This week by far was the most challenging of all the weeks thus far. It had some low moments, but also some good ones so it wasn’t a complete loss!

We are currently on our way to Florida as you read this, so in the coming week I look forward to a change of scenery and enjoying some time with my little family!

 

Monday – 2 min on/2 min off x 10

Monday started out with a bit of a wrench thrown in my plan. We had a tough night going into it and E was not in the mood to sit and watch me run on the treadmill. My schedule had 7 x 800 meters but I knew that would be hard to do outdoors with a stroller so we improvised.

I did a 15 minute warm up, 2 minutes on/2 minutes off x 10, and then a cool down for a total of 7 miles for the day. E did much better in the stroller even though he started out a bit fussy. In the end I was so glad I chose to be outside!

 

Tuesday – 5 miles easy

I headed out with the stroller again on Tuesday for 5 easy miles. I’m quickly learning that its now easy to run with the stroller then try to get him to sit next to me on the treadmill.

A pretty uneventful run but it felt nice to run easy and enjoy the morning with my sweet boy.

 

Wednesday – 4 miles with 8 x 10 second hill sprints

As I do the day before all my long runs Wednesday was easy miles and hill sprints. This day we increased the number of hill sprints by 1 but it felt really good. Thankfully E was really patient and napped most of my run. It truly is amazing how he will wake up from his nap the minute I stop the treadmill.

I took it easy and got it done early to allow plenty of recovery time before Thursday’s long run.

 

Thursday – 10 miles (was supposed to be 13)

I think there is always one long run in every training cycle where it doesn’t go as planned, and I am hoping this is going to be the only one for the training season. Originally I had 20 on the schedule but I ended up moving that until after we get back from FL to give my body a break from being out on the roads so much so I settled on 13.

I had to wait for my Mom to come up to watch E and she had a prior commitment so ended up getting to the house around 1:30. After I had pumped, got dressed, and got out the door it was 2:00 PM. I had fueled ahead of time and tried to not think about it and just go run. I went in with a good attitude, but quickly realized things weren’t right. At 4 miles I checked my pace and I had slowed WAY down and my legs and body felt lifeless.

There are many times in training where I will push through, but I knew that this was a day when that would do more harm than good. As a breastfeeding mama I also have to worry about the stress a run like that would put on my body and effect my supply. Instead of turning around at 6.5 I headed back home at 5 and knew I needed to cut it short.

There are only a few times when I will cut a run and this was one of them. I hate quitting but I also know my body pretty well when I know I need to stop. It was a hard call but without a doubt the right call. I’m just picking myself up and focusing on the next week!

 

Friday – 4 miles easy

After Thursday’s tough run my legs were pretty dead for my 4 miles easy. My Mom was still at our house so it was nice to get some solo miles in though. I just went really slow and let my body dictate how I was going to run. In the end it felt god to get my legs moving, but I definietly had to talk myself into this one!

 

Saturday – 7 miles steady

I didn’t really have plan going into Saturday’s run. After the past couple days I didn’t want to make it harder than it needed to me and I didn’t want to over tax my body. I started slow and worked my way into it and decided that I would make it a steady effort run.

I ended up doing 7 miles with an 8:30 average pace with the stroller. I was happy with the effort and even though I wouldn’t call it easy I felt much better!

 

Sunday – Rest Day

This week we are traveling to Florida for my husband to take his oral medical boards and to attend a conference. I knew we would be in the car the entire day on Sunday, so instead of worrying about trying to fit in a run super early I opted to move my rest day to Sunday.

 

Sometimes we have bad weeks. It’s ok. You pick yourself back up and focus on what’s ahead – and that’s exactly what I plan to do!