Training week #3 started off pretty good for me. But a little too much fun at the casino on Friday night left me with a gnarly day-long hangover on Saturday, which meant that there was no way I was getting in my weekly long run. I fared only a little better by Sunday – able to get in 6.4 miles at Center Trails before calling it a day (I still had maybe only 200 calories in my system at that time).
It’s not the end of the world — though at times during my hangover I thought it might be. Running after puking for 24 hours is a skill good for Ultras, no? In any event, Sunday’s run was SLOW for me, and I fell behind my pack for most of the run, working on a lot of power hiking. Though I sometimes need the reminder Run Your Own Race — even on training days. And that came by way of an oncoming mountain biker. I apologized for being slow to move out of the way, and he — ever a gracious human being on this early Sunday morning — remarked: The trails are for everybody!
I let out some kind of awkward, shrill-yelling “YEASSSS!” as we passed one another. And I stopped feeling sorry for myself (and instead started profusely apologizing to my liver).
I was such a mess on Sunday, that I apparently couldn’t even wear my hat correctly!
WHAT’S FUN?
This upcoming week I’ve got my first meet-up with a work-organized running group and a HOKA demo & pub run with Fleet Feet.
AUGUST MILEAGE UPDATE: 36.9 miles WEEKLY MILEAGE: 14.4 miles MILEAGE FOR THE YEAR: 577.31 miles UP NEXT:Rockin’ Chocolate Half Marathon in Madison, WI and NewBo Half in Cedar Rapids, IA — both part of my Labor Day back-to-back half challenge with Pittsburgh City Girl
So… I’m kind of in a taper place now, with the race being two weekends away. I feel like I kind of called it in this round of training. Overall, I’m disappointed in my effort – and my knee was definitely giving me trouble again on my run Sunday (I iced it afterward and attempted to stay off it, despite having TOO MANY STEPS in my house). I plan to keep it mostly rested and not do any more long runs until after race day. I see a lot of spinning and yoga in my immediate future!
Probably bad advice.
MONDAY: Rest Day.
TUESDAY: First travel team practice of the season (2 hours), and it was moderately intense. We worked on drills aimed at keeping us square and using (or not using) our partners/wall; the practice was book-ended by some fun team-building activities, so we could learn more about our teammates. I think I’ve played with everyone at some point in my derby tenure, but it’s always a good exercise to remember where everyone is at this moment and the individual struggles each has experienced. While most of us have our own goals, this type of exercise is really important for future goal-setting for the team overall.
WEDNESDAY: Joined up with my run//yoga//run//club and ran 3.23 miles at average 10:10 pace. I did not take total advantage of the amazing weather to run in shorts — I was definitely dressed too warm! Nonetheless, what an incredible night outdoors. Yoga, meanwhile, was SUPER sweaty and destroyed my confidence and energy. Namaste, n’at.
THURSDAY: [walked to/from work] Ended up working late and had to miss practice. Yeah, I’m that guy already.
FRIDAY: [walked to work] Date night — dinner at Poros and tickets to Cabaret! Did I work out in the morning like I intended to with my clothes all set out? NOPE.
SATURDAY: Date day! I probably got some bonus points for walking around Sewickley for a couple hours (though negated by all the chocolate, I’m sure).
SUNDAY: Long run day! Yes, I got my ass out of bed on a Sunday morning to join SCRR for 9 miles. I had 11 on my training plan, so I planned for my usual 1-mile warm-up to the marathon garage and 1 mile back home after the group run. I had a great pack on this run, despite being really unhappy about the course taking us up Penn past Children’s Hospital. Anyone in Pittsburgh knows that’s an awful incline. But one of the guys enjoyed singing, so that was a fun way to pass the time from the mid-point (“Ohhhhhhh, we’re halfway there…”) to the end of the run (we need some work on our lyrics for “I like big butts” and “Space Cowboy” though).
