Workouts this week - 12/17-12/23

Monday: Off

Tuesday: 5 miles
I did 5 miles of trails before the sun set. It was 61 degrees, sunny and perfect.

Wednesday: 8x600
Did a speed workout at the indoor track. I was inspired by an Instagram story that said—if you hate a workout, do it more. It will make you better. So I hate 800s, so I decided to do them.
Mile warmup. (Felt good)
Workout 6x800, with 100 meter run/walk between. (Goal around 3:30.)
• 3:32, 3:28, 3:32, 3:26, 3:31. 3:33

I did an abbreviated cool down since I had a board meeting later. These never feel as easy as I want them to. I was happy with the effort.

Thursday: yoga
Took the day off running. I went to Yoga at the Galleries, which I've been meaning to go to FOREVER.

They have a free yoga class once a month INSIDE the Georgia Museum of Art.

I was so nice and zen after the class, but my friend and I almost immediately started talking about stressful work drama. So, I guess I'm still working on letting go of anger.

Friday: Morning run
I did a junk 5 miles at the track before work. The gym was closing early and I wanted to make sure I got my run in.
And this was the worst run I've had in a while. After 1 mile, I felt like I was getting sick. I was overheating. I kept needing to stop. After 2.5 miles, I decided to take a bathroom break. And that made all of the difference. I ran 30 seconds a mile faster (the speed I should be running.) And finished my 5 miles.

Saturday: Long run
Matt said he was running 7.5 miles so I tagged along his run and added some miles to the end of the run. I probably could have run longer. Felt decent.

Sunday tempo: Wahoo
I usually take the day off after my long run. But I needed a second workout for the week. I'm playing with what races to do next. So half marathon or 5k? I think 3 tempo miles sounded good. A 5k workout said 5 miles fast. But that sounded like too many miles.

Warmup: .75 miles. I thought about maybe a .5 mile warmup, but my legs felt good, so I did an extra lap. (Sometimes they feel like garbage after a long run, they felt good today)

The tempo was maybe going to be 3 miles at half marathon pace (8 minute miles). No breaks
Mile 1: 7:55, a hair fast. My watch wasn't showing me pace again.
Mile 2: 7:49
Mile 3: 7:47
And I was feeling good. It was hard-ish, but if I want to to a half marathon at this pace, I should be able to do this. So I WOULD do the 5 fast on my training plan.
Mile 4: 7:44
Mile 5: 7:35

I did a mile cool down.

Mile this week: 32
Runs: 5, 2 workouts
1 yoga class

Workouts this week: Oct. 9-15

This was a tired week of working out: a few rough runs.

Monday: Off
Rest day. Caught up on SNL from the weekend

Tuesday: Speed work
It was 86 degrees and 70% humidity.  I think that’s all I need to say. It was hot and soupy out. It felt like June and everyone was complaining about the weather.

The workout was 2 1200s and 2 800s and a bonus 400 if you wanted.

I aimed to go around 7 minute pace. Hahahaha. With the heat, that wasn’t happening.

My 1200s were both at 5:16. Which is 7 minute mile pace plus one second.

Then on to 800s. My first lap felt hard. My second lap was utter garbage. 3:31. I felt sick. My stomach hurt. I felt like I was going to barf. It’s one of the worst laps I’ve had since coming back after shin splints.

I took an extra 10-20 seconds to recover after everyone else. (My recoveries are usually shorter since I’m the last to finish). I ran another 3:31. It was hard. So hard. It was the second lap again. My legs were okay. My body was just working too hard in the heat.

I didn’t do the bonus 400. I had nothing left. I barely finished the last 800.

I did a cool down for an even 4 miles. That was super hard.

Wednesday: 5 miles
It feels like July outside. I ran 5 miles. It wasn’t as bad as yesterday, but it’s just too hot to feel good on a run. 85 degrees. The trails were practically empty. I didn’t see as many other as I usually do. There was also a big tree down (new) at the bottom of the main hill—so to get around you needed some knowledge of the trails. So lots of things to go around on this run. There’s a fence near the band practice field, the chain at the top of the hill, a lot of the side trails taped off (so varying degrees of being able to go around.)

