This was another week of travel for me, which adds a layer of difficulty. Thankfully, I was in Austin, and there’s no excuse to be lazy in that city. I finished out the week with three WODs and just over 50 miles of running. For me, 50+ miles is a lot of miles, but for most of the week I was feeling pretty strong. The programming for the rest of my training leading up to Dallas will be in the 50-60 mile range, and I’d be lying if I said that’s not intimidating. I’m trying to remind myself that I’ve been building up to this, and I have been feeling stronger, so I genuinely think I can make this high mileage thing work. Here’s hoping anyways.
Total Weekly Mileage: 55.4
How The Runs Felt
This was definitely a high mileage week. It was the first week that my Sunday runs increased from 6 to 8 miles, and also the first week my tempo run bumped up to 10 miles overall. The weather was amazing on Monday, and my track workout felt great. I was traveling mid-week, and I knew I wanted to try to get at least one run in on the hike and bike trail around the lake. I relish any opportunity to run around Lady Bird Lake in Austin; it’s really where I first fell in love with running. When I consulted my handy weather app, I realized that a beautiful cold front was blowing in Wednesday morning, which meant I could run the trail Wednesday afternoon. I’m not a fan of running outside in the mornings when it’s dark while I am out of town, which means all of my morning runs are typically on a treadmill if I’m traveling. It’s not ideal, but as much as I love true crime podcasts, I am not interested in being featured in a true crime story, so running on the treadmill works. During the summer months, running in the afternoon/evening is akin to running through hell fire (not a fan), so I don’t generally make it out to the hike and bike trail May – August. All this to say, I was PUMPED about running on the lake Wednesday, and with a wonderfully cloudy sky and temps in the 50s, I was one happy girl.
Unfortunately, I cannot run tempo runs in the afternoon, as I tend to feel like life has just sort of beat me down by 3pm. So, I settled for running my tempo on the treadmill again this week. I was a little nervous about the additional mile, and while every tempo is challenging for me, it wasn’t overly difficult. Running a hard, steady pace on a treadmill is an exercise in mental training for sure. My easy runs this week were around a 9-9:30 overall pace, which is fairly typical for me. Saturday’s long run was definitely tough for me this week. The weather had warmed up, so it was pretty muggy when I got started; I only grumbled about it for three or four miles. The hardest part however, was that after about 12.5 miles my pelvis started to ache. I’ve had an overstretched ligament, known by the lovely name Symphysis Pubis Strain that sometimes leads to Osteitis Pubis (another great sounding ailment), on and off since my pregnancy with my six year old. It honestly hasn’t bothered me much during this training cycle, outside of some soreness after tough tempo runs. Generally I’ve found that if I stay on top of stretching and icing after long runs, it will be manageable. What this tells me is that I need to be more consistent with my stretching and core strength than I have been. If you have questions about pelvic ligament strain and some exercises I have found useful, check out this video.
What I’ve Been Listening To
I generally listen to more podcasts than music while I run, because I have a little OCD about the tempo lining up with my cadence. Sometimes, I’ll dangle the carrot of listening to my favorite Pandora station for the last couple of miles if I’m struggling with motivation during a longer run. Lately I’ve been on quite the true crime/murder Podcast kick. I just finished up Bardstown, which I really liked. It’s about a small town in Kentucky with several unsolved murders. Like most investigative journalism, it doesn’t solve the mystery, but it’s a pretty interesting listen. I also started listening to The Mysterious Mr. Epstein, about Jeff Epstein who used his power and prestige to essentially get away with sex trafficking for way too long. It’s definitely not a feel good podcast, but I think it discusses some really important points about social justice, and sometimes a little rage is a good substitute for fuel during a run. I’m always looking for a good Podcast to get into, so if you have any suggestions leave me a comment.
How the WODs Felt
I am so happy to report that I was not feeling the same level of soreness I did last week. I don’t think the workouts were any easier, but I do think that the focus on stretching and keeping up with my nutrition helped. The first two WODs of the week felt hard, but not “I left most what’s left of my soul in the box,” hard. I wasn’t over-joyed by the realization that Friday’s WOD would be 20 minutes long and include 35lb dumbbell thrusters, but I didn’t have any substantial difficulty with the workout itself. I posted a full recap of the workout in my 20.2 & Lessons post, https://metconsandmiles.com/2019/10/19/20-2-lessons/.
What Went Well
For starters, the weather was amazing most of the week. Also, my fueling and nutrition were in a good place again this week, which is a big win considering I had to work out of town for the second week in a row. I did have some pretty amazing taco’s at Guero’s, but I didn’t eat my body weight in chips, which in my mind is high-key serious adulting. I didn’t stretch quite as much as I would have liked, but I did make an effort to be more mindful about incorporating it more throughout the week. I had an extremely busy week at work (like locked in a conference room for 4 days straight busy), and while it would have been really easy to eat my feelings and pour myself into bed at 7pm, I prioritized my workouts and stuck to my plans. I’m really proud of myself, as back to back travel weeks are tough on the brain and energy, but I survived all the peopleing, and that is a huge win. I also got my act together and did a full 30 minutes of yoga and an ice dunk after Saturday’s run.
What Went Shitty
Once again my sleep sucked this week. I did what I could, but my mind was just not cooperating with shutting down. Even therapists struggle with managing stress, and while exercise really helps me control my anxiety, some nights are just more restless than others. I am 100000% looking forward to having a solid week at home to catch up on this sleep issue. Like I mentioned earlier, the ligament pain I started to feel towards the end of my long run was not a welcome guest. It was a good wake-up call that I need to re-prioritize stretching and core work. Sometimes it’s easy for me to write off focused core work, because hey I CrossFit. So while the only six pack in my possession is in longneck form, I should have a decently strengthened core. Truthfully, though it’s those small core muscles that often get overlooked when other larger muscles take over that need strengthening in my case. It’s not fun, exciting workouts, but it’s still important, and I need to do a better job here.
Plans to Improve Next Week
What I need to do is pretty obvious this week. I need to commit to stretching after every run, doing a proper warm up before my runs, and incorporating true core work at least three times this week. Luckily, I will be home this week, which means that during conference calls I can get on the floor and do some stretching. I’m working from home so I won’t be looking like an idiot trying to get in some “office yoga,” thankfully. I’m planning on setting aside 20 minutes for core work on my run only and rest days (Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday) in the afternoons while I catch up on American Horror Story. I also need to schedule an appointment with my chiropractor to make sure my hips are fully in alignment. I know these are things I need to stay more on top of as I move into 50+ mile weeks, even if I don’t love doing all of these things.
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