….and My Story Runs On….
These next few weeks are going to be tough as I have stuff going on that could interfere with my training. Here was my plan for this week:
| Week Of | Week | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Miles |
| 2-Nov | 9 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 22 | 10 | 52 |
I had to alter my plan because Ragnar Trails Relay was this weekend and I needed to try and get ahead of the training schedule earlier in the week.
Here is how it went:
Monday: This is normally a rest day but I needed to get ahead of the schedule. I ran on the road around my neighborhood. I did a 4.5 mile run first, had to run some errands, and then went back out an hour or so later to get another 5 miles in. These were some good tempo runs for me. I prefer trail all the way but road miles are easier to fit in some times and I can work a bit more on tempo.
Tuesday: I have my regular trail run/hike scheduled with my friend Vicki. I get at least 2 miles of sand in which is not enough but will get there. We did 6.5 miles at South Mountain (saw a gorgeous coyote from afar). Then I did 3 more miles at Running for Brews Tempe with my sister.
Wednesday: I was not very motivated this morning to get out because it was colder than normal but I knew I had to get my run in. As soon as I walked outside, I noticed there was no sun and a few big black clouds. It had rained the night before and I’ll admit to being a spoiled AZ runner because of the gorgeous weather we have. Not really crazy about running in any other conditions. I started my run reluctantly and was immediately cheered up by a some beautiful rainbow sightings. I love rainbows and they have a spiritual meaning to me and those pictures don’t do them justice. Then it started drizzling….I though of cutting the run short and then figured I could stop by my parents house if it got any worst. It didn’t so I ran with a light drizzle and got my 5 miles in. When I got home I decided I wanted to hit the hot tub (never done this at 9am in the morning but it was a cool morning and it just sounded good).
Thursday: I decided to be my rest day to prepare for Ragnar weekend (I knew I wouldn’t get much sleep either so wanted to be fully rested). I still managed to get 21,421 steps in between some very light running at track and walking back and forth as we set up our camp at McDowell Mountain in preparation for the weekend.
Friday: Our Ragnar Team, Dust Bunnies, started at 9:40 am. I did my first 4 mile run and then did my 2nd run in the evening. I love McDowell Mountain and enjoyed some gorgeous views on my first run. My first night run was a bit of a bummer because the green loop was a fast, easy one but unfortunately both my headlamp and back up light were on low battery (lesson learned!). I wanted to be careful so it slowed me down. I haven’t seen my results from the race yet and haven’t uploaded my Tom Tom data either. I remember thinking trail running and night running was absolutely crazy and now it’s my favorite kind of running. Nothing like being in the middle of the desert at night time…it keeps you very present in the moment. I was happy that my next one would be at night as well.
Saturday: As a matter of fact, one of my teammates got sick and I covered her 6.6 mile loop a few hours after finishing mine. I was happy to do it even though I was on about 3 hours of sleep. I know I needed the miles anyway. Two beautiful runs! My Tom Tom battery died on the 2nd run but I was very lucky to watch the moon rise (along with the alignment of the planets and several shooting stars from the Taurid Meteor shower!) and I saw the sun rise on the 2nd run. Doesn’t get any better than that!
Sunday: Purely a rest day…literally was in bed all day…unfortunately once I finished with my Ragnar runs on Saturday, I decided to start drinking. Between doing 4 runs totaling 22 miles in 20 hours on 3 hours of sleep, it caught up to me…needless to say, I’ll be making better decisions next time. I planned it as a rest day but more rest than I was expecting. Maybe my body needed it. Happy to say that I was not sore at all though! I attribute this to my ChiRunning form as well as my conditioning.
My training for the week finished like this:
| Week Of | Week | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Miles |
| 2-Nov | 9 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 13.2 | 0 | 46.2 |
I was 6 miles short but feel OK with it because I know I got a lot more steps walking around at Ragnar for 2.5 days. I know the time on my feet is part of it so I’m OK not getting the exact mileage in.
AHA moments:
- Felt good about my planning this week by getting more miles in ahead of time.
- I love practicing my ChiWalking, especially my hill technique. Did quite a bit of this at Ragnar as several of the loops had some hills. Ultimately goal on every run is to be as energy efficient as possible and that helps me strategize my runs.
- Loving the variety of runs I’m getting from road miles, to miles with friends and events like Ragnar. My running is mainly social and glad I have a big group of crazy friends who join me on my crazy adventures 😉
- Just realized this was the most miles yet so far in my training by 6 miles and grateful that I have no pain or soreness at all!
Fundraising update:
Haven’t really done much with it this week. Every little bit helps though!
Previous blogs posts in this series:
I’m leaving for Asheville, NC on Wednesday. So excited as I’ll be attending a Performance Workshop to learn to be more efficient (learning how to get faster and more efficient with less effort!). I’ll also get to see my ChiFamily…being the only Instructor in AZ, this is one of my favorite weekends we have every 2 years so I get a chance to see my peers, run together and share ideas.
From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)