This week saw me nursing what could turn into a nasty injury and also saw me hit my mid-point training slump. Running is NOT appealing to me this week. But then again, not a whole lot is appealing to me this week. All the gray skies and canceled hikes I've dealt with since the snow last week have really put me into a funk. Add to that the fact that we had to send our coffee maker back to Amazon and you've got one under caffeinated, tired lady. Here's how my week of training went down.
Monday - Rest day. I had a run scheduled, but after walking my dog I was having some peroneal tendon pain. It had been tender since my 15-miler over the weekend and I have been rolling it out with Yoga Tune Up balls and icing/heating it. It didn't feel strong enough to run so I took a rest day.
Tuesday - 3.1 miles; speed work. With the help of the ever talented and amazing Abby from Back At Square Zero I am trying to mix up my training with some new ideas. She recommended I try doing the easy/hard method for training and today I went hard! I did a half mile run, 2 miles of fast and hard running, and a half mile of cool down. It was hard, I sweat buckets, and I was exhausted after. I was also exhilarated! It felt great, but my foot was still flaring up. More icing at home!
Wednesday - Cross Training; Zuzka Light's Bunny Slope Workout followed by Leslie Fightmaster's Yoga for Hip Opening. I had a 7-mile run scheduled, but I don't want to push it on my foot! More icing and stretching today.
Thursday - 4 miles trail running. I was supposed to have a guided hike today, but the clients were no shows. No big deal - I had already planned on running the relatively wide and pretty Gatlinburg Trail that afternoon anyway! It was sunny and 50 degrees. My foot felt a lot better and I had no pain during the run. It was a really hard run and I was breathing pretty hard, but it was also about 20 degrees warmer than it has been lately!
Friday - 3 miles guided hike, 3 miles dog walking. I did a guided hike in the morning with a client who needed to basically cut the time of the hike in half. We went at a nice pace and then I came home and took my dog for a 3-mile walk in the warm sunshine. It was 70 degrees by the afternoon and a perfect day!
Saturday - 15 miles running. Today was supposed to be 16 miles. Remember how I said I'd been feeling run down all week? I felt kind of crappy this morning too. I felt incredibly dehydrated, but I knew I wasn't. I set out for my run loaded up with Nuun on my new hydration belt. It was very windy and incredibly humid. My run took me past an area by our enormous town compost facility and through the crowded, exhaust-filled strip of Pigeon Forge. By mile 12 I was getting tired and at mile 14.1 I bonked. I paused my Garmin, drank the last of my Nuun and rallied until mile 15. I then walked the extra half mile back to my car as a cool down, scarfing down a honey roasted peanut Luna bar. I don't consider this run failed as I only missed it by a mile and I had already walked my dog, so technically, I'd done 17.5 miles by the end of my run. I'll call it a win!
Sunday - REST! I did a nice 45-minute flow yoga workout and some foam rolling on my legs and feet. Here's to hoping next week is a little bit kinder to me!
That was my week in training. My next race is the Knoxville Marathon on April 3rd. Are you training for anything? How did your week go? Let me know in the comments or over on the Facebook post!
