Everything got messed around this week due to VACATION! So this Week 5 may look a little different from my first four weeks of training!
The week started off with an awesome speed workout and a great tempo run. It ended with PF. FML.
Monday- Speed work- 5x1km (400 recovery). With a 1.5 mile w/u and c/d I got about 7.5 miles. I ran a huge loop (several times) in a nearby neighborhood for this workout. I was nervous to do such a long interval and short recovery, but it ended up being okay. It was hard, but it didn't get harder for each interval. Each time it was just the right amount of hard. And it was only 5, so that wasn't so bad. My pace for the intervals were right around where they needed to be... (6:53-7:10)
7:00, 6:52, 6:55, 6:52, 6:53
Tuesday- Easy 3. Usually there is a rest day in between speed and tempo days but I needed to save my rest day for Thursday. So since I would be skipping a lot of running miles in Colorado, I figured I could get a couple in today. My splits were eerily even- 8:37 pace. I know this was a little fast for an "easy" run (only 13 seconds, but still, a little fast!) but I didn't look at my Garmin and just ran on effort. My effort today felt easy.
Then I lifted chest at Planet Fitness. And of course stretched, did my hip/glute exercises, and all that jazz I do every day but usually forget to tell you about!
Wednesday- Tempo- 6 miles @ MP. Also, a 1.5 mile w/u and c/d. This was the first time I did a Hansons tempo run not at the butt crack of dawn on an empty stomach. YAY FOR HAVING THE SUMMERS OFF! I woke up at 6:05 to check in for our flight the next day. I spent the next 2+ hours relaxing, drinking coffee, and having some dippy eggs.
I felt unsteady during my warm up, but when it was time to bust out the MP miles, they were rather... easy. Now my MP is only a 7:49, so it's not like that's super fast or anything. I battled a head wind and light rain for some of the run. As soon as my Garmin clicked the 6th mile, it started to POUR and get SUPER windy. I had a slow, cold, wet cool down. Even though the MP miles felt good, I was really tired for my cool down! I think I have two switches: ON and TIRED.
Here are my splits: 7:39, 7:45, 7:52, 7:49, 7:39, 7:47
My knee felt weak in the morning (ITB) but held up for the run as it normally does. I stretched and foam rolled my ASS off when I got home.
I felt unsteady during my warm up, but when it was time to bust out the MP miles, they were rather... easy. Now my MP is only a 7:49, so it's not like that's super fast or anything. I battled a head wind and light rain for some of the run. As soon as my Garmin clicked the 6th mile, it started to POUR and get SUPER windy. I had a slow, cold, wet cool down. Even though the MP miles felt good, I was really tired for my cool down! I think I have two switches: ON and TIRED.
Here are my splits: 7:39, 7:45, 7:52, 7:49, 7:39, 7:47
My knee felt weak in the morning (ITB) but held up for the run as it normally does. I stretched and foam rolled my ASS off when I got home.
Thursday- REST!!! Holy crap, we got up at 1:00am, flew to Denver, then hiked 4 miles in Boulder. We went up Flatiron #1. So I guess this was an active rest day!
The Flatirons
The view from near the top.
I love me some Colorado!
The only bad news is that my feet were bothering me on and off today. I stretched and rolled my feet/calves and decided to make an appointment with my chiropractor when I got home. It pissed me off because I had been stretching them for the past week and they felt really good for the past several days- no pain at all. Why today?
Friday- Easy 6. I ran along the Boulder Creek Path and I would categorize this as one of the most beautiful runs I ever did. When traveled to Estes Park later in the day and did a 3.5 mile hike with 1000 feet of elevation gain to Gem Lake. It was so tiring!
The really bad news: Both of my feet have a rip roaring case of PF!!! It pisses me off as I feel like I did everything in my power to make this NOT happen. My feet didn't hurt when ran or hiked because I was in supportive shoes, but when I take them off... ouch!
There was not much I could do because I was on vacation. It's not like I can stay off my feet. And I'm going to hike. There is just no question about it. So I stretched and rolled and all that jazz but I really don't see this getting better until I can see my chiro. FUCK!
