I feel like this winter has zapped my ability to differentiate the days of the week and time. We had a brief moment of sunshine today but it’s been overcast literally for the last two weeks. All the clouds make Rachel a dull girl. Or something like that…
Aside from the gray skies, I had a fairly good week of spring training. I would prefer to be out running in the sunshine with friends but “do what you can with what you have,” right? So I did.
T-Rex, Four-Legged Friends, and Bipeds (aka Spring Training 2017 Week 4)
Monday — hips and glutes
I’m making my hips and glutes a priority. If I don’t, I won’t do the work. And if I don’t do the work, it’s a recipe for certain injury. I always say my goal is to run uninjured. But this time I’m going to follow through. Spring training will be my first full-steam-ahead approach to staying injury-free this year, and I plan to keep it up throughout summer and into my fall season. So far I’m sticking to the plan!
Tuesday — 6 miles
Despite having a fairly “warm” day on Tuesday (and by warm I mean in the upper 20s, lower 30s), I couldn’t make an outdoor run work with my schedule. Instead, I ran on the treadmill and watched more of Avatar. Why is that such a great movie? I logged some nice, easy miles.
Wednesday — 6.08 miles + hips/glutes
Wednesday was super fun. I took Trixie for a nice 4-mile warm-up, ran my hill sprints, and then ran my cool-down mile with t-Rex my husband.
It was such fun to run with him. Like, seriously. I love running with people in general but running with my main squeeze was so freaking fun. I hope I didn’t scare him off, though. He was t-Rexing because it was cold and started raining on us so he was trying to keep his hands warm. Damn you, Cleveland weather for ruining our run!
I worked on hips and glutes in the afternoon.
Thursday — 4 miles
I was spent from the previous three days of workouts and I frankly didn’t want to run at all. But I got my happy a$$ on the ‘mill and took it nice and easy. It was okay. I really didn’t love it, but I definitely needed to log some miles. Spring training is in full force these days. No excuses.
Friday — hips and glutes
Because I will not be injured in 2017!
Saturday — 12 miles
Saturday was so nice and sorely needed. My new running buddy, Ben, and my girl, Eugenia, came over. Originally we had planned an out-and-back route, but since we’re all training for various distances we thought it best to run a few loops within the route.
The three of us ran 6 miles together at which point Eugenia split off. Luckily we were near my house because my footwear choice sucked and I had to change shoes. My second set of shoes turned out to be a much better option. It was a night and day difference.
Ben and I ran 4 more miles together, then I picked up Trixie and finished up my remaining 2 miles. It was a really great run to run with company, plus my pup is making huge gains in her running manners and ability. So much so that we even got her a new harness on Sunday! I’m not sure if we’re going to keep it because I admittedly didn’t do a whole lot of research before purchasing and it was pricey, but we’ll give it a whirl and see how it works out! However, I have read that harnesses are much better than collars (source), as they’re more comfortable for the dog and easier for us to attach a lead to.
I really needed a good week of training and I’m so glad I got it last week. I think overall I would give myself an A for last week’s workouts.
Lucky for me, this week is my cutback week. And if you know me, you know I enjoy my rest days and down time! The extra rest will help, for sure. And who knows, maybe we’ll get some sunny days thrown our way here in northeast Ohio!
xo
TALK TO ME!
Do you run with a dog? Harness and leash recs please??
Linking up with My No-Guilt Life, Marcia’s Healthy Slice, and MCM Mama Runs for Tuesdays on the Run, and HoHo Runs and MissSippi Piddlin’ for the Weekly Wrap.
