick trip out of town, but we were happy to come back home early last week. We managed a run the morning before we left, and I did some yoga before I went to bed that night, and then the next day, Wednesday, I tried to get back into my usual schedule.

I had a late work night Thursday, but I was able to plan ahead and finagle my week a little bit. I wanted to get out and run earlier in the day on Friday, but it was in the mid-80s in the afternoon, way too hot for a speedy run. I did my PT shortly after I logged off and did my run later, after the heat of the day was starting to break. Not ideal, but I got it done.

It was also super duper hot for my run Sunday. I wanted to do somewhere between 8 and 9.5 but ran out of water at about 8.5. I wanted to live to run another day so I called it then.

Of course, it wasn't a great week training-wise, but considering I was gone for a day and a half I think I did pretty darn good:
Crappy screen shot but not too crappy of a week.
Bike: Three times, all on the trainer, for 55 fake trainer "miles" in about 3:24.

Run: Three times, all on the road, for 19.5 miles in about 3:21. This included a very easy run with my husband before we left for home, a peppy run in blazing heat, and a medium run in blazing heat. 'Tis the season.

PT/Pre-hab: Four times, two mobility and two PT sessions, for about 2:30.

Weights: Twice, one video and one barre app, for about 2:05. We had last-minute plans on Saturday so I didn't have time for my heavy/weights routine, so I squeezed in a video on Sunday instead.

Yoga: Three times, all Down Dog app, for about 45 minutes.

Total: 15 session for about 12:05. Still, not too shabby!

I can't believe there's only a week left in May. I'm not sure what I'll be able to accomplish training-wise in these last few days, with this heat wave we're having and trying to fit in all my other obligations, but it does feel good to be home. My outdoor pool just opened for the season and I'd love to get over there. I'm not signed up for any races, yet, but we'll see how these next few weeks go.

I hope you all are staying healthy, safe, and cool out there.



Tuesday, May 18, 2021

May 10-16 week in review: A front-loaded week and then a road trip

A decent mix of activities, considering.
My husband and I took a road trip last week. He had to take care of some business, so we decided to make a fun mini-vacation out of it. We were as safe as we thought we could be: We are fully vaccinated, we wore our masks in all indoor spaces and on public transportation, we stayed in a private condo rather than a hotel, etc. It was the first time either of us had been anywhere in a year and a half and we had a great time. We just got home a few hours ago, hence my delay in reviewing last week's workouts.

We headed out Thursday morning so I wanted to make sure to stay tightly on task Monday through Wednesday. I wasn't sure how much time and availability I would have to work out on this trip so I figured front-loading the week was the smart thing to do. As it turns out, I was right: The only exercise we did Thursday and Friday was walking around, and we barely moved on Saturday, when it rained most of the day.

I did manage a run and my usual run-day yoga on Sunday. It was nice to get outside and burn off some of those vacation indulgences, and see a little bit of the city as a local rather than a tourist. All in all, I think the week was a good balance of relaxation and movement.

Workout wise, this was:

Run: Twice, both on the road, for 14.5 miles in about 2:19. This was my usual Wednesday evening peppy run, and my Sunday run on the road. I wasn't trying to set any records here, just get some miles in.

Bike: Twice, both on the trainer, for 34 fake miles in about 2:04. I did these early in the week before we left.

PT/Pre-hab: Three times, 2 mobility and 1 PT, for about 1:30. I did one thing every day before we left and nothing on the road.

Weights: Twice, one core session and one video, for about 1:20. Again, I did these before we left.

Yoga: Twice, both the Down Dog app, for about 30 minutes total. I was able to do one of these on the road.

Total: 11 sessions for about 7:43. A light week for me, but still, I'm happy that I got some movement in early in the week and while we were gone.

It was fun to take a trip, but things aren't back to normal yet and I'm happy to be back in my relatively safe home. I plan on keeping to myself for a while, going out as little as possible, getting back into a workout routine, and hopefully enjoying some of the hot weather that's expected to come our way.

Whether you are staying safe at home or taking some safe trips, I hope you're also getting in some good workouts and some nice relaxation, too.



Monday, May 10, 2021

Week in review May 3-9: Back to my basic (boring) routine

Typical week, atypical screen shot because I’m still having minor computer issues. 

Last week marked a kind of return to normal. I had run my virtual half marathon the Sunday before, so after a few easy trainer rides my legs were pretty much back to normal. Running was easy-ish last week but still OK. I was helping out a friend on Saturday and didn't have time for my heavy/body weights, but I still got in my usual three workouts by the end of the week. And PT and yoga were on point.