Thursday: off
I was supposed to run 4 or 6 miles today. I decided it was too hot and I wasn’t running. I WAS going to go to yoga, but I had to work a few minutes late, so I didn’t go to yoga. And I didn’t do yoga at home. I walked Mojo, did 20 minutes on the exercise bike and then did 10 minutes of stretching and rolling. Oh well.

Friday: 4 miles + yoga
I’m back on track after yesterday’s laziness. I ran 4 miles at the iM Fields.

I had my hair braided and my elastics fell out around mile 1.5. So I ran almost a mile with my hair tucked in my sports bra. I did thankfully find the elastics again. Yay.
There’s a new obstacle every time I run this trail. I noticed a “Do Not Enter” sign for the first time. I was past it before I realized what it said. They have installed another gate in the forest part of the trail (in addition to the gate at the bottom of the area between the tennis courts and the Redcoat practice field). They added some gravel after the (open) gate. Ugh.
And maybe people are heeding the sign I only now noticed, because I see way less people out there.

Then I went to yoga. There were only two people + the instructor. This happens every now and then. It’s a good way to stretch after a run.

Saturday: Long run
Third 10 miler today. I felt a little tired on this one. I took my first gel. I was trying it out. I think other than being gross (the texture!) it had NO effect on me at all. I didn’t notice a difference.

The trail was covered in leaves—which slows me down a tad (since I can’t see the roots and there are roots EVERYWHERE on this trail.) Saw three deer. Including the two from last week.

I think I only had 8 in the tank today, because I got to 8 and my legs would not turn over.

WHEN DO 10-MILERS GET EASIER?

Those last two miles were utter garbage. They were hard. I wanted to walk. And I didn’t know WHERE TO RUN. I found this little trail and I wondered if it would work. I tried running road miles and my legs didn’t like that—I was running super slow and my feet weren’t landing right so I switched to an unknown windy trail and that helped some. I had nothing left.

And then my legs were achier after I finished. (They’re usually fine.) I felt like I was stiff and a little more limpy than normal.

NOT my dog. His doppelgänger
at the nature center where I did my run. 

I did get 25,000 steps in for the day. Which is awesome.

Sunday: Run + yoga
I was up at 5 because the dog and the cat both puked. (Super gross. Don’t ask.) And I couldn’t go back to sleep. That’s off topic, but oh well.

I had 1.7 miles to run to make my goal of 25 miles. And I’ve only done 2.5 in speed work so I did some more speed.

I did a walking and running warm up (½ mile) and then did 3 1000-meter repeats. Which is a fun little workout. 5 laps at the indoor track. 60 second between each.

I was supposed to run around 4:23 for each 1,000 as part of a sub 22 5k workout plan I saw online. I thought a few seconds slower would be okay, because I’m not quite there yet.

4:30 (7:12 pace)
4:22 (6.59 pace)
4:13 (6.45 pace).

So a nice progression there.

I started a little slow but within target. (7:12 would be perfect for a 5k). My watch doesn’t do pacing right for indoor runs. It was saying 7:40 pace or 8:35 pace for these laps. (Also I just noticed it said 90 second recovery, but I thought it was 60 seconds, so oops again).

I ran another lap so it would be 3200 meters or two miles.

Then I headed to yoga. I like this combo of speed work plus yoga. It makes sure I stretch after the run. And I need to stretch.

Week by numbers:
Workouts this week: 5 runs, 2 yoga classes.
(And a lot of bad runs this week. Tuesday and Wednesday, it was too hot to run. Saturday I was tired. Friday and Sunday were okay.)
Miles this week: 25.85

Workouts this week: Sept. 4-10

Here's a recap of my week in fitness:
Did my longest run to date and it was awesome (see Saturday).

Monday: Race
Ran a 5k race. Super happy with my time. Ran a mile cool down. And then had the rest of the day off.

I REALLY wanted a Chick-Fil-A biscuit as my reward for the race. I drove to Chick-Fil-A, but they didn't open until 10:30 a.m. because of the holiday. BOO.

I had a Keba sandwich and fries as my cheat lunch.

