Hope you had a great weekend! After I got home from Washington late Wednesday night, I had a very productive few days, since I had to prep for today: my First Day of Work!
It's just orientation today, so nothing crazy, but it's still a huge milestone. While I've had a lot of internships where I worked full-time for 8-12 weeks, and at one point had three in a row so I worked for nine months straight, starting work today marks the first day of the rest of my working career. Pretty exciting!
Chicago Marathon Training Recap: Week 15
While flying back from Washington, I got addicted to Nerdist podcasts. They're almost all with comedians, so they're really amusing and also give you some great insights into the comedy world. I mainly watch comedies (both TV shows and movies), so it's neat to listen to someone like Billy Crystal talk about his comedic process.
I bring up podcasts because they're what got me through my solo twenty miler yesterday! I listened to Billy Crystal, Charlie Day (of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Aasif Mandvi (of The Daily Show), and Seth Rogen. I was so entertained that I was able to put aside my discomfort -- my hamstring continued to be uncomfortable and my legs just felt heavy the whole way.
Tuesday: 60 minute yoga class (taught by my dad).
Ouch, I am still super tight from all those miles in the car on my road trip!
Wednesday: 4.6 easy miles (48 minutes).
Ouch. It was COLD in washington when I went running -- about 45 degrees -- and I was in shorts and a long sleeve top. I felt okay, but I'm pretty sure the cold is what triggered some extreme hamstring pain later.
After improving for most of the previous week, my entire hamstring seized up on the two hour car ride down to the Seattle airport. I was in so much pain that I had to take four ibuprofen, and I almost never take ibuprofen, so it usually works pretty well on me when I have pain. Somehow, the pain disappeared, but I couldn't run Thursday as planned.
Thursday: 60 minute strength training session with trainer, Amanda.
We used a TRX and did exercises that only used my core and arms, leaving my right hamstring completely alone. My abs were sore for a few days, which was awesome after not having any intense strength training in a while.
Friday: Rest day. Physical therapy appointment.
Saturday: 2 easy miles (22:21) with Sourabh!
Without needing convincing, Sourabh came along on my shakeout run on Saturday! We kept a really easy pace since I didn't want to aggravate my hamstring at all. It was fun to run together and chat, and I loved getting back to the Reservoir, one of my favorite running paths in New York.
Sunday: 20 mile long run!!!
With a Sad Panda sighting! Highlight of my run? Either this or the Charlie Day podcast (I'm a big Always Sunny in Philadelphia fan).
This run never felt good. I feel like I'm kind of sick, so my stomach hurt and my throat felt swollen the whole run. My hamstring ached a bit, my legs felt like lead, and the whole thing never felt "easy." But it was one of the strongest long runs I've had because I just felt so mentally strong. I wasn't looking at how far I had left to run and feeling miserable... I just stayed in the mile I was in and tuned out the discomfort. Good practice for the marathon!
Even cooler, I did this run totally solo. I was concerned it would be really hard to do such a long run solo, but the podcasts provided conversation for me to listen to, and were the perfect company. I'm no longer worried about running a marathon by myself.
I kept the pace slow because of the hamstring -- I shouldn't try to speed up, according to the physical therapists. I did push the pace more at the end, just to see how much I had left, and was really happy with how much I seemed to have left in the tank.
Splits - (1) 11:03, (2) 11:29, (3) 11:21, (4) 11:24, (5) 11:28, (6)11:35, (7) 11:17, (8) 11:43 - Battery Park crowds, (9) 11:52 - Battery Park crowds, (10) 11:19, (11)11:30, (12) 11:29, (13) 11:36, (14) 11:42, (15) 11:39, (16) 11:35, (17) 11:06, (18) 11:01, (19) 10:41, (20) 10:06.
Total Mileage = 26.6
Not ideal mileage, but my hamstring is improving, and that's what counts, right?
Next Week's Training Schedule
Totally up in the air! No, seriously. With me feeling under the weather and needing to rest this hamstring, Coach Jess told me we're taking it one day at a time.
How was your weekend? Do you like to do some long runs solo to prep for race day?
A 20 miler is no small feat--nice work! Covering this distance solo (and in less-than-ideal conditions between the hamstring and potential onset of a cold) is a huge mental and physical boost. I had a good solo long run (long for me, not for you ;)) this weekend too, and completing it makes me feel much better about race day. Keep up the good work--and have a great first day at work!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pictures! Hope your hammy starts feeling better soon! Glad to see you're back!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the 20 miles. You are still the game! I hope the hamstring only continues to improve.
ReplyDeleteGood luck at work and great job with the run!!! seriously awesome for powering on through.
ReplyDelete2 weeks! I can't believe it is almost here!!!