It’s no secret in my circles that I love chocolate milk. Sunday morning, I ran a Chocolate Milk Chug Mile (very on brand for me) — AND I PR’D MY MILE RACE! I don’t share too much anymore about my running (and my associated running struggles), but wanted to share this celebrious event. Today was a great day for a run in Iowa!
Driving (the LONG way) out to run the inaugural Rockin’ Chocolate Half Marathon race was my first time in Wisconsin. I’ve crossed so many new states off my list since moving to Iowa! This was first of a double-header half weekend over Labor Day with my friend Chelsea (Pittsburgh City Girl) – who is on a 50-states quest. My intent was to have fun and spend time catching up and running with her.
For this recap, I’m going to start with the experience. Overall, we were a little disappointed as there was neither a whole lot of chocolate or a whole lot of rocking (I did enjoy greatly the guitar solo national anthem, however). Like, I get what the race was trying to accomplish – the idea of commingling the popular rock n’ roll and hot chocolate events – but I do not believe it was successfully executed. Our expectations were that there would be music and chocolate along the course (there was not) and a sinful amount of chocolate at the finish (there was not). I did respond to the post-race survey, so hopefully they take some of that feedback into account for future races (the 2018 date has already been announced). That said, they also messed up sending the surveys, so those of us who received survey links in email got error messages that we had already taken it. They did not resend the email, yet posted a corrected link on Facebook, which… not the same thing.
Cost and Registration: A Cyber Monday deal last year prompted us to register for this race – it was only $25! An excellent deal for a half marathon. HOWEVER, registration for the 2018 race right now is already $60, and goes up to $65 after January 1st. The race did sell out this year, so something to consider in planning your sign-up.
Expo and Packet Pick-up: The only reason why I took a half day’s PTO to drive to Madison on Friday was because of the promise of chocolate-filled goodie bags with early bib pick-up. Well, it was a package of toffee, which is quite possibly the WORST (and far as I’m concerned, NOT chocolate). And well, that set the tone for the race. The expo was super tiny, held in a community room at the Monona city building, and took all of 5 minutes to grab everything I needed.
Parking: Our hotel was about 20 minutes from the start. Despite getting to the race early, parking was already a little challenging, as we were not sure which streets were OK to park on – or on which side – and we were a couple miles out and seeing a lot of people walking in. People looked to be parking in bike lines, of which I am NOT AT ALL a proponent. There was parking information and maps provided by the race organizers via email, but street signs were confusing and/or conflicting and side street parking filled up quickly. Despite that, we parked on a main road about 3/4 mi. (or so) from the start line.
Start Line: I found another Pittsburgh friend wearing the SAME Pittsburgh Marathon shirt (who no longer lives in Pittsburgh either lol)! We were fast friends, of course, and reminisced on the city we missed.
I brought my own coffee.
A solo guitarist started us off with the national anthem, which was an awesome way to begin the race. Rock on! Also a bonus: the race started on time (you never know what to expect with a new or small race).
Weather: Race day was the first cool morning of a season of never-ending humidity. OMG, the weather was beautiful! I eventually had to shed my long-sleeve shirt when we left the shaded neighborhoods, but it still was a really lovely, sunny day.
Course: The course had a beautiful backdrop in downtown Madison and Lake Monona. We left the start area on the paved trails and ran throughout the surrounding Lake Monona neighborhoods near the shore, looped around the lake into downtown and back into Monona. The neighborhoods were GORGEOUS – and all the buildings and houses (even the park bathrooms!) felt Frank Lloyd Wright inspired. Outside of the Niagara Falls Marathon, this might have been my favorite course scenery.
I mean, even the Little Library drops were adorable!
I should also note that despite the music-forward implication, there was only one solo musician set up on the course. This was disappointing, particularly as there was zero crowd support on the course. Know that this will be a lonely race if you are doing it alone. The course elevation is not that challenging; there were a few climbs early in the race, but mostly just a bunch of rolling little bumps.
Finish Line: The finish line welcomed us with chocolate milk (yay!) and some kind of chocolate-covered strawberry local beer (I couldn’t have it, obvs) – which you needed your ticket to redeem (not attached to the bib as it is in other races). A tent was set up where the beer was served, with a live band playing, and there were a couple food trucks set up near the park. I believe there were also massage therapists on-site.