Tuesday: Easy miles
I ran five miles before work today. It's later and later until the sun rises, so I have to start later and later. I don't want to sprain my ankle on a dark trail. And there's only so much a head lamp does. For this run, sun rise was at 7:10 a.m. and I probably could have started running at around 6:44 (civil twilight. New term). I went to the IM Fields. And just as I was about to start running, the 30+ runners on the UGA cross country team came speeding my way. I waited until they passed and ran the opposite way. Even at 6:55, the trails seemed awfully dark, so I headed on the road.

I've been seeing the cross country team a lot lately. And I ran into them maybe 3 more times on this run. I think we were doing opposite loops. Though I was doing easy miles and they were really pushing. I ran into them at the bottom of the first hill by the lake, at the top of the big hill, near where I started running, and where the trail flattens out and by the bridges. Usually I just ran to the far side, or stopped completely. There were a lot of them. Hopefully I didn't annoy them too much. They didn't flatten me, which was good. On one of the bridges, another runner's dog, ran through them (while on a narrow bridge), and I was glad none of the tripped. It was scary. And irresponsible of the dog owner.

Wednesday: OFF
I took Wednesday off, since I didn't know when my next off day would be.

Thursday: Speedwork 

I usually do speed work on Tuesday, but the track coach told me not to come the day after a race. (I thought it was pretty funny to be uninvited) So I went to the track after work to do mile repeats. I walked a mile for my warmup. (I always procrastinate doing speed work) Then I ran half a mile and stretched.

3 mile repeats. The goal was 7:20 pace. But I was running by myself, which isn't that fun.
7:21
7:21
And I was trying to run EASY (but within pace), but my legs were a little tired. I was having to work a tiny bit for these paces, (not too much, not like my first workout back after my time off)
7:12 for my last mile. And I worked for it. I was breathing HARD by the end.

I did a half mile cool down and that was that.

(My last mile repeats workout was the beginning of May and my times were: 7:24, 7:26, 7:13)

Friday
My plan was to leave work a few minutes early and go to a rocket yoga class. Work got insanely busy after lunch, so I couldn't leave early. Boo. (Especially since my month to the studio is up so I never got to try the class). I needed yoga after the work day so I went to yoga at Ramsey. At 5:30 the class wasn't that full, but by 5:40 it was packed with people showing up late.

(And no I didn't go to glow yoga. I like it. But maybe just for fun and special occasions. It's later than I like to be out)

Saturday: Long run
The goal was to go out and run 9 miles. And Cook's Trail is my favorite place for long runs (because it's so flat).

The weather was glorious. And this was one of those magical runs. I was on this run—running easy, running my pace. And I just felt strong. I got to the half way point of the run and used the bathroom and got some water, and started running back (not even 2 minutes of break. Completely acceptable. The water really helps.)

On the way back, I was thinking
1) How wonderful it is to be alive. The weather was perfect. The sun was shining through the tree canopy and it was just a gorgeous gorgeous day.
2) How wonderful it is that my body can do this. Run for an hour and a half

I almost said I didn't walk once in the run (but there's a super steep hill I always walk on, so 15 steps, but after that I didn't walk at all).

The last time I ran this trail, I had a small breakdown on mile 6. Not today. I ran my 9 and had a little left in the tank, so I got to 9.3 so I could say I did a 15k, and then I was at 1:29, so I decided to run for another  minute to get to 90 minutes. So I ran 9.4 miles. And I could have kept going. I 100% could have done 10 miles today. But I didn't want to overdo it. (I was worried I'd hurt later). So I stopped and waited for Matt, who did 10.

This was MY LONGEST RUN EVER. And I am super, super proud of it. Yay for getting fitter.

Our reward was burgers for lunch.

And then Sally texted and asked if I wanted to go to yoga. Yep! So I did an hour of yoga that night (which I needed to stretch after the long run, and definitely had a little less energy than normal in the class.)

Sunday: 3.4 miles plus BodyPump
I did 3 easy miles at the botanical garden. It was windy. I got all sorts of dirt and sand blown into my eyes. It was painful. Definitely not running in tomorrow's tropical storm rain.

I don't really like running at the botanical garden. The trail is narrow, technical and just too hilly. I haven't run here in awhile so I gave it another chance. Nope. Still my least favorite trail.

And I kept straight on the white trail, so I ended up at 2 miles so I had to do another half loop. I always turn wrong on this trail.

I like the flat part and only the flat part.