There was nothing out of the ordinary last week except for finishing my Milky Way 26K with a dedicated 5K on Friday. My legs still weren't feeling great, but they felt well enough for a zippy run. Honestly, I think pandemic fatigue is getting to me. I'm still not sleeping very well and training is helping me stay sane.

By the numbers, it was:

Bike: Four times, all on the trainer, for 75 fake trainer miles in about 4:34.

PT/Pre-hab: Six sessions, three mobility plus three running PT, for about 3:45.

Run: Three times, all on the road, for 21.5 miles in about 3:26.

Weights: Three times including one core, one video, and one barre app, for about 2:20 total.

Yoga: Three times, all using the Down Dog app, for 45 minutes total.

Total: 19 sessions for about 14:50.

I feel like a broken record but I really mean it when I say boring is good right now.

These next two weeks will be a little abnormal because my husband has to go out of town and I'm going with him to try to make a long weekend out of it. It will be the first time we've traveled anywhere in a year and a half. I'm a little nervous, but we're driving and staying in a condo by ourselves. We'll bring masks and hand sanitizer and be extra careful.

I hope your training is going well out there, as well, and that you are staying safe.



Sunday, May 9, 2021

Martian Invasion of Races virtual half marathon and 5K race report

How many other races have inflatable alien swag?
The Martian Invasion of Races holds a special place in my heart. I ran the marathon in 2013 as my fourth, and ran the 10K the next year with my husband. It's a local race, run by a local company, and the theme is as fun as they come.

I haven't really been on the virtual race train this pandemic but I wanted to make an exception for a race I had fond feelings for. So, a few weeks ago, I signed up for the Milky Way 26K: the combo half marathon and 5K, which equals about 26 kilometers together.

We had from Saturday, May 1 through Saturday, May 8 to complete and log our races. I wanted to tackle the half marathon first, just in case I imploded and needed to take another shot at it. I decided on Sunday, May 2. The weather was looking warm-ish, but I figured if I got out early enough, I'd be OK.

Well... it didn't go quite as planned. The morning started off great. I left from my house at about 9 a.m., with a frozen water bottle and a couple of Huma gels. My goal was sub-2 hours, but my real time to beat was 2:04:30, my fastest known half, the second half of the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon in November, 2012. (2012!!!) I wanted to walk a warmup, start the first 3-4 miles at 9:20 pace range, the next 3-4 at 9:09 pace range, and the rest sub-9:00 pace. And I wanted to keep the clock running, counting my TRUE overall time as race time.

My legs took a while to warm up but I ticked off a few miles in the 9:teen and 9:twenty range feeling pretty good. I drank at mile 2, and took a gel and drank and mile 4. It was starting to get a bit warm. I had frozen a small throwaway bottle of water rather than one of my larger, reusable running bottles. I'm not sure why I chose to do that. (Foreshadowing!)

I hit a landmark at mile 5 and thought, huh, the route I chose is going to be much longer than 13.1 miles. I tried to do some math in my head and decided to cut the lollipop part of my route short a little. On the far part of the lollipop there was a bit of wind, which sucked to run into. My pace didn't falter much, but I could tell I was putting in more effort. I drank at mile 6 and took a gel and drank at mile 8.

I got off the windy part and into a path that was pretty full of people. The heat was starting to get to me and I didn't have much water left by the time I drank at mile 10. Shortly after I hit mile 11 I had to walk out a side stitch. I went back and forth on whether I should stop my watch but I decided I could have the best of both worlds: Potentially a Garmin PR, and the overall time recorded.

I didn't have to walk long but the next two miles were really hard. I'd run for a while, sip what was left of my water, and walk out a side stitch. I felt better after about a mile and was able to run the rest in. I wanted to hit 13.25 just to be safe, and my Garmin did tell me I had hit my sub-2 goal for overall running. BUT, before you send me hate messages, I did log my overall time for the race, which included about six additional minutes of walking.

I ended up about 2 miles from home so I called my husband to come get me with some cold water. Would I have done better had I brought a larger bottle of water? Maybe. Would I have done better had I planned my route to avoid the wind? Maybe. Would I have done better had I left earlier to avoid the heat that was getting to me by mile 11? Maybe.

Overall, it was still a fun time, and I ran 11 good miles. I chalked this up to a learning experience and a chance to support a local race.

I ran easy on Wednesday and decided to go for a dedicated 5K on Friday, my usual speed day (Fast Friday). My legs still felt pretty fatigued but I figured I would warm up for a couple of miles and do 3.1 as hard as I could manage that day. When I did the math, I ended up with 26:40, not terrible at all. Not PR fast, but still a good time.

Overall, I got three medals, a nice t-shirt, an inflatable alien, the chance to support a local race, and a good time. Even if my races are few and far between these days, I'm glad I signed up for this one.