There were also a bunch of vendors SELLING sweets and goodies (yes, some were providing samples). Again, not much in the way of chocolate; which was not only irritating for its lack of playing to the theme of the race, but also for its money-grab on the participants. I’m more than happy to support local establishments (and I did); however, if you are going to call yourself a chocolate race THEN YOU BETTER HAVE CHOCOLATE.
The only chocolate on the course was chocolate milk (and chocolate animal crackers) at the finish line.
Swag and Medals: I love the race-branded t-shirt that came with registration (super soft!), even though it was unisex sizing; and the medal – while “rockin” in theme – was a little small and cheap compared to what the race appeared to be advertising through its social channels. This is the 3rd guitar-shaped medal in my collection, which is cool. I don’t really run for the medals anymore (though I do love to display them), so it’s not the biggest deal for me – but it might be for others.
After Party: Since this was a double-header weekend, we needed to get back to the hotel and check out – and also find somewhere to find some cheese (like you do in Wisconsin, right?). Which is randomly how we found the gluten-free awesomeness of Alt Brew. Not only did they have AMAZING beers (holy moly, the Kolsch was incredible!!! Yes, I brought some home with me), they had an awesome local cheese board. It was the first in a LONG time that I was able to have a flight of beers somewhere.
YAY, Madison! The great (gluten-free) beer redeemer!
OVERALL The Great: I loved the course – total visual overload looking at all the mid-century modern homes and views of the lake. *swoon* The Good: The race photographer took a BUNCH of great shots on the course, and I was excited to get a Black Friday discount code to download all my pictures. The Bad: A race capitalizing on the popularity of two other races… and not executing it well at all. The Ugly: Gross, toffee. Not worth 4 hours of PTO. Also, misspelling “marthon” in its emails. LORDY.
Finished! (Definitely not 6-minute miles as the sign suggests. 😆)
Disclaimer: I received a free entry to Vermont City Marathon as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to find and write race reviews!
Tired feelings, new Launch Shamrocks and BibRave buddy!
Week 8 was my time to focus on foam rolling, recovery, and good habits in general — especially as it was my first 25+ mile week since November. Daily stress is fatiguing me pretty hard, and I know big mileage weeks only add to that feeling. And there are a LOT more weeks that are going to feel like that. I haven’t raced in a while though, so I’m getting excited as I approach some of those dates on my calendar.
MONDAY Rest Day
TUESDAY This felt like the longest 4 miles that I’ve ever done! But my paces were pretty fast for a slower-than-easy run. This is probably why I’ll always run with a watch.
4.32 mi / 42:39 / 9:32 average pace
Splits: 9:44, 10:25, 9:47, 10:03
Ended the run with 4×20 second strides (and a big chocolate milk, of course).
WEDNESDAY Rest Day (planned in advance, since I had a social thing after work)
THURSDAY Interval training day! I always get so excited for speed workouts, as they allow me the time to FOCUS on my runs instead of zoning out on the treadmill watching the third season of Desperate Housewives. And while I can’t run fast for long distances, running fast is SO FUN. Though running fast on the treadmill kind of freaks me out!
Overall, this was a weird run. I felt like my legs couldn’t turn over any faster, though felt like I didn’t even workout when my sprints were over. I was running so hard on those 400s but not even out of breath!
Finding bad habits in the week already taking over, I made sure to get some foam rolling in after my run.
FRIDAY Rest Day (unplanned). Skipped my strength workout that was on the schedule, since some impromptu fun plans came up after work. I moved my Strength Day to Sunday, alongside my recovery run. I still need to do better on getting in my strength workouts and foam rolling.
SATURDAY Long run with the Capital Striders in the AM (UGH, start times changed to 7am, and it was ROUGH — but I made it). I completed the 12-mile route, and then came home to do an additional 2 miles on the treadmill. I honestly just had enough of the cool weather, and I was REALLY hoping to enjoy the expected 65-degree day. Alas, it was NOT in the 60s at 7am and wasn’t until well into the morning that the temperatures warmed up. At least it was sunny?
SUNDAY I originally planned to meet some Turkeys out on the trails, but I had a gnarly headache in the morning — and I just knew there was no way I wanted to wake up for another 7am run. No fun on the trails for me!
Ahhhhhhhh….
