I’m in the midst of the January doldrums. My hilly runs were super slow (even for me), and I had a general lack of enthusiasm.
I read somewhere that January 12th is the day that most New Year’s Resolutions fail. While my blahs are not resolution based (my resolutions aren’t pass/fail), I can totally sympathize with that date being some sort of enthusiasm breaking point.
The featured photo this week is one of the wolf statues at Jack London Square in Oakland. My usual 7 and 8-mile routes take me past them.
Oakland Marathon 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: Week 8
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan | Rest | 4 miles | 7 miles | 4 miles | rest | 16 miles @ 11:00 min/mile pace | cross train |
| Actual | rest | 4 miles | 7 miles | 4 miles | rest | 16 (ish) miles 11:08 min/mile pace | yoga |
Area of Focus This Week
Strength
The Week That Was
Monday
Another cold, rainy day that aligned with a rest day. Love it!
I did don my rain boots to brave the weather for a walk, more to be sure I left the house than the exercise, but either way, it got me exercise.
I also did the Asana Rebel daily stretching workout – ‘Mountain Spilts’. I don’t remember doing this one before, I can’t say it’s my favorite – lots of time in boat pose. Grrrr.
Tuesday
I was shocked at how slow my run was this morning. It was on a hilly route in the Piedmont hills, so I knew I wasn’t going to be breaking any speed records, but still…
I felt… not terrible on the run, but yikes.
Maybe I was just having an off day. The Asana Rebel workout ‘Ocean Flow’ was also not my best. ‘Ocean Flow’ is one of the short little workouts that manages to combine all my least favorite moves. Dolphin pose and push-ups? Once again – Grrrr.
I’m surprised they didn’t find a way to work in mountain climbers to make it a misery trifecta.
Wednesday
After yesterday’s run, that I could only describe as blah, today’s was wonderfully uneventful.
On some runs, I feel amazing and like I could run forever. On others, I just go out and do my thing and never give it a second thought, which can be a good thing too.
That’s what I would consider today’s run: remarkably unremarkable.
Asana Rebel was ‘Six-Pack Flow.’ Not surprisingly all core. This has not been my favorite stretch of Asana Rebel workouts. However, they’ve been bad because they are hitting the muscles that most need to be worked out – they’ve all been focused on my weak spots.
I know that’s good physically, but mentally, I could use a workout that I can just knock out of the park.
Thursday
Another run heading up into the hills of Piedmont.
I’ve decided I need to make a concerted effort to improve my hill/trail endurance.
I fully expect my times on hill runs to be slower, but I feel like I am using that as an excuse to not push myself as hard as I should.
Friday
Another rest day in preparation for tomorrow’s 16-mile long run. It struck me today that it seems really early in the program to already be doing 16 miles, but we are 8 weeks in.
I find that really hard to believe.
Saturday
Today was another group long run on the hardest part of the Oakland Marathon course – so 5 miles of uphill running. I think these hills are harder in these training runs than they are on race day. On race day, they start at mile 6 or 7, so I’m warmed up, but not yet exhausted. In training, we start from Rockridge BART, so there is no warm up. We start running and within a half a mile we’ve started up the endless uphills.
There were 5 of us that ran the full route (we had half-marathoners with us, but they either turned around at mile 3.5 or ran with us to Fruitvale BART. I think it was the first time ever where there were more guys than girls (3-2 in favor of the boys) in my pacing group.
I’m not sure that is indicative of anything, but it’s one of those things I notice when I have nothing else to think about during a long run.
I actually think I noticed it because part of the run was in a not great part of town. It’s not a bad part of town by any stretch, but it is an area where I wouldn’t want to run alone, and in past years I’ve been very aware of the fact I was running in a group of girls.
Sunday
Only yoga and Asana Rebel stretching today. I feel like I might be coming down the with the cold that is going around, so I’m laying low.
I’ll confess that I’m currently 50/50 on if I’m actually getting sick or if I’m just talking myself into feeling sick because everyone else is getting sick.
In either case, there is no upside to pushing it.
Week Overall
- I hate January. Nothing good ever seems to happen in January, and the month goes on forever. 2018 is no different. It’s a put-your-head-down-and-get-through-it month, waiting for something better.
- My area of focus this week was strength. Not a success. When will I learn? If I don’t have something on the calendar, I leave my working out to what I feel like doing, which is always nothing. This week is no different.
Next Week: Week 9
Schedule
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan | Rest | 4 miles | 7 miles | 4 miles | Rest | 18 miles @ 11:00 min/mile pace | cross train |
| Actual | Rest + easy yoga | 4 miles | 7 miles | 4 miles | Rest | 18 miles | More rest than cross training |
Area of Focus
I’ll say hydration since that is something I can do even if I do come down with the cold.
