We are cruising through February pretty nicely! I had another challenging week of training for the New Jersey Marathon but I made it through!
How are things going for you? This week marks a couple of holidays: Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday, and Valentine’s Day. Bret and I are also celebrating 6 years together (aw). I wish I could say we had reservations for a fancy dinner but it’s just been too hectic lately…I think we’re just going to keep it low-key this week. However you celebrate, I hope you enjoy!
I’m joining HoHo and Wendy for the Weekly Wrap – it’s always great to see what my fellow running/fitness friends are up to! I’m also joining Courtney for her Weekly Training Recap linkup and Marcia, Patty, and Erika for Tuesdays on the Run!
Weekly Wrap: A Busy Job and a Happy City
This week I don’t have too much excitement to share. I’ve been keeping extremely busy in the office working on my project, going from meeting to meeting and doing my best to keep up with all of the action. Thankfully, I am starting to get back in the swing of things and getting more in my comfort zone. We have been trying to get things done before the end of February, and it’s an extremely tight deadline…I’m just doing my part to make sure that we get the engineering tasks complete! Even though I was off on Friday, it was a very full week!
But on the other hand, the city has been extremely relaxed ever since our Super Bowl victory! A lot of people took off Monday (for obvious reasons) and on Thursday the team had their big parade through the city. Why they chose a Thursday, I have no idea. They closed school, limited public transportation, and they claim that 700,000 people were out for the parade – but it really looked more like over a million people! Even if I was a die-hard Eagles fan I couldn’t stand to be out in a crowd like that; the best view is always on TV! Still, I enjoyed seeing everyone’s pictures! Hopefully, Philadelphians have a bit less of a chip on their shoulder now that they’re World Champions, but I won’t hold my breath…
Workouts for the Week:
Monday 2/5: Yoga at lunch – another solid class. I was lucky to be able to stay for the full hour as we focused on some shoulder stretches, single leg balance, and hip stretches.
Tuesday 2/6: 5-mile tempo run. After a 10-minute warmup, the goal was to run 2 sets of 15 minutes at 9:20-9:30 pace with 3 minutes easy. I did this run with Bret and since we had a late start, I didn’t try out the new (flatter) route that I originally planned. So I ended up running up some crazy hills which made hitting my pace impossible. Still, I did my best to focus on the effort.
Wednesday 2/7: HIIT the Barre class. I’m starting to think this class is a bit too intense for me right now. I really can’t take it to the next level with all of the extra jumps. We did a lot of planks and pushups, which were definitely needed. My right hip struggled a bit with the barre work.
Thursday 2/8: Moved my 5-mile run because of the rain.
Friday 2/9: I had the day off so I ran my 5 miles in the morning. For whatever reason, this was a tough run for me and the first time I had all positive splits in a long time! I think my quads were feeling the burn from the week’s earlier workouts. I also had to run up one of my “favorite” hills in the last mile and it was so tough I had to take a break before tackling it!
Saturday 2/10: The long run…16 miles. Somehow, this run wasn’t as miserable as the 15 miler, but that’s probably because I started the run from home and made my way down to Kelly Drive. Plus, the weather was much warmer! I was pretty happy with my paces overall and my knees did better, though I still needed a couple of short walk breaks at mile 12 and 15. I’ve been trying to “flap my wings” when my left shoulder starts to really hurt…I tell myself that it helps lol. Minus a few other minor aches, this went as well as expected.
Sunday 2/11: I didn’t go to barre class since we went to visit a wedding venue in the morning. We did go for 3 miles again…in the rain, again. It was another nice recovery run! I also did my Runner’s Knee prevention exercises.
Week 6 Report Card:
Total Miles for the Week: 29.0
Total Training Miles for NJ Marathon: 145.85
This was my highest mileage week of training this far, and it’s crazy to believe that I’ve got over 10 weeks of training to go! I’m learning that it’s time to lay off of HIIT the barre class. My knees cannot handle all the extra jumping around right now. I still need to try to get with a doc this month and see what’s up. Both knees were very achy after the 16 miler. I’m glad that this week will be a cutback week with “only” 12 miles for the long run!
So I’m going to give week 6 of training a B+. Some of my running was a struggle, and some of my running was decent. I listened to my body, which was good, and I did my knee prevention exercises, but I think I need to do more. The shoulder pain is still very bizarre too as I try to pinpoint the source of the pain. In any event, I did what I could!
How was your week of training? Any special plans for Valentine’s Day?
Great job with your training, especially the long run! I hope that your shoulder feels better – do you think it might be the Orange Mud pack? I am wondering if that is messing with my back…
Totally understand what you mean about laying off the Barre and HIIT classes as you get further along in training. I’ve had to modify a lot of moves in my boot camp class to save my knees lol.
I had some mild shoulder pain for like a year — after a massage one day it went away & it never came back. Hope you’re able to get yours to go away.
It sounds like a really solid week to me. It’s hard giving up on ST that you enjoy, but sometimes it’s just the wiser move. Priorities.
All you working gals getting it done — you amaze me!
At the Mercedes Half after party yesterday, Holly and I sat next to 2 women from Philly. They were just over the moon about the Eagles. One showed us her green nail polish! LOL!
You’re doing great with your training! Keep up the good work. Have a good week!
When I was working in Boston, the Celtics had their parade and it went by my building. I’m not a basketball fan, but a lot of people were standing at the windows trying to recognize what players were on the floats.
Glad your long run went well! You’ve done a good job listening to your body. Hope the shoulder pain goes away!
Great job with your workouts this week! And what a fun time for Philly! Hubs is an Eagles fan but I feel like I was more in to the game that he was lol. I’m sure the parade was totally crazy….I can only imagine!
A good week of training but I’m even more excited that you went to check out a wedding venue! Love, love weddings – enjoy the planning; it can be so stressful, but it really is such a special time. And super congrats on the Eagles win! I can just imagine the vibe in the city!
Sounds like a great week! That barre class sounds really challenging and its probably smart of you to back off during training. Happy 6 years to you and Bret!
Great job with the 16 milers! I hope the knees feel better now 🙂 I’ve noticed that hills and speed work seem to make my knees hurt more. The super bowl celebration sounds pretty crazy, that’s a lot of people in one place!
I’m like you, I’d skip the parade with the throng of people and watch on TV. Great job on the 16 miler and congrats on your & Bret’s “together” anniversary. My shoulder bothers me too. I’ve noticed I hold that elbow out further from my body. I’m trying to keep it tucked in to see if that helps. Thanks for linking!
Sounds like dropping barre is a smart decision. You have to focus on your priorities and what makes you stronger — not what aggravates weaknesses! Good luck with the ongoing wedding planning!
Any chance your hips are tight? I used to have knee pain and it turned out it was all due to my hips being tight and not stretched. Apparently it’s very common for women runners to have pains that flow from problems with our hips. Exciting about wedding venue visits and such! Have a great weekend!