Worry about finishing my two classes resulted in my not really following along with this week’s Training Plan. For what it’s worth though, my scheduled long run this week felt amazing.
Monday: REST
Tuesday: REST DAY. I had the intention running before work, but I suffered from some serious insomnia the prior night. We had a baseball game after work, so oh well.
Wednesday: Lunchtime yoga, restorative and some trigger point therapy. This class was exactly what I needed! Unfortunately, I had a concert after work, so I had to miss run//yoga club (and my training run).
Thursday: Now it was time to catch up on work for my final papers and projects that are due this week…
Friday: I ran 3 miles at 6am with a friend! And it was a slow, heavy slog through those three miles — over 11:30/pace (that felt much faster). Gross. I took her over through the West End Bridge loop though, and there was a perfect fog resting over the tops of downtown Pittsburgh. Little things like that remind me of my adventures while running and keeps me coming back to “see the view,” so to speak.
Saturday: FINALS DUE! Another rest day.
Sunday: As part of Open Street PGH, I ran 6 miles in the AM with the Steel City Road Runners Club. It was rainy but cool, the course was fun (I mean, what’s not to love about running in the middle of the street?!) AND there were legit people out there cheering on our training run. What a blast! Most importantly, it felt GOOD to run. It was a great way to cap off Week 3.
Open Streets!
Weekly Runs: 2
Weekly Miles: 9.02 miles
Total Training Miles: 23.95 miles
*Also walked 4.5 out of 5 days to/from work for another 10-ish extra miles, not included in the training total. I finally mapped my two different courses to work, and one is closer to 1.5 miles in one direction, and maybe that’s why I’m so tired every day? lol
Have you made your own motivational post for the Pittsburgh Half Marathon? Tell UPMC what keeps you going for a chance to win the Reasons to Run 2.0 sweepstakes. Contest ends on April 24!
This week proved to me a lot of what I am capable of — physically and especially mentally. Game On, Pittsburgh!
Monday: Much-needed day of rest (and cleaning my house). My foot really, really hurts from the Cherry Blossom race, but I’m also dealing with some knee soreness. No visible swelling, from what I can tell, but I’ve been icing both. Since both are on my left leg, I’m beginning to think something is up on that side — shoes? IT band? Tight glutes? Shut up and get a massage? (OK).
I foam rolled for about an hour with all three of my apparatuses (apperati?), really focusing on my hips, IT band, and quads.
Tuesday: Emergency massage appointment activated! What’s that? My calves and hamstrings are super tight. Oh. This session felt and hurt so good. And, err… guess I’ll spend some additional time stretching and rolling my calves and hamstrings.
Wednesday: Still a little sore, so I decided to take another day to really stretch everything and ice my knee and foot. I feel mighty bruised from that massage too. Woof.
Thursday: 2 mile run… and I feel good again. I followed up that “good” with a couple sets of body strength workouts found in Runner’s World, push-ups, and a killer ab workout.
2.0 miles outside, 10:00/pace
Friday: Took a rest day, and went to an amazing Pittsburgh Ballet performance of La Bayadere (and I cheated and ate some tomato sauce on my gluten-free pizza).
Saturday: What a beautiful day! Left the house without my water bottle, so I ran to 7-Eleven and thank the lord because it was a LOT warmer than I anticipated! I accomplished the West End Bridge (both directions) and ran around the Point to get a nice mist of fountain water. More importantly, I. Felt. Good. First time that I felt really confident about running this half in a couple weeks. So, I’ll make sure that I eat an egg sandwich on race day. 🙂
First time running over the West End Bridge!
They were setting up for Pirates fireworks on the Sixth Street Bridge when I ran over, and that was terrifying. Holy moly, that’s a lot of explosives for one bridge. I ran back on the Seventh Street Bridge — and look what I saw:
Game on!
6.48 outside at 10:30 pace
Sunday: REST. A paper due, and group project assignment to compile (which I did outside on the patio and can all weekends in Pittsburgh be like this?!). I also played in my closet a bit — spring cleaning was necessary on this day of rest. And you know, since running is changing my former derby body, a clean-out was imminent.