Mile 1 (1.13): 9:54 average pace
Group run (9.24 miles): 10:19 average pace [Splits: 10:12 (1) / 9:55 (2) / 11:26 (3) / 10:04 (4) / 10:31 (5) / 10:03 (6) / 10:09 (7) / 10:20 (8) / 10:06 (9)]
Run home (1.14): 9:56 average pace
TOTAL CROSS-TRAINING WORKOUTS: 2 (2 hours of skating; 1 hot yoga session) TOTAL RUNS: 2 LONGEST RUN: 11.51 miles TOTAL WEEKLY MILES: 14.74 miles TOTAL TRAINING MILES: 78.64 miles
I had a really rough week again; I won’t sugar coat it. My lack of motivation to do, anything really, hit a high, and I reached out to my local run buddies to hold me accountable for my weekend long run. Needless to say, I only completed one run from this week’s training program (my long run, for what it’s worth). I’m starting a February 1 Fitness Challenge too, to help get me back on track. With a full week of derby practices ahead of me, my race in less than three weeks, and preparing for a big life change (I know, #vaguebooking), I need to be SO CAREFUL of not burning out and keeping on a schedule. My training week definitely ended on a high note though!
MONDAY: Two-hour roller derby practice, which included scrimmaging. I’m really tired and cranky this week, so I know that I’m PMS-ing super hard. Also, I’ve written about this before, but I generally feel pretty useless and lack any amount of energy the week before my cycle starts. It was tough to get into 100% mode at practice, and I was honestly really annoyed that it was a scrimmage practice. But, I showed up and gave my best.
TUESDAY: Rest Day. Needed to watch The Bachelor. Duh.
WEDNESDAY: Had to work late… really bummed to miss yoga.
THURSDAY: [walked to/from work] Since I missed yoga the night before, I packed my bag and mat for work – with the intent of doing a lunch hour yoga at the PNC YMCA downtown. Wouldn’t you know, despite my setting an alarm on my phone so that I wouldn’t get caught up in work and forget, that it never alerted me? And I ate right through the noon hour and COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT DOING YOGA. Until the afternoon, when I turned around for my purse and saw all my workout stuff.
This week is officially The Worst.
FRIDAY: Nothing. Absolutely, lazy nothing.
SATURDAY: With a friend’s help to MAKE SURE that I woke up for a morning group long run, I joined Steel City Road Runners for 9 miles (finished 8.89 miles at average 10:48 pace) in the morning. I also ran to the start location, so I got an extra mile for my “warm up.” This was the furthest out that I’ve taken on the river front trail (on the Allegheny), so it was exciting to get a change of scenery! We stuck with the 10:30 pacer, but we were really all over the place in terms of average pace. At a certain point, we crossed back into the city side of the river — running that LONG 40th Street skyward into Upper Lawrenceville (we were basically at a 12-minute pace there). It was rough.
I sincerely needed a good run, though, and the camaraderie of my fellow runners. While I felt awful and tired and sore (that will happen after not running for a week!), I’m so glad that I got out there. My IT band was giving me a little trouble on my left leg for the last 4 miles, so I spent a good amount of time foam rolling my legs and doing some yoga stretches in the evening.
SUNDAY: I was having a little bit of knee soreness today — my quads were also SCREAMING at me and I was feeling generally exhausted and cranky… but it’s BOUT DAY! Despite the nag, I didn’t feel sore or hurt while skating at all (Monday morning is another story, though). Our Heroes vs. Villains game was INTENSE! (I was on Team Hero.) I had FIVE PENALTIES – probably the most I’ve ever had in a game (and they were all something different); and since we were a little short roster, we were all playing basically every other jam. The game of roller derby is an hour long, with two 30-minute halves and a half time. For as apathetic as I felt about playing before the game, I felt the complete opposite when I was on the track. I had an awesome game. And the other team picked me as the game MVP Blocker (aka: Most Tenacious Blocker)!
Crazy Cat Pants Boutfit and Game Day penalty board (whoops!)
Man, it was so hard not to be outside running in the 50-degree weather, though. Yes, the spark is back!
TOTAL CROSS-TRAINING WORKOUTS: 2 (both skating) TOTAL RUNS: 1 (better than nothing, I guess!) TOTAL WEEKLY MILES: 9.89 miles TOTAL TRAINING MILES: 63.90 miles
