What a great week of running and workouts! It ended with a great day with my family being outside ALL day. Yesterday started off with my long run, the girls biking, me hiking with them while my husband ran and then a great meal all together!!!!

This last week of running was amazing. The workouts were tough, the runs challenged me, exhausted me and made me feel confident and strong. Between going to yoga and doing the IronStrength workouts I’m finally starting to see the pay off in my running (skip to Sunday’s run if you want to).

What was Planned vs What Really Happened:

Monday April 25th: Stretch & Strengthen | IronStrength 45 minutes. Though I am loving this workout I still strongly dislike burpees. I’m not sure if it’s because it’s the second last exercise in the sequence or the fact that my body is just exhausted by the time I get to them but I just don’t like them anymore. IronStrength is HARD work and I feel I can push it more. I know it’s making me stronger (see Sunday).

Tuesday: 6k |Yoga + 6k. An unplanned double workout day. I love going to yoga and Tuesday was the only day I could go (Monday was cancelled) but I also wanted to run that night. I jumped on the treadmill that evening and had a great 6k.

Wednesday: 7 x 400’s | 7 x 400’s (treadmill). Honestly, I love doing my 400’s on the treadmill now. Though I think I’m starting them off to slow and will correct that next time, I love it. I can push the pace (mental and physical challenge) but feel like I am in control because I know the actual pace I’m running. Also, I’m able to know exactly how much faster to run each round vs running via my Garmin. Again, see Sunday’s run.

Thursday: 5k + Strength Training | 5k + Strength Training.  This was a quick 5k (31:55 that’s quick for me on the treadmill) and then one round of IronStrength workout – which was enough for me. Boy was I looking forward to Friday’s rest day after this one!

Stepped outside post run to cool down in the cold temps.

Friday: Rest Day | Rest Day. I did nothing. Lovely. Perfect. Early to bed. Nailed it.

Saturday: 5k | Rest Day.  I had to work Saturday and travel for a hiking summit! 1.5 hour drive one way for a great day of hiking chats. I didn’t go on any hikes as I needed to get back home (1.5 hours back) and get some sleep for my long run. They had two great hikes planned for Sunday but my long run was more important for me to do – AND spend time with my family for a day.

Side note: I’m actually thinking about dropping these runs as I like to have a rest day before my long run day.

Sunday: 13k | 13k.  Oh Sunday! How you treated me too kindly! You can read in detail about my run here but in brief….

Early morning run in cool weather was perfect. I felt comfortable despite having cold hands for the first 4k. I brought fuel with me (learned my lesson from two week prior). I pushed the pace when I felt like it was easy running.

I made a goal of 6:15/km since it’s been far to long since I’ve managed that thanks to last year’s hamstring injury. There are certain inclines/hills that are challenging along my route but I managed to get up them fairly easy (IronStrength is making me stronger).

It was just a great long run, hard a few times but great to push through the hard (like doing my 400’s or tempo runs). Sunday, we also biked in the morning and hiked in the afternoon with the girls. My husband ran over 10k while we hiked (he’s been out 3-4 times this week running which is awesome!).

Major turning point: FOAM ROLLING. So last week (read it here), I was still having major pain with my SI joint which didn’t go away this week…. UNTIL, I started foam rolling. I started religiously foam rolling 2-5 minutes on my glutes which are super sore and pulling on my lower back muscles.

Honestly, this made me go from being in major pain to almost no pain at all! So, I now have our three (yes three) foam rollers strategically place around our house. Bedroom, downstairs and upstairs. I foam roll in the morning, before bed and I even take my travel roller to work! LIFE SAVER!!!!!

KM this week: 30 km (missed 5 km)

Km this training cycle: 196 km 

Week FIVE was a great week! I also have to get a little more focused as I have a 10k on May 22nd {Bluenose Marathon in Halifax} that I am running. My brother is doing it too which is awesome! I’m really excited to run with him as we’ve never done that before!

How was your weekend?

Race/Run/Train? 

Did you get outside at all?