Boulder Creek Path
Gem Lake
Gem Lake
The really bad news: Both of my feet have a rip roaring case of PF!!! It pisses me off as I feel like I did everything in my power to make this NOT happen. My feet didn't hurt when ran or hiked because I was in supportive shoes, but when I take them off... ouch!
There was not much I could do because I was on vacation. It's not like I can stay off my feet. And I'm going to hike. There is just no question about it. So I stretched and rolled and all that jazz but I really don't see this getting better until I can see my chiro. FUCK!
Saturday- NO RUNNING. I can't call it a rest day though because we did a seven mile hike in Grand Lake to Cascade Falls.
So there are two reasons I didn't run today. One, the freaking PF was still hanging around, and two, vacation is EXHAUSTING that I have zero energy to run with all these hikes we are doing. The PF was worse today in the fact that it did hurt while I was hiking. Well, it hurt on the second half of the three hour hike so I did go 1.5 hours without pain. Yay. Just kidding. This sucks. I did the ice/heat thing at night.
Sunday- NO RUNNING. 4.5 mile hike to Emerald Lake. One of the most beautiful hikes of my life.
My PF hurt SO FREAKING BAD in the morning but luckily it got better as my feet warmed up. It felt okay on the hike but then bad while walking around town later on. It is literally impossible to stay off my feet on vacation. :( More ice/heat stuff at night.
Here is how I would grade myself on my training goals this week...
Training Goals:
1. Rest days = complete rest! B- Sorry, when in Colorado, I'm HIKING.
2. Walk 1 min per mile run. B- I did not do this on Wednesday because I was so cold and wet. I also didn't really do it on Friday either.
3. Stretch after each run. A
4. Foam roll when needed. A
5. Glute/hip exercises 5 days per week. C- For some reason when I was on vacation I said, "Fuck it!"
6. Stick to the prescribed paces. A
7. Practice proper hydration and fueling. Read as much as I can on the topic. C- I HAVE TO READ THE HANSON BOOK AGAIN!!!!
8. Alter training if I feel potential for injury. D- If I was at home, I would have stayed off my feet more over the weekend but PF or not, I can't go to RMNP and not hike. Well, I could, but I'd rather hike and be in pain than not hike and... still probably be in pain!
Obviously I am not happy with this week. The beginning was awesome, them BAM it hurt to walk. Hoping this goes away quickly...
Here is how I would grade myself on my training goals this week...
Training Goals:
1. Rest days = complete rest! B- Sorry, when in Colorado, I'm HIKING.
2. Walk 1 min per mile run. B- I did not do this on Wednesday because I was so cold and wet. I also didn't really do it on Friday either.
3. Stretch after each run. A
4. Foam roll when needed. A
5. Glute/hip exercises 5 days per week. C- For some reason when I was on vacation I said, "Fuck it!"
6. Stick to the prescribed paces. A
7. Practice proper hydration and fueling. Read as much as I can on the topic. C- I HAVE TO READ THE HANSON BOOK AGAIN!!!!
8. Alter training if I feel potential for injury. D- If I was at home, I would have stayed off my feet more over the weekend but PF or not, I can't go to RMNP and not hike. Well, I could, but I'd rather hike and be in pain than not hike and... still probably be in pain!
Obviously I am not happy with this week. The beginning was awesome, them BAM it hurt to walk. Hoping this goes away quickly...
No questions. I am sad. :(
Ugh I am so sorry about this. I have been thinking of you since i read your comment on my blog yesterday. Its so hard to totally stay off your feet- especially on a vacation like that!
ReplyDeleteI saw my chiropractor yesterday and he said it wasn't PF but that my ankle joints were all jammed up and were referring pain. He did lots of mobilizations and ART which kind of hurt and this morning my foot is still kind of sore, but I don't know if its because of what he did or its just still hurt. Its annoying how random this is and I have been so much better about shoes so I would think between no running, staying off my feel as much as possible, and the treatments that it would be feeling better. But it just comes and goes so randomly! I hope that you can see your chiropractor and get some answers. If its in both feet that is SO annoying!