Sunday is my weekly recovery day; beyond doing my usual recovery run, I also needed to make up my skipped strength workout from Friday. I want to start GOOD recovery habits rather than using Sunday as a make-up day. So I finally took my first epsom salt bath using the San Francisco Salt Company’s Epsoak Muscle Soak. I get really antsy sitting in baths (similarly, I always think 5 minutes is TOO LONG for foam rolling. Patience is not my virtue.), but forced myself to stay the entire 20 minutes. And my body felt GLORIOUS when I was done. All my muscle soreness was gone (along with my hot water to shower afterward).
On Sundays, we recover. If I’m not having a massage, I’ll be using the salts. And foam rolling for longer than 5 minutes. Promise.
WEEKLY RUNS: 4 WEEKLY MILES: 27.1 miles TOTAL TRAINING MILES: 127.66 miles
You know you’re at a small town race when… the parking directions tell you to turn left at the only stoplight in town. And Madrid is a small town race (pronounced MAAA-drid, unlike the city in Spain, if you’re not from Iowa). This was the 38th annual Madrid Milers Labor Day Run.
Flat Mel — no bib before race day!
There were three race distances as part of the Labor Day festival: 2 mile, 5 mile and a 15 mile (!!!). Next year, I definitely want to go do the 15-mile race, as you get to run over the High Trestle Bridge. I thought the 5-milers got to do that too (same with another woman that I talked to at the end of the race), and realized on race morning that it was the High Trestle Trail.
I planned this race with my coach during a much-needed cut-back week. My coach created a race plan for me, which started with a one mile warm-up (wut?!). Yeah, I have never run immediately BEFORE a race, but I had to trust the process (and I ended up feeling great while I was running, so…):
I was supposed to start nice and controlled; naturally, the race started downhill and I took off not realizing that I was pacing with some (apparently) 8-minute 15-milers. Uh, NOPE. I regained control just in time for the first uphill. I paced with two local guys soon after and stayed with them for most of the race — until I really picked up pace at the 4-mile mark. This strategy actually worked out well for me to keep my pace controlled. I did start out too fast, but ended up laughing and talking with these two guys and they kept me just about where I wanted to be.
Registration and Cost: $25 (+ fees) through Active.com, with race day registration available as well.
Packet Pick-Up and Free Swag: Bib pickup at Madrid Elementary School the morning of the race opened up an hour before start time. I misread their event details that there would be chip time, but there was a bib and electronic timer at the finish. All race entries came with a free t-shirt. No finishers medals for this race.
Start Line: Ha, we started with a whistle — the 5-milers lined up with the 15-milers, and the 2-milers started in the opposite direction on the other side of the street.
Weather: OMG THE BEST. I did my warm-up in long sleeves because of the chill in the air, and it was a perfect high-50s come race time. FALL, GUYS!
Course: We started at the elementary school (down the street from that only traffic light in town) and the course contained various terrains and experiences: part road, part trail, part county gravel (mud) road, part neighborhood; and finished in downtown Madrid — the CUTEST late 1800s, small town kind of downtown. I loved it! I’m thankful to have connected with a couple locals who have completed the race before because, honestly, I think I would have got lost at a few points. There were colored arrows denoting each race course and a few volunteers sprinkled around, but at some turns I would have had no idea on on my own. It’s always good advice to print a copy of the course map when doing one of these small races, and I’ll definitely do that for next time.
Experience: Everything that you love about small races — generally, really friendly runners and volunteers (seriously, the two guys I ran with were born and raised in Madrid and knew every single person we ran by).
Finish Line chute!
Finish Line: There was a mini chute and an electronic sign for finish times (with a woman reading the times out loud as you crossed). There were bananas and water available, which you had to cross back over the finish to get to. But, small race, so just look both ways before crossing!
Running it in, I was actually really confused where the finish chute was, as it just looked like a bunch of people clustered around, and I almost turned down another street until I asked the group “where’s the finish?!” HA. I was in fastest sprint mode and I’m sure it sounded like I was yelling.
After Party: I stuck around for the results and award ceremony for the 5-milers, which started about 20 minutes after I finished. When I saw 3rd place announced for my age group, and it was the chick who I passed at the 4.5 mark, I got so excited knowing that I would take home a medal. That’s rare to do when you’re at the tail end of a 30-39 age group bracket, but such a confidence booster, despite knowing it was a small race and runner pool.
Our Des Moines local brand: Anderson Erickson chocolate milk available at the finish line!
