HHH: Week 2

Hilly Half Hustle

 

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 My return to work (for the 3rd time this year) meant adjusting to those early morning runs. It never gets easier. Don't let anyone lie to you by telling you otherwise. I was committed to my new training technique and only ran 4 days, did 3 strength workouts, one day of cycling, and one full rest day. I hope this will all be worth it!

The best part of this week was being able to run with my old training partners. Slowly, but surely, I'm returning to my old self again. I have a long way to go, but I can see the improvements. I would say recovery takes longer which is another reason the 4 days of running works well for me right now.

• 11/7: 8.17 miles, 9:35/mile. I've been on large group runs recently with my friend, Megan, but haven't had the chance to really talk to her in a while. She was gracious enough to join me for 8 easy miles so we could catch up. She took me on a Westerville route I haven't done before which is rare. I thought I had run every potential route in that city!
  

  

  Shadow face! [ME, Meg]

• 11/8: Strength training. I did a 25 minute workout of mostly leg and core. If I really focus, these workouts don't take very long. It's when I get distracted that they take forever!
  

  

  Election Day=Cray Cray.

• 11/9: 8 miles, 8:22/mile. My first tempo run in a year! Obviously, I'm not as fast as I used to be...YET...but I was very happy with this run. I knew I would need the motivation of my friends to get through it, so I met them in Powell for some early miles. We took a new route that included the newly added trail section that goes from Sawmill to the Columbus Zoo. We just took a turn on Dublin Road to get the full mileage. I wasn't too nervous about the run and decided not to look at my watch. I felt great on the flats but our route did have some unexpected hills (which you can see in my splits...especially mile 7. Theresa kept yelling "Heartbreak Hill!"). [8:36, 8:25, 8:30, 8:12, 8:34, 7:50, 8:36, 8:12]. If I can get over the hump of hills feeling so hard, I'm pretty confident about meeting my goal for the half marathon.
  

  

  Three of my besties. T hit 2,000 miles for the year! [Marion, Dani, ME, Theresa (clockwise)]

• 11/10: 8.00 cycling miles, 30:14; 20 minute strength circuit. My legs were toast today. Must've been that run yesterday! I took the level down a notch on my cycling so my legs wouldn't detach.
• 11/11: REST.
• 11/12: 12 miles, 8:51/mile. Longest Postpartum run! I haven't run this long in 8 months. Woo Hoo!! It is exciting but scary at the same time. I just don't know how mentally ready I am for these longer distances. I was happy to join some of my closest friends (and some newer ones) for some miles. One of my long run goals this cycle is to be more intentional about practicing my fueling. Today, I took a pre-run gel as well as one at mile 5 (CarbBoom, no upset belly).
  

  

  Don't we look cozy?!  [Back: Lori, Megan, ME, Marion; Front: Jackie, the girls, Theresa, Dani]

  
  

  

  My favorite mug.

  
  
• 11/13: 6 miles, 9:22/mile; Core workout. Today was a bRUNch kind of day! I started putting together regular brunch runs with my friends. Mostly an excuse for us to have conversations while not running. Today we checked out Fox in the Snow Café. I had some delicious pour-over coffee and an egg sandwich (blueberry scone to go!). Lynn made us a nice course that went downtown and through Victorian Village.
  

  

  Darn sun...can't see Lynn's face! [ME, Lynn, Karen, Meg]

  
  

  

  Pour over coffee. YUMMY!!

  
  

  

  This. Egg. Sandwich.

  
  
  

I ended my week with just over 34 miles. I will likely keep my weekly mileage in the 30s for the next month before venturing into the 40s again. I'm really trying to play it safe and allow my postpartum body the time it needs to heal and get as close to normal as possible.


Happy Running, friends!
(P.S. Ruthie turned 3 months this week so I'll eventually give you an update on her!)

Can someone stop time?!