Monday, November 18, 2013

Training Truths: Rebuilding the Runner in Me

Let me start by sharing the results of the fitness calendars giveaway. The winners are:

Presley - Complete Runner's Day-By-Day Calendar Log
Allie - Runner's High 2014 Day-to-Day Calendar

Congratulations!
Check your inbox for an email from me!

Last week I continued to rebuild the runner in me. I'm at day 49 of my #squatstreak and I added a few days of wall sits also. The #sweataday challenge has been getting a little tougher, but I'm using the modifications and pushing to increase my upper body strength. Fortunately the mini-workouts often include upper body exercises, like the reverse burpees I tried on Friday.

See that terrible form? Time to build up some strength!

Monday - I started the day with a nice two mile run with my veteran. I decided to go back to avoiding hills until all the muscles in my hamstring and quad are back to 100%. This "flat" out and back was much speedier than I expected, but felt good.


Wednesday - After 30 minutes of ART, I learned that my IT band is tight. Now I have a new stretch to add to my routine and more reason to stay focused on strengthening my hips and glutes.

Thursday - I ran two miles after school on the same route as Monday and felt awesome. Again, I was speedier than I expected which felt good, but I'm pretty sure that I need to continue to restore the base mileage first.


Saturday - mr.C joined me for a 3.5 mile run along the river. I was very happy with my run, and even though I went out too fast, I managed to reign myself in and almost hit my goal pace of 9:30. Afterwards I tested out some new trail shoes for a review.


Sunday - I joined up with the NH Bloggers and Tweeters at Strength in Balance NH for Booty Barre class and I had a blast! Like SurfSet this class is a great cross training option. This class was a perfect strength session with tons of stretching (especially the hips) worked in.


You know I like a good reward challenge and logging miles to win prizes is about as easy as it gets. I was recently contacted by Nick from the National Running Challenge - a challenge that rewards you for running races. The NRC is basically a series challenge that assigns points for the miles you run in races. You submit your races during the current series. At the end of a series, winners are chosen. You can learn more here. Even though I'm not running many races right now, I know a lot of friends who are piling on the miles and would probably win some prizes!


What are you rebuilding?



19 comments:

  1. Glad you are making your way back. That feels good, no?


    I'm in a pretty broken down state right now--sick, injured, etc. so I need my rest and then the rebuild. Looking forward to it.

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  2. I'm excited to be building my mileage back up again soon. Glad you're getting back at it!

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  3. Nice to read about your progress... happy for you!

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  4. a running challenge sounds so cool and unique.. I like that! I was so sore in my upper body today, but I have a feeling my legs will be shot tomorrow! Eeekss!

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  5. You're doing great Amy! I'm in the "rebuilding" phase as well - slowly but surely :)

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  6. Sounds like you are well on your way to recovery! I love how motivated you are and the #squatstreak is awesome! I am still dealing with nagging foot tendinitis issues which have become more minimal but seem to flare up when least expected.

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  7. Hope it happens for you sooner than later!

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  8. Thanks Laura! Hope it goes smoothly for you too!

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  9. I thought my arms would be sore, but they're not at all. My legs are starting to feel it though. I think my #squatstreak helped me :)

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  10. Crossing fingers for both of us! We need to chat about Heartbreak Hill Half ;)

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  11. Those flare ups are so annoying! It's why I'm determined to do this slowly.

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  12. Sounds like you are doing a great job with the rebuilding. I'm still rebuilding my mileage base from the summer of no running. It's way harder than I expected!

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  13. I'm rebuilding my right side - foot to core! Bummed I missed the Barre class with all the NH Blog/Tweeters. Absolutely love Barre! Such a great way to embrace the shake!

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  14. Hi! I'm new to your blog and it is probably on one of your blogs, but what kind of watch are you using that is in those pictures of your daily runs? I am new to running and interesting in purchasing a watch that tracks mileage and such. Thank you and run on!

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  15. It is! It helps that I am sticking the 10% rule.

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  16. I know it would have been a long drive for you, but it would have been fun to workout with you ;) I was back at SurfSet today!

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  17. Hi Joy! Thanks for stopping by. I wear the Nike GPS Sportwatch. It's an older version (and cracked), but I love it. Simple to use. I think the new ones might have more options now. Let me know what you end up getting!

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  18. So I actually bought the Garmin Forerunner 110. I have yet to take it out on a spin, but I hope it'll do the trick. It sounded rather simple, and since I'm pretty new, would meet my needs while also not hurting my budget too much. Thanks!

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