Bonus: CHOCOLATE MILK AT THE FINISH LINE!
Random Awesome: There was a guy running the 5 who has completed the race in the same shoes for 34 years (!!!). It was really cool to see him finish, and he took home one of his own age group awards.
Seriously, these shoes have some stories! I love this so much!
OVERALL The Great: I placed 2nd in my age group AND got a PR! The Good: The weather! The Bad: Can’t find race results posted online. Whomp, whomp. The Ugly: I always get so anxious about the lack of race details and communication before a race. I had to only assume that I picked my bib up the morning of the race with the same-day registration peeps. Again, always something to remember when doing small races, if you’re someone who is super Type A!
SILVER! I love that the race is marked on the back of the keychain — what a clever idea!
RESULTS
A new PR: 47:24 (ish; didn’t catch the final split seconds, though it’s about a 1:30 faster than my previous PR!)
AND 2nd in my 30-39 age group (holy shit!)
Any of the cumulative fatigue that I felt lingering last week (if that is even possible after three weeks of half marathon training) felt like it lifted this week. I was hitting some faster paces, managing to get outside for a couple runs AND waking my tired ass up for TWO early runs over the weekend. I was traveling Thursday through Sunday, and I didn’t miss a single workout!
Look at me, eating hills (thanks, Pittsburgh!) AND goals for breakfast.
Week at a glance:
Five states, four flights, a two-hour road trip and an 8-mile run! LOL
Four total runs – two easy, one long, one speed workout
One core workout
One strength training day
I didn’t foam roll as much as I do when I’m at home (since I was traveling), but I did pack my RAD roller in my suitcase to get in a little bit of trigger point therapy and continue some work on my calves.
MONDAY
Rest Day is the Best Day!
TUESDAY
Strength workout
WEDNESDAY
I talked to my coach about flipping my Wednesday and Thursday workouts, only because after traveling, I KNEW I would be setting myself up for failure if I had to do speed work. So, Wednesday was another fun pick-ups workout (I seriously love doing these!). I did 4 sets of 2-minute alternating fast pace and my moderate pace, then another 3 sets of 1-minute alternating sprinting pace and a slower pace.
I guess that I was supposed to do my core workout too, but I totally missed it on my spreadsheet. WHOOPS! (I ended up doing it after my Thursday easy run at the hotel).
4.4 miles
THURSDAY
It’s weird that my mid-week easy runs are up to 4 miles now. I never really paid attention to the importance of doing these extra easy runs in my previous training plans (or, I paid attention and thought that I didn’t need them). But I honestly kind of find them mentally refreshing.
We stayed at the new Hilton downtown, which has a really impressive workout space — with a great view of Lake Erie and downtown!
Treadmill with a view!
4.0 miles
FRIDAY
REST! We were in Cleveland, so we ate gloriously and had a little fun date night out.
SATURDAY
If 9am is wrong… well, yeah, it’s wrong. It was humid AF. Cleveland promised me a cool 70-degree morning, and I got another 85 degree humid run. I had a few total newbie runner fails on this run (despite “being” a runner for almost two years): I didn’t have auto-pause turned on on my new Garmin watch (what?!) and I wanted to take a few touristy pictures, since I WAS in my hometown, I intentionally paused my runs at several points. Welp, sure enough, I forgot to UNpause my watch and this was a timed run. Darn it. It also happened on that big climb from the lakefront into downtown. So, I didn’t get to capture that spectacular awfulness.
But I captured this awesome selfie!
Because I had my watch set to my workout to do Strides at the end, I ended up running closer to 40 minutes instead of 30. Yeah, and then I had to do those strides. It’s amazing how 20 seconds can seem like an eternity when your legs feel like lead. Definitely didn’t feel the greatness as I did during my mid-week runs, but I was having fun (believe it or not). I didn’t use my headphones on this run either!
Sightseeing while running – one of my favorite things to do when traveling!
Sundays are my long run days, so I pre-planned to have a couple friends meet me in downtown Pittsburgh to do my EARLY 8 miles at a slower pace. We started in kinda humid temperatures, anticipating a storm — which sprinkled on us a few times during the run. But it felt amazing! By the end of the run, the temperature cooled and it was breezy, and I almost felt like myself again (though, really really tired and hungry… oh wait, yeah. That’s me!) I had to be REALLY intentional about slowing down because I kept falling behind and have the tendency to “catch up” to the group. I loved being back in the city where I spent the last six years of my life and running through my old stomping grounds. I cried more during this visit than I expected to.
