I want to do a recap of my week as a way of tracking my own progress, and hopefully giving a peek into how I make all the things I am interested work.
This Weeks Workouts
How the Runs Felt
Most of my runs felt pretty great this week. My track workout was difficult in the way track workouts usually are, but I hit my splits and didn’t feel like hot death afterwards, so it’s a win for me. My tempo run was done on a treadmill, which isn’t ideal, but I don’t like running in the dark when I’m not at home. I caught up on some horrible Netflix choices (Vampire Diaries, don’t judge me), and was able to sustain my goal pace throughout the runs. I’ve honestly found sometimes that tempo runs feel easier on treadmills, since you don’t have to push as hard off the ground to keep momentum. So I always question my effort levels on treadmills. But in my mind it’s better to run a little less hard on the treadmill if it keeps me from accidentally running into some sketchy neighborhood and exceeding my goal paces when I have to run away from a serial killer. The decisions you have to make as a runner; treadmill or possible homicide? This week I chose the treadmill.
Wednesday I decided to switch my usual morning and afternoon routine so that I could run outside in San Antonio. I spent some time on the Leon Creek section of the Greenway Trail System. It was beautiful, and the weather was great. My easy runs felt mostly easy, with the exception of Saturdays’ long run. After the lung-burner WOD on Friday, I would be lying if I didn’t say Saturday’s run felt less than comfortable, but I feel like that’s to be expected. Overall, more good than bad.
How the CrossFit Felt
Monday’s are usually pretty tough for me since I schedule my track workout in the morning, but this week the WOD was pretty reasonable. After Wednesday, my legs started to feel really sore, I assume from the 150 overhead lunges. They cooperated with me on my tempo run the next day, but that afternoon I noticed that I was starting to get stiff every time I sat down for longer 15 minutes. This was a fun experience considering I was in all day meetings for the majority of the week (the joys of corporate life). By Friday, I definitely felt like my legs had been replaced with lead, and by the time I drove back home I was moving around pretty slowly. I survived 20.1 against all odds, and thankfully the WOD was mostly upper-body focused; because my lower-body was not interested in playing CrossFit. Considering the amount of travel and crap sleep I had all week, I’d say I kept it together fairly decently.
What Went Well
My fueling and nutrition were on point this week, which is no small feat for me when I’m not at home. It’s pretty tempting for me to use business travel as an excuse to eat like someone on a Food Network tv show. Give me all the Mexican food and deserts; I am here for it. But I have genuinely been trying to keep my nutrition in a consistent place since I made some adjustments a couple of months ago that have made my speed work feel immensely more efficient. I have to keep telling myself that gourmet nachos and $9 donuts will still be around when I’m done with this training block. Considering the amount of activity I had this week, I really think that I would have fallen apart if I had not been so mindful about my nutrition. I do recognize that I need to continue to be more mindful about hydrating, that is still a work in progress.
What Went Shitty
My sleep sucked this week. In all sorts of ways. I’m not a great sleeper when I’m out of town in general, and this week was worse than usual. Monday and Tuesday weren’t too bad, but by Wednesday I was starting to feel sore and had a hard time getting comfortable and it just got worse every day. I was a zombie by Saturday afternoon. I will say that I did what I could to try to get restful sleep. I got in bed at a reasonable time, I went for walks in the afternoon to unwind after work, I kept my room as cold as the hotel allows, and I gladly took my Melatonin every night. It just wasn’t working for me this week. I also don’t think I spent enough time stretching. The week was pretty busy for me, but mostly I was just so damn worn out by 6:30pm that it was all I could do to procure dinner and pour myself into bed.
Plans to Improve Next Week
I’m hopeful that my sleep will be better this week. I also plan to put more energy into spending at least 15 minutes a day stretching. This week’s workouts were pretty tough, and I think if I had spent more time stretching and recovery I might have gotten better sleep. I got in 20 minutes on Sunday, and I plan to spend the first 15 minutes after work stretching every day. Hopefully shifting my time will improve this habit, as I do notice a big difference in my efficiency when I am less sore.
I absolutely welcome any tips on improving consistency in my active recovery!