Weekly Recap June 1 - 7

Happy Monday! Last week was a good but tough week ending with a very busy weekend, hence my tardiness.

My niece graduated from high school Friday night and her graduation party was on Saturday. I couldn't be more proud of her! She earned top honors in everything she did--she was a valedictorian, won all sorts of awards for her participation in the drum line, and also received the Girl Scouts highest honor, the Gold Award. She got about 30 letters of congratulations for her Gold Award from top-ranking officials, including Joe Biden! At her graduation party, there was a table set up just for all her trophies, medals, and certificates. This is the two of us before commencement.


Okay, thanks for letting me brag! Now let's get to the recap! I did three really good strength training sessions, got back into running five days, and did great with Weight Watchers. My weigh-in day is Wednesday, but I can already feel I lost a few pounds. I learned from my runs this week that I really need to work on speed. My speed workouts were really tough, and I have a long way to go. Weekly mileage was 25.55.

Monday
I did 35 minutes of strength, focusing on legs, glutes, and core. I did squat jumps, plyometric lunges, single-leg jump squats, deadlifts, froggie butt kicks, single-leg deadlifts, bicycle crunches, and standard and side planks. This was tough! My legs were incredibly sore almost the whole week after this workout.

Tuesday
Easy run: 3.1 miles, 37:38, 12:08 pace
I could barely move because I was so sore from Monday's strength workout but once I got moving it got better. On the plus side, it was just 54F, making for a nice and cool morning run (though of course I overdressed and got hot).
Lululemon Mauvelous Run for Gold Half Zip &
Purple Fog Bangbuster
Athleta Asphalt Relay Capris

Wednesday
Half-mile repeats: 3.3 miles
I was still so sore that I considered not doing the 3 half-mile repeats at 9:30 pace I planned. I wanted to at least try, so I decided to do 2 repeats. Wow, was it tough. My paces were 9:33 and 9:39, but I was pretty much dying. Tacked on warm-up and cool-down miles as usual.
Athleta Blue Splatter Be Free Knickers & White Chi Top
Lulu Menthol All Sport Bra & Aquamarine Bangbuster
In the evening I did 25 minutes of upper body and core strength work.

Thursday
Easy run: 4.15 miles, 55:37, 13:38 pace
This was another tough run because I could not keep my heart rate down. I kept having to walk to get it down into my easy range, but as soon as I started running my heart rate would rise over the easy range. It was 57 but I was very hot.
Lorna Jane Excel Tank
Athleta Asphalt Relay Skirt
Lulu Clear Mint/Med Grey Energy Bra &
Clear Mint Fringe Fighter

In the evening I did the 35-minute legs/glutes/core workout I did on Monday.

Friday
Rest day! I did 25 minutes of yoga.

Saturday
Speedwork at 10K pace: 5 miles
While training for the Pittsburgh Half Marathon, I did mile repeats in the 9:50-10:00 range pretty easily. It seemed like I could run my upcoming 10K at a 10:00 pace (my only 10K was a 10:24 pace) but I'd never tried a longer run at 10:00 pace, so I was excited to try. I planned on 4 miles at 10:00 pace with warm-up and cool-down. It was only 64 but very humid when I headed out. Almost as soon as I started running at 10:00 pace, I got stomach cramps and just felt awful. It was SO tough! I ended the mile at 10:05 pace and eeked out an additional quarter mile at 10:16 pace before I had to take a quarter-mile rest. After that I switched to half-mile repeats with quarter-mile rest and I STILL could not maintain a 10:00 pace. My paces were 10:36, 10:31 and....11:08!!! My heart rate was way up in my max zone, and I was working hard but the speed was just not there. Of course, that sent me into an emotional frenzy over my 10K in two weeks, but I calmed myself. I'm going to try my best, and that's all I can do. 
Lulu Regal Plum Sculpt Tank,
Black Pace Rival skirt
White Fast Paced Run Visor

Sunday
Long run: 10 miles, 2:07, 12:41 pace
Amanda and I haven't run together since the Pittsburgh Half Marathon, so I was excited to run with her again on Sunday. We headed to North Park, where neither of us have been since the race. It felt so good to be back! I have come to love the rolling hills, and the course just seems to make the miles go much faster than a flat trail. I had 7 miles on the schedule, but Amanda was doing 10. After the first 5-mile loop I decided to do the full 10 with her since I was having so much fun catching up, though I was hot and struggling even at a slow pace. In hindsight, doing all 10 wasn't such a good idea. Every time I've done a long run in a skirt, I've used Body Glide on my legs, even though my skirts are long enough to cover the part of my thighs that touch. Because I had only planned on doing 7, I didn't put any Body Glide on. And during the run, I didn't feel anything wrong with my legs. But as I was walking to my car, I felt pain on my left inner thigh. When I got into my car, I pulled up my skirt and saw that the leg on the right side of the shorts was all bloody! The leg of the right short must have ridden up or gotten twisted and chafed my left thigh really bad to the point that it was bleeding. I have a  large, four-inch by one-inch area on my leg that was swollen and extremely painful for the rest of the day. It is still pretty bad and will take a while to heal. Lesson learned: Use Body Glide for all summer runs!
Amanda and me at North Park
Lulu Pigment Wave Multi Sculpt Tank,
Electric Coral Pace Rival Skirt,
White Fast Paced Run Visor


I spent the day getting caught up on chores and errands, and then at night we walked over to see the band Alvvays at the Three Rivers Arts Festival. They were great!

Alvvays

We also saw the new mural and proposals for better using the waterfront on the trail leading up to Point State Park. Some of the proposals, created by students for a design competition, were great. One of my favorites was installing lighting shaped like plants that would light up as runners or walkers came through the trail. Here's the poster of the proposal...wouldn't it be cool to run on a trail like this?

Happy running and working out this week!

Labels: ,