Sunday, November 29, 2020

Weekly Sweats: Turkey Trot

In this weeks adventures, I ran a virtual 5k that was all Turkey and not much trot.  20.6 miles.

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

Monday: was an impossible day on the work front.  I had an early meeting and an insane amount of stuff to get done by close of business.  So I did what I used to do every single weekday morning of my life before the pandemic, which was to get up before six and hit the treadmill for a short run.  I took 10 seconds to eat a banana but didn't have coffee in advance since I knew that would make me drag my feet.  Well, I ended up dragging my feet anyway because my body did not welcome the uncaffeinated effort.  3 miles later and I was feeling the symptoms of caffeine withdrawal (I know it's a ridiculous thing to say, but that's exactly how I felt for the rest of the day).  It took me a long time to transition to first thing in the morning workouts, and this was a wake up call that it will take me a while to transition back (and yeah I will not be transitioning back until the pandemic is over...the price of being "camera ready" for early meetings is just too high).

Tuesday: I had a much more reasonable schedule, so I did my "pandemic normal" of sleeping in until the rest of my family got up at 6:15 and taking my sweet old time over coffee.  After the kids left for school I hit the treadmill for 3 miles.  It was a much better workout than Monday, but that is about all I can say about it.

In other Tuesday fitness news, the Turkey Trot sent out the "abundance of caution" email late in the afternoon.  This was not unexpected since the county issued a stay at home advisory over the weekend.  Now look, if giving up races will do anything to help slow the pandemic, I'm more than happy to make the sacrifice, but I am going to steer you toward Elizabeth Clor's excellent point that races are cancelled but bars are open for business.

Wednesday: off

Thursday: Turkey Trot, emphasis on the turkey.  Yes I ran my race.  Though in retrospect maybe I should have gone to a bar instead?  I've been virtual racing's biggest champion, but my heart just wasn't in this one.  A month ago when things were looking good my goal was sub 30, but I've been in a fitness slump.  Either I pushed too hard or run too many miles so I'm backing off until my body tells me to ramp it up again.  My goal for this race was to not look at my Garmin.  To support the goal, I set up a workout of 6 x half mile with a .12 mile cool down (so that if I did look all I would have seen was my pace within the half mile).  I ran at a spicy intensity but didn't kill myself = achievement unlocked.

Friday: the weather was nice, so I set off for as many miles as I wanted to run.  5.25 total.

Saturday: 6.25 miles total.  I wanted to give myself a little spice, so I set up a workout of 3 miles easy, and then 0.1 miles fast/0.2 miles recover x 10 for the back half.  Although my overall time was slow, I was amazed at how quickly the time went by.

Sunday: off!

What's Next

My two running goals for 2020 were to run 12 races and to run a sub 9 minute mile.  While I am not saying that I won't...I am saying that it is unlikely and I am content to let both of these goals go.

  • I've run 10 races this year, two "real" and eight virtual.  I will be running many 3.1 and 6.2 distance runs in the next month, but I don't have a "why" to designate these as races.  On the other hand I can see running the 5 mile "uphill in all directions" race course on Christmas Eve and maybe knocking out another 3.1 on New Year's Eve...in a normal year I would show up whether my heart was in it or not.  Stay tuned.
  • I meant to do the mile time trial at the end of the summer, but just never got around to it, partly due to weather and partly due to other races.  If my body wants to snap back and get speedy in the next month, great, but realistically I don't see it happening.  And you know what?  I'll be just as interested in making the goal in 2021.

And...I have a plan to finish out the year.  I'm going to give the tease that it's something that all of the cool kids are doing.  My expectation is that it will help ease me back into treadmill running and goose up my strength work.  I will Tell All next week (and if it's really that good I'm sure I'll say something on the 'gram before then).

That's all for now...see you next week!  Happy sweating everyone!

27 comments:

  1. It's definitely been nice to not have to rush as much in the mornings when working from home. But I do need to be done with my workouts by 6 because that's when my son gets up (and my husband leaves shortly after that) at least I don't necessarily have to be showered at that time. I usually wake up at least 20 minutes before I plan to start my workout so I have time for coffee. Looking forward to hearing more about your plans for finishing out the year!

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    1. Exactly, before the pandemic I had to be done with workouts by 7. With God as my witness I will never workout before coffee again.

