Weekend Wrap Up

Thursdays I strength train at the gym. I have enough workouts from my time with Kelly that I can pick & choose which one to do. But Wednesday evening Kelly emailed me a special workout to do on Thursday. Oh man! You're killing me Kelly. She said it was shorter than normal since I would be incorporating some sprint work on the elliptical. I really need to read between the lines better. If I had done so I would have read the words "more intense". Yes, the workout was shorter in exercises and sets, but it was way more intense! I made it through by telling myself it would be worth it in the end. Also, as Kelly knows, there is no way I'm going to quit or admit a workout is too tough. At the end, after I'd recovered a bit, I felt awesome. Thank you, Kelly.

Also on Thursday I visited my podiatrist about my ankle. Her conclusion is that I sprained the ankle in the plain where I walk (vs. the plain where I run. Did you know that your foot had these 2 different plains?) She prescribed an anti-inflammatory medicine along with wrapping the ankle, and ice after exercise. She recommended keeping it wrapped all the time for about a week, then wrapping it after running for another 2-3 weeks. She also said that for the next week I should ice my ankle after I run. She explained that I could do any exercise that didn't cause pain but if any movement caused any discomfort I shouldn't do it. That eliminated step ups at the gym and yoga. Boo-hoo. No yoga for about a month.

Friday I went back to the gym and worked out on the elliptical machine for 46 min. I went at a brisk pace (150 strides/min) for 15 minutes then did 10 minutes of sprints followed by 20 minutes at the previous brisk pace. The sprints were 30 sec. as fast as I could go (200+ strides/min), followed by 30 sec. of recovery. My legs were quivering when I stepped off the machine, but I was surprised at how I really felt like I had worked hard.

And now, Saturday's LSR:
Time: 1:12:25
Distance: 6.0 mi. 
Pace: 12:04 m/mi
Time of Day: 9 a.m.
Weather: 53°F.

What a great day to run! The sun was shining and there was the tiniest cool breeze. Not a cloud in the sky. The temp was awesome!

But, alas, it was a hard 6 miles. I had 3 or 4 short walks to get through. They were all on hills or inclines so that made me feel a bit better. And another obstacle was that my left hamstring really tightened up on me. I've never had that happen and I'm going to talk to The Coach about how to deal with that on a run. (She's off yachting in the Caribbean right now. Lucky her!) But the good thing is I made it the entire 6 miles AND, I'm looking forward to my next long run which will be Wednesday and 7 miles. (I have to rearrange my training this week due to an ASG Conference next Saturday.)