weekly recap

My lackluster first week of 5k training

/ Amy / Leave a comment

First off, I should note that my training week starts on Sunday and I’m writing this on Thursday, so I’m jumping the gun a bit. If I feel the urge to blog though, I just need to do it; waiting usually ends in not posting at all.

When I first decided to do a couch to 5k,I figured I’d use the same app as I had previously used, but then I remembered that Zombies, Run! has a 5k program and I downloaded that instead. If you’re not familiar with the app: it gamifies running with a zombie theme. The workouts look a little different than the normal couch to 5k, so this could be interesting.

And now, a week of excuses plus one “workout”:

Sunday: Thought I might do the introductory workout Sunday night, but we had a tiring day and Mr. Toddler protested bedtime, so by the time I was free to exercise, I decided not to.

Monday: Stayed late at work to study. By the time I got home (with dinner), Mr. Toddler should have been asleep, but wasn’t. I rocked him a bit, and eventually was able to sneak out of his room to eat dinner. I didn’t really think I’d exercise after this, and getting done eating late didn’t change that plan.

Tuesday: By this time I was expecting a bedtime protest so planned to hang out in Mr. Toddler’s room until he fell asleep, before finally attempting the intro workout. And I managed to stick with my plan! I walked the workout which basically just introduces the story to you before you jump into actual workouts. It was about 22min long, and I had a good time. I was not eaten by any zombies.

Wednesday: The plan for Wednesday was to stay late at work to study again, but an impending storm sent everyone into a panic and daycare closed early. Not knowing if/when the snow would start, I worked through lunch and left work early. It was a fun family evening, and I considered running, but instead opted to study.

Thursday: We woke up to over a foot of snow, and daycare was closed. My plan to run in the evening was thwarted when I needed to finish up some work I couldn’t get to during the day.

At this point it looks like that first workout is going to have to wait for Saturday, since I’m planning to study, not run, on Friday night. Oh, well. Patience is a virtue, right?

I would have liked to get that workout in during the week, and hope to stick to a 3/week schedule when I start the program, but honestly running is so far down on the priorities list right now, that I won’t be surprised if I end up with more weeks like this one.

Advertisement

Week In Review

/ Amy / 2 Comments

I did it! I ran 4 times last week, exactly according to my “plan”. ☺ Praise me!

Monday – Had off from work after our trip to Buffalo, which made fitting in a run a tad easier. I was exhausted from going to bed at 1 AM and still getting up at 6 AM, but forced/convinced myself to run mid-morning. I thought it was going to be awful because of how tired I was, but the run actually felt great!

Thursday – I checked the weather forecast earlier in the week and since rain was predicted for Thursday, I decided to get some work done outside on Wednesday and run on the treadmill Thursday night. I was not overly excited to do it, but I did anyways. A new season of Switched at Birth was released on Netflix, so I’ve been watching that while I run and ONLY while I run. It’s very good motivation.

Saturday – I took to the treadmill in the afternoon for my weekly “long” run. In this case, long is relative. My typical run right now is 5 minutes walking, 25 minutes running, 5 minutes walking. I want to increase to a half marathon distance, but I’m in no rush. So for this run, I just did the “route of the day” on my treadmill, which was 3.33 miles. I sandwiched that distance between 5-minute warmup/cool down walks.

Sunday – The weather was finally nice enough again to take Mr. Baby for a spin in the jogger. And, Jeff was up for a run as well, so the three of us headed to a nearby (paved) trail. I didn’t bring my garmin, but according to the charity miles app, we covered 3 miles. (2.99 actually…ha!) It was nice to get the run done early in the day and while Mr Baby was awake. This meant I didn’t have to spend nap time running, and could get other things done.

My plan for this week is 4 runs again, and this time I’d like my mid-week run to be intervals. I’m thinking I’ll start with 4 x ¼ mile, and add an interval each week. I’m not sure how many I’ll build to; maybe 8. It seems like a good amount while allowing me to keep the run relatively short. As for pace, I’m not sure on that either, but thinking I’ll start with 10 min/mile and see how it feels. I haven’t really been keeping track of my pace, but I know it’s slower than that, so it seems like a nice round starting point.

This week left me feeling good about my running schedule, and hopeful that I can get some consistency back. I know it’s only the first week, but I feel like I could get into a good groove here. ☺

Note: I wrote this about a month ago, but somehow didn’t get it published (goodness!) It would seem that I’m not always a very prompt blogger. As an update, I made it a second week with 4 runs (including intervals!) before we had a house full of guests and a packed schedule to keep my from running. Hoping to get back at it this week!

I have a plan (sort of)

/ Amy / 2 Comments

Last Monday I was finally able to get my act together and go for a run during the week. At this point, I’ve built up the trouble I’ve had with weekday running so much that it’s like slaying a mythical beast (the bad kind though, not like a unicorn…I would never slay a unicorn…all that business about having a “cursed life”, no thanks!)

screenshot_20170422-140806.png

I squeezed it into a free half hour I had between Mr. Baby’s bedtime and my standing Monday skype call with my friend.  I managed slightly over 2 miles. I essentially felt like a superhero for getting this done, and I’m thrilled to add this to my regular routine.