Bonus about this Spring weather: walked to-from work four times this week for a total of 8 miles! 🙂
Total runs this week: 2
Weekly mileage: 8.48
Total training mileage: 87.47 miles!
My first Cherry Blossom race — and my first time seeing the cherry blossoms at peak bloom season in DC! The last ten weeks of training have brought me to this 10-mile race. Which, if you’ve read any other recaps or followed along this weekend, was shortened because of an unfortunate accident on the course. I am wholly impressed by the race directors and what they were able to accomplish given the timing of the accident and the start of the race.
Doing a Sunday race was WAY better than last month’s Saturday race, where we had to rush into DC on a Friday after work, and someone else had to grab my packet/bib. That said, it was nice to stay an extra day last month and enjoy many mimosas after crossing that finish line. This time, however, it was more in-and-out then sticking around to enjoy the city, but the little we did enjoy was enhanced by some beautiful weather and spring-like surroundings.
Lining up, I was excited to run into some fellow SCRR peeps in my corral and to start the first part of the race with, given that my friends were running late because of the metro (they ended up finishing at a 9:30/pace, so I wouldn’t have run with them for long anyway).
Steel City Road Runners represent! (I’m on the right showing off my neck muscles again.)
Registration and Cost: Entry to this race was on a lottery system (spoiler alert: I got in!) and my registration was about $80; I upgraded to a tech shirt and purchased a medal.
Expo and Packet Pick-Up: Orderly, for sure, and a beautiful space in the National Buildings Museum, but nothing about the expo itself provoked me to stay around and hang out (or buy anything). I mean, how many times do I have to see the same lotion lady and stim machines? To be honest, I really was interested in new shoes, but the expo wasn’t screaming out any brands. Also, it was kind of annoying to pick up bibs and t-shirts in different places (and on different floors). Even the sign that read “Pick up all shirts here” wasn’t even where I picked up my upgraded shirt (it was at the end of the row of tables).
Oh, and because the swag bag was virtual, I didn’t have any safety pins. Nobody reminded me about the safety pins. This should be programmed in the volunteers heads when handing over those bibs. But I did find one of the coolest Walgreens I’ve ever seen (in a search for said safety pins).
Bag check: Didn’t use. My hotel was about a mile from the start line, so I walked with all the gear I needed. Speaking of which…
Weather: B.E.A-UTIFUL. All that spring and none of the allergies either! The start line was a little chilly, but I had a thin pair of gloves which were easily stuffed in my pants when I warmed up.
Course: Because of the earlier mentioned incident, the first four miles were re-routed, making the course run short. I really was looking forward to that path around the basin too. Oh well, next year Lottery Gods. Those back miles down-around Hains Point though… WOOF. If it weren’t pretty and bloomy, it would be incredibly boring. Also, it was crowded.
Fans and Experience: I laughed and smiled and high-fived throughout the course — these race fans were PROS. I chuckled at many of the signs; there were several about brunch, which TORTURE ARTISTS. My favorite though was one that read “You’ve done dumber things when you were drunk.” #truth
I found myself pausing or pulling out my earbuds at various points of the course to take everything in. The miles kind of blend in together, but I think it was Mile 3 where there was a DJ; there was also an amazing drum band near the end of the course. I always get a thrill when runners start screaming in tunnels and underpasses.
Random Bullshit: My Songza shit the bed before I even hit the 5K mark and I had to restart the app… which told me at the most convenient time that I wasn’t logged in. It was at that point I realized that I also hadn’t synced my songs from the cloud to my phone since upgrading my device. So I was that lady trying to remember my password and log into my account WHILE I WAS RUNNING. Nailed it.
Finish Line: WHERE IS THE WATER?! WHERE ARE THE BANANAS? OH GOD HELP ME.
This may sound hyperbolic but a horrifying reality after you’ve run for an hour-and-forty minutes. That finish line chute took forever. And why the hell do you put photo booths before the water stations?!
