Weekly Goals and Workout Recap: Run Fuel Parties, Cinnamon Buns, and Training Mistakes

Saturday started early with 12 miles after a Friday night fueling party of homemade pizza and salad with Beth, Nicole, and Liz (dark chocolate peanut M&M's may also have been consumed).

This is how I found Mason when I woke up. No, I did not put the covers like that.
Pretty sure he thinks he's a person.

As usual, Mason was not making it easy to leave and go out into the cold.

I met up with Theodora and Stephanie for the first time, running 2 miles with them down the west side of the Central Park loop, before I joined up with Beth, Nicole, and Kim for 5 miles. At the 7 mile mark for me, I split off and turned on the music so that I could concentrate on getting in some more hills.

Lululemon Run Club Coach Abby caught our group as we were rounding past the Reservoir.
(photo credit: Abby)

The rest of my run went smoothly and I headed home not feeling completely exhausted. Progress! I typically need to spend the rest of the day on the couch post-long run, but I didn't feel completely worn out on Saturday. I'm guessing it was the extra rest I had this past week.

After resting at home for a bit and enjoying a bagel with lox and scrambled eggs, I headed downtown to a Pilates ProWorks class organized by Kristine.

Post-class smiles

I'll write more about the class tomorrow since I want to do a thorough review of the studio, but the short version is, it was a great class. And it was followed by great drinks with friends.

I don't normally post food pictures, but this needed to be shared.
The vegan cinnamon rolls at Peacefood Cafe are just SO good. 

Sunday was much less packed, with just a brunch date with Sourabh at Peacefood Cafe, 3.25 speedy (for me) miles in Central Park, and dinner with old work friends.

I hadn't seen my summer group from my 2011 internship in months and it was so great to catch up over dinner and drinks at Ditch Plains. (Vegetarian tip: tofu hot dogs there are delicious for those who don't eat meat and miss hot dogs. I might be the only one)

Sunday's sky was so gorgeous -- this whole spring thing might be happening! 

Workout Recap
I realized the likely reason behind my calf pain was that I'd worked out 12 days in a row. I'm normally meticulous about putting in at least one rest day. Unfortunately, I'd forgotten to look at the weeks alongside each other, which led to 12 days straight with no rest days. NOT ideal. I won't be making that mistake again!

Monday: Rest day. Last-minute physical therapy appointment to see what was up with the crazy calf pain I was feeling, a knot in the top of my calf. Allison at Finish Line gave me some good exercises and massaged the area, which helped a lot.

Tuesday: Rest day. Calf exercises and foam rolling.

Wednesday: 20 minutes elliptical and 2 miles on the treadmill at an average 9:27 pace. The pain was gone by Wednesday morning, so after a painless 20 minutes on the elliptical, I decided to try out the treadmill. Again, no pain, thankfully.

Thursday: Rest day. Wanted to take it easy after realizing my mistake with working out 12 days straight!

Friday: Training session with Amanda. Spent 20 minutes doing intense hip openers that left me dripping sweat, then 40 minutes of TRX work focused on glutes (jumping squats, one-legged squats) and core (push-up + mountain climbers, planks). Felt sore in my shoulders and hamstrings the next day.

Saturday: (1) 12 mile Long Run. All in Central Park, some slower to stay with a group. Splits are weird since my Garmin turned off at 2.72 and then tracked my miles at the .72 mark from there. Paces: (1) 9:21, (2) 9:13, (.72) 9:29, (3.72) 10:24, (4.72) 10:41, (5.72) 10:39, (6.72) 10:45, (7.72) 10:05, (8.72) 9:33, (9.72) 9:57, (10.72) 9:34, (11.72) 9:51, (.28) 9:34.

I fueled pre-run with two pieces of Udi's GF toast, almond butter, sliced banana, and some chia seeds and maple syrup on top. Ate halves of Clif chews for two total during the run. Re-fueled with a whole wheat bagel and lox with scrambled eggs and salsa.

(2) Pilates ProWorks 30/30 Class. 30 minutes of reformer class and 30 minutes of BarreX (barre + TRX) class. Definitely felt this one Sunday morning in my abs!

Sunday: 3.25 mile fast run. Paces: (1) 8:11, (2) 8:57, (3) 8:23, (.25) 8:22. Went out a bit fast (I was in the high 7:00's for the first part of the run), but once I settled into the 8:20's it felt fairly comfortable, especially when I wasn't running around the Reservoir like I was in the second mile with the wind resistance.

Total Mileage = 17.25 (not ideal, but with the calf pain scare, I'll take it!)


Weekly Goals
I'm going to be focusing on speedy miles more this week, in addition to making sure to stretch properly pre- and post-run and include lots of foam rolling. It's "peak week," meaning it's the highest mileage week before I taper and rest my body in the week prior to the NYC Half. Less than two weeks until my big sub-2:00 Half-Marathon attempt! AHH!

My goal workouts are:
• 1 long run (12-13 miles)
• 1 speed workout (relay races at the Armory)
• 2 short runs (one at race pace, one medium effort)
• 1 mid-length run (5 miles at race pace)
• 2 strength workouts
• 1 yoga class


What are your workout goals for this week? Have you ever messed up your training plan without realizing it?