Sunday, March 8, 2020

Weekly Sweats: Inside Out Edition


Everything worked out this week, just not as I had planned.  Workouts that were planned for inside were done outside and outsides were done inside.  34 miles of running, 2 weight workouts, and I found out that I will soon be putting my money where my mouth is.

I'm linking up with the Weekly Run Down, please head over to Kim and Deborah to check it out.

Monday: I got in a weight workout and then took advantage of the mild weather and early sunrise and got 4 miles outside!  I planned the route so that I would run past my house at approximately school bus o'clock so that I could get high 5's from the stepsons.  It was great to be outside, though after being stuck inside last week for 30 miles, my body was quite confused not to be on the treadmill.

Tuesday: 6 treadmill miles, 1 mile warm up, 6 x 5 minutes fast/2 minutes recover, cool down.  After just one easy run outside, my body was quite confused by being back on the treadmill.

Wednesday: off

Thursday: 6 treadmill miles.  I was in a mellow mood and didn't feel like doing speed, so it was a mostly easy run with some faster stuff willy-nilly as I felt like it.

Friday: weight workout and then 4 hilly miles outside!  I can't remember the last time I was outside for a hill workout, maybe September?  The incline slowed me down quite a bit so it was my first >12 minute mile paced run of the year but I felt strong so that's OK.

Saturday: I did not imagine for one minute that we would have a freeze out and a snowstorm, but oh yes we did.  Outside was unpleasant and icy and Sunday's forecast promised sunshine and a high of 60...the plan was to run 10 miles on Saturday, rest on Sunday, then 4 miles easy on Monday, so I did a switcheroo and for 4 easy treadmill miles on Saturday, 10 on Sunday and rest on Monday.  My body was super confused by the short easy run on Saturday.

Sunday: 10 miles outside!  No, let me say that again, 10 miles OUTSIDE IN SHORTS!!!  11:20 pace and if you're keeping score (I am), it's my fastest outside non-race 10 miler ever.  I included the "uphill in all directions" race course in my route, so I was super happy with my pace.  At times I pushed it and at times I just zoned out and ran.  I was very determined to have mile 10 be sub 11 minutes and oof it was not easy but booyah did it anyway.


About Those Weight Workouts
In the past I've had the experience of finding a great new weight workout on the internet, linking to it, and then finding out after a few times of doing it that it's not a good fit for my body.  What I'm saying is that I've learned to give something a full try out before I link to it, and now that I've been doing this workout for 6 weeks, I'm ready to share and endorse this as being something that has worked well for me:


What I like/what I've learned:
  • As someone who doesn't have a lot of time for weights, a 24 minute video is perfect
  • It feels like a good workout that challenges my muscles but doesn't leave me sore
  • Um wow, I really rush through my reps, and this video taught me to slow down
  • Shout out to the Cuban press, which I feel really helps with my "desk jockey" slumped posture
I think I'll continue with this routine for a few more weeks and then it will be time to move on to something else.  I'll definitely be checking out more of Grant's workouts.

My money where my mouth is moment
Zenaida posed the question on her Atlanta half recap: would you sign up for a race if it was a hilly course?  My thoughts are that hills are very hard for me, so it wouldn't be my first choice BUT I've been working on my weakness and it doesn't say much of me as a runner if I only run optimal courses in optimal conditions.  And then I learned that hey-o I have a hilly race in my near future.

I checked in on the website for the 15k that I'm running next weekend, and when I signed up the only thing I cared about was that it was a race in my area in March, there aren't a lot of those so I didn't really look at any other details.  Now that I was taking a closer look, I chuckled at the description of "a perfect training run for Boston" and as being a hilly course.  I kind of know the area where the race is, it's close to the half marathon that I ran last fall, which is as flat as a pancake, so sheesh what hills?  The race is close enough to home that I decided to find out and drove the course.  Ah, I was correct that it's close to the other race, but the terrain could not be more different.  The first few miles are noticeably downhill and starting at mile 5, what went down goes back up and very steeply.  There is just nothing that I run in my regular training that's like the back half of this course.  Well, I may not have known when I signed up for the race, but I know what I'm getting in to now.  This is the first time that I've gone to check out a race course beforehand and I'm very glad that I did.

It's a safe bet that this will be a positive split race.  My racing strategy will be to not look at my Garmin, to stay very relaxed in the early miles since gravity will be doing my work for me, and if I need to power walk in the last half of the race, so be it.  But even though the course will be hard, the more I think about it, the more I'm kind of looking forward to it.  It's all good.