No crying over Chocolate Milk though! Fueled by Turner’s, when in Pittsburgh.
8.01 miles / 11:20 avg pace
WEEKLY RUNS: 4 WEEKLY MILES: 19.3 miles TOTAL TRAINING MILES: 58.35 miles
The most important thing for me this week was spending a little time on planning out my workouts — and I really enjoyed the process. I made some goals for the week, too… which included some burpees:
Run three times — including going to check out a new run club. No mileage requirements; do one interval/speed workout. — Except for checking out a new run club, I did three runs with one as a speed workout. I still would like to join up with a local run group and start building my community there, especially when it comes time for half marathon training again.
Do my regular Wednesday session of yoga — CHECK!
Two sessions of TRX — I only got Sunday’s in, since my Friday workout plans changed a bit (see below)
BURPEES with every workout — CHECK! In fact, I did them EVERY DAY.
Get through our BIG bike ride on Saturday — We didn’t complete anything NEAR the 78 miles of the course, but we got through our first trail ride in Iowa!
A Tale of 4 WorkoutsMONDAY:
While today was really a REST day, I did my regular hip strengthening movements and 20 BURPEES before bed.
TUESDAY:
I planned for some deadlift reps (4 rounds x 12 reps; I used dumbbells) and a fun EMOM workout. The EMOM workouts, or “every minute on the minute,” workouts were popular in my CrossFit box, and a GREAT way to get in a high-intensity, quick workout. I started with a EMOM warm-up with 4 inch worms / 5 mountain climbers / 6 squats for 5 minutes total. Then I found a fun Odds & Evens EMOM online — in the odd minutes, you do 10 burpees; and in the even minutes, you do 10 overhead squats (again, I used dumbbells).
Cooling down, I stretched out my lower back by rolling backwards over my exercise ball (I think this feels really good after these types of workouts), and then some light yoga pose holds and twists to stretch everything else out.
WEDNESDAY:
My usual Wednesday ritual at LifeTime — run for 15 minutes on the treadmill (with a 5-minute walking warm-up and 2-minute walking cool down), followed by an hour of hot vinyasa flow. It was hotter OUTSIDE than it was inside for hot yoga. That’s intense, Iowa! Also, they switched instructors for Wednesday nights now, but I like the new instructor a lot. I felt really strong in this class (and sweaty) — and she taught us how to set up for side crow, WHICH I WAS ABLE TO DO ON BOTH SIDES! Holy crap, all someone had to do was show me the set-up.
After having my chocolate milk at home (my usual post-workout recovery), I got in another 20 burpees.
THURSDAY:
I intended to join a local social run for Saucony try-on night, but I hadn’t had a good night of sleep for the entire week. My body was too exhausted for a run, so I pushed it to Friday. My legs needed some foam rolling, so I spent about 10 minutes doing that (I know that I should be doing this with more regularity, but baby steps). AND: I did my 20 burpees before bed!
FRIDAY:
I ran for 3.5 miles on the treadmill, running a Pittsburgh street view map that I created on iFit that started at my old house (awwwww). This worked out almost too perfectly: It was my Pittsburgh CrossFit Buddy’s 56th birthday — and on birthdays, we do BURPEES! Maybe I should dub this workout my Pittsburgh WOD?
Afterwards, I stretched out with the resistance band from TheraBand that I received this week. I’ll be using this piece a LOT in my exercise routines!
SATURDAY:
We took off around 9am for the BACooN ride, and cleared almost 20 miles before the boyfriend crapped out from the heat and some numbness in his wrist. I was feeling pretty good — though it was hot. Finishing the full 78 miles definitely would’ve been a challenge, but I feel as though I could of at least made it to Linden (30 miles from the start in Waukee). It will be a fun challenge to see where our biking fitness levels take us in the next year. #goals
I also did 20 burpees before bed (trying to be really quiet because the boyfriend was already asleep, and I just kept cracking myself up; plus, I had a couple ciders that night).
SUNDAY:
Why change a good thing? I basically did the same as last Sunday’s workout: jump rope for warm-up, TRX for arms and shoulders, burpees (though only 20 this time), a speed workout on the treadmill (this time, I ran on The Strip in Las Vegas), my Strong & Fast workout from Runner’s World, and some yoga stretches to close it out. LOVE this workout!
