WOW Do My Legs Ever Hurt!
When I was training for my half marathon, don't get me wrong I did get sore occasionally but today is the landmark for officially the most sore I have ever been. Here is what led up to my terribly sore day!
Monday as per usual I ran with my running group at the Running Room doing a 3 mile pace run. This one was a quick one but was really nice! The two ladies that ran with me on Monday did so amazing! As a running coach you get to see real progress in people, although one of the girls was a fellow trainer the other one has been with me through both my 5 and 10k clinic and astounds me how much progress she has made! She is even thinking of doing the half marathon when I do the full one in Calgary! 6 months ago 1 km scared her! What a champ!
Tuesday was the first time I have been able to do my full weight workout without wanting to cry! Well maybe not cry but contemplate giving up. This was a huge step up for me! I am pretty excited about that because I have never been one to life weights. This one the day I learned to truly appreciate my roller. I use it occasionally but its never been a must for me. I think now that I know how to use it and feel the benefits of daily rolling its now part of my routine.
On Wednesday we do hills! I was having a bit of a tough day. I think everyone has days like that but I was contemplating life and having a bit of trouble in relationship land. Again I am going to gush about my Running Team. One of the girls ran all the hills with me (which is a huge step for her) while listening to me rant about all the over dramatic thoughts that were currently going through my head. Now a little history on this girl, she started running with me about 6 months ago and couldn't make it through a minute without wanting to walk. I would run behind her and motivate her to keep moving as I know how hard it is when you first start running. Now she is running 4-400m hills at a strong pace, with good form while giving me advice on life! Amazing right! This was one of her strongest hill runs so I think this may be a new tradition, I will implement Whiny Wednesdays and we can all rant as we do our hills, not only does it make the hills go by faster but it helps you work through whatever ales you! After that run I felt so much better and her insight really helped me through the next couple days. It's so incredible how close you get to the people that you run with. We are a little running family and I couldn't imagine my life without these amazing ladies!
Thursday I did a 2 mile recovery run. This was a fun run and is the first time I have ran with music since before Christmas! I forgot how much I loved singing away as I ran. I really felt great after this one! I also spent some time cleaning my house and realized I have quite the assortment of running fuel! These are as much part of my routine as running itself! Does anyone have any input on the Alkaline water and powder? I enjoy them but I don't know if there are really any benefits besides the obvious ones of protein and greens?
Friday marked a tough day for my family. Our little cat that we have had since I was 15 was very sick and we had to put him down. Our family is very tight knit so everyone who lives in Calgary (Mom, Dad, Sister and Boyfriend) all stood together as we said goodbye to our family pet. It was incredibly hard but I really glad we have each other. Izzy (The cat) had been suffering from hyperthyroidism and my sister had been struggling to keep him healthy and on track. His little body just finally could not take it anymore. I came home that day and cuddled my cat extra tight.
Saturday I did my running form workout. This workout focuses on core strength, muscle training, opening my hips, and weirdly enough marching.
After my workout I went and put together a care package for my sister as she was heart broken about the loss of our pet. I was sad as well but as a big sister, you have to make sure your little sisters get through the tough times. In my family we are true believers that laughter is the best medicine so I based this care package on making her laugh. It consisted of two lollipops, chocolate, gummy bears, a bottle of "Screw It" wine, a unicorn pen, cheeseburger and fries lip chap, a candle, a Stress Paul (a stress ball in the shape of a man named Paul) and a little sentimental touch of "Forget Me Not" flower growing kit. If nothing else it brought a smile to her face.
Sunday marked my longest run to date. I was scheduled for 11 miles as per my training schedule however I do coach runners every Sunday morning through their own long run. This time they were scheduled for 8 km (we did 7.86 km total). They did amazing! This clinic I have two new joiners! One is this ambitious guy who amazes me every run! He puts so much heart into his run and isn't scared to push himself if its going to get results. For example on Wednesday we ran 4 hills... he did 5. The other joining is a beautiful bride to be! She is getting married in July and really loves to run so we are here for motivation. Her positive attitude really improves the runs for the whole group. Yesterday during our long run she was the bright light that kept most of the group going. Running long runs is truly a mental exercise and I think everyone in the group is so glad she was there! As we finished our long run we even got a sprint it! This was one of the awesome runs that my app didn't start so I didnt get to map out my whole run only the last 3.13 miles.
From there I stretched and heading off to the reservoir to do my Marathon Training Run. It works out perfect because this loop is just under 11 miles so i don't have to do the same spot over and over (I hate that). To top it off my parents joined me in this run! My mom road her bike and my dad ran!
There were some really icy patches where i lost my footing a couple times which added to my soreness. This run also is jam packed with some pretty intense hills.... I felt great during the whole run!
Believe by Mumford and Sons is my running song. I don't know what it is about this song but it starts each race for me and really drives me to move forward. As we got to the last mile Mom road next to me and my song came on, of course I had to start singing and mom joined in! As another running passed us heading in the other direction my dad made a comment about us kicking his butt. The man responded "Not only that, they are singing too." We got a good laugh about that. I came home, stretched again, rolled, iced, showered, iced and ended my night with a nice hot bath. Can you tell my legs were a tad sore? This is the first time EVER my legs have been sore immediately after a run. Anyone have any tips there? I have heard about ice baths but I really don't know if I can do that. I love baths and don't want that to ruin it for me.
I saw this quote on one of my fellow bloggers accounts and found it motivational! It read"Just stick with it... What seems hard now will one day be your warm up." Hope this adds a little motivation to your week! I am excited for what this week has to bring! Tonight I will be doing a 6 km run with my group! Wish me luck and I hope you all have a glorious week!
