How is January treating you? Am I the only one still planning the month despite the fact that it’s almost over?
The year is still relatively fresh (and if I see you for the first time, I will wish you a Happy New Year!), but time is moving quickly! Meanwhile, I’m enjoying this cycle of training for the Love Run Half Marathon and after a rough start, I’m starting to surprise myself by how well things have been going lately! Since it’s Monday, it’s time for my weekly training recap!
I’m joining Courtney of Eat Pray Run DC for her Winter Training Recap linkup and HoHo and Tricia for the Weekly Wrap! These are great ways to keep accountable and share your workouts with fellow fit-minded individuals!
How's your week of spring race training going? #runchat Click To TweetFrom runpacers.com
Before I get into my latest training recap, I wanted to share that I’ve just signed up for the Parkway Classic 10 Miler in Alexandria, Virginia on Sunday, April 23, 2017! This is the first time that I’ll be running this race, and if you know me, I love getting to run in new places, so I’m really excited!
The race course appears to have some rolling hills to make things interesting, going down the George Washington Parkway and through the city of Alexandria. I know that Coco is a big fan of this race so I look forward to experiencing it for myself!
I’m also really excited to be attending as a BibRavePro Ambassador! Since becoming an ambassador in 2016, this will be the first time that I’ll actually get to attend a sponsored race! I’m also signed up for the Buffalo Half Marathon in May, taking place in my hometown on Memorial Day weekend!
If you’re interested in joining me at the Parkway Classic, you can save $5 on registration for the 10 miler or 5K with promo code: 17gwpBibRave.
Monday 1/16: Quick core workout – 2 sets of bridges, pushup side planks, V-ups, bird dogs, 1-minute plank.
Tuesday 1/17: I took it inside with a treadmill run during my lunch break. This 3-mile run felt SO much better than the previous week…my body felt fantastic and the run was effortless!
Wednesday 1/18: Bret and I ran a little over 3 miles in the evening with some 5 x 30-second surges sprinkled in. It was fun to play with speed work, especially at a shorter distance! We ran in Chestnut Hill and the Knuckle Lights guided us along the way. I felt great on this run, and we even spotted some deer on Germantown Ave!
Thursday 1/19: Rest day! I had a crazy day at work and I was exhausted once I made it home.
Friday 1/20: Unintentional rest day. I had another hectic work day and just couldn’t find the energy to do my strength exercises once I got home.
Saturday 1/21: 8-mile run! Bret took us to West Fairmount Park for a change of scenery, starting at the Belmont Plateau trails and winding around all over the place! The air was very damp so breathing was tough the first couple of miles, but once I got my groove, I felt great! We had miles of trails to enjoy and only saw a handful of people the entire morning. It’s always nice when your last mile is your strongest!
Sunday 1/22: You’re probably not surprised by now…Sunday morning barre class! In some ways, the class feels like it’s getting easier, but all of the pushups and plank variations killed me! I know that my shoulders are going to be sore for a couple of days! It’s nice seeing the same group of ladies each week…if only I could start up some conversations with one of two of them! I had the option to do a 30-35 minute run, but I was so busy taking care of things at home that there wasn’t enough time to squeeze it all in.
This was my second week of training with Coach Laura from This Runner’s Recipes and it went extremely well! While I didn’t get in that fourth run, I’m happy with what I was able to accomplish over the past week. I felt extremely balanced, yet consistently challenged in my workouts. I’ve been foam rolling much more consistently – is it starting to become a habit? And my glutes definitely feel stronger than they did at the beginning of the month! Week 3 of training gets an A, especially since I had a stressful week of work!
Sadly, I’ve only been using a 2-week trial of Laura’s services, so it looks like things are coming to an end! Or are they? I now have to decide how I want to move forward, and right now I’m pretty sure that I want to see how this plan goes! Stay tuned…I can’t wait to see how this spring season shapes up! I’m excited as my race schedule continues to fill up:
Do you have your spring race schedule all planned out? Which races are you looking forward to the most?