Week 4 Recap

WHAT I DID

Well, I'm a little surprised that I didn't get any comments at all on my last post!!  I think I'm just too much of a nerd....because I thought it was kind of funny.  But, maybe not so much.  :D

Anyway...it was a great week.  My son was in town so we did some pretty cool things (like visit the COOLEST CAVE EVER!!).  AND, I still did all my runs. (Yea me.)

Monday it snowed a blizzard here.  It didn't stick, but it was just so nasty out there.  When the flakes stopped coming down, I bundled up (because it was still about 45 out there and the wind was blowing)..and ran 3 miles doing 5/1 intervals with an overall pace of 11:57!!! (that's my fastest pace yet!!!)  

Tuesday was my group run and I found out (because I hadn't checked the schedule) the intervals had increased to 6 minutes running 30 seconds walking.  We did 3 miles and only "cheated" the last couple of walking intervals. 12:03 overall pace.

Thursday was the day my son and I went to the cave, so I ended up telling myself it was fine for me to take that day off and run on Friday instead....Which I did and managed the 6/.5 intervals with an overall pace of 12:06. 

Saturday morning my left calf was pretty sore when we started out, but it loosened up after about the first mile.  I ran the 4 miles at 6/.5 intervals-even UP the hills-with an overall pace of 12:12.  Afterward I felt so good, I came home and worked in the yard for 3 hours.  Still feeling great, I went hiking with my son and husband-nice slow hike up a mountain trail (4 miles in 2 hours...we also stopped several times to look around and enjoy it, butI did mention it was "slow" right?....).

WHAT I LEARNED

Try to never do back-to-back long-for-me runs and then add in yard work and hiking.  When I tried to go out to do my run Monday...I couldn't even get started I hurt so bad.  I could barely walk that night.  I went to a massage therapist who was worried it could be a STRESS FRACTURE!!  Thankfully the x-rays were negative!  (YEA)  The dr told me what I've been saying all along--CROSS TRAIN/STRENGTHENING EXERCISES!!

Other than the scare (after the fact), the week was GREAT.  I had great runs; they felt good.  I'm getting faster and my heart rate is coming down.  I think the good thing about the possible stress fracture is that I learned the value of PACING the training.  That's something I've been trying to be mindful of, but lost sight of momentarily.

I learned something very interesting about NSAIDs (anti-inflammatories).  They have to be in your system for a few days (at least) to get the anti-inflammatory effect.  If you take a couple of Motrin, that might help for pain relief, but doesn't help swollen muscles--until you've taken the proper doses for a few days.

WHAT I'M GOING TO DO

I say it every week...maybe this will be the week I do it--CROSS TRAIN.

I'm very reluctantly taking this week "off" from running.  I hate it...but I would hate to end up in an air boot worse than that....so I'm going to do what needs to be done.  

I'm going to see physical therapist later today to get some exercises for my calves....and I'm going to do them!

ZONE UPDATE 

I STILL haven't lost any weight.  I'm recording EVERY SINGLE BITE of food I eat at Livestrong.com (Daily Plate)....and I'm staying under 1900 calories a day.  I'm frustrated, but I know that WHEN I start cross training I should see the scale move.  After all the research I did on heart rate training, I know that I'm training at a level that won't actually burn much fat at all.  Not that I'm training heavily for anyone else, but for me it's intense right now (according to my heart rate).  I do think I feel better when I stick to the plan, so for now, I'm going to stay the course.