So I made my miles for the week: 26 miles.

I thought about going swimming or doing another workout today. The gym is closed Monday and Tuesday (because of the hurricane) so I decided to go to a Bodypump class. Since I guess I'm taking Monday off. The class was PACKED. Everyone wanted to get their Monday and Tuesday workouts in.

Weights from Bodypump. 

So I did the class. Died in the lunges. And did too heavy a weight for one section of arms and died. And I figure it's fine if I'm sore since I have the next day off. But it wasn't bad for not having taken the class since end of June (maybe early July but not sure).

Garmin step challenge:
Randomly, my Garmin gives me challenges to compete in. This week's was the 95,000 step challenge. I got to 95,000 last week, barely. I had to pace a ton Sunday night. But this week, I ran more miles and didn't make the 95,000 goal. Not sure what that's about. Seems like if I ran more miles, my step count would be up.

Miles this week: 26 miles run, including a race
Workouts this week: 5 runs (1 race and 1 speed workout), 2 yoga classes and 1 weight session

Churro donut.
Just because. 

Workouts this week 8/28 - 9/3

Monday: Off
Took Monday off. I was tired and went to bed early.

Tuesday: 6:30 workouts
Because I went to bed early, I got up early and did the 6:30 a.m. yoga class at Ramsey. I walked in at 6:30 a.m. I was the last person there (oops), and there were 18 people in the class. Whenever I've done these early classes, there's never more than 8 or so in the class. I guess it's the beginning of the semester so everyone has the best intentions.

New track surface. The grey sections are new.

I also  did a 6:30 p.m speed workout at the track. And I am back. After my two weeks of shin splints (almost two months ago) I think I'm back to speed. And hooray!

This was my first workout on the newly resurfaced track.

.5 mile warmup, 3 400s, 2 800s, 3 400s and a 1.25 mile cool down

1:43, 1:42, 1:41, 3:37, 3:30, 1:35, 1:34, 1:25

Wednesday: New trail

Trail Creek Park

Today was the Athens Road Runners Trail Series. We tried Trail Creek Park. It's actually only a mile from my office and I'd never been there before. (It's pretty close to the ghetto.)

I got there early and tried to get a lap in before joining the group, but I took too long on the trail and missed the group. I found them later, so yay.

1. This trail is VERY technical. Maybe the most technical I'd ever run on. There are lots of roots. Lots of switchbacks and hairpin turns. It's a mountain bike trail and I bet it would be a fun trail—if you're an adventurer and like adrenaline (I'd guess it's not for beginners.) There are hills and curves and rock outcroppings. It's not flat, but the hills are small so not super long and awful.

2. It's not a fast trail. I was running 90 seconds to 2+ minutes slower per mile than I usually do on a trail.  BUT I felt like I was going FAST and was working hard to run 11 minute miles. That might be the slowest I've ever run in my life. Oh well. Maybe it was the sharp turns that slowed me down?

So I missed the group at the beginning and found them when they were maybe a mile into their run. My goal today was 4-5 miles. I got to 4 and decided to do one more. Then I got to 4.5 and found Sally. I finished out my planned 5 miles with her (and it was nice to slow down and chat with her) and decided I could do another mile with her. But I was tripping a lot, so I asked her to lead. And then needed to slow down. (I'm the WORST RUNNING PARTNER EVER). There were some turns we didn't know which way to go, so we ran over a bridge, and under a bridge, and maybe got slightly turned around. We eventually found our way back to the start, and did a lap around this field/walking track so I got to 6. And Sally ran another mile and a half to get to her intended 3 miles.

Thursday: Easy miles
I did 5 easy miles after work.

IM Fields. Again.

Friday: Long-ish run and yoga
I woke up and decided I would do that race Monday. I'm off work. The weather looks like. It's flat. So I decided to do a longer run (in place of my Saturday long run) on Friday and rest over the weekend. (I also took today off work) So I did 7.2 miles at the IM fields. I ran 7 of trails and then did 6.6 miles of trails and then did a few loops around a grass soccer field barefoot. I like to think it uses different muscles. It was a nice run.

And I went to black light yoga with Sally. I was in a weird mood though, so I didn't paint my face like I sometimes do.

Saturday: OFF
Nothing for me today. I walked the dog. And did a lot of chores around the house.

