As the weeks press on, the workouts get harder. I’m in the peak weeks of training now, and that’s a true statement for almost any athlete and training cycle. The last several weeks have been particularly tough. Last week? No exception. Some of it was foolishly self-inflicted. #lessonlearned
How would I grade my month? Well, first, let’s see how I would grade my week:
Peak Weeks of Training Test Resilience [Spring Training: Week 11]
Monday — yoga for runners
I admit. Yoga last week kind of sucked. I was super tired from my 18-miler and I don’t think I gave myself enough time to recuperate. Plus I tried doing a video I had never done before and the poses were just too stressful on my tired legs. I only lasted about 25 minutes out of the 45 minute workout.
Tuesday — 8.75 miles + strength work
A stamina workout on Tuesday. It was hard but not nearly as hard as the first time. Knowing what I was in for certainly helped. I definitely worked myself too hard on Tuesday and ended up paying for it later in the week. In addition to my stamina workout, I also did a full body tabata consisting of jump squats and burpees. I’m not sure what I was thinking. The fun didn’t stop there. In the afternoon I did a mini photo session for a product and half the time I was filming, I was sprinting. It was definitely a hard day of workouts. I absolutely depleted my glycogen stores and it took me several days to refill them.
Wednesday — 6 miles
Ironically, I posted on the topic of easy running last week on Wednesday. I had an “easy” run on the schedule for Wednesday. But boy was I on the struggle bus from the get-go. I didn’t even take my own advice and adjust my pace. I honestly just wanted the workout to end. After working myself to the max on Tuesday, I should have adjusted pace or shortened my run but I stubbornly held on as long as I could. It was tough when it should have been easy.
Don’t let this smile fool you. I’m just happy here because I got to throw my name in the MCM lotto. 🙂
Thursday — 6.01 miles
My fatigue followed me through Thursday as well. I had strides scheduled for Thursday but I frankly didn’t have it in me. My friend Candice and I met for a run and I told her there was no possible way strides were going to happen. I was simply it in for the miles on Thursday and I was totally fine with that.
Saturday — 12 miles
My big fish to fry was my 12-miler. My coach wanted me to run a fast finish 12-miler and I really wanted to succeed at this workout. There have been times in the past that he’s given me a long run workout and I haven’t followed through and accomplished the goal of the workout. This training cycle I really want things to be different. I was running with a few friends, including Eugenia. We had discussed running the 12-mile fast finish together and we stuck mostly to the plan.
When I look at my splits I can see where things felt good, where I knew I struggled a bit, where we took walk breaks, etc. I can also see that I indeed ran much faster in the last three miles and I’m pretty proud of that.
Unfortunately I also injured myself again on Saturday. I believe we were running up and over a bridge when it happened because I felt my IT band shift in my hip area. My left leg felt “off” for the rest of the run and sure enough, on the ride home, it started hurting. I’ve been rolling it, stretching it, and exercising it ever since and I do have an appointment with the chiropractor on Wednesday. Even so, I’m a little concerned about it. I’ve put in so much effort in staying injury-free this cycle. I really want 2017 to be the year I run far without being hurt. Is that so much to ask?
Looking ahead
This week will be another tough week. I’ve already botched my first workout of the week but I’m hoping to redeem myself with the other workouts. I’m hopeful my chiro can help me with the IT band issue. I really don’t want it hanging over my head all year.
My month was definitely an A. I’ve been sticking to the plan, working on the “extras” — the strength, yoga, and stretching. My week was more like a B-. Tuesday just about killed me. I overdid it and shouldn’t have. Peak weeks are hard enough and I should have recognized it before it even happened.
In one month I’ll be running my first A race of 2017. Hopefully I can continue to stick to the plan, figure out what’s up with my IT band, and have a great race. I’m looking forward to it!
xo
TALK TO ME!
Have you run a stamina workout before? Do you like/dislike it?
Are you ready to be done with training during peak weeks?
Upcoming races:
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.
