Month: April 2016

Johnny Miles Half Marathon Training Week 2

/ Anna @ Piper's Run / 17 Comments

Hello Tuesday!

I’m a day late getting this post together but here it is. Last week’s training for the Johnny Miles Half Marathon was pretty great!

What was Planned vs What Really Happened.

Monday April 4th: Stretch & Strength | IronStrength Workout (45 minutes).  This was a good and HARD workout again. Instead of doing it all out for 5 minutes each, I did 2 rounds of each exercise. It’s what I could manage without compromising my form. I officially HATE burpees.

 

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Tuesday: 5 k | 5 k Treadmill Run. Oh dear, this run happened after a 12 hour work day. I got home at 8 PM and decided I needed to get my run done. My husband jumped on his bike (trainer) and I on the treadmill and we both got our workouts done. BIG win for the day!

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Wednesday: 5 k Tempo Run | 7 k Tempo Run {46:37}. On my treadmill (yes, again!), I ran 2 k to warm up, 4 k tempo run (increasing my speed each km), followed by 1 km cool down. It was nice to push my pace each kilometer and maintain that pace (not cheat and back off). I kept thinking “learn to run push your limits, it’s going to make you stronger”. I needed this run.

Thursday: 5 k + Strength| 1.44 km Treadmill and Weights. I really should have done this run or workout. My body was seriously exhausted and I was in a bit of a foul mood. After 1.44 km, I hit stop jumped off my treadmill and did one around of weights. (10 lbs weights: bicep curls, push press, step/lunge and something else but I can’t remember). I did some PT exercises and called it a day.

Friday: Rest Day | Rest Day. Nailed it. I literally did nothing all day. I had taken the day off work for some medical appointments and rested. I tried to take a nap but that failed when my husband called me. I spent the afternoon sorting the girls clothing, watching TV and then my evening was early to bed. I’m pretty sure I nailed this rest day.

Saturday: 5 k pace | 5 k Treadmill Run. I love having a treadmill in my house because the MAJORITY of my running would not happen right now if I didn’t have one. Nothing amazing about this run other then I survived a full day: trip to the city and back, trip to the zoo, dinner/bed time with the girls and then I ran.

Costco $10.99 Running Skirt Win!!!!

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Sunday: 10 k Long Run | 10 k Treadmill Run. Good lord, I’m seriously thinking I’m going to forget how to run OUTDOORS! A FULL week of treadmill running!!!!!!! I’m really not sure the last time this happened but whatever, I got it done!

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KM this week: 28.44 km

KM in this training cycle: 46

KM missed this week: 4 ish

Week #1 can be found here.

Training Plan: Hal Higdon in kilometers. 

I was still having some SI joint pain last week and started foam rolling more, which helped. It pain didn’t go away but it’s starting to get better each day. I got a massage yesterday which made it 95% better. My hip flexors were SUPER tight, not to mention my glutes.

Overall, I’m thrilled with this week. It was really busy with work and my husband working lots 🙂 but I managed to get it done! Another week down another week ahead of me!

Anyone training for a race, how’s it going? 

How about BOSTON? Running, watching it live or on TV? 

Do you get massages while training?

Just Listen To Your Body

/ Anna @ Piper's Run / 18 Comments

Did anyone ever tell you to listen to your body? You’ll know when to slow down or stop and rest. I’ve told myself this many times “listen to your body…it will thank you later””. However, sometimes it can be challenging to listen to your own advice.

If you are new to the blog (Welcome!), I’m training for my 4th half marathon. My first was in 2006 and second was in 2014! Apparently, I took some time off long distance running and stuck with other outdoor activities and 5 k/10 k races for a few years.

In 2014, I ran twelve races! I NEVER thought I would run that many races in one year but I did and loved it. I had planned on running 3 half marathon’s in 2015 but was side lined with a hamstring injury from soccer (soccer is my first love). It took nine months to get it back to *almost* normal; almost normal enough to run a half marathon (after missing two plus other races).

I trained and ran my 3rd half marathon last October (2015) in PEI but made the rookie mistake of not taking care of myself and stretching immediately after crossing the finish line. I stood out in the cold to watch others finish while my hamstring decided to say “f-u” for not stretching. I was in severe pain for a week and it slowly went away.

Two big lessons learned: one – take care of yourself post race and two: strength training is a must.

Fast forward to this past week, which is week #2 of training for Johnny Miles Half Marathon in June. I’ve been great with all my planned workouts and did some even with some challenging work days and family days. My body is tired. I’m tired from not sleeping well. At this point, I really should have listened to my body and taken a rest day (and move around my workouts) but I didn’t.

Last night was no different. I got home with the girls (my husband was working) and had an unfortunate surprise waiting for me all over the house from our dog Maclean. After 25 minutes of cleaning that up, got dinner ready/ate, then walked the dog with the girls. I gave the girls a bath and got them to bed with the help of my husband after his shift (he’s a Paramedic).

Around 8:30 I jumped on the treadmill, which was really late for me. I was in a foul mood and really tired. My body felt okay but my mind didn’t. I.Was.Tired!!!! After 1.44 km I got off the treadmill and turned it off. I just couldn’t do it. I grabbed my weights and did a round of bicep curls, dead lifts, overhead push press, lunges up stairs etc., along with some old PT exercises for my hamstring and core.

