I’m a little behind this week. I really want to stick with recapping the previous week as close to the end of it as possible. Otherwise, I forget how I feel, what happened, etc.
Week 6 of training came to a close on Sunday, Feb. 13th. I had an amazing week with my workouts- I felt great! Thursday was a short run day. I wanted to do 3-4 miles and I ended up doing 4.1. On Saturday I was thrilled to see and feel the weather be 46 degrees when I started my run. It felt amazing! I set out to do 13.1 (a half marathon) and I pushed myself to get to 13.2. My legs were tired but they weren’t completely dead. I started blistering up on both of my ring finger toes. I ended up bleeding through my sock on my right foot. When you’re putting these kinds of miles on your legs and feet, you’re bound to get a little banged up. I think that over the course of the next few weeks that stuff will subside a bit because my feet are getting used to running long distances – the calluses and blisters will just be part of me and at some point I won’t even feel it. (I know, it’s so gross. But if you run, you understand). I almost forgot to mention that I used the water backpack thingamabob on Saturday too. It was a little weird to get used to but I liked it a lot better than the waist belt one. I’ll definitely use it again for my longer distance runs.
Sunday was a treadmill run day. I’m really enjoying going to the gym on Sundays to get my run in. I think it’s good for my breathing, good for my knees and ankles to get a little rest from the pavement and it allows me to play around with intervals a little bit. I had 5 miles on my training sheet but I ended up doing 6.2 again. I get a little annoyed because my Apple Watch and the treadmill are not tracking the same. I don’t know which to believe!
Something interesting I wanted to share because this comes up a lot. When I talk to people about running I often get the “I’m not a runner” response from people. And to that I say, I understand that running is not for everyone but it certainly can be for most people. I didn’t come into this life with a natural ability to run long distances. In fact, when I ran track in high school, I was average, at best. I’m not super fast. I don’t have super lungs. I just work really hard at it. I have a baseline of fitness that allows me to take 2 months off of a running and still be able to go out and run 5 miles when I want to. However, it took YEARS to get there.
To me, running is the ultimate test of physical and mental strength. If you are looking for a challenge, challenge yourself to run. Do a mile: jog for 1 minute; walk for 2; jog for 1; walk for 2. Over time, increase the time and flip those intervals to jogging for 2, walking for 1. You’d be surprised how quickly your body repsonds.
On the docket for this week: bonus active recovery day on Tuesday (stretching and foam rolling); 3-4 mile run on Thursday; 14 miler on Saturday and a 10k on Sunday on the treadmill.
Until then,
lauren goodman 