Monday, July 21, 2014

This Week in Training

After all the excitement of the week, is it any wonder that my training suffered? Every run was tough this week because my legs were heavy, and I didn't get in any cross-training (unless you count speed-walking through airports, climbing stairs, and touring Minneapolis on foot...or building a bookshelf, which I did Friday).
That's right, I built it myself! Loading the books on was no small task, either.
But I got them done...mostly.

On Monday, I had my nice 4-miler through the parks of Minneapolis. I finished that run just as people were walking to work, so my last half mile consisted mostly of dodging between briefcase-toting business-people. There were also a lot of stops at cross-walks, which kind of took the wind out of my sails.
I wish we had parks with cool fountains, statues, and lots of trees here in my part of Florida!
I pushed my speedwork from Wednesday (when we flew home) to Thursday. I made the mistake of doing this at night. I think if I had gone in the morning, I would have been more successful. This was my first time ever doing repeats, and the plan called for 1600s at 9:12 with 800 recovery jogs. Before I even began, I went to the bathroom and was sick. (Maybe my intestines were all jumbled from airport fare?) After my mile warmup, I went to the bathroom again...with the same results. My 4-mile repeats became a 2-miler.
I shook it off and was looking forward to my long run this weekend. Saturday morning I ran my scheduled 9 miles. It was already ridiculously humid when I got started, and by the time I finished it was in the 80s. 
At 6:10 when I started the run, it was 77 with a humidity of 94%. WTH Florida.
Seriously my new favorite fuel for these shorter long runs. Thanks, Heather, for the tip!
My legs were still exhausted, but luckily I had no tummy troubles.
Post-run chocolate milk and a shot of my #RUNootd.
My biggest setback on this run was that I was chugging too much water. It was so hot and I found myself gulping down about 32 ounces over the course of the run. By the halfway point, I was cramping up and felt like I might vomit from all the sloshing. So I adjusted my plan and finished the run doing run/walk intervals.

You can see where I walked in orange on the map. (Not to be confused with the awesome orange splotches meant to protect my location haha.)
I saw a huge bunny on the run, which marks the first time I've seen one close to home (as opposed to at my parents' house or out of state)!
So yeah, this week was rough. But rough weeks make us stronger, and I'm not concerned in any way. The fact that I powered through the full 9 when I could have cut it short speaks volumes...even if the run was one of my slowest to date.

In other fun news, I made the banner of the Sub-30 Club group (which, by the way, has expanded to over 1,900 members after Runner's World Magazine published a little blurb on it!), along with a few other awesome people...
Can you spot me? (Yes, I wore the shirt on my run Monday to represent the club in Minnesota!)
The entry is here...see if you can figure out which is me!
...and Janae at Hungry Runner Girl featured me as part of her Finish Line Photos post this week!

I'm looking forward to a much more consistent week next week!

How do you deal with a tough running week?
How do you adjust a run that's not going your way?
How does travel affect your workout/run schedule?

ABK

20 comments:

  1. Great job on getting your runs in with the challenges! Travel always throws me off in my training and since I'm heading home to Newfoundland on Wednesday, and racing on Sunday, that has me nervous..lol. I'm always too slow to catch the bunnies for a photo! I found myself drinking an insane amount of water yesterday too in the humidity. I didnt' get the sloshing effect that I sometimes get because I've recently started running with a Camelbak where you don't get a huge amount of water in your mouth at once. At first this annoyed me actually, lol.

    I already spotted you on HRG's site and was like, "Whoa, that's Ali K!!!" :D

    p.s. the Countdown app in case you missed the reply on my blog is Countdown Star. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're going to be GREAT at the Tely 10, have no fear!! (You should be in bed by now, so I hope you don't see this comment til after the race haha!)

      Which type of Camelbak do you use? I'm looking into getting one!

      Delete
  2. You rock for powering through a tough week! Tough weeks are going to hit us and we have to remember to stay strong. Training can be tough but we CAN DO IT! We rock!!!! I'm so happy that you love the Buddy Fruits - don't they rock? I love love love them!!!
    Great job building the bookcase. I built ours by myself too! Then I posted a pic of it on FB saying how I didn't a man and Gunshow got mad. Ahhh well, my daddy taught me how to be independent! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL I love that you Gunshow got "mad" about your building the bookcase alone/being a strong woman. That cracks me up! He knew what he was marrying! hehe

      Delete
  3. Sometimes it is tough running on vacation, especially because vacation usually means a lot more walking around during the day than I am used to! So I totally get why your legs may be tired from all of that! Plus of course all the good stress/excitement!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, all the extra walking definitely did me in. I'm still feeling it this week a little!

      Delete
  4. Love the bookcase and the yellow skirt--aren't you well-rounded!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Way to get that 9-miler in! I totally know what you mean about water sloshing around in your stomach. I drank a full 70oz on my 14-miler a couple weeks ago and definitely had that sloshy feeling. It feels better than being super thirsty though!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think I need to work on drinking more the day before, but it's so difficult to not drink water when the sun is beating down!

      Delete
  6. The tough weeks definitely make us stronger. My swim coach always says that when you're tired and sore, that's where the magic happens. So even though you had some bad runs, I'm sure in the long run you've improved your running and mental strength to get through any race. Aaaand can I just give you a mental high five for running in the heat! Impressive

    ReplyDelete
  7. I had a 9 mile long run this week that was tough too :/ This heat is definitely killing my running mojo...but YAY us for getting it done and especially YOU for running right after traveling. That in of itself is exhausting!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oy, tell me about it! But we just have to remember...summer miles make fall smiles!

      Delete
  8. Wow! You just made me realize I made the Sub30 banner, too!!! I'm right below you! :D

    ReplyDelete
  9. That's so cool you are featured in the sub30 banner and on HRG's blog! You're practically famous :) I love the outfit you wore during your long run, so bright and colorful!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I purposely went for something bright so keep my mood positive because I knew it was going to be a tough run!

      Delete
  10. Great week!! You certainly deserve to be on the sub30 banner :)

    ps: I have a weekly training recap linkup on my blog. Would love for you to participate with your recap link. Its a text only linkup for now, until I can justify participants for a premium account.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'd love to participate, but I never write my blogs far enough ahead of time to participate in link-ups! I'm a very last minute blogger haha.

      Delete