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?

Training Truths: Getting In Tune

Last week I found myself getting back in tune with my body. Trying to stick to the 10% mileage increase rule, I upped my weekly mileage slowly and paid close attention to which part of my thigh was achey, and then attacked it with the foam roller! After my runs I also made time to stretch with my yoga for runners app.

The #squatstreak continued, but I found a new favorite version thanks to Shauna Harrison and the Under Armour #SweatADay challenge: in & outs. After doing 50 basic squats every day for the last 40 days, the in & out squats woke up some gluteus muscles that apparently had been snoozing through the traditional ones.

Tuesday's two miles outside will probably mark the end of running in shorts, but I welcome the cold weather. I stayed on the flattest route from my driveway and kept the hamstring happy.

I was feeling pretty sore after my ART session at PT on Wednesday, so Thursday's two mile treadmill run motivated by the rainy weather was fortuitous. With the pace nice and easy, I focused on my form.

Saturday's "long" run of three miles was my best run of the week. It was my longest post-injury run on a hilly route which in the past would aggravate my hamstring, but it finally felt really good.

On Sunday we welcomed another half marathoner to the household. My step-daughter ran the Seacoast Half and we were there to cheer her across the finish line.

It was an exciting week and I like what my body is saying. What has your body been telling you lately?

Training Truths: I'm a Creature of Habit

Last week began with me continuing to give myself a break from worrying about running. I want my angry muscles to get happy again and trying to run before they are healed was not doing me any good. Although my adductor pain from the summer is gone, running the half marathon with under-trained legs left some angry knots in my already weak left quad.

So with the focus not on running, I continued my #squatstreak with 50 squats every morning. I also drink a bottle of water (straight) either right before or after my squats. Then I foam roll. Call me a creature of habit. It works for me.

I continued to do my daily challenge workouts. I'm still loving the variety of these workouts and learning new exercises that push me to use my muscles in ways that I haven't before.

By the end of the week, I decided that I could go for an easy run. So on Saturday morning I laced up my Mizuno Wave Creation 14s and put on some of my cold weather gear. With the temperature hovering at 34 degrees it was a perfect morning to try my new Athleta relay capris!

Breaking the bad habit of little-to-no warming up, I headed down the driveway doing the Frankenstein walk and some lunges. My plan was to run a 2 mile out & back and if I felt any pain/discomfort I would turn around right away.

Admittedly, I was nervous. I really wanted this run to go well. I found myself chatting it up with the paparazzi my husband fearing that the first step would send signals of pain. Finally, I pressed the start button on my watch and took off. Two happy miles later, I returned.

Was it perfect? No, but it wasn't painful.

In the spirit of Halloween, and this is all the spirit I can muster, I put together a fun little themed workout. I tried it out on Sunday. It might be a little tougher than on paper. Let me know what you think!

Are you a creature of habit?