Whether you are racing in person or virtually right now, I hope you're doing so safely and having a good time doing it.



Wednesday, May 5, 2021

April in review: Consistent volume, consistent workouts

I feel like a broken record here but things have been and continue to be boring training-wise. Which, I'm not really complaining. It could be a lot worse than boring.

My training volume has been pretty consistent this year so far at 58-64 hours per month and 72-83 actual loggable workouts/training sessions, and April fell right in the middle of that with 63.5-ish hours and 79 loggable sessions. I have been almost robotically consistent with my routine, save for skipping a session the day of and going light the day after my second COVID vaccine. (I was VERY lucky to have almost no side effects for the second shot.)

I went back to work full-time, losing my Wednesday furlough day, at the end of March. Making a full-time salary again is nice but I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss having a day off mid-week to grocery shop and do my long run. I've tried to keep "workout Wednesdays" a thing since my husband has a commitment in the evenings and I can throw in a mid-week weights workout without too much trouble. But it is NOT the same. Oh well. Like I said, not a real problem.

Side note: My Numbers keeps crashing and I lost my previous charts, and I don't feel like rebuilding them tonight just so I can compare month to month, so I have Google Doc spreadsheets graphics and Garmin Connect screen shots instead. I'll try to build them again for May.

April, in summary:



Close enough.

Bike: 17 times, all on the trainer, for not quite 20 hours, and 317 fake trainer miles. This is pretty close to what I've been doing all year. It works out to four rides per week, three rides of about an hour during the week and another ride of about 1.5 hours on Saturdays. Among the workouts were a "failed" FTP test that I still felt good about.

Run: 12 times, all outside, for 15.5 hours over -- get this -- 97.5 miles. This was my face when I added this up to find 97.5 miles:

Me realizing I logged 97.5 running miles for April

The funny things is, I HAD added up my totals near the end of the month, and thought I was closer to 90 than 100. Oh, well. I'm a writer for my day job, not a mathematician.

PT: 26 times, 14 mobility and 12 running PT, for about 15:30. I'm PT-ing almost as much as I'm running which, let's be honest, at age 41 is where I need to be. It's definitely not hurting and I am feeling stronger and more mobile out there.

Weights: 11 times -- a good mix of videos, my heavy/body routine, and my barre app plus core every MFing Monday -- over about 9:40. I can now do more pullups and chinups than I ever could in my life and I am ready to rock tank top season, but more importantly I just feel stronger and more solid when I run and bike. The core work is definitely helping.

Yoga: 13 times, every run day plus one extra, via my Down Dog yoga app for 3:15 overall. I'm still "forcing" myself to do yoga on run days and some days I do it late, but I've always knocked it out. I just feel stretchier overall, and better mentally afterward. I'd like to add a few more sessions into my life but I am making this work for now.

Total: 79 sessions over about 63:42. A nice, solid month.

I didn't make it to the pool at all. Now that I have both vaccines, I feel a bit more comfortable exploring my swimming options. I'm hoping to get back to it this coming month.

May is already off to a good start and having a good foundation for these past few months certainly doesn't hurt. I'm really hoping I can race this year but even if I can't, I'm still having a good time challenging myself with these steady, consistent workouts at home.

Happy training and stay safe out there.



Monday, May 3, 2021

Week in review April 26-May 2: A lighter week and a virtual race

The first part of last week was the same ol' boring routine: Ride my trainer, go for a few runs, do my PT, do core and weights.

I lightened things up a bit on Friday because I knew I would want to run a virtual half-marathon over the weekend, likely on Sunday. (Race report coming.) So I swapped my Friday speed run for a shakeout, and took Saturday completely off. I hadn't planned to, but I got busy with errands and enjoying the day, and decided I needed a rest day.

So, last week saw relatively a lot of running, although my volume isn't THAT much higher than past weeks. I still did all my PT and all my yoga, and only skipped one each weights and trainer ride, so it still ended up a good week, I think.

The virtual race was just enough to shake things up a little bit without too much disruption. I'm not a huge virtual racer, but this was a local company I wanted to support.
Lots of running and decent amounts of other stuff.
Overall, last week was:

Run: Three times, all on the road, for 25.75 miles in about 4:02. This included the virtual half, a shakeout run, and an easy run earlier in the week.

PT/Pre-hab: Six times, my usual three mobility and three running PT, for about 3:45.

Bike: Three times, all on the trainer, for 51 fake trainer miles in about 3:10.

Weights: Twice, one core and one barre app, for about 1:15.

Yoga: Three times, all via the Down Dog app, for about 45 minutes.

Total: 17 sessions for just less than 13 hours.

Not a super rock star week, but still a good week with some fun mixed in. I hope you all are having good weeks, too.