Sunday: OFF
I went outlet mall shopping and had WAY too much fun. Didn't buy any new Nikes, but they had the Free RN and the Pegasus and I was thinking about them.

Easy day and went to bed early. Set the alarm for 5:30 for the race.

Miles this week: 22.3
Workouts this week:  4 runs, 2 yoga classes (mini race taper)

Workouts this week: 8/14-8/20

8/14 Morning run
I ran 3.5 miles before work. And I even had time to go home and shower and then go to work. (Though I didn't stretch afterwards, oops).

8/15 Speed work: Not as planned

The plan was to do speed work at the track. The track was supposed to reopen Aug. 1. No construction project is ever complete on time, and the track—while it looks done—wasn't open today.  It was locked.

The coach had a backup plan as 400s on the sidewalk. I did a half mile warmup and my shin started to feel tight. I didn't think I could do 10 400s on concrete (without aggravating an injury I thought was healed), so I headed to do 400s at the IM Fields, where the ground is softer. (The indoor track would be a nightmare. The first week of school it's super busy with people who don't know how to use a track, and you'll run into someone). I marked a .25 mile route (from the tree to a pile of large sticks) and did it 10 times.

It was hot. Too hot. My times were not what they should be. Two of the routes I just gave up on and were slower than 10k pace. I was breathing so hard and sweating buckets.

1:45, 1:44, 1:45, 1:50, 1:44, 1:51, 1:47, 1:58 :(, 1:51 and 🐢 2:00. (I should have done nine too Sally and Matt!)

So I got a few good reps in. Two were junk. The humidity was just awful. It was apparently 90 degrees and 66% humidity. I swear it felt worse than 100% humidity. And near the lake, it was even worse.

Wednesday: Off
I was really tired today. Took it off. Walked the dog and went to bed early.

Thursday: Morning run: 5 miles

I set my alarm for 5:15 a.m., did the pet chores, warmed up and stretched and was out the door at 6 a.m. for a run. I'm trying to avoid the heat, so I decided to run before work. It was REALLY dark.

Running on the road is fine when it's dark, but I was worried about my shins, so I ran around some fields (wearing my water proof shoes) and then I got on trails when there was more light. I think I rolled my ankle three times in the first two miles (once on the road, once in the grass). And I don't think it was uneven surfaces. It was just my ankle? One time was REALLY bad (this was actually on a trail, but a flat part). I saw stars. I kept running on it and it was fine (guess those ligaments are flexible and strong). I was wearing a hat light running. I saw a few other runners—none of them wearing a light (I DID NOT UNDERSTAND THAT) and I saw two teams practicing on the fields in the darkness. They were doing jumping jacks and other exercises.

My alarm went off at 6:15 a.m. I wondered who was calling me at that hour. Then I realized it was my weekday alarm. That's when I normally get up. It took me a few seconds to turn it off (to figure out how. The alarm wasn't even showing on the screen.)

This was a really slow run. I would have liked it a hair faster, but I couldn't. I was tired. It was a recovery run and I wasn't running fast because it was still dark. Though during the 50+ minutes I was running, it went from pitch black, to pre-dawn, to sunrise to light outside.

45 minutes of pilates
There's a free faculty and staff pilates class that's offered at work at noon. I can rarely ever make it, but I did today. (And of course, I had three lunch time errands to run, but I planned to go so I did) and I think I really needed some low impact core work.

Friday: Glow yoga
I went to glow in the dark yoga with my sister. It was fun.

Saturday: Long run 8 miles

Today was the first time I've run eight miles in TWO MONTHS. (I didn't realize it had been that long. I took most of July off and just didn't get long runs in at the end of June.)

We got up early and headed out to Cook's trail. It's four miles from the Nature Center to the water fountain at Sandy Creek Park, and then I turned around and my silly Garmin said it was .15 miles shorter to come back so I had to run some extra length.

I kept the run really slow and easy. My heat rate really climbed when running hills so I walked for a few seconds just to get my heart rate down. I also took the monitor off during mile 6. It was driving me crazy. But it still tracked after that—how weird.

Overall, a nice trail run. I'd love to run this trail more (but it can get quite muddy).

