Happy Tuesday! I feel like a weight has been lifted now that I’m not in training for anything. I’m totally gonna milk the next month for all its worth. I was definitely on the verge of burning out and now that I’ve got the month off, I’m taking complete advantage! Fun running, new workouts, and lots of family/friend time!
Running for Fun — and the Perfect Race Temperature
I ran very little last week and when I did, it was on my terms. I had fun with it. And over the weekend when I typically have a long run planned and all plans revolve around running (am I right?), I had no long run! Instead, I took the time to spend with my family. We went out to dinner and got ice cream on Friday night. We went to a movie and ate junk on Saturday. We did yard work and hung around on Sunday. To say this is a much needed break would be a huge understatement.
But I did workout a little.
Monday – yoga
I did yoga on Monday to stretch out my tight limbs post-race. It was amazing. I don’t even like yoga all that much but this felt great!
Wednesday – cycling
I set up my trainer outside on Wednesday and cycled for about 30 minutes. I actually wanted to run but I could still feel a bruise on my left tibia. I was worried any impact would make it worse so I stuck to my guns and stayed away from impact. My ride went well. I listened to a podcast and enjoyed the scenery. Sure beats cycling inside!
Friday – 4 miles
As you may recall, my son was sick all week last week and finally went back to school on Friday. Thankfully the weather was damn near perfect and my tibia didn’t hurt anymore, so my daughter and I hit the park for a stroller run! It was beautiful and I was so happy to be out after being cooped up all week.
In the middle of my run my heart rate got extremely high. I was uncomfortable with how high it was so I stopped and waited a few minutes until it was back to normal before running again. I ran slower for the rest of the run. I knew it was because it was hot out and I didn’t have water with me (oh, and I was hungry, too) so as soon as I got back to the car I chugged some water and scarfed a banana. I felt much better after that. Lesson learned.
The good news: I had no pain in my tibia or IT bands, and overall I felt great. I didn’t go into the run expecting much so I was very pleased with the outcome, despite the heart rate issue. And to celebrate, Little Bee and I played afterward. She’s such a trooper. (Did I mention whenever we’re in a wide and long hallway she starts sprinting and yells, “I’m gonna run two miles!” Adorbs.)
Sunday – 5.33 miles
Sunday was another fun run! My goal was to run 5 miles and see how I felt. Well, I felt great and I could have kept running but I’m glad I didn’t. When I turned the corner and saw my house, I could feel my right IT band tense up. I wanted to see if it was imaginary or not, so I took my puppy for a quick run down the street.
It was a lot of start/stop, so I couldn’t really tell if it was real or imagined pain, but I decided to play it safe and call my run. I made my goal so I wasn’t disappointed in that respect, but the niggle definitely gave me pause.
Since I’m not in training, I’ll be taking this time to re-establish some good fitness habits. I let my strengthening and stretching fall by the wayside during my last training cycle and I paid for it at the end of my last race. A lot of things went wrong that race — one of which was the weather. And I cannot overlook that fact. I can’t say I would have had a better race if the weather had been nicer, because who knows, I could have ended up injured anyway. But in the spirit of Tuesdays on the Run, I will tell you this — it was not my ideal racing (or running!) weather.
So what is my ideal racing weather? For one thing, I don’t like being cold. I would rather sit and roast in the heat all day long than be outside (or anywhere) and be cold. For me, my ideal racing weather is sunny and in the 60s. If it’s in the 50s at gun time, I can deal with that. But I’d love for it to be in the 60s for sure. Not too hot, not too cold. Juuuuuuust right.
Who knows how things would have shaken out had the weather been perfect on race day. I could have still gotten hurt, or I could have been fine. I’m no fortune-teller. I definitely learned my lesson, though, and I’ll be more diligent about strength exercises going forward. I have no excuses for my irresponsibility and no one to blame but myself. I can say things like “life got in the way,” or “I was too tired,” but we all know those are just excuses. Starting here and now — NO EXCUSES!!
xo
TALK TO ME!
What’s your go-to excuses for when you don’t want to workout?
Have you ever taken off a month (or two or three) from serious running and just had fun?
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. Also linking up with Nicole, Annmarie, Angelena Marie, and Michelle for Wild Workout Wednesday.
