Cross-training and doubles are creeping back into the training emails. Essentially all our workouts are a mixture of either tempo runs, cutdown runs, or the dreaded cutdown tempo run. I'm not sure my body has ever felt more exhausted at the end of the day after our Tuesday sessions. With approximately two months away from racing fitness is coming.
Training
Monday
Our long run of the week cutting down the last bit followed by strides in our "indoor track"
Tuesday
am: Tempo day- anywhere from 1.5 creeping toward 4 by the end of the month followed by faster repeats and hill sprints
afternoon-ish: lift /circuits
pm: cross-training
Wednesday
*Pretends to be a swimmer for an hour*
Thursday
am: speed day, usually wickets and short hills with a faster run afterward
Friday
am: repeats day
afternoon-ish: lift /circuits
pm: cross-training, pool preferably
Saturday
a bit more crosstraining to recover from the week
Sunday
long-ish run
I'm finally back into a full week's worth of training, picking up where we let off last Fall/Winter season. Everything has been going smooth apart from the development of every runner's nightmare. I dodged the bullet for years until last Monday when in the midst of my long run I noticed an unfamiliar stinging in my armpit. I'd chafed.
I felt like Andy from the office.
Fueling
The hardest part of this time of year is making sure I'm meeting my nutritional needs.
Over the last few weeks, I've been taking extra care to make sure I'm mimicking my training increases with my caloric intake after noticing that I was especially tired and hungry in the late afternoons. Protein, carbs, and making sure I'm getting in ZInc is the priority right now. Protein to rebuild everything I've broken down during a session and carbs to keep me going. Zinc to aid my immune system because I work with kids aka walking germ farms.
I'm back on the protein shake bandwagon favoring Amazing Grass Kidz Protein and Probiotics strawberry blast as my drink of choice on long days when we hit the gym right after our runs. I've also got snacks on deck in my purse essentially all the time now (Jimmy bars, bananas, tangerines).
In other news, I'm also back on my iron grind. Being anemic means I should be eating iron from heme and nonheme sources every day, but that's not always the case. I should also be taking my iron supplement every day, but sometimes that's also a lot to ask. With that being said I'm making an extra conscious effort to get my levels up higher because I'll soon be the owner of an altitude tent.
So while on my latest grocery shop I made a big step in my adult life by buying steak for the first time, shocking I know. Since I've never cooked a steak before (and can count on my hands how many times I've eaten one) I turned to get some guidance from a more reliable source; Matty Matheson. If anyone should be able to instruct me how to cook a steak I assumed it would be him. Five minutes in I set off the fire alarm.
Being Mindful
Running fast in the Spring means getting there first. Staying healthy is the name of the game between now and then. If you're not in tip top health, you can't expect to run fast. Part of that includes being mindful of how my body is feeling throughout the process, something I dropped the ball on a bit last year resulting in a month-long setback.
My practice bag almost always has one to two lacrosse balls stuffed into it (the other ten lacrosse balls are scattered around my apartment). My stretching rope, and a mini band float from one training bag to another for after practice circuits and post-practice stretching.
Yoga's back in the routine and I've been teaching some of the less flexible members of dtc.
Well thanks for coming to my TED talk, enjoy this clip from our first team yoga sesh
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