April 8th listen to body

What I should have done? Taken the day off and just go to bed early. More than anything I needed sleep. Since today is Friday and my training plan has me on a rest day, I’m taking it. I’m tired. I need a rest.

Just because your schedule says run (swim, bike etc.) doesn’t mean you have to. Listening to your body and take a rest day. It can be more beneficial then pushing the limits. Luckily for me last night, I stopped before I let it get out of hand or injured.

When was the last time you took an unexpected rest day?

Do you push the limits with your workout or take a rest day when you really need it?

When was the last time you listened to your body?

 

Unknown Motivation

/ Anna @ Piper's Run / 13 Comments

Sometimes it can be a challenge to motivate yourself to get out and run. It’s still cold out right now (short lived winter vortex happening) and this is one thing keeping me from running outdoors. Which, if you think about it is kinda funny because I love running in the winter…with snow/ice on the ground.

Sometimes your exhausted from your day, you are feeling lazy or you don’t have anyone to go with. And sometimes you find motivation in an unknown way!

Yesterday I worked a 12 hour day. This is not normal for my normal 9-5 day but I had to travel 2 hours to a workshop and back plus I had an evening meeting. Because of that it meant that I wouldn’t get home until 8 pm. I was exhausted.

My husband had planned to get on his bike (indoor trainer) after he got the girls to bed. When I arrived at home (7:50 pm), I was exhausted and was still thinking I’d jump on the treadmill but wasn’t 100% sold on the idea.

As Saï was getting his bike gear on, I decided to put my running gear on and head down to the basement as well. I really wanted to run but I was so exhausted from my day that sitting on the couch and watching some TV sounded delightful!

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Instead, I jumped on the treadmill after being motivated by my husband. I’m not sure if he knew that he was motivating ME to run while HE biked….but he did. Thanks love.

Another 5 k done in my half marathon training.

What has motivated you lately?

Do you workout with your significant other?

Happy Hump Day!

Johnny Miles Half Marathon Training Week #1

/ Anna @ Piper's Run / 16 Comments

Just like that, week 1 of half marathon training is done 🙂 It started off pretty good and then I just needed a little more sleep than running.

What was Planned vs What Really Happened.

Monday March 28th: Stretch & Strength | IronStrength Workout (50 minutes). Let me tell you that this workout is NO JOKE! I printed it from the IronStrength book I have and kept that in front of me to stay on track.WHAT a workout! Yes, I did it near the fire for some silly reason. Hoping it gets easier as the weeks pass by.

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Tuesday: 5k | Yoga. Went to yoga class at lunch time and it was great! Though my body was sore from Monday’s workout, it was just what I needed. I planned to run 5k that night but my body was just to exhausted so I went to bed early.

Wednesday: 5 x 400 @ 5 k pace | 4 x 400’s Treadmill (5k). Well, I may have missed the last 400 but I managed to figure out how to do  400’s on the treadmill. I had a little help from some running friends (figuring out my pace in km for the treadmill and what level to be at). It looked like this:

  1. Warm up 10 minute easy running
  2. 400 in 2:xx at level 9.5 (I forgot to write it down)
  3. 400 in 2:34 (level 10)
  4. 400 in 2:24 (level 11)
  5. 400 in 2:04 (level 12.5)
  6. Cool down for 10 minutes.

I had a book with me on the treadmill to keep track of my times and quickly realised that I needed one piece of paper while I did my 400’s. I made the mistake of only writing down numbers 1 through 4, therefore I totally missed the 5th round. When I finished the fourth one, I even though…I could do another one but didn’t…and did a cool down run to finish off 5k. After stretching I saw what I did wrong…man, was I mad at myself!

Thursday: 5 k + Strength| 5k + Modified IronStrength (35 minutes). My running buddy Krystol messaged me to see if I was able to run with her Thursday evening…and I WAS! Another benefit of Sai being home 🙂 We went out for an easy 5k and then spent 35 minutes doing a modified IronStrength workout. It was great to do both the run and workout with her….lots of chatting, laughs and maybe a few swear words (from me).

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Friday: Rest Day! | Rest Day! Nailed it 🙂

Saturday: 5 k | Nothing. Rough day so I went to bed before 9 PM! I really needed the sleep so I was okay with missing my run.

Sunday: 8k Long Run | 8k Treadmill Run. After a rough day with the girls, meal prepping, grocery shopping, baking/cooking, I somehow manged to get in an 8k run on the treadmill. It was super slow and steady for the first 4k and then I was able to increase/decrease my speed until 7km. The last km I just kept increasing my speed until I was flat out sprinting. 58:52.

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KM this week: 18

KM in this training cycle: 18

KM missed: 10 (yikes!)

Training Plan: Hal Higdon Intermediate.

I’ve been struggling with some SI joint pain over the last two weeks which is slowly getting better. I’m hoping it doesn’t get as bad as it was a few years back. Other then that, I’m moving on to week two!

How was your weekend?

Anyone training, how’s it going?

How often do your old injuries occur?