Sunday, June 10, 2012

Goal adjustments

Monday: So as much as I loved running with a friend Saturday, it would seem my body wasn't totally prepared for the workout on the trail. My leg was killing me Sunday. Monday, I tried to get on the treadmill, but immediately had to slow down and walk to warm up. Ended up doing 4.25 miles total... 3 of them jogging at 10 minute pace and 1.25 walking at 15 minute pace to give the leg a period of recovery every 2-3 laps (or quarter miles).

Tuesday: I did 5 on the treadmill. Happy I was able to run the whole time. I did speed up each mile, going from 10 minutes in the first to 8:30 for the last 1-2 miles. Much better than Monday.

Wednesday: Had a busy morning, followed by an OB appointment (40 miles from home), then kids and dinner to worry about, so I didn't get any running in during the day. Then I decided the kids and I would drive Adam to The Fields at SVU and get some exercise running around on the soft turf field. But of course, it started raining the minute we left the house. So I sat and played in the car with kids for the first 25 minutes, then, when Adam came back from the trails, we all put our jackets on and ran around playing soccer and running little races. Not a ton of real exercise. But it was a lot of fun. We will probably go back there often because the kids loved it so much. And hopefully it won't be raining next time!

Thursday: Better day for running. Did 6 on the treadmill, with the gradual speedups as usual. Starting at 10 min pace then working my way up to 8:30ish. Anyhow, felt pretty good and enjoyed it all thanks to Neal Caffrey and some old White Collar episodes I haven't seen in a long time. Nice way to pass the run. Even felt like I might want to go longer, but the kids had already been getting anxious for that last half mile or so, so I decided it was time to stop. Total time was just over 55 minutes.

Friday: Took an impromptu trip to NOVA with the kids to hang out with my momma. So that evening, I used her elliptical while she did the bike. did 45 minutes at a good pace, resistance level 4, whatever that means.

Saturday: Had to make the drive back home to Buena Vista, And this pregnant lady felt completely drained. Was tempted in my mind to try and fit something in, but the body said it just wasn't going to happen. The hot car ride had left me stiff and dehydrated... and hungry for dinner. So I just played with the kids at the park in the evening and called it good.

Definitely not meeting the mileage goals anymore, but I have realized the obvious and clear pattern to my workouts that has made me okay with changing the goals. It is clear that I usually have 2-3 good running days most weeks, each one followed by1 or 2 not so good days where my leg hurts again and doesn't want me to run much, if at all. So, until the leg pain finally goes away for good (which at this rate, may not be until post-pregnancy), I'm going to try to work in 1-2 recovery/cross-training days after each longer or harder run that I do. Coach Adam and I have decided that the main thing needs to be to try and get a minimum of 30-45 minutes of whatever I decide to do those days (walk/run, walk the stroller, workout videos, whatever). This way I can try to maintain my fitness level as much as possible, while cutting down the miles to try and give my leg/ankle a rest and hopefully a chance to heal itself the rest of the way. Nothing exciting, but I feel good about it all and know it's the best way to proceed from here. Then we can reevaluate later.

Cross-training, here I come.


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