Monday: 3 Miles - To put it bluntly, the week didn't start well. Though I had the day off from work, sleeping in just wasn't in the cards. When the little one is loving life and all smiles, spending time with her trumps the extra shut-eye. When I finally hit the road, my legs felt like lead; each step was clumsy as a stomped along the route. The impact that quality sleep has on running became painfully clear. I was definitely glad that the mileage for the day was so short.
Tuesday: 6 Miles -Even as I began this run, I knew that my legs hadn't fully recovered from the previous day's suffer-fest. I intentionally slowed myself way down figuring that 6 miles was the same distance whether I was going at 8:45/mile pace or 9:30. While the ache in my legs was still present, it wasn't unbearable. I figure things could always be a lot worse.
Wednesday: 3 Miles - It would seem treadmill runs are starting to become a staple in my workout regimen. In having learned my lesson from the previous week, the iPad made its appearance to keep me distracted for the short distance. Now if only I could figure out why the distance reported on my treadmill and foot pod is so off from my watch....
Thursday: Cross-training - Many moons ago, I downloaded the Nike+ Training app in the hope it would motivate me to take cross-training seriously. Well, with slight trepidation at what I was about to get myself in to, I started my first workout that seemed like it would compliment running well. Wow, am I out of shape! In having zero upper body strength, any of the exercises that didn't involve my legs were performed with the finesse of a fish out of water. At the same time, we all have to start somewhere, right?
Friday: 6 Miles - In finally getting around to reading the fine print for my training plan, I realized that the word "pace"appearing next to the Friday workouts meant that these runs were to be done at marathon speed. In not really having an exact pace in mind yet, I decided to go the route of using last year's race pace. As I would come to discover, not doing speedwork for several months does make jumping back into it a little challenging. I think I may revisit some of those time prediction calculators to see if they can offer a better guesstimate as to what I should be running.
Saturday: 8 Miles - Before heading out of my run yesterday, I made a trip to my favorite local running store, Up-N-Running. I've been going to them for my shoes since I was in high school and I was in desperate need of a new pair. While I was picking up the newest version of my shoe, the Brooks Ravenna 8, the owner, Ed, invited me to join them the following morning to take part in their group run. Though a little hesitant, I took the plunge into trying something new...and I loved it! As the newbie, I was introduced to everyone, which went a long way to making me feel welcome. Then, once everyone seemed ready, we headed out into amazing weather. Great conversation made the run even better as the miles glided by. To top it off, someone had made chocolate chip cookies - what better way to finish a workout?! I'm thinking this may become my new Saturday routine.
Sunday: Rest Day
I feel like this week has served as a great reminder that while not all endeavors may begin as desired, change for the better is still possible. I'm really looking forward to hitting the road with Up-N-Running in the coming weeks as the mileage climbs and the heart of training season approaches.
Happy running!
Sean
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