This was a GREAT week for me. Here are the highlights!
1. One LONG run.
2. One speed session.
3. Two lifting days.
4. One complete rest day and one lower body rest day.
I am very excited, and if I was a careful planner that actually stuck to a plan, I could actually have more weeks like this! But I am not ready for a plan yet so I'm just going to keep flying by the seat of my pants and some weeks I will end up running too much and some weeks I will get some great rest time.
Here is more about my week if you care to read on!
1. One LONG run.
2. One speed session.
3. Two lifting days.
4. One complete rest day and one lower body rest day.
I am very excited, and if I was a careful planner that actually stuck to a plan, I could actually have more weeks like this! But I am not ready for a plan yet so I'm just going to keep flying by the seat of my pants and some weeks I will end up running too much and some weeks I will get some great rest time.
Here is more about my week if you care to read on!
Saturday- 12 miles with my pal Tracy and then 3 miles when I got home. 15 is the most I have run in over a year! And it didn't suck! I did eat all the food.
Sunday- Complete REST. I really wanted to get out and run because it was so beautiful, but I gave my body some TLC instead. I ended up feeling quite blue that day and I don't know if it was because it was a Sunday or because I didn't run.
Monday- 8 neighborhood miles before work. Blues be damned!
Tuesday- 5 neighborhood miles and then chest. I woke up wide awake a half hour before my alarm went off, so I took advantage and squeezed in the chest workout.
Chest Press- 5x12x25lb
Push Ups- 4x10
Shoulder Press- 4x10x20lb
Plank- 4x45 sec
I have started using Perfect Push Up to do my push ups. It is A LOT harder then just doing normal push ups. My dad got them for me!
Wednesday- A ran 5 miles AFTER WORK. Very strange. I was a bit faster than normal but it felt horrible. I will not be changing up my routine any time soon!
Thursday- Back @ home. I wanted to run, but I had just run 12 hours before. Also, a lower body rest day never hurt anyone! Later that day my right glute was really sore from my glute work. My left glute felt fine. WTF? It felt like being sore from doing squats but it only affected half your butt.
Friday- Speed work. My plan had been to do 6 miles just "la la la" and listen to an awesome pod cast but my mp3 player would not turn on. I was devastated! My run was going to be so boring. So I changed it into a speed workout so at least it would break it up into sections and I would have some math to do in my head. I don't even know what to call this speed workout but this is what I did:
1/2 mile warm up
.25 mile on
.25 mile off
.35 mile on
.25 mile off
.45 mile on
.25 mile off
.55 mile on
.25 mile off
.65 mile on
.5 mile off
.75 mile on
1 mile cool down
My the goal for my "ons" was to be <7. That ranged anywhere from a 6:30 to a 7:00 minute mile... I am bad at keeping a consistent pace these days. My mile splits were pretty good though! 8:06, 7:02, 7:23, 7:05, 7:01. 7:51.
I am not an elite runner and I have much improvement I could make on my speed, so I have found as long as I do speed work- ANY kind of speed work, it gets me to run faster. My M.O. when I do speed work is to decide during my warm up what is going to happen.
How do you decide what speed work to do?
Ever try The Perfect Push Up?
Do you ever get blue on a rest day?
Thursday- Back @ home. I wanted to run, but I had just run 12 hours before. Also, a lower body rest day never hurt anyone! Later that day my right glute was really sore from my glute work. My left glute felt fine. WTF? It felt like being sore from doing squats but it only affected half your butt.
Band Asst. Wide Grip Pull Ups- 5x5
Row- 4x10x25lb
Bicycle Crunches- 4x40
Band Asst. Neutral Grip Pull Ups- 4x8
Bicep Curls- 3x10x15lb
Planks- 3x60 sec
Hip/Glute Work & Stretching
Friday- Speed work. My plan had been to do 6 miles just "la la la" and listen to an awesome pod cast but my mp3 player would not turn on. I was devastated! My run was going to be so boring. So I changed it into a speed workout so at least it would break it up into sections and I would have some math to do in my head. I don't even know what to call this speed workout but this is what I did:
1/2 mile warm up
.25 mile on
.25 mile off
.35 mile on
.25 mile off
.45 mile on
.25 mile off
.55 mile on
.25 mile off
.65 mile on
.5 mile off
.75 mile on
1 mile cool down
My the goal for my "ons" was to be <7. That ranged anywhere from a 6:30 to a 7:00 minute mile... I am bad at keeping a consistent pace these days. My mile splits were pretty good though! 8:06, 7:02, 7:23, 7:05, 7:01. 7:51.
I am not an elite runner and I have much improvement I could make on my speed, so I have found as long as I do speed work- ANY kind of speed work, it gets me to run faster. My M.O. when I do speed work is to decide during my warm up what is going to happen.
Ever try The Perfect Push Up?
Do you ever get blue on a rest day?
I only decide if it was speed work when I get home and see my Garmin. If it's faster than normal I call it speed! Rest days used to be very hard for me but not so much anymore. I just try to embrace them knowing I am doing my body a favor and giving it the rest it needs.
ReplyDeleteWe are both fly by the seat of our pants when it comes to speed. :) Some days I have a great outlook on rest days like you do, and then other days, particularly if it is beautiful outside or if I don't FEEL tired, the rest day makes me sad. I think I should plan better and not make my rest day on a BEAUTIFUL Sunday when I have nothing to do! It should be like a Tuesday where I am very busy and skipping a workout would mean extra sleep!
DeleteYes, for sure--taking a rest day on a day that is full of activities (or a crap weather day or the day after you are out late) is what works best for me.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe there is a harder way to do push-ups! Yikes! Congrats on 15 miles, that is awesome!!
ReplyDeleteYes it is way harder! It's like doing a bench press with a smith machine and then doing it with just a free bar!
DeletePush ups!!!! Just the word push up brings back so many memories of basic training. Drop and give me 20. I do not do push ups any more. I have found that when I take a rest day I miss the good feeling, which may have been what made you feel blue. Have a great day
ReplyDeletebakingrunner.blogspot.com
Oh wow, how often would they make you drop and do 20?
DeleteLove that speed workout! Totally bookmarking and stealing for after my training block is over. I have about 5 weeks of just recovery type running on the schedule and I think a workout like that would be fun to add to the mix to keep things interesting and get some speed in there!
ReplyDeleteCool I am glad you like it! Speed scares me, but somehow when I just make it up as I go along, it seems less daunting.
DeleteIt is really muggy here this week too! Last week my morning runs were cool, this week I have been SOAKED after my runs!
ReplyDelete