'Twas the week of Christmas and all through house, not a creature was working out, not even a mouse! That's how it felt this week! Most of my days were a blur. If I don't write down a quick blurb in my notebook about my workout, then I will have to start writing my recaps of at the end of each day (which might be better if time permits) because I struggled hard this week trying to remember what happened and why I ended up having rest days...well you'll see!
REMINDER OF WHAT I WAS SUPPOSED TO DO Monday: Recovery/Rest Day
Tuesday: 3 miles + Hills 2
Wednesday: Full Body Strength
Thursday: 3 miles + Hills 1
Friday: Full Body Strength
Saturday: 30 min Cross Training or Rest
Sunday: 6 mile Long Run
WEEK 2 SUMMARY
TOTAL MILES: 3.1
TOTAL TIME: 47m 04s
Day 1 - Rest Day
The day 100% got away from me. If I'm being honest, and y'all know that I am, I don't even remember Monday (and I'm writing this particular recap on Thursday). I know that I had every intention of doing a 20 minute restorative yoga class on Peloton. Next thing I knew I was crawling into bed, reminding myself not to eat or drink anything because I had to get blood work done the next morning.
Day 2 - 3 miles + Hills 2
I think I liked this one more than Hills 1. I'm pretty sure that I mentioned this last week that hills are to be done towards the end of the run. I figured I would start them around 2.25 miles and since there were 8 of them (instead of 5) and they were 20 seconds long (instead of 10). The hills were 8 sets, 20 seconds at a 7% incline and speed of 6.5 with a 40 second recovery at a 1% incline and speed of 2.5. Let me tell you what...those 40 seconds flew by! I ran while watching an episode of Yellowstone (I'm so glad I started over because these commercial breaks are helping my endurance) at 1% incline and speed of 4.1 and walked the first 3 commercials at 2.5. I was in the middle of my hills when the 4th commercial came on. I ended my hills around 2.88 miles and ran until I hit 3 miles, dropped the incline to 0 and walked 0.1 miles at 2.5 to cool down.
What's really cool about this run is that it helped me complete two things: it pushed me over the edge to complete my goal of running 275 miles this year, and it helped me finish my Yes Fit Chillin' With My Gnomies race (29 miles - I'll show y'all the medal when it gets here)!
Day 3 - Rest Day
I'm not one to make excuses but Tuesday was a full day of mismanaged time that lead to me not sitting down to read my Bible chapters, journal or keep my Kindle reading streak alive until almost 11pm. By the time I even felt like I had the tiniest bit of energy it was time for dinner...which lead to picking up pizza and getting stuck in traffic after an accident had the road shut down and Google Maps wasn't loading for me. That should have taken a half hour and it took almost 1 hour 15 minutes! I had to run to the store at 8pm to get what I needed to make my dog his food (no choice since he was out) and that takes a good hour+ round trip and then I remembered that my husband didn't have any clean undershirts for work (and trying not to be pissed at the fact that he somehow only has like 3 of them) so I was up until after 1am waiting for the food to cool enough to cover and put in the fridge and to transfer the clothes to the dryer. I was so tired that I couldn't look for a pen and wrote a note on a tissue with my liquid liner for my husband that his undershirts were in the dryer.
Day 4 - 10 minute Core
Here we are with another day that got away from me. I almost said mismanaged time again but after my daughter having an accident leading me to wash a load of laundry when I already had 4 clean loads that I needed to fluff, fold and put away...and clean my kitchen...I just didn't have it in me. It was about 8:45pm and I finally decided I couldn't do a 45 minute run but I could do some strength training...just not 30 minutes of it! I did a quick 10 minute core workout with Rebecca Kennedy on Peloton that was live that morning and I'm not mad about it! It's the week of Christmas y'all!
Day 5 - 30 min Glutes & Legs
Originally I was going to do a 20 minute live core strength class but last minute I saw this 30 minute Holiday Glutes & Legs Strength class with Callie Gullickson and I just knew that I needed this one in my life! The plan was to tackle Callie's class at 9am and then the 20 minute core strength at 10:30am...but my daughter woke me up at 5:45am and I slept in until 9:45am. So I waited...and I'm glad I did because I don't think my body would have been awake and loose enough to use those 20s for all those heavy sets! Maybe that's a negative mindset that I need to get rid of...oh...goal for 2023!
Anyway, I did not roll right into the core class after because my legs and arms were literally shaking. I've bookmarked the class because it's all body weight so maybe I'll come back to it this week or maybe next week.
Day 6 - Rest Day
It was ambitious to think that I would do my long run today. After the glute and leg workout on Friday, I had actually told myself that if I could at some point this weekend run, then I would try for the 3 miles + Hills 1 from Thursday but my legs and butt wanted no part of running this day! I should have stretched...I know this...but I didn't. I relaxed throughout the day. I had one last gift to wrap for my daughter and she played upstairs in her room long enough for me to get the present out of my car, wrap it and hide it behind the couch! My husband ventured out and grabbed the mail (our mailbox is like a mile away from the house) and my medal arrived...remember above when I said I finished my 29 mile race...here it is!
Day 7 - Rest Day
I mean...at this point does this even shock you? I took it easy this week and allowed myself to just be in the moment, no matter what the moment was! I saw it come up in my Facebook memories that this week last year of training I took it easy because my body didn't like me trying to run slower than a 15 minute mile pace and I hurt my ankles and shins. My coach told me to take a few days off and then even said enjoy the holiday and forget about the long run if I wanted. I don't think I did the long run that week either! It's becoming a tradition. If I do my long run of week 2 next year then it isn't tradition but if I miss it then it is tradition! I had planned to do a walk or something but just decided to chill! I was up at 7am to pull the cinnamon rolls out of the fridge to rise and when I crawled back in bed I realized that I didn't have the mix for my stuffing and was not going to the store to get it...not that important! I made ham, scalloped potatoes (from scratch), green beans (from a can), and rolls (from the freezer). I got everything cleaned up and put away and we were in bed a little after 10pm!
WHAT'S ON DECK FOR NEXT WEEK:
There are a couple of things that could pose as an obstacle for week 3 training. I got a job and go in for onboarding on Tuesday. I don't know if I'll actually start working or if they will have me wait until January. Also, you'll see below that there is only 1 day for rest and no other optional rest days. I'm definitely wanting to make sure I get my running in but if I have to pick between sacrificing a run or a strength training session, I'll cut either Thursday or Saturday before I cut Wednesday or Friday. Can't wait to recap next week and see how I do!
Monday: Recovery/Rest Day
Tuesday: 3 miles + Hills 1
Wednesday: 20 min Cross Training + Full Body Strength
Thursday: 3 miles
Friday: Full Body Strength
Saturday: 2 miles
Sunday: 7 mile Long Run
