The Bay Area was hit with a bit of heat wave this week. There is something wrong with having to wake up early to get a run in before the heat of the day in February. Makes me fear for September, when the real heat waves usually arrive.
My mid-run YouTube filming continues, I’m definitely finding a rhythm to it and feeling more comfortable in front of the camera. Who knows if it translates to better on-screen performances (that will be for you all to decide).
Good on-screen performances or not, the fruits of that filming are coming to pass with the release of my second YouTube video (I still get a kick out of writing that sentence).
Oakland Marathon Training Recap
Training Goals
- I am a pace group leader for Saturday group long runs, so my main goal is to hit my pace – 11:00 (+/- 10 seconds) on training runs
- 1 strength workout a week
- Run 1 new route each week. I’ve been making sure I consciously take new routes on a regular basis so I don’t get back into a running rut. Even minor changes to a usual route can make a huge difference
- 1 Yoga/Stretching/Pilates workout a week
- Regular Foam Rolling – I won’t define ‘regular’ but I’ll know it when I do it (or not)
The Plan v. Reality
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan | yoga | 5 miles | 8 miles | 5 miles | Rest | 19 miles @ 11:00 min/mile | cross-train |
| Actual | yoga | 6 miles | 8 miles | 5 miles | rest | 19 miles @10:56 min/mile | Yoga & upper body work |
Area of Focus This Week
Strength
The Week That Was
Monday
Day 15 of the Yoga Challenge! I redid the Shoulders, Neck, and Upper Back video. Much like the Hips video, I really needed it.
Beyond that, no running today, just a long walk trying to find quiet corners to film a bunch of intros for my YouTube videos. I’ve now gotten used to watching the sweaty, makeup-less version of me on film, it was odd to see myself on video with makeup.
I’m not sure what it says about my hair and makeup skills that I kinda like the sweaty, mid-run version of me more.
Tuesday
5 miles was on the calendar, so why did I do 6?
I have no idea.
I was trying a new combo route – up in the hills to Piedmont (my go-to 4 mile route) over to Mt. View Cemetery (my new go-to 5 mile route), so I wasn’t sure exactly how the miles would work out, but even so, when I was well over 3 miles and still running around the cemetery (the farthest point out), it simply didn’t occur to me to turn around and head home.
When I was halfway home, I checked my Garmin – then reading 5.5 miles – and thought ‘oh, that’s right, I was only supposed to do 5.’
Wednesday
I’m totally over our winter heat wave. Temps have been in the 70s (I thought they felt warmer – I would have guess 80s).
I don’t like it.
February heat waves aren’t a thing.
Thursday
I revisited my Tuesday route, but this time, I actually paid attention to the mileage and turned around at the right spot.
I like my new 5-mile route. It’s a keeper and a good reminder about why I should continue to try new routes each week.
I released my second YouTube video into the wild today – check it out:
Friday
Yeah, rest day!
Only did my usual morning stretching today.
Nothing else particularly active, just drinking lots of water, trying to stay hydrated in preparation for our long run tomorrow.
Saturday
We only had a week off, but for some reason, I felt like I hadn’t seen the group in months. While my pace group was basically the same people, the training group overall seemed to be larger this week. Our theory is that more half marathoners are realizing they should get their butts in gear about training and are actually coming for runs.
While it was still warmer than it should have been in February, it was actually a beautiful morning for a run. The temps were warm, but not unreasonable. Our run was on the Bay Trail (which – not surprisingly – heads along the bay), the sun was shining on the water and we had amazing views of San Francisco in the distance.
Not too shabby as run views go.
During the last few miles of the run, I started to get side stitches. I haven’t had those in years. I was slouching a bit as I was tiring out, and not breathing as deeply as I should have been. It was a good reminder on form.
Broke out the foam roller (eek!) in the evening, as I stayed home finishing my binge-watch of Altered Carbon on Netflix. We distance runners are not known for exciting Friday or Saturday nights.
Sunday
The heat wave broke – yeah! Cloudy and chilly today.
That’s more like it.
This morning I realized I’d totally dropped the ball on my week’s focus of doing strength work. So I decided to try a new workout app – Sworkit.
I’ll give it a shot, comparing it to my gold standard of home workout apps: Nike Training Club.
They have a 28-day February challenge, with a workout every day for the month varying in length, intensity, and focus. I jumped in at day 11. Yoga for Body Toning. It was fine – standard yoga moves, but it felt kind of awkward – there was no real flow between poses. I also went back and did day 5 – Upper Body, to work out my poor, ignored upper body.
I won’t commit to doing the full 28-day challenge without knowing more about the app and how good their workouts are, but I will commit to doing it every day next week.
Week Overall
- It felt like it was kind of an uneventful week. It may not make for exciting reading (sorry), but I’ll take it!
- My area of focus was strength. I failed on this utterly until I realized it on Sunday and made an effort. More proof (not that I needed it) that unless I have something set up and arranged on the calendar it won’t happen. Why do I always seem to forget: I can’t leave exercise up to what I feel like doing on any given day?
Next Week: Week 13
Schedule
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan | Sworkit | 5 miles Sworkit | 5 miles Sworkit | 5 miles Sworkit | Sworkit | 20 miles @ 11:00 min/mile pace Sworkit | cross-train / Sworkit |
| Actual | Sworkit (x2) | 5 miles Sworkit (x2) | 6 miles Sworkit | 5 miles Sworkit | Sworkit | 20 miles @10:56 min/mile pace Sworkit | Sworkit (yoga) |
Area of Focus
Strength. Notice I planned ahead and put the dates on the calendar?
