Week 1: Red, White, and Blue

7/8/2019

Week 1: July 1 - July 7, 2019

I was off to a rocky start in my first week of the Hansons First Marathon program. Yes, the trainer barely trained in the program. It should have been a facile task since my motivation was high and I’m compliant in strength training 5-6 days a week whether I feel up to it or not. Some would say “no excuses” when it comes to sticking with a fitness routine. I’m from the camp of “at least do something” and “it might not be a PR, but you’re still moving when everyone else is still sleeping.” I was ready to DO THIS THING, but my body had other plans. 

The actual running plan was as follows:

• Monday: 6 miles easy

• Tuesday: 6 miles easy

• Wednesday: Rest/Crosstrain

• Thursday: 4 miles easy

• Friday: 4 miles easy

• Saturday: Rest/Crosstrain

• Sunday: 6 miles easy

What actually happened:

• Monday: Very light strength/mobility drills

• Tuesday: 6 miles medium pace along the East River

• Wednesday: sitting on a train, driving, and resting

• Thursday: driving, then chilling on the beach (Fourth of July!)

• Friday: 4.5 mile run down the shore at a slow pace (from heat, but high effort)

• Saturday: Woke up intending to run but early beach day instead, and napping

• Sunday: Long drive, walking, and a train ride home with the intention of going for an evening run but had too many errands to take care of

My most recent race before the program started was the NYRR Front Runners Pride 5 Mile Run on Saturday, June 29, 2019 and the heat was really rough (see my race recap post for more details). I was so happy to sit poolside the following day to cool off and recover before the start of my 18 weeks of constant movement. My body felt great after the race in terms of not having aches and pains, and my breathing recovered right away, but I knew on a cellular level it was good to rest so that the body can remove the exercise by-products efficiently.

That night I felt a different type of exhaustion than sitting-in-the-sun-all-day type of tired; it was like something drained out of me. In fact, with all the pelvic floor cramping I was feeling, something was; fucking Aunt Flo had decided to show up unannounced and stick around all week. Normally exercise helps relieve all of her nuisances, but this week sleep was elusive. I had a lot of morbidly gruesome nightmares that put my maternal instincts in overdrive in a way that only female hormones can do. I tossed and turned like a hot pancake on a stove thanks to night terrors about friends and family I cared about getting killed or hurt by terrible people. In my dream, I of course was the only one who could possibly save them-- and I failed. Needless to say, my sleep was not high quality and set me up for a lack of success all week. I hate seeing red. 

I was supposed to run 5 times with a total mileage volume of 26 miles for the week, and I only did about 10.5 miles and 2 days. To me that feels like failure, but my body needed the rest. The afternoons that I sat at the beach my Fitbit tracker was convinced that I was sleeping because my heart rate was so low. Clearly, I needed to relax. My porcelain white skin needed some freckles, too.

The good takeaways from this training week were that my 6 mile run went along the East River gave me something different to explore, and my 4.5 mile (but meant to be 6 mile) run in Wildwood was really nice and flat and nostalgic; I ran my first half marathon down on that boardwalk. I look forward to training runs that give me different places to explore and look at. Especially blue water.

I knew I needed to make the next full week count, so between all my clients and errands I have to include my training as a priority too. 

In case you're not a female and need a brutally honest description of what goes on every moon cycle…