I KNOW! It's like the worst time to be off your feet. I suppose I could have been then I would have missed such an opportunity here. My feet felt a lot better yesterday, and I never went to bed last night (early flight) so I still feel like yesterday is today if that makes sense. I hope they keep feeling better. Chiro today at 3:50pm. It will HURT.
DeleteI wonder why your ankle joints are jammed? What does jammed mean? Yes it is hard to tell if they hurt on their own or if they hurt from ART. Like tonight my feet will hurt so bad an possibly tomorrow too from what he is about to do. How often does yours come and go? Can you run when yu have it or is it out of the question? Right now I could definitely run (I could not have Sat or Sun) but I am NOT gonna run because I want this to clear up quickly like it did the other two times had it.
I am sad for you! Everything was going so well and things were feeling so good. I am pretty confident you will get over this quickly considering your past experience w/ this and getting ART done to fix it. Keep your chin up! P.S. I never do my PT exercises on vacation either--I always have good intentions but it never happens and my PT is actually OK with this because he says it is really common and we just have to adjust for life.
ReplyDelete"adjust for life" I like that! Hey things went well with my chiro today. He used his torture device on my feet and calves. They almost feel normal! I'm going back on Friday. I might run friday.
DeleteOh nooooo, I'm really sorry to hear about the PF flareup in BOTH feet! I know that puts a damper on training but even worse on your vacation since it's such an active one. Hopefully your chiro will be able to help you sort it out quickly in combination with a few days rest when you get home.
ReplyDeleteI was so so so bad about stretching and doing my hip exercises while I was on vacation too. When I came home everything was tight - but I also don't think two overseas flights helped. During the nine hour flight home I felt like I could SEE my hips tightening up :(.
Owww I am positive it was more so the flight than anything else. Today I was worried my knee would hurt on the flight but I ended up being able to fall asleep for 2 hours. Omg it was the worst. There were so many children and infants on the plane.
DeleteSo, so, sorry about the PF flair up. I hope it goes away soon. Stinks that it's in BOTH feet too (I've never heard of this happening). I think PT exercises are hard to do regardless of vacation, it's just something you have to be in the habit of and a lot of habits fall by the wayside on vacay. Hope you can find some sort of cross training or something while the PF heals, too.
ReplyDeleteYeah I think when I got it before it was only in one foot! Yah PT exercises... def in the habit at home but once I'm outside my comfort zone, it is less likely to happen. Also I was a bit homesick and when I am homesick I don't feel like doing anything. :(
DeleteFor a second I thought that last pic was of you on the loo. I am really upset about this PF bullshit. Good luck today at your chiro appointment. I hope it all gets fixed up for you STAT.
ReplyDeleteThanks Suzy! It IS bull shit!! OMG chiro makes it feel so much better. Going back Friday. Probably will run on Friday if I feel good. Trying not to stress out about it now. It is only week 6 and so far I have been able to hit all of my paces...
DeleteI know Cascade Falls! My parents' house is outside Grand Lake so whenever I visit, we go to RMNP all the time. I tried to use my Garmin on one hike but there were os many trees, I couldn't link up with the satellites.
ReplyDeleteOh wow I am envious your parents live so close! What is your favorite trail?
DeleteBoooo!!! I hope it was just a vacation flare up and that it goes way asap!!
ReplyDeleteExcept for the PF, sounds like an awesome trip. You will get back at it in no time. Hang in there!
DeleteThanks Joe! It was a wonderful trip despite the pain.
DeleteThanks Helly, me too!
DeleteWeek 5 already?! Wow! Time is flying!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you're dealing with foot pain! I really hope it goes away!!
Thanks Ali, me too!
DeleteOh man. You were doing so well and then ugh. So sorry about the PF. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to it and I know you're doing everything you can to keep your feet happy. Sending many healing vibes your way!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Marcia :) I saw my chiro today and my calves are "a little" tight. Hmmm we shall see if that was the culprit. I need to up my calf stretching game. I usually only hold them both for a total of 90 seconds (in groups of three.)
Delete