Training Recap – The Best and the Worst

October 13, 2014 Faux Runner Comments 4 comments

If this week was any indication of the Dopey training to come, whew!

The week started out with some issues behind my knee that developed quite suddenly after my long run last week on trails. When it didn’t go away after icing and rest, it was painful enough to scare me to seek help from the chiropractor and massage therapist. Stacy from TriBodyworks was nice enough to see me early in the morning and get my hamstrings and calfs going.

The week ended with some long back to back runs and some crazy scheduling issues (when am I ever not over-scheduled on a weekend!!).

The Best and the Worst

I had a great 2.5 hours long run on Saturday, or so I thought.

The entire run felt smooth and I knew I picked it up as the miles went along, even though I didn’t look at my Garmin obsessively. I met Amy who was finishing up her long run and joined her for the last mile. She is a faster runner and it felt effortless as I picked up to run the last 1.5 miles with her.

I was still riding on that high in the night when I was brought back with a crash after learning that I was out of my HR zones. I wasn’t too anal about keeping track of my HR and mostly ran by how I felt with occasional glances to the Garmin. And it definitely looked like I was out of my HR zones. By a LOT!

I could either brush it off and say, “Whatever, I felt good!” or I could take it to heart and rein back.

After quite a bit of ranting and sulking, I was finally ready to admit that I should’ve taken care of my HR a little better.

Especially as I can clearly see that the training is ramping up to Dopey in 3 months (I better get a start on those costumes too!). And I want to be at the start as healthy as I can, and having built a good base from which to take off for my next goals.

A run is not complete until I have stretched

After the hamstring/calf issues that caused the pain in that spot behind my knee, I have realized that post run stretching is absolutely essential. Even if the immediate after run stretch is just 5-7 minutes while toweling off the sweat. If I am to avoid scares and issues like the ones I had this week, stretching and foam rolling have to become my BFFs that I hang out with every week.

A few more of these after a run would definitely help!

It is time to bring back Date Nights

With the foam roller, that is. (Although a date night with Mr. FauxTriathlete wouldn’t be remiss either)

Taking care of my body starts with me. And a simple thing like stretching and foam rolling goes a long way into keeping my body functioning.

Screen Shot 2014-10-12 at 9.38.04 PM — Let’s get to know each other again!

It is all mostly in the mind

I have just started adding back swimming 1-2 times/week and I’ve been loving it.

One morning, the water heater at the Y was broken and the water temp was at 76F (I know that is normal temperature for some, but I am used to the 82F at the Y). I hesitated and thought about turning back, but I remembered why I was at the pool. I gasped, I screamed and I plunged right in. 30 seconds of acclimatization/warmup with back kicks and I was off swimming.

Screen Shot 2014-10-12 at 9.18.53 PM — Shawna from Building Block had the perfect wise words!

It is easy to reclaim the “Best Mum” title

I spent both the weekend mornings doing my runs and so missed out on our usual weekend breakfast, etc etc with my minions. And this was coming off 2 crazy work weeks where I saw them less and less. So when they asked for something special, I quickly whipped up a batch of donuts for them. Result – I’m the best Mum ever!

Screen Shot 2014-10-12 at 9.29.43 PM — Lemon frosting on vanilla donuts

Never Give Up

At the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii; with a 14+ minute deficient coming off the bike, Mirinda “Rinny” Carfrae made this happen. Enuf said!

In her own words – “Shocked. Stunned. Ecstatic. And grateful beyond words! Yesterday’s lesson: Never give up! At the start of the marathon I thought my best chance was to make the top five. Gave it my all regardless, and something magic happened. “

A 2:50 marathon to run down to the podium! #GirlCrush

Also a huge shoutout this week to my friends who crushed their Boston Qualifying goals at Chicago Marathon. Including Jesica of rUnLadylike who ran a 3:34 marathon. I’ve been following her posts on training all through this season (and the last), and today’s success was just the icing after all the hard work she has put in.