Workout Recap: 9/18-9/24

This was a really strong week of workouts! I am starting to see significant progress in my running, and it feels fantastic.

Sunday 9/18: Lazed around most of the day and felt pretty guilty about it, so just before bed I did a 15 minute bodyweight workout I made up as I went. 50 reps each of squats, plie squats, leg lifts, leg lift pulses, bridges, crunches, backups, and side leg lifts.

Monday 9/19: Monday mornings are always tough, but this time I unexpectedly woke up about an hour before my 3:30am alarm and was fairly wide awake, so I headed down to the basement to do 30 minutes on my stationary bike while reading a book. Average heart rate of 104, with a max of 139. Nothing intense, but it felt great to start my Monday with a workout rather than having to do it after work on a travel day!

That evening, though, I still went to Beyond Pilates for Reform & Run. We did four nine-minute sets again, which is my favorite way to break up the workout. First run was 2 minute walk (4.0 mph), 2 minute jog (6.5 mph), 1 minute run (9 mph), 1 minute walk (3.5 mph), 1 minute jog (6.5 mph), 2 minute run (8.5 mph). Second run was two 30/30 walk/sprints (9.0 mph), two 40/20s (9.5), two 50/10s (10.5-11), then one 30/30, one 40/20, one 50/10. This felt a lot better than last week’s class! I had a higher average heart rate (124 vs 115), but not the same spike that made me feel like I was dying (168 vs 184). I was definitely fairly cautious on the run to avoid that spike, but I was proud of my effort and was also happy that my shin splints weren’t bothering me after. I neglected to put my compression socks on immediately after class, but I ended up going back to the hotel to shower before dinner and so wore them for about 30 minutes while I did some work in between showering and a late dinner.

Tuesday 9/20: First key running workout of the week! I did a half mile warmup (9:30 pace), then two half mile intervals at a 6:40 pace, two half mile intervals at a 6:27 pace, and two half mile intervals at a 6:17 pace, then a half mile cooldown (8:30 pace). I wrote all about this workout here, but the short version is that I was so happy with my ability to complete this one so successfully – I’ve come a long way!

Wednesday 9/21: Insomnia woke me up earlier than planned yet again, so I did a 60 minute elliptical workout for a light sweat, then headed to the Design District for a barre class at The Barre Code. It burned my legs like crazy, but didn’t have any cardio, so I was glad I had done the elliptical beforehand! This was a nice combo workout, though probably not sustainable to get up at 4:00am every workday.

Thursday 9/22: Key running workout number 2! I was worried about whether my legs would be sore from barre, since they were definitely tired as soon as I was done with the class. I woke up feeling fairly fresh, though, and proceeded to nail my progression run. I started with one mile at 8:13 pace, then dropped down to 7:53 pace for the next mile, 7:30 pace for mile #3, and split the last mile so I did the first half at a 7:00 pace and the second half at a 6:35 pace. I felt really good on this – the first few miles were really easy, which was part of why I was getting so aggressive with the paces. My assigned splits were 8:15, 8:00, 7:45, 7:30, so I had done the whole thing about a minute faster than prescribed. However, I was confident throughout in my ability to finish without ever slowing down or taking a break, and that felt great. . I am eager to try this even faster next time! That’s a sign of a great workout 🙂 Average heart rate of 151, with a high of 174.

Friday 9/23: 40 minute Bodybar Dallas pilates class, then a quick 30 minutes on the elliptical to add on some cardio. Bodybar was really leg focused, and I had to take breaks at times due to the difficulty, so it was nice to get to roll it out on the elliptical after.

Saturday 9/24: I was soooo lazy this morning. Woke up just before 5am but it was too dark to go running, so I caught up on some work until it got light out. But then I was inexplicably cold, and seeing that the outside temperatures were only 42 degrees made me not want to go running! I put it off as long as I could, then finally headed out at 11:30am (65 degrees by then!) for an easy 5 miles around the neighborhood hills. I was running purely by feel rather than by pace, and was surprised in the end to see that I had averaged 9:10s throughout. My neighborhood is pretty hilly, and I usually do around 10 minute miles (or slower) on the route I took. This made me feel like I am getting “effortlessly” faster – as in, I am certainly putting lots of effort into my training, but today it felt easy to go the speed I did. I love getting to see tangible results of progress like that!

Next week is going to be a challenge, due to an irregular schedule and lots of travel (four cities in one week!). Plus, Saturday I am going to be racing the Drawchange 5K in Atlanta, so I need to get some rest days in there. Time to see if my training has paid off!