Monday, July 23, 2012

Week 3 Recap

My 3rd week of training for the Nike Women's Marathon went better than expected.

Monday started off with a 5 mile run on my lunch break. I had a pace of 8'59"/mile and was not happy with this in the least. It disappointed me in a huge way and I kept feeling like I was doing something wrong. However, I find it is the runs that are most difficult to get through that I learn the most about myself from. Despite the run being a slower pace I was still happy that I made it through and clocked my miles. 

Tuesday brought me a Nike Training Club. It was the Get Strong Energy Transfer. I struggle with the Get Strong Nike Training Clubs. They kill me for some reason. Even though these exercises are incorporated into other workouts in the Nike Training Club App however, doing them in the Get Strong it kills me. Am I ever glad when I get through it. I also struggle with the 90 degree abs, I look like a maniac doing them lol but I can really feel them working. 

Wednesday was my first tempo run. I was both excited and scared to do this run. A tempo run is running certain miles, in my case 3 at a pace faster than race pace. In away you are close to sprinting for those miles. My first mile was great since it was a warm up mile. I got into my tempo run and was doing great until the third mile of the tempo, my legs cramped up on me and I threw up all over the grass. I kind of just shook it off brushed myself off and completed my run. Again, I was upset with myself for not finishing my run without having to stop, but I got through it. That was the main thing.

Thursday brought me back to Nike Training Club but this time it was a Get Lean one. I love Get Lean I was super excited to do it. Slim Effect is one of my favorite workouts because it's a lot of jumps. I never liked jumping until I started doing Nike Training Club, now I see the difference it has made in my body and I love doing jumps. Thursday was also a 3 mile run day and this is where my week turned around. I did 3 miles in 7'28"/mile with a total time of 22:49 I was so pleased with that and I really felt like I was back. After my run I also did a light TRX workout with my trainer Tim. It was fun to do a beginner TRX workout since I have been really pushing myself hard.
Friday was a Bikram Yoga day and I yawned through the entire class. I was so tired come 4:00 I had to leave work early because I couldn't even keep my eyes open anymore. I went to Bikram and the poses were so hard because all I wanted to do was sleep. The thing about Bikram because a lot of the poses require balance it takes a lot of concentration. You can't just go into a Bikram class half wanting to be there, you need to fully be there body and mind. This was one of the hardest classes I did but I proved to myself I could get through it. I walked out of class feeling refreshed and ready to take on my 9mile run the next day.

Saturday morning brought me a 9 mile run. I choose to run Glenmore. The reason is because it has 1 huge downhill run and than 2 really big hills that you have to run up. My past few long runs were not the best so I was a little nervous to run 9 miles. I was doing amazing, until I hit the 6 mile point. I got struck with a cramp in my side that was bringing tears down my face. I ate a few Sharkies and kept running. I had to slow my pace down a little bit to accommodate for my cramp but I still did this 9 mile run faster than I had did my last one. I was proud of myself and now I really feel like I am back.

I think my biggest difference was using a different pair of shoes. I have a pair of Lunar Montreal shoes that I was strictly using for the treadmill. I only had around 10 miles on them. I used them on both Thursday and Saturday and I think having the new shoes made a difference to my legs. They didn't feel tired and I wasn't feeling the pavement under my feet. I might need to vear away from the Lunar Montreals now that my distances are getting longer, this makes me a little sad since I really do love the Montreals but I think I need to go back to the lunar glides. I never had this problem in them. 

I am excited for the week to come. I will be down in Lethbridge for my 11 mile run this week. I am excited and nervous since Lethbridge is in the foot hills of southern Alberta. It is very windy and is built on hills. My pace is probably going to be a little slower than normal because I'll be running up a lot of hills. I am looking forward to it.

Happy Training. 

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