For the speed workout, I did some fun ladder drills: run a minute, walk 30 seconds x 2, run two minutes, walk a minute x 2, run three minutes, walk a minute… you get the picture. I increased the run speed every 30 seconds until I felt like my legs would fly off. lol Overall, I got a great 20-minutes, and about 2 miles.
I definitely spent some time foam rolling my calves at night.
Hey, that’s a total of >> 206 << burpees for the week! Holy crap. Should I keep the streak going? I’m already 7 days in a row!
Goals for the week:
108 Sun Salutations for Summer Solstice (YEP!)
Run 3 times
Take a new class! I have a couple things in mind here. Stay tuned! 🙂
The Gasparilla Distance Classic series of races includes a 15k, 5k, half marathon, 8k, the Michelob Ultra Challenge (which includes all 4 races), the Michelob Ultra Amber Challenge (3 of the races: the 15k, 5k and half), and the Michelob Ultra Lime Cactus Challenge (the 15k and 8k). My choice: the Ultra. So, my challenge was 4 races set over 2 days. First up was the 15k and 5k on Saturday.
Flat Melinda: Ready for Gasparilla Day 1!
Registration and Cost: I love to search for my registration confirmation to see when I decided to sign up for a race. Since I knew the Ultra Challenge was capped at 1,000 participants, I registered SUPER early (in May) to save some money — and it was before I had even completed a full marathon and just a couple weeks after finishing my first half marathon. That cracks me up.
Since I registered for all four races at once, the cost was $185. Everything was done online through imATHLETE, and I didn’t have any issues.
Expo and Packet Pick Up: We went to the expo on Friday after we landed. This size of this expo was on par with Pittsburgh’s — it was HUGE, with so many vendors. Publix was a main sponsor, so they gave out free race distance magnets (and, yes, I got all four!) and Cabot cheese was there sampling their awesomeness as well. Still no luck on finding some clearance Saucony Ride 7s in my size at any of the shoe vendors. Whomp.
I really liked that I wore the same bib for all four races. Also, the t-shirts could all be picked up in the same spot, and they gave us the Ultra Challenge finisher jackets at packet pick-up, which I found interesting (what if you didn’t finish?!). The swag was all packed into a reusable shopping tote, which was also a welcome change (I have so many of those backpack-like cinch bags!).
Bag Check: Didn’t use bag check for any of the races, since I stayed at a hotel within walking distance of both start lines. It was really nice that they had a medal drop in between races for runners completing the various challenges (my medal drop was my boyfriend haha).
Weather: Beautiful… but hot! With the early (dark) start times, I was able to toss out a couple of my old unwanted long-sleeves over the two days, but by mid-morning, temperatures were in the low 70s. Running in shorts and a tank (and hat, because ALL SUN) is my preferred comfort zone but OMG when I saw people running in long pants and sweatshirts and FURRY COSTUMES, I knew Florida officially lost its dang mind.
A furry in Florida! RACING IN COSTUME. #hotAF
Fans and Experience: Great crowd support and I lucked out with incredibly friendly pacers (randomly, one who just moved to Pittsburgh) and talkative fellow runners. At the turn-around point, there was a large group of fans with freaking DOUGHNUTS. Throughout the course, there was music and cheer sections and entertainment of various genres (my favorite was probably the guy who was playing a keyboard and singing over electronica music).
Start Line and Course: Both courses took advantage of the beautiful waterfront, running out and back on Bayshore Blvd. Both the 15k and 5k also had the same start and finish lines. I had about an hour between races, and I made friends with a guy from Indiana (who had a Steelers tattoo), who offered up one of his extra GU energy gels for me. The 5K corrals felt SUPER packed and chaotic — more so than lining up for the 15k. There was water at almost every mile of both races, with Gatorade at some stops as well. This race had really great volunteers!
Medals and Swag: I already mentioned the individual shirts, but each race also came with individual medals.
Bonus: You guys! There were cold towels at the finish line! This was the most amazing thing ever!
