March 19, 2012

Weekend Recap & Training Update for the Week of 3/12 – 3/18/12…

First off, weekend recap…Saturday was very chill around my house. Never got dressed, never left the house, never did anything but hang out all day, take a nap and knit. I’m still working on Lustro Cardigan. I have finished the back and right front and am working on the left front. Let me say that I really like Berroco Ultra Alpaca, it’s soft and lovely but it sheds like a mother. It leaves little bits of, what I’m assuming is alpaca all over me. Not really a deal breaker. But I chose black to knit this cardigan…I need a black cardigan and I haven’t been able to find one to purchase that I like. So being a knitter I figured I just knit one…of course. But black’s hard to knit with, it’s hard to see…in case you need the obvious stated for you. But I’m determined to finish this sucker and I really do need a black cardigan.

Training update…I took Monday & Tuesday completely off from running. I was so sore from my Half on Sunday that I wasn’t moving too good. Wednesday was my first run with my new American River Parkway Half training group (now known as the Parkway Half because American River Parkway Half if just too long). I ran 4.85 miles in 49:56 with a 10:17 pace. I keep checking to see if my stats are right because I struggled so hard for this run and it seems like a 10:17 pace is way too low. But I had a couple of very fast miles in under 10 and two slow miles at about 10:30 so it’s right. But it was a hard run for me. I had pain in one of my hamstrings and just a general feeling of yucky which comes with getting the migraine earlier in the day

I took Thursday as a rest day and ran on Friday…ran 4.01 mile in 40:50 at a 10:11 average pace. Again, I keep checking the stats because this was a tough run for me. I struggled and had to walk at least once that I remember but maybe it was a struggle because I was running to fast.

Saturday was either a 4 mile run or a rest day according to the training schedule. Since Sunday was a long run with the group and I’m still recovering from my Half I decided to take it as a rest day. I really wanted to be fresh for the long run with the group. Sunday we met at 7:30am on the American River Parkway, ran 7.15 miles in 1:18:14 at an average 10:56 pace. Not bad really. I was nervous about the long run since it was 7 miles but I ran with three other ladies, one of which works with a very good friend of mine, and it really made the miles tick by. It was nice to run with other people, it helped me do an actual slow warm up, but it didn’t help me with a slow cool down. The last mile was supposed to be slower for cool down but I just kept speeding up. I tried to slow down but every time I checked my Garmin, I was going faster. But I was really glad to be done when it was over.

So far I’m really liking the training group. I am meeting some really nice people and I’m more motivated for the long runs. It’s not as boring for those long miles when you’re in a group, even if you’re not talking, versus running alone. I was surprised at how fast this first week of training went. Today is rest, which is good. After the long run yesterday we stretched out and then did some core workout that included pushups and planks. My arms hurt today! Ouch. I already know I have no upper body strength, it’s not news…I’m built like Olive Oyl.



No kidding. String like arms, no muscle. Serious. I hate it but there is just no bulking up the noodles. I couldn’t plank for 30 seconds, I couldn’t do pushups for 30 seconds…I couldn’t do much for 30 seconds. But that’s ok, in 6 weeks I’ll be stronger then I was last week. Looking forward to that part. I really need to find a core workout that I can do at home to help build the upper body and my core.

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