Week two is here is gone already and I can hardly believe it! This week was definitely a lot tougher for me than week one but I'm glad that it all turned out the way that it did! I'm getting into the core portion of my training and I'm loving every bit of it. The struggles, the smiles, everything!
As a reminder, I’m basing my training off of Life In Leggings training plan but I have mixed some things up a bit to fit my own needs! Especially after this past week of craziness!
Sunday
Sunday was my first long run of training! Seven miles. I was super excited for it. I have a 6.5 mile loop near my house that is one of my favorites. I just tacked on an extra 0.5 mile and got in my 7. I love the route that I took because it's back roads so it's a quiet and peaceful run. I forgot how tough the two huge hills are that I had to tackle though! One is near the very beginning of the run and the other is near the end. The first one was the toughest for me! I did it though and effortlessly cruised through the remainder of the run. It was such a beautiful day for it too!
Distance: 7 miles Time: 1 hour 17 minutes
After my run I did about 40 minutes of yoga! It involved 2 minute plank holds, push ups, and various other strengthening exercises. I had a partner in crime doing her own special down dogs!
Monday
Rest day!! I did spend some time doing yoga and other stuff outside!
Tuesday
Today was 4 miles. This was really fun and effortless for me! I had to go to work right after my run and it was really cloudy the whole time. But I got it finished in good time!
Distance: 4 miles Time: 40 minutes
My boyfriend bought a new bike on Tuesday and wanted to go for a ride that night. We did a nice 5 mile loop near my house. Loved it!
Wednesday
I biked 7.7 miles. It was a great day for biking and I wanted to do it as a warm up. But I didn't want to stop and ended up with 7 miles. Whoops! I came home and did this ab workout followed by the Strala Strong class in the grass with the sun beating down. So many happy workout vibes afterwards! I took the dogs for a walk and Roxy enjoyed swimming! She always splashes me as well which is a nice way to cool down.
Thursday
I made an impulsive trip to NYC on Thursday. I had a 5 mile run planned but waking up at 3:30 a.m. and getting home at 2 a.m. on Friday morning just didn't give me the time to make it happen. I did walk over 10 miles that day though and was pretty exhausted after that adventure!
Friday
I planned to make up my 5 miles from Thursday. I woke up too late since I didn't get to sleep until after 2 in the morning and by the time I was ready to go it was over 90 degrees. I decided to postpone it until later in the evening. Throughout the day I went on a crazy long walk/hike with Darrin. I wish I would have tracked how far we went. But then I came home and started my 5 miles. I was so tired. My legs felt heavy. I knew that I was going slow. It all frustrated me and I stopped at mile two. I was so mad at myself but my body wasn't feeling it and it showed.
Distance: 2 miles Time: n/a
Saturday
Today was just an active rest day! I worked all day and then I went for a walk with Darrin and the dogs. It was Roxy's birthday so we celebrated that as well! I definitely needed the time to recover and enjoyed it!
Thoughts
This past week my training for the half that I'm doing next month hasn't gone as planned. On Thursday I was supposed to do a 5 mile tempo but took an impulsive trip to NYC instead. Then on Friday I was to do an easy 3 miles. I woke up late from being in NYC the previous day and by then it was too hot out to do it so I planned on waiting until evening. I set out that night and only did 2 miles before stopping due to frustration of training in general. My legs were tired. They felt so heavy. I knew I was going super slow and that frustrated me a lot. I quit because of it. I was super mad at myself for it. But my body was telling me no. I walked over 10 miles in NYC on Thursday and went for a very long hike/walk earlier in the day on Friday. My legs were tired and I needed to accept that. I needed to realize that it's okay that I didn't do exactly what I planned to do. Life got in the way and that's okay. Today I set out for 8 miles and it was great. The beginning was tough due to a very large hill and the ending was tough due to the rising temperatures but I did it and it was a lot easier than the struggle I had with 2 miles on Friday. The struggles that I had today are things that I expected. Hills and hot weather I have come to terms with a long time ago. My legs being tired and running slow is something that I am beginning to work on accepting. Training is teaching me much more than how to run fast at long distances. It's teaching me patience with myself and acceptance with the fact that I'm not always going to be able to do things as I plan due to a variety of circumstances and that's okay. I'm motivated to do this and I'm trying the best that I can and that's more than enough.