Week two of recovey following the Carmel Marathon and I was getting pretty stir-crazy. I watched friends (via Strava) who had just ran Boston a couple of days after my race start hitting double digits again. Meanwhile, I was twiddling my thumbs. Look — I know recovery is important and that it’ll make my next training cycle better. That doesn’t mean I have to like it!
So last week I tried rowing for the first time. Monday I added another kilometer and rowed 3k, which resulted in a blister but no big deal. Ouch. I went for a short walk, too, because the weather has been nice. Prettyeasy day.
Tuesday I got to run — yay! We’ve had some gorgeous mornings lately with temperatures in the 50s and low 60s, and with sunrise around 6:45, I don’t need my headlamp to run before work! It’s also been warm enough for yoga on my balcony, which is a beautiful way to start the day.
Wednesday I split my workout, with a 4k row in the morning. After each 1k I did 10 squats and 10 pushups — 40 total — resulting in 6 blisters and pectorals that were sore for two days. After work I got in a short walk before teaching Pilates at Milestone.
My watch had some issues Thursday morning — it found the satellite and then must’ve dropped it. When I was almost to the half-mile marker I noticed it said I had gone .17 at 20 minute pace. Errrrr … So I restarted it and estimated where I thought I was for ther est of the run. Then I taught a good Pilates Strength class that evening with some fun new moves. I’m constantly watching videos, checking out fitness magazines and following pros on Instagram for new ideas. Oh, and I squeezed in a short 2k row after teaching since hubs was at the gym too.
I had a crazy weekend ahead and the weather Friday morning was perfect, so I moved my “long run” up (you know it’s not really long if you can do it on a Friday morning before work, haha). Just 6 miles easy, but my first back-to-back run days since the race — and following a pretty solid Thursday. The best part about running early on Fridays is not having to exercise after work!
Saturday morning was the Derby Festival Marathon and miniMarathon (stay tuned for a behind-the-scenes look with race director Deja Lawson I wrote for Louisville Women’s Sports), and I joined a group of Milestone staff to create a pretty awesome cheering section. My already blistered hands got more blisters from ringing a cowbell — is this real life??? It started raining abound 8:30 a.m. and got pretty miserable. It was quite a bit like when I ran it last year.
After a few hours of cheering, I headed to the gym for my first Saturday teaching back-to-back classes. About two hours straight of Pilates! Usually I just teach the intro class at 10 a.m.; this time I also had the advanced class at 11. I’m doing that again on May 7, but then I’m actually off the next two Saturdays (one for work, one for play). I thought about rowing after but seriously, my cowbell blisters were out of control.
I got up early Sunday to volunteer at the Backside Trail Marathon and Half-Marathon, a newer race in Seneca and Cherokee Parks on the same trails I run often. I wanted to run the half but coach vetoed that idea so I volunteered instead. (And got a free entry for next year, sorry coach, it’s happening.) I worked registration for about 30 minutes and then jogged (with a loaded sack pack) a mile to the aid station I’d be working.
I was really at the ideal location — every participant came through our aid station twice, at miles 5.5 and 10.5 — and then the marathoners completed a second loop. We had water, Gatorade, gels, chews, peanut M&Ms, jelly beans, Fig Newtons, chocolate chip cookies, fudge stripe cookies … I love trail races. It was a really humid day — 70 degrees and 95% humidity, welcome to May in Kentucky — so we were trying to keep everyone hydrated and motivated. I cleaned some scrapes, gave directions and tried to encourage the best I could. It was a lot of fun and a great way to give back to our running community.
After I was done with my shift, I left my bag behind and went for a run — I figured I’d run back to my car then drive back for my bag, that way I didn’t have to carry it again. I stopped by to tell the race director I was leaving and ran into my husband (he had texted me but my phone was at the aid station). Technically Sunday was not a running day, per my schedule — so I was planning on just doing 3 or 4, and I had already done 1 running to the aid station. When I met up with Chris, I was already at 3 miles and he was just starting. So … I ran a few more. It was so muggy.
In total, 20.75 miles of running, 9k of rowing, 2 miles of walking and almost 4 hours of yoga and Pilates.
P.S. I’m always excited about a Hammer Nutrition shipment! I restocked on Recoverite, Tissue Rejuvenator, Enduromega, Digest Caps and Hammer Bars — plus a bunch of samples of Endurolytes Fizz and Recoverite to give away!
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TGRUNFIT 