AND WHERE THE HELL ARE THE BANANAS?! (I never did find them.)
Medals and Swag: “I’m not winning any money, so you best believe I paid for the medal.” Truer words were never spoken. Fun fact, at the Cherry Blossom race, they don’t put medals on you at the finish line — you have to pick them up at another location. Which would have been helpful had I remembered THREE BLOCKS EARLIER. (Yes, I had to walk back when I saw someone else wearing one.) I am wholly incapable of any thought but food after running. Why was this so complicated?! Did I mention crowded?
Worth it.
Bonus: FUN RACE DAY PICTURES!
Notable 30-somethings: Heck yeah, 32-year-old Serena Burla placed 1st in the U.S. Women’s Division; there were several 30-something women in the top 25 in the Open Division. So inspiring! Fist bump.
Found my friends after the race — that one on the left just ran her 10th Cherry Blossom (along with her mom!) and now has legacy status.
After party: that would be a three pigs omelet at City Tap House, and then a four hour-drive back home to Pittsburgh.
Overall: I really loved this race, and I really hoped to run faster. But I felt SO GOOD while doing it and had some kind of peaceful journey over those miles.
I mean, that picture says it all, doesn’t it?
Immediately after I finished, however, my left knee felt like it locked up (yes, the same knee that was giving me trouble last month). And on the same side, my foot was SCREAMING. I was hobbling back to the hotel (and, ack! had to wear flip-flops to brunch because of my swollen feet). I have no idea what is happening on my left side, but an emergency massage was in order this week.
Less than a month away from the Cherry Blossom race, and less than two months away from the Pittsburgh Half. WOO! Racing season is upon us.
Week 6
I rested my knee throughout the week (with a little RICE), hoping for no long-term injuries. Saturday was my 5K race in DC (recap here) and NO KNEE PAIN! (Thank the Running Gods.)
Total runs: 1 (just the 5K, ma’am)
Weekly mileage: 3.1
Week 7
I’m ready to add back in some CrossFit training into my week, and already have yoga on the calendar for next weekend, because three rest days in a row is not my style (and I feel like I’ve finally settled back into a routine since starting my new job two months ago).
Monday: 7 miles post-work. NO COAT! And a lot of rolling on these shins that are tight. Woof. Also, I’ve been finding some hilarious things along my runs, which fuels my brain. Today: a big turd on the 16th Street Bridge, some sort of Taco Bell wrapped thing face-down on the sidewalk (you know that guy was SO MAD), and a guy wearing a shirt that read “I Cheat.”
Tuesday: REST
Wednesday: RESTED
Thursday: REST DAY
Friday: Intended for a run, buuuuut the boyfriend invited me to early happy hour to watch some SPORTS.
Saturday: Definitely overdressed for this run, holy crap too many layers. But yay, 5 miles in the sunshine (or 4.5 if you go by my watch, SIGH). Also, apparently I swam across the river and back AND did a mile in five minutes per my MapMyRun course.
Err, there’s not a bridge there.
I also saw a lady on a unicycle going over the pedestrian/multi-use bridge on my run today. She was dressed in performance gear like you see the Tour de France dudes wearing. And not just any unicycle but a THICK BIKES unicycle. So bad ass. There is also some really cool graffiti art and messages down along the Allegheny riverfront, if you’re into that. I also somehow had a bug go down into my bra (under a tank, a zippy shirt, and a jacket).
I love this so much.
Sunday: Good news, I got in my 8 miles today (8:08); bad news, my left knee started bothering me again (this time around Mile 6). Sooooo, I’ll be watching that again this week. I had the boyfriend drop me off in Regent Square area (8 miles from the house), and I ran down (up) Forbes through Schenley Park, up through Oakland, down Fifth and all the way through to downtown, swung around the point and crossed the river. That was a really fun adventure.
Total runs this week: 3
Weekly mileage: 20.44 miles
Total training mileage: 30.56 + 3.1 (week 6) + 20.44 (week 7) = 54.10!