We also went to the pool in the afternoon. I swam a few more laps than last time. Matt played on the diving board after he was done.

Sunday: Yoga, making miles
Went to yoga today. I should preface this with—I was in a weird/bad mood this morning.

I show up to yoga, and I just felt really out of place. Like I didn't belong. And in yoga, this rarely happens for me.

The class was OKAY. I REALLY HATE yoga classes with singing Oms. Yuck. And this class begins and ends like this. I DON'T WANT TO SING.

Also the instructor, who is really nice and seems like a fun person, smudged some wood at the end of class. The smoke made my throat really itchy. I have asthma. I didn't have an asthma attack but I didn't like it. I'm thinking this isn't the yoga studio for me. (NO SINGING)

Run
My goal was 22 miles this week. I had run 20.8 so I needed to run 1 and change miles today.

In the afternoon I went to the indoor track. (Also, I saw an almost accident where a car pulled out in front of another car—didn't even look. And then on two separate occasions people walked out in front of my car. I'll stop, but you could wait for a gap in the traffic.)

I did a walking warmup and then ran .25 miles, stretched. My goal was a mile at goal 5k pace. (I haven't run this pace in awhile.) So I think my GOAL 5k pace is 7:20. I ran a 7:15, which was a little fast and don't think I could have done that for 3 (did a long run yesterday). Then i decided to keep at that pace, and ran another half mile (which I hadn't planned on) and ran that at 7:38 pace. I cooled down with .25 miles at 8 minute miles, and that was my short speed workout.

Workouts this week: 5 runs, 2 yoga classes, one pilates class, one swim
Miles this week: 22.8

Workouts this week: Aug. 6-13

Monday: Morning run

I'm making a habit of early Monday runs. Ran 3 before work. Because we past the solstice, the days are now getting shorter. I had about 10 minutes less sun on this run than last week. I used a hat clip light for the first mile or so. It was a little dark and nice to have.

Tuesday: Speedwork
The workout today was 1600,1200,800,400. Down the ladder.

And I felt decent. It was a much better speed workout than last week. I feel like I'm close to back.

My times were:
1600 7:09, 1200: 5:27, 800: 3:34, 400: 1:28 (Also this track is a little long (pacing is 7:09, 7:05 pacing, 7:06 pacing 5:47 pacing)

And I've done this workout a few times now so I wanted to compare to previous efforts

June 20 (inside, in AC—not sure if this is comparable since today was gross. 94% humidity and it felt gross)
6:55, 5:06, 3:22, 1:26. Mile cool down. 3.5 miles

May 30
7:11, 5:18, 3:20, 1:22

It's interesting to see the times. I think I'm almost back to normal. I was really TIRED today from a rough day at work. I was shooting for 7:20 to 7:25 mile time and I ran the first mile too fast and got tired for the 1200 and 800. A solid effort. I'll be back to speedy in no time.

Wednesday: OFF
Took today off and walked the dog and took a nap.

Thursday 5 miles of trails

My legs were REALLY TIGHT so I wanted a slow run to loosen up my legs. I ran 5 miles of trails at recovery pace. Matt tagged along with me. I ran by college marching band practicing. Apparently, they're playing Bieber this year.

My legs were still tight after the run. Oh well.

Friday: swimming 

Did 30 minutes of swimming at the pool. I'm still bad. I still have no endurance. I tried.

Saturday: Long run

7 miles of trails today. I would have loved to run somewhere different but it's been really rainy lately so Cook's Trail and Sandy Creek would both be mud pits. So usual trails it is. I got a running partner for the last mile, which was nice. I thought she was a college student, but she said her name was Isabelle and that she was on the Clarke Central cross country team.

Also black light yoga. Should do a separate post on that one.

Sunday: Run + yoga

My goal was 20 miles this week. I'd run 19 miles so I had ONE mile to run today. I got up and ran at about 7:30 a.m.

This 7:23 was A LOT harder than it should have been. (Also my first road mile in a month. It was fine).

And I went to a bottle rocket yoga class. It was harder than I anticipated. The first 10 minutes were crazy and I was wondering when it was going to be over. Sweaty. Athletic. Learned a transition that I need to work on. Also did my wheel. It's next to the tree room. A giant tree is growing through the floor of this warehouse and miraculously still leafy and green.

