Week 11: Marathon Training

Things don’t always go as planned…

As I’ve said before (and will say again), I am so thankful for my Coach, Andrew Simmons.

We hit a bit of a speed bump this week as you will see – but nothing we couldn’t handle! This is all part of the training process – it’s a mental and physical challenge whether or not things are going your way.

Let’s see how it went this week…

[ week 11 / 19 weeks until 26.2 ]

Sunday – 6.01 miles, 53:26, 8:54 min/mile and one hour of yoga.

It was SO HOT during my run today. Even though it was “only” 91 degrees, it felt like 120. I had to keep stopping to attempt to wipe off my sweat thought every piece of clothing or material that was attached to me was already completely and utterly drenched.I even almost stopped in a gas station to fill up my water, but I just wanted to be done with it. This run seemed like eternity and I was so, so happy with it was over. Really proud of myself for this one!

Yoga was great – did Vinyasa Flow yoga, which is quite a challenge for me. It’s a steady/faster paced practice in which you’re constantly moving (flowing). The kind of yoga you work up a sweat during. It felt good.

Monday – 3.1 miles, 29:54. 9:39 min/mile.

Easy 3 miles. Easy. Slow.

I didn’t do any other workouts today – I thought about it but decided I would just take advantage of an easy 3 miler today.

Tuesday – 3 miles, 28:00 min, 9:20 min/miles and Gold’s Fit (Crossfit) class.

My run was hot even though I went early, but it was short so it wasn’t to bad. Still glad I had water. If it weren’t so hot I wouldn’t bother with water for a 3 mile run but I can’t imagine a run of any distance in this Texas heat without water! To think that up until a few months ago, I had never run with water! Also, tried running with a hat… it sounds like a good idea but it’s just extra fabric on my body making me hot… so it came off about 30 seconds into the run.

Gold’s Fit a few hours later was TOUGH. I’m just proud of myself for making it through this one. Great workout, though. I am really starting to tell a difference in my running since adding in strength training (knees less achy!).

Wednesday – 3.01 miles, 27:53, 9:16 min/mile, 45 min spin class.

Today’s run felt good. My knees didn’t hurt, it wasn’t TOO incredibly hot, just had an overall nice run. But right when I stopped to walk I had this strange pain in my hip. It hurt with ever stride the whole walk back home. I had never had anything like this before. Once I got home (stopped walking), it was ok for the moment.

A little later I did a spin class – cycled for 45 min and and a really great class. It was really energetic and we did lots of races (yay!!) – I was super into it and got a good sweat on. The hip didn’t hurt at all on the bike. I felt great afterwards besides the soreness really kicking in from yesterday’s Gold’s Fit.

Thursday – 0.05 miles.

So, I woke up extra early (before my alarm, even!), got ready for my run, lathered up the sunscreen, got outside and was excited and eager to run – it felt amazing outside. Not hot at all. I immediately felt that hip pain from yesterday. I knew right away that something wasn’t quite right. I stopped my run and texted Coach to see what he recommended. He recommended calling off the run and getting into the Chiropractor to check my alignment and make sure everything was ok. Long story short, I went to the Chiropractor and they said that my hip was rotated and a bit out of alignment – also, on the side where the pain was I had a very tight hamstring and IT band. I have stretches to do and Chiro wants to see me again tomorrow. Overall, I was really bummed today.

Friday – Stretching + Chiro.

I’ve been especially diligent about doing my stretches (anything to get back to pounding pavement!) and got into the Chiropractor again today. I’m really glad I did, because I felt extremely better after this adjustment. The hip pain was almost completely gone right after he worked on me. I’m feeling a lot better today about the outlook and think I’ll be back at it in no time. I really plan to stick to doing yoga – at least once or twice a week (more if time allows) and stretching. More stretching!!! For sure.

Saturday – Swim 1250 yards + yoga.

I didn’t want to push it, but Chiro said stay active (as active as I can) over the weekend – so I swam some easy laps which felt fine. The hip hurt a tad bit if I did Frog stroke but it was fine during Front stroke.

Then I did yoga, which actually ended up being Pilates due to an instructor change – but it was surprisingly great for stretching out (especially the hip!). I’d love to do Pilates again (this was my first time).

So, we hit a little speed bump – but like I said – nothing that will keep me out for too long or put a dent in my training. I’m so thankful for Coach and, let’s just admit that Chiropractors are a Godsend. Also, stretching.

If you get one thing out of this post, let it be this…

stretching is SUPER, mega, oober doober important.

Miles for the week (running) – 15.07

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe Fourth of July!

Thanks for reading!