Wednesday, April 5, 2017

WWU - March Miles

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that March was going to be big in terms of miles for me, and it sure was - turns out, I ran 73 miles last month...and I'm not even training for anything!  That was a lot of miles, and although I had long runs of 8, 10, and 11 miles, it was really the weekday runs that added up; most of them were 4 or 5 miles, which is nearly double of what I normally run.

Also, I'm not gonna lie - this was a challenging month for me, both mentally and physically.  At first, I couldn't fathom running 5 miles on a random weekday - do you know how early we had to get up to get that run in?  My alarm was set for 4:30 am twice a week, and even earlier for our Saturday runs.  Plus, just the idea of running for more than twice as far as we used to during the week was something I had to wrap my brain around; I will say that there was a great feeling of accomplishment after every 5 miler, because in normal times, that is a Saturday long run for us.

On the physical side, I'm feeling pretty decent, all things considered.  Aside from some hip flexor pain a few weeks ago, the only other thing that is bothering me are super-tight calf muscles.  I use my BFF Buffer on them at least once a day which helps quite a bit, but still, the next time I go running, they seem to tighten up again.  Overall that's not bad for me, especially when you look at how much I ran.

I finally started doing some recovery stretches afterward my weekday runs - this is something that I should be better at doing, but I'm not.  Well, until now - I've actually gotten into a good routine of immediately doing the legs/wall stretch:
This pose helps with draining fluids from your legs after a run, plus it's a good stretch for the hamstrings.  I also like to reach my arms to the sides and above my head for a nice spine stretch while I'm in this position.

And then, once I'm done with that, as long as I'm already on the ground I'll do more stretches for my hip flexors, glutes, and hamstrings.  I've also started doing planks while I'm down there - hey, might as well, right?  I really should be doing this after my long run every Saturday, but more often than not I sit down and don't get up again until it's time to change for Blue Baker. 

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This month will also probably come close in the same mileage, but after that?  The month of May will go way down - and I'm good with that, although Diane and I have discussed making some changes after she's recovered from her marathon...we might keep up running 5 miles on one of the weekdays, and we also might try running without intervals on another weekday (which would make for a shorter run).  I'm also looking forward to having my long run on Saturday being only 5 miles - that will probably feel like enough, especially as our morning temperatures climb into the mid-70s for the low (and we won't mention the high humidity that will come along with those high "low" temps, ugh).

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So, speaking of running, Diane had 10 miles on her schedule on Saturday.  Jeff and I planned on running the entire distance with her, and we all started out together, but my stomach wasn't feeling great to begin with, and I felt like I needed to do a little more walking than what our intervals were calling for, so I cut the run short at one turn and ended up only running 8 miles...and yes, I felt bad about that!  Jeff told me I was crazy, and he's right, but when you set out to run one distance and don't complete it, there is a sense of failure, even if you do run 8 freaking miles!  It's all good though - Diane got her 10 miles in, and that's what was important. 

23 comments:

  1. Legs up the wall pose has been my favorite these days. My back (!) has been bothering me, which is something that I've never had trouble with. Geez. Thank goodness for yoga.

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    1. Re your back - it's always something, isn't it? Sheesh! Getting older is not for the faint-hearted.

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  2. That is my favorite pose. Thanks for the reminder.

    We are our won worst critic. I do the same when I don't complete the miles on the plan.

    You ran a lot of miles for someone not training. Pat yourself on the back.

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    1. Thanks - I am pretty shocked that I ran that much. Quite the departure for me.

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  3. I need to work on the stretches. I know stretching and cooling down properly will keep me from getting so sore....yet I ignore it!!!!

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    1. I'm pretty bad at doing the stretches, but as soon as I start them, I feel so good that I wonder why I don't naturally fall into them.

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  4. I used to be so good at stretching but these days it totally depends on how much time I have when I get home. Stupid work makes me have to stay on a schedule and if my choice is running longer or stretching welp, I'm always choosing the extra few minutes of running.

    Food for thought: Years ago when I first started running my trainers taught us that it was a good idea to have a mid week longer run. The idea being that once you want to ramp up mileage during training, you're already somewhat conditioned.

    For years I always ran at least 5 miles on Wednesday. That hasn't been happening for a while and I just made up my mind that over this spring/summer I'm getting back to that, especially since I'm not doing extra long runs (10+) on Saturdays any more.

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    1. It IS hard to just lay there for five minutes! Of course, I'm usually reading blogs on my iPad, but still...

      Interesting about having a longer mid week run. I will admit, when I first thought about doing 5 miles during the week I was pretty resistant, but it's not so bad now.

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  5. Legs up the wall, I put a yoga block with a rice bag on my feet. It flexes the feet at a comfortable level. Very effective.

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    1. Interesting - I'll have to try flexing my feet as that would help with the tight calves. Thanks.

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  6. Wow! That is a hecka lotta miles! And getting up early that often? You are a saint! Good for you on getting those stretches in. And planks? Honestly, I was just thinking a couple of days ago that I needed to start doing planks again...

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    1. I like doing the planks; but don't ask me why it took me so long to get back into doing them...

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  7. You know, I've never done the legs up on the wall thing. I probably should! Congrats on a super mileage month!

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    1. You definitely should try it - with your biking and running, it might help!

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  8. Kudos to you for getting up so stinking early for a training run!

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    1. Thanks - I will say that I've nodded off in the afternoon at times, thanks to my early wake up times, LOL.

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  9. You are killing it with the mileage! I am happy it's not affecting you too much and that you are stretching and using your tools to stay healthy! That sounds like a good plan for the upcoming months. Eff running that far when it's so hot. BLAH TOWN!

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    1. Yeah, I'm pretty surprised that I'm not crippled from all the extra mileage, but I think taking it somewhat slow is helping.

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  10. That is a lot of miles - wow! Maybe you should just stick some more races in there to get more medals for all that running :D

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    1. One more race this month, but no medal...that's OK, I'm good with not having to run 13.1 miles right now, believe me.

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  11. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. Hey Cathy, I saw your comment in my email - I hope you come back! I'd love to hear more about your running. :)

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  12. That are a lot of miles. And the best part: you ran more than usual and no major injuries woohoo.

    I already walked 187 miles this year with Bella. If we keep this up we are definitely hitting our goals of 625 miles.

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