These last two weeks were a bit rough as our family fought illness yet again. I know there is still a lot time to go until the race but I do admit I was discouraged these past couple of weeks. After writing this out I’m sure I’ll see that I still did get in some solid training but I’m sure anyone can relate to feeling disappointed when their training gets off to a rocky start.
Becuase I was sick, I focused mostly on running and did whatever other workouts that sounded good that day. I really had wanted to get in another 1-2 weeks of Core de Force but it just didn’t happen.
Week 2: January 30th – February 5th
Monday: After being in denial about getting a second cold at the end of last week, I knew I officially had one by Monday but decided to try out my workout on the treadmill anyway. Surprisingly I felt really good and ran 6 miles with 5 x 3 minutes at half marathon goal pace with recovery times decreasing from 2:30 down to 30 seconds.
Tuesday: Easy 45 minute run with the stroller. This felt OK, not great, not bad. Later I did 21 Day Fix Extreme Yoga which felt really good.
Wednesday: Rest day. I was feeling terrible this day after a really bad night of sleep for Siena (and hence for me) and decided to just rest. I even took the day off work, napped when she did and just sat on the couch (as much as I could with a toddler). I was sad that I had to miss the group speed workout, but I knew it was for the best.
Thursday: By the afternoon I was feeling better and met up with an friend for a 5 mile recovery run on the coast. This run felt pretty good becuase I was distracted by having a friend there! 
Friday: Core de Force Dynamic Strength. This feel good but I could tell I wasn’t as strong as last time, probably becuase I was still fighting something. 
Saturday: 12 mile run. This was a nice and easy, flat run that was meant to not wear us out too much since the majority of the running group was doing the Cardiff Kook 10K the next day.
Sunday: Cardiff Kook Run – 6.2 miles in 48:05. Full race report here.
Weekly Totals:
- 34 miles running
- 1.25 hours strength training/yoga (although I think I may have done yoga twice but I can’t remember!)Rest
Week 3: February 6th-12th
Monday: 21 Day Fix Yoga and a walk on the beach with friends Allison and Rachel. My coach said I could run if I was feeling up for it but if I was feeling beat from the race to skip it. I skipped it.
Tuesday: 6 mile run and 5 Minute Core on the Floor (from Core de Force) in the morning and P90X Chest, Shoulders and Tris with Mike during his lunch break. It was really fun to workout with Mike again!
Wednesday: 7.2 miles including 3 x 15 minutes of hill repeats + 2 x 400 @ 10K pace. This workout was really hard (and super complex – I can’t even explain it)! I was so glad I was feeling well enough to go. I missed the instructions and ended up just following two friends up and down the hills before realizing I had probably gone out too hard on the first one. Either way, I ended up just a few yards behind them after the workout was done. I had runner’s high after this one! The coach commented on my form while running up the hills – he says I don’t activate my gluten and use too much of my quads while running uphill and gave me some exercises to focus on. This totally makes sense because I’m terrible at hills – I need to be using my biggest muscles to get up them and apparently I’m not.
Thursday: 50 min recovery run with the stroller. This felt tough and I walked some of the hills. It was more about time on my feet and recovery, not pace! Later in the day I got a stomach bug – not sure if it was food poisoning or what but it was NOT fun! 
Friday: Rest Day. Still feeling bad from whatever stomach bug I was fighting. By the end of the day was feeling mostly better so decided I’d wake up for my long run.
Saturday: 16 mile long run. I was really proud of myself for completing this run! Within a mile I was making excuses – especially since I was still not feeling 100%, it was raining lightly, and my friend Kelly said she was probably only going to run 12 miles. Although this was a slow run, it was nice having Kelly and the others for company. Kelly ended up running 14 miles with me and when I realized I just had to run 2 more on my own, I knew I could do it. This was SLOW but it got done!
Sunday: 1 hour walk with my friend Brooke in the morning, but otherwise a rest day.
Weekly Totals:
- 34 miles running
- 1.5 hours strength training/yoga
This week I’m starting back on 21 Day Fix and running and I hope to have a much more solid report for you guys next week! I’m still not 100% (and may head to the doctor if things aren’t better soon) and if I’m honest, I’m pretty frustrated! I miss my normal energy levels and I’m sick of feeling sick. I just want to start making progress instead of constantly feeling like I’m taking steps back. I pride myself on not getting sick often and yet it seems like I can’t avoid it this year!
Anyone else battling illness left and right? How do you handle setbacks in training?
Nice job even when you are sick!!! How could your coach tell that you were working your quads more than your glutes? What kind of exercises did he suggest? Keep up the great work!!
I was having some knee pain last year (while on the bike) and my PT said my glutes weren’t firing. So I do a bunch of exercises before I run and ride but I have a hard time telling if they are actually firing!! 🙂
Thanks Leslie! He could just tell based on the way my legs moved – something about my knee moving inward maybe?! I can’t exactly remember what he said. The exercises were things like doing squats or walking side to side with a resistance band around my thighs – there’s actually a couple moves in 21 Day Fix lower fix that are similar so I plan to do that once a week and do other exercises one other time. Luckily the race I’m running doesn’t have a lot of uphill and he said I don’t do it on the flat but it’s definitely something I should work on.
Interesting! I do a lot of bridges and jane fondas!! 🙂
Wow, you are doing great considering how crummy you are feeling! We honestly rarely got sick until having kids. I think they just somehow expose us to germs we aren’t used to. I spent last winter being sick for MONTHS, ending with strep throat which was the WORST! It’s definitely frustrating, especially when you are used to being so active. Hopefully you can kick this soon.
Thanks, that makes me feel better! It really is terrible! Hopefully it’s almost over and we can all move on!
Great photos!
Thanks!