Workouts this week: 5 runs, 1 swimming, two yoga classes
Days run: 5
Miles this week: 20
Miles this year: 600

Workouts this week: July 24-30

Monday: Weekly off day
Use it to clean my house. Well four hours of cleaning netted 1/4th of my house clean. So much more to do.....

Tuesday: Stationary bike

I had some pain after running Sunday and some pain walking around Monday, so I didn't run today. I did 60 minutes on the exercise bike. I put hulu on my laptop and did my arm workouts on the commercials.

Wednesday: Off (So lazy!)
The plan was to do a 6.5 mile trail run with the Athens Road Runners. The temperature was supposed to be 89 degrees. That plus my legs not being 100% I skipped. I did about 10 minutes of stretching at home and walked the dog. Oh well. I didn't want to do a tough hilly trail run in that heat.

Thursday: Morning run
To redeem myself for not running Wednesday, I got up at 5:30 a.m. to run before work. Is it weird if I like morning runs best? I don't think I minded going to bed at 9:30 p.m. And waking up at 5:30 wasn't THAT bad. (Was it?)

I was supposed to go to evening yoga. I went home and walked the dog instead. (So lazy this week!)

Friday: Yoga
I did go to yoga today. And we did headstands and handstands. Hooray!


Saturday: Trail 10k
Saturday is my usual run day, sometimes a long run. After not running much this week, I decided to run 6 miles. And It's the first time since July 1, I've run over 5. Ugh.

The run was fine until maybe mile 4 or so and then it fell apart. I felt awful. I had to walk four times in the last mile.

So I've lost some fitness—having not run longer distances in weeks. Also, it was 94% humidity.

I'll get my fitness back. The last mile felt like garbage.

I had a tiny bit of shin pain afterward, but still think I'm on the mend.

Sunday: Yoga
Last yoga class of the summer semester. We did a lot of cheat and arm openers. It was different. Still a good class. And I got to do a headstand.

Runs this week: 2
Miles this week: 10
2 yoga classes + exercise bike

Workouts this week: July 17-23

Back to running

I was reading a running book, Run the World, and the author, an elite runner, takes two weeks running off every year. And that made me feel better about my running back. I needed it.

Monday: OFF
My official weekly off day.

Tuesday: Run

I was really hesitant to go back to running. Should I take another week? Would I make things worse? But I got up and ran before work. The plan was to run 1 mile. 1 mile was fine, so turned into 1.5 mile and that was fine, so I ran .5 mile back to my car.

IT WAS FINE. No pain

Also, went to yoga class after work. I did a headstand and fell out of it and startled the teacher. Oops. I was over confident and didn't set up for it. I was fine!

Wednesday: Exercise bike at home
Exercise bike and abs at home.

Thursday: Morning run

I upped my miles to three before work today. And it was fine! No pain. Hooray. I even made it to work on time.

PM: I had planned on going to yoga or an abs class at Ramsey, but I had to work late and Matt had an appointment. So instead, I worked late and then went home and did 20 easy minutes on the exercise bike, some abs, and 10 minutes of rolling.

Friday: Yoga
I went to yoga at Ramsey.

Saturday: 4.5 miles

I got up early and had the trails to myself. (The goal was to finish running before it got too hot and humid.)

After my run, I run into my boss. I ended up walking .5 mile as a cool down with her and her super cute dog.

No pain.

Sunday

After three runs with no pain I was feeling overconfident and went out to run 5 miles off trails.

At mile 3, my shin started feeling bruised. I ran anyway and my shins didn't feel great afterwards. I don't think I'm quite ready to run on consecutive days. Now I know.

Yoga
Went to Sunday night yoga class. This class was focused on the lower back.

Runs this week: 4
Miles this week: 14.8
2 yoga classes plus some exercise bike

Workouts this week: June 12-18

June 12: Off
Today was my off day. It was also a travel day. I walked a mile on the beach this morning.

Then, I drove 7 hours and 15 minutes home. My iPhone said 6 hours and 22 minutes but then traffic happened. Ugh. I had to walk some after the drive to stretch my legs out.

I really wanted to do a mile run some Road Runners were having, but my legs were so sore I'm sure I would have pulled something.