After that run, I didn’t run again for the rest of the week. (oops!) But I filled my time with doing things around the house, so I don’t feel too bad. I still want to work my way up to 10 miles so I can earn my medal for the virtual 10 miler I signed up for, so I’ll have to dial it back a bit on the DIY projects.

IMG_20170522_201238

My medal is in that package…I just have to earn it!

I’ve been hoping to make an easy stroller run a regular weekly thing, but so far the weather hasn’t been agreeable. I’m sure things will turn around soon enough, and the price per run of my stroller won’t be so astronomical. (With only two runs under its belt it’s a pretty expensive ride..haha)

For months, I’ve been thinking I need a training plan to keep myself on track, but I’m starting to think I just need a weekly plan. Both for running, and other things I want to get done. Just a little something to keep me on track.

So far, here’s what I have:

Monday: squeeze in quick run before my Skype date

Wednesday/Thursdsay: Get in another run! JUST DO IT!

Saturday: Long(er) run

Sunday: Stroller run

The Wednesday/Thursday run I think will be the toughest to get done, and Sunday is weather dependent, so we’ll see on that one, but I think this will be a pretty good start.  I plan to come up with some build up for the long run so I can get to that 10 miles, but other than that I’m keeping it pretty open.

Now, before I wrap up this post: I registered for a 5k on June 17th!

It’ll be my first 5k since November 2015, and only my second road race since then. Know what that means? It’ll be a post baby PR! Is that a thing? I’m making it a thing. 🙂

A Week in Review

/ Amy / 2 Comments

Over the past month, I’ve written several posts but have just gotten around to adding the finishing touches and posting them. If you know me in real life and are confused that some of this stuff is old news, it’s because this post is really from April 10th.  Sorry for the delay!

Back in the day when I used to blog and run regularly, I did a Monday post recapping the prior week and posting the current week’s goals. I can’t promise that I’ll start this up again every week, but I’m bringing it back for today at least.  Combined with a recap of some non-running activities to add a little content.

Week in Review –

Monday – No running. Went for a walk with Jeff and Mr. Baby after work. Had my weekly Skype call with one of my best friends and then baked angel food cupcakes.  Hit my step goal for the day. (Currently 6k steps.)

IMG_20170403_213558

Getting ready to inhale the cupcakes!

Tuesday – Could not convince myself to run, but I walked on the treadmill. Hit my step goal again.

Wednesday – Work was super busy and meetings got pushed back AND ran long. I ended up staying late, and got home about an hour later than normal. Was exhausted by the time Mr. Baby was asleep, and again didn’t run. Didn’t hit my step goal, either.  I ate cupcakes…yum.

Thursday – Again, no running.  I kind of suck at getting runs in during the week.  I didn’t hit my step goal, either. We were having work done on our house (moving our laundry room), and it finished today, so we ordered celebratory pizza.  It was delicious!

IMG_20170406_172600

This is going to be amazing.

Friday – Finally it has stopped raining (kind of). We met up with my sister in law at the nearby state park to go for a walk. I brought along Jeff and Mr. Baby, and she brought along her dog. It was a tad chilly and a bit rainy, but a good time. And, I hit my step goal again finally!

Saturday – Did a 6k run on the treadmill while Mr. Baby napped. I’m slowly eeking my way up to 10k in order to earn my virtual 10k medal.  I’m hoping to go up to 8k this weekend and then do the full 10k the next week. I switched my treadmill over to metric so I could see my progress toward 10k in kilometers rather than miles.  I have no concept of how fast I’m going at any given time, and the k’s add up much quicker than miles do.  It’s been kind of great.

Sunday – On Sunday I took Mr. Baby for our first ever stroller run. It was SO AWESOME!  I ended up not getting out until the afternoon because it was too chilly for my passenger in the morning and then I had to work around naps and meals. Pushing the stroller isn’t really too difficult, but I am definitely sore now from all the hills!  Originally, I had hoped to go to a (flat) rail trail, but because I went so late I decided to go to the state park instead. The roads inside the park are closed to cars this time of year, and I figured that there would be tons of people out and I’d want a wider path to run than at the rail trail.  In that respect it worked out great, but the hills! Yikes!

IMG_20170409_152824

There were so many people out. I don’t know how I managed this picture.

This week, I’m keeping my step goal of 6,000; once I get a week’s worth of hitting my goal I’ll up it to 7,000. I also plan on running 8k at some point (probably Saturday) on my mission to hit 10k. And, it would be nice if I could get a run in during the week.  I have a hard time motivating myself to do that, but I really would like to get back on the horse, so to speak.

Hope you had a great week!  Do you have a step goal? Ever run with a stroller? Am I the only one who falls apart when I have to stay late at work?