January 27th through February 2nd-Real Conversations

Endurance athletes are known to develop relationships with pain.  Whether you are in oxygen debt at mile 3 of a 5 mile race or if you are trying finish up a marathon on a balky achilles, runners are famous for accepting pain and trying to deal with it.  My current relationship with pain involves my right hip and upper quad area.  It's been acting up since November.  Week after week, I remind myself to do strength workouts, stretch, train in moderation and things will work themselves out.  Since the summer I have been cautious with my training by limiting my long runs, taking rest days, and trying not to strain in workouts.  Currently, I feel a steady amount of tightness and pain.  While the whole ordeal could be best described as nagging, it would be fair to say that my gait feels a bit off and my body does not feel normal when I'm running fast.

Fast forward to this morning and I had a "real conversation" with myself about the Ryan Park 10k that would be taking place in a few hours.  Rather than having a poor race or making the injury worse, I listened to my body and opted not to run today.  While I certainly missed out  on some fun, I hoping my decision benefits me later in the season.  In the upcoming weeks, I'm going to incorporate some running  with various strength and stretching routines.   My plan will be very deliberate and I will continue to have those "real conversations" with myself.

Sunday, January 27th 
The Spartacus Workout-45 minutes
A series of leg exercises, push-ups, shoulder work, and core exercises.  By no means was it sprinting up a hill, but I did find this one challenging

Monday, January 28th
a.m. 445 Club- 6 miles on the treadmill, 39:45
p.m. Early Dismissal=pure joy!  Made it home by 3 pm today and capitalized on the opportunity by running on the Weekapaug Sand Trail with Kelsey in the snow. 3+ miles

Tuesday, January 29th
Meetings prevented my planned yoga session.  Instead of doing yoga, I woke up early again and did stretching and strength work for 40 minutes.

Wednesday, January 30th
Warmup
3X1 mile repeats with 4 minute complete rest
Splits: 5:19, 5:24, 5:28
Warmdown

As a test of my current running fitness, I opted to shoot for some mile repeats today.  Knowing I had a perfect mile loop around my neighborhood, I didn't have to measure out a course and thought it would be a great place for a workout because it gave me the opportunity to bail out at any time!  After warming up with Lulu, I dug into the workout.  On the first loop, I felt strong but also knew I was working quite hard and the little hills were killing me.  After completing the first repeat, I was already giving some thought to calling it a day and warming down.  I quickly gave myself a pep talk and switched directions for repeat number 2.  Crossed the line for this one in 5:24 and the hills on this one were not any easier.  During my next rest, I was once again thinking about bailing and told myself I had to go for a third one even if it meant me running a horrible time.  I tried to cheat on this one by running downhill into Weekapaug.  Unfortunately, the wind shot at me on this repeat and right before I finished I had a small incline to climb.  Since I was already feeling tight, I slowly jogged home.


Thursday, January 31st
445 run again..4 miles on the treadmill followed up with some stretching.

Friday, February 1st
Woody Hill/Wahaneeta run with the Gazelle.  We toured a variety of single and double track trails in this really cool spot.  We hit some dead ends along the way, but still had a blast out there!  One of my goals is to try to get in here for a run once a week until I really learn the area.  9 miles...in my book anyway!

Saturday, February 2nd
4 miles easy with Kelsey and Lulu on beach roads.  It was a cold one.

Weekly Totals:
Run miles: 31
Lulu's Miles: 5
Core/Weights: 65 minutes
Yoga/Stretching: 20 minutes

Synopsis:
Highs-Monday Snow/Beach Run, mile repeat workout (just that I did it), & Woody Hill run.
Lows-mileage, mile repeat workout, & not enough stretching.

YTD Miles: 170
Lulu's miles:  32