Breakdown: Week 5 1/2 marathon training

Another week completed, another fabulous training breakdown. I struggled at the beginning of this week, which I think was tied to my diet issues. You can read about those here.

Monday: Hello Rest Day, I'm happy to see you again! My left calf was screaming at me. It felt like I had no elasticity at all. If I sat down for too long, walking when I got up became a problem. Once I walked around for a bit, the muscle warmed up & it was manageable. I spent the evening alternating stretching & my heating pad. I've found heat works much better for me than ice. Yes, contrary to all the literature out there... I'm just weird like that, I guess.

Tuesday: I missed the morning run on purpose. When I woke up, my calf was still tight so I decided to err on the side of caution & play the wait-&-see game. After work, I headed to the gym & got my 3 miles in as a warm-up for my weight session. Trainer & I spent a lot of time talking diet because I suck at balancing the food properly.

Wednesday: I was supposed to run 4 miles, but I just didn't feel like it. I woke up on time, but just wasn't feeling it. Then I thought I'd do it after work, but decided to prepare some new food items instead. After that, it was another trip to the vet for BigDog. When I got home from that, I watched the latest episode of The Good Wife on AppleTV. There are days that you just don't have the spirit. This was one of those days. I really felt like I needed a bit of break, so I took one. I stuck to the meal plan, though. I only gave my body a break. I didn't regret it at all.

Thursday: Woke up naturally at 0400 only slightly groggy. That early in the morning, there are no excuses. I pulled myself together & mounted the treadmill for the 4 miles I missed the previous day. And struggled the entire time. At 2.5 miles, I needed to take a walk break. I made it 3 miles & thought I could last... but I only lasted to 3.05 miles. I think my body didn't have the fuel it needed to get the job done & was thankful it was Day #1 of a few new items to the meal plan. After work, I hit the gym for my weight session. To warm up, I ran 1.6 miles. So I ended up with 4.6 miles today, & my first double-run day. Ever. ...there's always a silver lining.

I also tried UnderArmour Charged Cotton for the first time. I hate cotton for working out & running. I'm a micro-fiber kind of girl. But it seems like UnderArmour micro-fiber is tough to come by these days, so I thought I'd give the new wonderfabric a try. And it held up. It's super soft of the skin & worked great at the gym.

Friday: Would normally be a rest day, but the schedule was a day behind due to the unplanned Wednesday rest day. I realized Thursday night I would not want to wake up early & log miles before work. There are days you know you'll do okay if you're just realistic with yourself; this was one of those days. The 0430 wake up call was not happening. Instead, I decided to pop onto my t-mill after work. And since I set the intention Thursday night, success was much easier to attain. Also, the new additions/changes to the meal plan helped. Much more energy to be active, which helps physically and emotionally to get the job done. So instead of sucking thru 3 miles at 0430, I felt recharged & refreshed after my 3 mile post-work run.

I also tried out Sparkly Soul headbands! I bought a thin & a thick band to try out. I have bangs, so it's always tough finding something that'll hold them back & not slip off my head. So far, so good! This thing lasted my entire pace run. And the thick one sits nicely on my head after a shower. Color me impressed!

Pink & cute

Saturday: WTF acid stomach??!! Meant to get up & go to Body Pump. My stomach disagreed. I spent the entire day on the couch, alternating between sleeping & light carbo loading for the 10k. It was not a pleasant day. But I did get to eat this:

Not exactly healthy, but mostly okay pre-race.

Sunday: StraVicenza, the annual local 10k. And my first race since my marathon DNF. The morning started with me not being able to decide. Then I got all the way to the meeting point & realized I'd forgotten my Garmin. So I had to drive back to my house to get it. Public transport was free today because all the roads were closed, but it was so packed, we missed the first bus. We got on the next bus, got down to the race start, registered, dropped my bag & got to the start line with no time left. Seriously. People had already started. I wanted to really race, but the crowd didn't allow for that.

No fighting this mess.

About 2k into the race, the crowd thinned out & I was able to really run. And I did. 10k in 1:12:43. And I actually got to cross a finish line! I burst into tears at the finish because I was so damned happy my body didn't crap out on me. It was really awesome. And considering how I started, the time is really good.

So there's Week 5. My diet has gone a little wonky during the weekend, so I'm looking forward to getting back on track with my eating. I'm finally feeling confident that I can get this half marathon done & complete. It's a good feeling.

Classic Supergirl pose.