Let me just get straight to the point. Last week was not good for running or weight lifting. I only ran 3 days and I did 0 strength training.
I have not fall off the bandwagon though, I am back to my normal training schedule this week!
Adam and my home gym is almost completely setup. We’re just waiting on the power cage to arrive, and I have zero plans that will take me away from my normal running routine. Time to get after it!
But here’s what went down last week…
Week at a Glance
Training for: Nothing specific. Just enjoying myself and trying to build/maintain a solid base.
Days running: 3
Miles this week: 17.5
Even though my mileage was not great this week I did get in all of the important runs: an easy run, a workout and a long run!
Monday
Rest day.
Mondays are traditionally my day of full rest, and I really needed it last week too. My quads were strangely fatigued even though I “only” did seven easy miles the day before.
Tuesday
Easy run/walk: 5 miles @ 14:43
Like I mentioned last week, I am going to start cutting my walk breaks down so that I can do regular straight through runs again. Not because I don’t think run/walk is great, but because my walking breaks are more interruptive than helpful right now.
Previously I was doing 2 minute run / 1 minute walk or 3 minute run / 1 minute walk or 4 minute run / 1 minute walk depending on how I’m feeling.
Last week I cut down to a 45 second walk and then I’ll do 30 seconds, 15 seconds and finally no seconds. I’ve found it’s always best to transition out of run/walk slowly after I’ve been using it for a while, and right now I am in no rush.
Wednesday
Unplanned rest.
This night Adam and I went gym equipment shopping right when I got home from work. By the time we got home it was almost my bed time since I go to bed at 9:30pm now!
Thursday
Long bridge repeats: 4.5 miles @ 13:53 avg. (including w/up and c/down)
Started with 1.5 mile w/up, did 6X long bridge repeats and finished with ~1.5 mile c/down. It was actually a little longer than 1.5 mi but I can’t remember where the bridge repeats ended and the start of my cool down began.
Friday
Oops.
Saturday
Oops, again. To be fair I was in Miami most of the day due to work!
Sunday
Long run/walk: 8 miles @ 14:41
I went out running way too early in the afternoon because the weather forecast said it was going to be cloudy and windy all day. Unfortunately it was NOT cloudy at all and I absolutely baked during this run.
I took mini rest breaks in the shade every mile to allow my body to cool down and my heart rate to come down. Yes, even at such a slow pace because it was so hot my heart rate reached close to 170 towards the end!
Plus my muscles felt like they were working overtime due to blood flow changes since I was so dehydrated. I brought two small bottles with Gatorade but they weren’t really enough even though I rationed my sips out so that I had them here and there most of the run.
I won’t be running in the middle of the day again anytime soon!
This run almost made me feel like it made up for all my missed runs earlier in the week.
You can find my other weekly recaps for 2017 here.
How many days of strength training did you do last week?
Did you have any standout, super memorable runs last week?
You still got in some good runs even if it wasn’t as much as you wanted! You will love having your home gym set up- makes it so much easier to get in a strength training session!
Author
SO much easier! Last night it was amazing to just walk upstairs and have my weights there *weighting* for me! 😀
Missed runs is no big deal, your still in base building. Besides the hill repeats and hot run were more than quality workouts. But I’m glad to see it sparked your fire.
Sat was an epic run. Posted about it yesterday. Only did 2 days of strength training, missed one day. But I’m surprised by how consistent I’ve been with it.
Author
I am so proud of you for staying consistent with strength training!
This week I had one awesome amazing run where I set out to do 3 miles and ended up doing 5 because everything just felt great. Every single other run felt like junk.
I’m working on cutting out my walk breaks too. They will still have a place in my training while I work on regaining fitness, but I no longer need them for every single run. One technique that I like to use (in addition to shortening the walk portion) is to only use them for the first half of the run. I know I can get through 3 miles without walking, but 5+ is still pretty daunting. So I’ll use intervals for the first 2-3 miles, then run the remainder straight through. I think the biggest benefit is psychological: I’m finishing the run strong, instead of needing to start taking breaks part way through.
Author
Oh I really like that tip to phase them out near the end of a run, that’s a really good idea! Thank you!
That must be awesome creating your own home gym! I want to finish our basement someday so that we can do sort of the same thing. I think it would benefit us so much to have some gym equipment around the house.
Author
I am sure it would! It’s just so convenient to know all you have to do walk to another room. Having to get into your car, etc to go to the gym can be such a barrier. Especially if the best time for you to go to the gym is during times when it’s most crowded and you know you’ll waste time standing around waiting for the weights you want!
Oh my God I can totally imagine how it felt that Sunday run. If I have to run in the afternoon here in Miami, I’ll just hit the treadmill. In fact, Summer is the treadmill season here in Florida (instead of winter).
Author
I know it! During the summer I do most of my long runs on the treadmill but this year I am going to try and stick it out in the great outdoors. Since I don’t have a gym membership I won’t have access to a treadmill so hopefully that will keep me motivated … or you know, I’ll end up buying a gym membership lol
I slacked on strength last week too! This week I’m gonna get 3 in… because I want to make up for last week AND because my leg feels jacked up! Too much marching for our rights!
Author
There can never be enough of that!
The nice thing about not training for something in particular is that low mileage weeks aren’t a real problem. They’re just a chance for your body and mind to focus on other things and recover a bit.
Author
It’s funny how it’s hard to not feel guilt about missing runs even when there is no reason to feel that way!
I think even when you don’t run as much as you planned to, 2-3 runs is still being consistent! It’s not like you missed the whole week and you got some quality runs in, too! I had 4 runs that were good. Yesterday’s was my speediest which is weird cuz it was the last one of the week (swimming today). And I got in 3 weight days and 3 yoga days 🙂