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  2. Excited to hear your big reveal! I want to know what all the cool kids are doing. Does it start with pel and end with oton? :p

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    1. I couldn't have been any more obvious could I? 30 days left in the year and 30 day trial and my ears are ringing from everyone telling how much they love it...

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  3. I love not having to rush in the morning. I don't really know how I did it before? I know I'll get back to it eventually, but I really love this extra coffee time too :) Great goals for the year and future- thanks for sharing!

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    1. I think it was the shear necessity of having to get my workout done before 7 or not at all. I was just surprised that my body wouldn't take it on for just one day. Or maybe working out that early was always this awful?

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  4. Although I'm back in my usual routine of "at the real office by 8:00 (or there abouts)" routine, I really enjoyed logging in (still in workout clothes) and postponing the shower until my lunch break for those two WFH weeks. I didn't have to worry about Zoom or FaceTime, so why not take advantage? I need to tally up my race count...there's been four in-person ones, and LOTS of virtuals (too many to remember).

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    1. The WFH gig is pretty sweet. Though I'm so sweaty that I need to shower ASAP after my workouts just to be alone let alone with other people;-)

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  5. I think not having to rush in the morning is one of the good things about working from home. I still get up early to workout but it's nice not to have to rush to shower, get dressed and out the door.

    If the cool thing is Peloton, I have a feeling you will love it :)

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    1. Yep! I need something new to change it up and I have so much FOMO from hearing about your workouts.

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  6. Oh caffeine withdrawl is definitely real and very serious business! You hit some great milestones so far this year. Looking forward to hearing more about your new plan

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    1. It's been a good year, I just should have learned from going through exactly the same thing last year and built in more recovery time. Oh well, I'm older and wiser now.

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  7. LOL at the thought that you should have gone to a bar instead of doing your virtual turkey trot. I’ve certainly had days like that. I always workout before having coffee, unless I am doing a “real” race. I think of it as holding my coffee hostage until I’ve exercised. ;-)

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    1. Ha, ha, my coffee was holding my workout hostage. It wins for now and we'll renegotiate when things go back to "normal".

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  8. When I started running longer back in 2007, I only had a bit of coffee before my weekend long run. I ran the rest of the week uncaffeinated. Not sure how I did that, but I agree with you, it's SO nice to laze and loll over the java. I'm eageraly awaiting the big reveal...does it rhyme with smeloton??

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  9. Yeah, that whole bars are open, but races are canceled doesn't make a lot of sense, does it?

    Luckily for me as a trainer, my clients are not "camera ready" either so I can roll out of bed, get dressed, and go.

    I can't wait to see what's up your sleeve! I'll be tuning into IG just in case you let the cat out of the bag early.

    Have a great week!

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    1. It's just a bummer that an outside activity has to be cancelled. Oh well, hopefully it will just be a few more months until real life starts again.

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  10. ooooh, teasing! Looking forward to your announcement. You'd be pretty disappointed by my workout routine - my coffee comes afterwards! My routine is slimmed down so I can sleep as long as possible :) I've been getting outside a lot lately. Back to my treadmill tomorrow though! Good point about the bars being open still. Bummer all the races went virtual again.

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    1. lol, I hope you won't be too disappointed that it's just the Peloton app. I used to be the master of getting from my bed to the treadmill in 5 minutes flat but that skill set is gone.

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  11. In 2020, anything is possible and nothing is possible.

    If you don't meet your goals, there is always next year. You can blame it on the pandemic.

    I would rather run a race than go to a restaurant or gym.

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    1. Amen! Next year is waiting. At this point we're all well used to races being cancelled but it is an odd situation that so many other indoor things are open.

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  12. You are brave being able to drink coffee before a run. There is just no way I could make that happen over here! But I do get the caffeine withdrawal! No fun!

    Having a plan is a great start. Who knows what the next weeks or months will bring, so just do your best. <3

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    1. Cardio before coffee was my life for many years. I couldn't believe how much it hurt to just do it once after all of these months off of my normal routine.

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  13. Oh gosh, no coffee before your run? Why would you do that to yourself? Seriously, I will be one angry person if I were to do that. :-)

    Yeah, I don't understand the whole thing about races being cancelled but yet bars are still open. All good for the economy, right?

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    1. It took a long time to learn to run without coffee...and apparently it will take a long time again when the pandemic is over.

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  14. I'm willing to bet that most people who made running goals for 2020 did not achieve them. It's great you are able to let those go and recognize all the wonderful things you have accomplished this year.

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