33 comments:

  1. Wow. A snowstorm and running in shorts on the same weekend? That is crazy weather. I don’t mind a hilly race course if the hills are rolling. Ones that go on forever are harder to deal with!

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    1. Our local saying is if you don't like the weather just wait 5 minutes and it will change...this was pretty extreme even for us.

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  2. You had a great week of workouts and nice mileage. You are really ready for your race. Good luck next weekend can't wait to hear all about it. Thanks for linking up today!

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  3. Snow? No! Glad you got outside to do 10 today in shorts. I did the same thing!

    Good luck next weekend on your race! I'm pretty sure, without checking, that my Florida trail race will be pretty flat. It's the heat and humidity that's going to get me...

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    1. I love FL so much, though yes the running is tough. Good luck, you've got this!

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  4. Congratulations on the solid ten miler. It was just proof that you shouldn't have been - and weren't - concerned about the 12+ pace. Congrats on putting your hill training to work. You're going to do amazing

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  5. Another strong week for you! Congrats on your speedy 10 mile run. You're going to do great with your race!

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  6. A snowstorm and then shorts? Craziness! Congrats on your fastest 10 miler!!! What a great feeling :)

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    1. Ha ha Jessie, compared to what you face in Minnesota we don't have weather.

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  7. Woot!! Way to rock that 10-miler!! I had to laugh about your hill-talk...I knew this race (yesterday) was going to be hilly, but I didn't know it was also gonna be so twisty and curvy with everything (except sand and snow) to run on WHILE going up, down & all-around LOL The course constantly kept me guessing. It was t.o.u.g.h., but it was such a great accomplishment finishing with a smile (well, sort of a smile...though it may have looked like a grimace to the on-lookers).

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    1. For sure I will have the biggest smile on my face when I see the finish line next Sunday, regardless of what other faces I make getting there. I can't wait to read about your race.

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  8. Congrats on the strong 10 miler! I'd say you're well prepared for your race. The weather has been SO up and down lately. It was 67 here yesterday but the wind won't quit and of course there's snow in the forecast this week. Ugh.

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  9. The weather here was a bit odd this weekend as well - cold and windy on Saturday and then spring like temps and sunshine yesterday, lol.

    It sounds like you really like the weights program! I find that it's easy to rush through reps so it's good that the program really focuses on taking the time for each rep.

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    1. yes, it's good one b/c it's not too long and doesn't make me sore or do anything to get in the way of running but still challenging enough that I feel like it's doing me some good.

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  10. well done this week and especially on your 10 miler!! I've learned the hard way to check race profiles before signing up. Some I've done without checking have been real doozies!!!

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    1. Yes, it's my first time ever checking the course out in advance, it would really have messed with me if I got to the big climb on race day and wasn't expecting it.

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  11. Great job with that Sunday run! The weather extremes you had last week are a little crazy. And good luck with that hilly race. It was smart to drive the course in advance.

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    1. I would never have thought to check out a course in advance before, I'm so glad that I did with this one.

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  12. Sounds like you did a great job moving things around to fit it all in! I try to avoid hilly races but I've done plenty of them. Sometimes I don't realize how hilly they are until I am actually running the race!

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    1. I've gotten more hills than I was expecting before, but nothing like this. After this race I'll probably think of all courses being flat in comparison.

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  13. Whoo hoo! Yay for 10 miles, even if you did have to endure the snow to get to the shorts! I can't wait to run 10 again!

    It's really hard to find hills around here (bridges are our training option) so I get it. I can't really avoid hills because everywhere has hills compared to here LOL!

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    1. Last summer I did some beach runs in FL and got a whole 2 feet of elevation on one of my runs, it was too funny. I hear that a lot of FL races include bridges.

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  14. Good to hear you were able to get outside more this week!

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    1. it was good to be outside, but I still don't have your beautiful mountains!

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  15. I think running a race with hills will make you feel hard core and accomplished! Your training is going really well.

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    1. I am looking forward to it. I mean, I'm kind of scared but excited to see what I can do.

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  16. Woo hoo on having such a great ten mile run! It sounds like you were really smart to do the Saturday/Sunday/Monday switcheroo. I suspect that most people go way to fast when lifting - I know I do unless I'm really careful. It's good that you caught it and can check yourself.

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    1. my first day doing the video I was 3 squats in and he'd only done one...it was a wake up call;-)

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  17. I love running in shorts! Cannot wait to do it again here. Great job on your 10 miles. Well, there you go...a hilly race for you. Tough but not the end of the world. You will survive! :-)

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