Sunday, January 24, 2021

Weekly Sweats: Mole Fitness

 
Thanks to winter, it was a "mole fitness" week, meaning that all of my workouts took place underground.  28.1 miles of running, three weight workouts, and assorted yoga and stretching ensued.

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

In a perfect world I would have been able to pick up my fitness journey from where I left it last week with the mix of easy running and speed workouts.  As it was, we have a lot of ice and a lot of cold with more of both on the way so I had to take it inside and adapt things to the treadmill.  Happily, my body was on board with the indoor miles.  And don't worry, thanks to the dog we have plenty of outside/fresh air time on our two daily walks so it's all good.

Monday: weights and 4.3 slow paced miles.  Doing an easy run outside where I just relax and let things happen is a world of difference between doing an easy run on the treadmill where I push the "5" button for speed and spend the next 50 minutes resisting the urge to change things.

Tuesday: 5 miles at 5.5 pace, which is my "everyday" treadmill speed.  I didn't feel like doing speed on the treadmill so I didn't.

Wednesday, weights, no running

Thursday: 5.3 miles!  Again, just steady state 5.5 pace.  Let me repeat something that I've said before about treadmill running: I TAKE BREAKS.  Generally speaking if I'm running outside it's pretty rare for me to pause the Garmin.  I mean yes if I need to wait to cross a street (sometimes I'm so wrapped up in running that I need to stop to make sure that I'm making a logical rather than an emotional decision if it's safe to cross), and if it's really hot I also might pause for a minute here and there, but overall it's not common.  The treadmill is a whole different ball game, and I'd say for more mental than physical reasons, I need to take a pause here and there.  The highlight of this run was that I was able to make it to 2.6 miles before my first break.

P.S. my mental game on the treadmill is all about getting through the lap that I'm in...I'm not there to run 5 miles I'm just there to watch the lap tracker get through the next lap and then I do it all over again.


Friday: 4.25 miles of running at an easy pace with weights later in the day.  This run felt much easier than Monday's slo-mo and thanks for asking I again made it to 2.6 miles before my first break.

P.P.S. You can read into whether I'm going by treadmill distance or Garmin distance by whether the run ends at x.25 or x.30 miles...ultimately I always go by treadmill distance but if it's x.25 then the Garmin and treadmill are "close enough"...if the runs ends at x.30 miles that means that the Garmin was lagging so I went by the treadmill and adjusted the difference in all my various running apps.  Strava only lets you manually enter tenths of a mile and heaven forbid that I would ever log a x.25 mile run as an x.2 or x.3

Saturday: 6 miles!  And thanks for asking, this time I made it 3.1 miles before my first break, which is a really good sign.

Sunday: 3.25 miles at slow pace, no breaks!

What's Next?

I guarantee you that I will be sticking to my strength training plan like glue next week because it's a prescribed rest week!  The end of each phase of the plan is a rest week, which will also help to to execute one of my running goals for the year, which is to take regular cutback weeks.  I've just done three weeks of pretty high-for-me mileage and I feel great BUT I'm going to take a week to rest on my laurels and do short, easy runs.  Knowing that the last week of January was going to be an easy week really motivated me to push it up til now.

See you next week!  Happy miles everyone!!!

35 comments:

  1. I like the term 'mole fitness' - I had that type of week too! If I'm doing longer runs on the treadmill I also take breaks - it makes the run more bearable!

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    1. For real! Once I get more used to it I'll be able to go for longer...or maybe the weather will get better so that I won't have to get used to it.

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  2. LOL mole fitness - I love that term! I'm going to have to use that. We had some icy and cold weather this week, too. Makes it so hard to get outside!

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    1. Oof, there's so much ice out there with nothing to melt it. Thank goodness for the mill!

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  3. Ha ha on the "mole" workouts. Hey, at least you get them done. I cannot seem to step onto my treadmill anymore. I'd rather just suck it up and go outside. Great job sticking to your plan this week. Thanks for linking up

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    1. Ah remind me to move to VA so that I can get outside! There's just too much ice.