Random Bullshit: Ugh, my knee. This was the first time I’ve felt some pain during a race, and it started within the first couple miles. My strategy was total bullshit, too (but it worked) — run faster. (Seriously.) When I increased my pace, it no longer hurt, so I guess maybe my form is breaking down when I’m slowing up? No clue, but I was definitely nervous about running Day 2. And I was having arguments inside my head about being able to keep up the faster pace for 18 miles of running the following day. hahahaha NOPE. OR COULD I?!
After Party: I went back to the hotel to ice my knee and prop up my legs for a few hours, while the boyfriend Uber-ed to the local breweries and to a drugstore to get me a knee brace and some KT tape.
TL;DR The Great: I PR’d my 15k! The Good: Man, everyone was having so much fun at these races. It was contagious! The Bad: That Florida sun. The Ugly: Ugh, knee trouble.
This past week, however, was my recovery week… so I did nothing! I did have to walk to work several times though, so that was good to keep my joints moving. So, instead of writing out my workouts for the week (because there were none!), I’m going to talk about my recovery.
Recovery: Resting your tired feet in the cool sand of Siesta Key is optional.
2. Compression sleeves: I had a conversation about compression gear recently with another runner friend (re: whether they actually work or not). VIM + VIGR sent me a pair of compression calf sleeves a few months ago to test out (no monies exchanged for testing or review, but I got a free pair). For recovery, these have helped my tired calves immensely. After my long runs, I put on my calf sleeves and prop my legs up for a good hour (or longer, if I nap, which… likely). I used them in the hotel room after the first day of Gasparilla, too, and I felt really fresh for Day 2. It might all be psychosomatic, but at the very least, this post-training regimen forces me to relax.
3. Massage: Sadly, I couldn’t get into my usual massage therapist this week (and OMG I have to find a new massage place in Des Moines!), but a massage after a long race is KEY to my body feeling back to normal. I get really tight IT bands, calves and quads like a lot of runners, which she works out perfectly; she also spends a few minutes helping me stretch those areas that I can’t get by myself. Because I didn’t have a massage this week, I definitely feel more “lead-legged” than usual. I probably should have scheduled one down in Florida. Sigh, 20/20.
4. Trigger-point therapy: I am guilty of not doing my foam rolling as much as I should (I’m a work in progress!), but I use several apparatuses to release tight and knotted muscles after big races or long runs: my RAD roller, a lacrosse ball, and two different foam rollers. I use this Foam Rolling app for guidance. I love the RAD roller especially, as I can easily toss it in my suitcase for traveling.
5. Hot tub: I don’t own a hot tub, but if I’m traveling for a race, I make sure to book a hotel that has one. We had access to a hot tub at the parent’s condo development — and sitting in one the day after the race, even for just 10 minutes, is just MAGICAL for relieving tired, sore legs.
the week:
FRI-YAY! We made it! And I successfully made it through another work week of waking up with my first alarm. This morning, I actually woke up at 5:45 and got a three-mile run in before work.
weekend:
You guys, it’s going to be 70 degrees in Pittsburgh this weekend. So, I don’t know about you, but I’ll be spending some time outside (and definitely running every day).
52 books in 52 weeks:
Crunch time! I’ve got 5 more books to finish in three weeks — and one of my intended readings is a whopper 800+ pager. I’m looking forward to those admin days at the end of the month!
#47 Dataclysm by Christian Rudder (cofounder of OKCupid) — really interesting insight about stats in the online dating world and how those identities we portray online are the same (or not) on how we live in real world. Don’t feel like the scientific data will be over your head! Rudder does a great job of breaking down social research terms and explaining the biases and desires that exist in our personal data. Good stuff! I received this book from Blogging for Books for review.
seven things, seven days:
1. First time having brunch at The Porch at Schenley — so excellent!!!
2. At our annual holiday season Girls Night, we also do a fun gift exchange. This year, I ended up with all the fixings for boozy hot chocolate. AND AN ENTIRE BAG OF MINI MARSHMALLOWS!
3. UPS almost ruined Christmas though! Geesh.
4. Um… I broke my big toenail at practice this week in a very precarious location. And now it’s basically wrapped in medical tape until it grows out a little further (and to keep it from ripping off). o_O
5. My amazing friend brought me back a “Built With Chocolate Milk” towel from her race expo last weekend. YAY! #teamchocolatemilk
6. Does it matter if women soldiers can’t do pull-ups? {via Pacific Standard}
7. This NY Times opinion piece is pivotal to the “can you be addicted to distraction” conversation: Addicted to Distraction.