Tuesday: June 13: Double session

I was off work today. I didn't get up in time for 6:30 a.m. yoga. I did go to noon TRX yoga, which I haven't done in forever. I just could never make it fit into my schedule. The classes were too late in the evening.

But I love yoga and love TRX. The yoga is super fast paced. And I forgot how HARD the TRX is. I couldn't do all the reps. Ugh. Out of shape.

Speed work in the heat
Tuesdays are for speed work, so we met at a high school track (while the university track is being resurfaced). I almost went to run indoors, but Matt said he needed to train in the heat.  It was 91 degrees outside. Ugh. Then I searched the benefits of training in the heat. Turns out there are some benefits.

The plan was to run 4 800s. Only, the high school had some kind of track practice, so we did the 800s in the outside lane, so it was longer than an 800. We ended up doing .25 miles more than 2 miles with the extra length. We did maybe a three minute break between them. This was a mix of walking, jogging and getting water.

Splits
1) 3:56 (7:09 pace)
2) 3:51 (7:07 pace)
3) 3:49 (7:01 pace)
4) 3:28 (621 pace) Matt and i raced to the end at this one. I thought I was going to win, but he surged ahead in the last 30 or so meters and I gave up a little.

Then we ran a very slow mile cool down. I drank a ton of water. But I survived. Matt was pretty proud of himself for out sprinting me at the end.

Wednesday: June 14, hills + weights
Usually do hills on Thursday, BUT I was off work today and the weather looked bad for Thursday so I did hills.

2 easy miles
6 hill repeats (.2 miles up and back down)
2 easy miles

BodyPump
Did my first weights class since April or May. Knew I was going to die. My quads hurt bad for days afterwards. But I did it. It was awful, so that means it's good for me, right?

Patriotic shirt for Flag Day

June 15: Treadmill
It stormed from 4:45 p.m. on. Bursts of torrential thunder storms. Matt and I had texted plans to run 5 miles. I came home. And told him I needed a quick nap (20 minutes) and then would be ready to go. I napped, got in my running clothes and ready in time to find him eating a croissant—clearly not going to run any time soon. So I walked the dog. He told me to wait until 8 to run. (Though I was already starving). At 7:30 the weather forecast looked even worse so I ANGRILY headed to the gym for a treadmill workout.

We had plans. He bailed. This is why we never run together.

I got 5.25 + warmup in on the treadmill. My Garmin said 5 miles. The speeds on my garmin and the treadmill were different too. Sigh. I feel like running on the treadmill is so much harder. I struggle for 9:30 miles on a treadmill. I'm fine with 8:30 easy miles on the road. On the treadmill, my stride is shorter, my arms have nowhere to go. I hate treadmill running, but I never do it. I don't think I've run on the treadmill for a year and a half—since the indoor track was closed.

June 16: off
Today was supposed to be more speed work at the indoor track. I don't know if I slept poorly the night before but I was bone tired today. Exhausted. I decided I needed the day off. I won't make mileage for the week, but I need rest. I'm listening to my body.

Unfortunately, my body is also rebelling. I've lost too much weight and I can't stop eating. Today I was craving carbs. I ate an entire Your Pie pizza for lunch (been craving it for two weeks).

June 17: Group run

I wanted to run Cook's Trail today, but had no one to run it with and my quads were still sore from bodypump the other day, so I went to the group run instead. I ran 6 miles. I met a few people. (An extrovert adopted me. Thanks Christina! I told her I was really good at being awkward).

And I really had no plans for the afternoon. A neighbor invited us to go rock climbing, so we went. It was fun. My forearms are so sore.

June 18: Things that make me run fast
Today I learned that even after running 8 miles I can still sprint. And apparently, I'm afraid of raccoons. (See separate post) 9 mile run with some sprints at the end.

Then I went to yoga at 6:30 p.m. After taking longer yoga classes, the 60 minute yoga class seemed to short. And I was reminded why I like Ramsey Yoga class. I can go early and warmup. I like the padded floor. I like the mirrors to see form. And there's room to spread out. (I also don't like the backbends in the sun salutation—none of those in Ramsey.)

Runs this week: 5
Miles run: 30.5 (missed a day and still made mileage. Hooray!)
+ yoga class, TRX yoga class, weights class