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  4. Enjoy your cutback week! Those are always my favorite. And yeah, I take breaks on the TM too. For me, it's about logging the miles.

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    1. Agree. The TM is just to keep my running fitness, I'm not going to be running races on it.

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  5. Great job getting it done even though you were indoors! I take more breaks on my treadmill too. Ya gotta do whatcha gotta do to get it done!

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    1. Amen! We get it done to keep our running fitness until we can get outside again.

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  6. LOL on “mole” fitness - I’ve never thought of my basement gym that way. I am the opposite with TM running. I rarely stop. On the other hand, running outside I’m either stopping for photos on my own or stopping for Scooby!

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  7. I would always take breaks on the treadmill. It is all mental. 10 miles? No, It is 2.5 miles, break, 2.5 miles and repeat, repeat.

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    1. Getting to 2.5 without a break is an accomplishment all of itself. Hopefully I won't have to do any 10 milers on the mill this spring...ugh!

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  8. Oh, the treadmill. I can sometimes (emphasis on sometimes LOL) make it a full three miles before needing a break, but that's not a guarantee. I usually have to run the first three "laps" at whatever pace, then increase the speed for the fourth "lap." Those speed surges break up the miles and make them seem shorter (because the surges feel like their own entity). I know, mind games LOL Anyways, great job with all your mole fitness workouts!

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    1. My favorite way to break up a TM mile is quarter mile fast/quarter mile slow. All of the mind games to get it done!

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  9. LOL. I was thinking Mole Fitness was going to be a review of an app or program and wondered how I never even heard of it. Congrats on a solid week, and glad you and the pup can still safely get out

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    1. Ha ha, all I have to do is come up with some content and I can trademark it. Or maybe just stick to my day job;-)

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  10. Mole fitness is a great way to describe it! I'll have to remember that the next time I head down to the treadmill. And yes I have to take breaks on the mill or mentally I check out. Great job this week!

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    1. Mentally it's so hard to make the shift between running outside and running on the mill. Having a funny name for it helps.

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  11. Great week of mole fitness! That's awesome you're able to stay at a steady speed mentally. I am all over the buttons. Whatever works, right?

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  12. Good for you on keeping up both your running and ST.

    I don't have a TM but I used change the speed all the time. I found it sooo hard to run fast on it.

    Ha Ha. I was wondering what you meant by "mole" I was thinking is was about food (mole sauce)

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  13. Mole fitness is a great description for your basement workouts! Just think of the tunnels you could build if your running wasn't stationary. LOL

    Great job on getting in your runs on the treadmill. It's been a long time since I ran that much on mine.

    Have a great week!

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    1. When the boys were younger they wanted to tunnel from our house to all of their neighborhood friends' houses...if they could figure out how to harness the energy from the TM they could make it happen!

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  14. I absolutely support breaks! And I love that you call it "mole fitness." You are doing incredible work!

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  15. I love the idea for a cutback week in strength and running. It does help you push knowing you get to take it easy the following week!

    Mole fitness...haha love it! Treadmills are a mental game for sure! It's like a microwave minute...much longer than a normal minute!

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    1. Ooh exactly on the microwave minute. I'm enjoying my lighter week but I'm already getting itchy to ramp it up again.

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  16. I've embraced working out indoors for quite some time now. I mean it's always nicer to be outside but totally get why you were underground last week!

    I am a break taker on or off the treadmill. But, I like the idea of sticking in the lap I'm in rather than the kilometer!

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    1. I wonder if mentally it would be easier to think of my treadmill runs in k's instead of miles??? Another idea to experiment with!

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  17. I generally don't take a break on the treadmill. Especially now that my watch is properly tracking the pace/mileage, it annoys me to step off to adjust my fan! I find the rhythmic sounds of my steps to be tranquil. That's odd, right? But hoping off for a few seconds is OK in my book and when needed I'll do it. Nothing wrong with that!

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    1. I am impressed! Next time I'll try to focus on my steps when I find myself wanting to take a break.

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  18. Haha, mole fitness. Cool you have a fitness room with a treadmill at your disposal when the weather is inclement.

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