Running Wild: Weekly Wrap-up

Another strong week! It seriously is uplifting to have so many strong workouts under my belt now. Maybe I am on the right path? Unfortunately injuries can crop up even when it seems they are far, far away, but I will enjoy feeling good while I do! This officially marks the end of ten weeks of marathon training. I still haven't run over a half marathon distance, which is where everything has fallen apart in the past, so I am not getting my hopes up . . . but we shall see!

Total Miles Run: 18

Monday: Yoga

Back to my regular teacher. It was a great class!

Tuesday: 3 Miles on the Track!

I did a track workout for the first time in forever! (and yes, I was singing the Frozen song in my head while I wrote that-- it's on the tv as I type!)

My new trainer encouraged me to add track workouts in to my weekly schedule, so I did *almost* what she suggested. She wanted me to warm up and cool down with one mile jogs, but I didn't have enough time so I only did 1/2 mile each. This was the workout:

*Jog 1/2 mile

*Stretch

*Leg swings

*Hamstring high kick walk

*Hamstring bent over toe touch walk

*2 sets of skipping exercises

*Bounding

*High Knees

*Butt Kick

*Single leg run

*Run 8 laps of the track, jog the corners and stride the straights

*Jog 1/2 mile

*Abs/push-ups/stretch

It was a fun workout on a gorgeous sunny day. I had to break the laps in to 4 sets of 2, they were hard! I think I might have been over-zealous on the strides . . .

Wednesday: Strength

This was a "push" day. I had almost everything I needed to do the workout at home, so I set up on the deck. The only thing I really missed was a bosu ball, so I used my daughter's giant pillow to mimic the unstable surface.

Warm-up with:

*Lateral lunge

*Single leg jumps with a touch back

*Running arms

Workout:

*Bulgarian split squat

*Lunge jumps

*Dumbbell chest press (I did the chest presses laying on a stability ball)

*Close grip chest press

*Dumbbell chest press with alternating arms

*Single leg step-up with a should press

*Speed step-up

*Tricep cable push-down (I did these by looping my exercise band over a tree branch)

*Bench dip

*Calf raise

*Lateral lunge with bosu (used pillow)

*Toe tappers with band

*Push-ups (supposed to use bosu but I just did them on the ground)

*Plank elbow to knee (again, supposed to use bosu but I did on the ground)

My set-up on the deck. 

Thursday: Run 5 Miles

Gorgeous, gorgeous day for a run along the water!

I ended my run by a cafe that squeezes fresh juice. 

Enjoyed it with an unbeatable view!

Friday: Rest

Saturday: Run 10 Miles

My friend Sally was running 20 miles, so I met her for her last 10. It was a great run overall-- very hilly, though. It's hard to run far in West Seattle without some monster hills unless you stick to Alki, which can get boring over and over due to it being so flat. We needed hill training, so up (and down!) we went! I was pretty worn out afterwards. My left knee threatened to revolt at about mile 8, which was concerning, but it went away. All in all, I am excited about my half marathon next weekend! 

I created a route in Map My Run and it said it was 9.92 miles. Sure enough-- it was exactly that! I had to run a few more feet to get that last .08 to register a full 10 miles. 

The elevation profile of our 10 mile run.

Sally (on the right) and I at the end! 

I can't believe how easy Sally made 20 miles look!

Sunday: Strength

It was a "push" day. Was worried that doing a strength workout the day after a 10 mile run would be pretty hard, and perhaps even unwise, but the push day seems easier than the pull day, so the workout wasn't too much. I didn't push it (haha!) by using weights that were too heavy or going through the routine too quickly.