Wednesday, April 15, 2015

SRM WEEK 1 OF 20: Decent miles + a race discount

RACE DISCOUNT!!

I have no idea what my post-August race plans are going to be, but I'm keeping this one in mind because I would like to run a half in the fall, and I would also like to properly visit Santa Barbara (and drink its wine) as I have only ever driven through it.

Use discount code AXSAVE10 to get $10 off the Santa Barbara Marathon / Half Marathon, which takes place in Santa Barbara, CA on Saturday, Nov. 7. Code expires Monday, April 27. (The marathon is currently $120 & the half $105; military & veterans receive a $20 discount.) The half is still pretty expensive in my opinion, though, so we'll see what happens. It's not like there aren't tons of local options as well.

Anyhoo--

Since this is the first time I've ever been back running almost right away after a marathon, I'd been warned to take it pretty easy for a few weeks and expect that everything would feel harder than normal for a while. And that's totally been the case.

Now at about six weeks out, though, I'm finally feeling pretty normal again. Easy runs feel easy, and this past Sunday I did my first post-marathon double-digit run. I did my usual ten-mile loop through Golden Gate Park at a super easy effort, and weirdly, I think it actually felt easier than the six- and seven-milers I'd run earlier in the week.

Like I mentioned, I'm taking a few weeks to ease myself back into speed work a la McMillan, so it's not *really* marathon training yet, but I do have a schedule to follow and some mileage goals to start working towards, so it felt like it made sense to start counting. (Also, I like the idea of starting counting from 20 better than 12.)

Other pros from the week: The sometimes bad, sometimes less bad, but always somewhat present pain in my right hip that I've had for basically five years seems to have weirdly disappeared??

Cons from the week: My good left hip has been hurting non-stop. It's like the weirdness just slid over from one side to the other, like, in my sleep or something. I would blame it on the ski accident, except that side never hurt after I fell -- on the right. I am seeing the massage therapist next week so hopefully he will fix it all up.



~*~*~SRM WEEK 1 OF 20~*~*~

Grand Total: 32 miles

    * 20.7 easy
    * ~1.3 hill intervals
    * 10 "long"
    * 1 strength workout :-/

Monday: 4 easy. No karate because I had to stay home & work.

Tuesday: 7 easy. This was a post-NVM distance record, so I was glad that it felt good and relatively easy.

Wednesday: Rest (again no karate because work work work).

    Thursday: a.m. strength work / p.m. 1.7 warm-up, 6 x .11 hill intervals w/ .11 downhill recovery jogs, 2 cool down = 5 total. I kept the overall mileage for this workout pretty low because I had no idea how hard the intervals would be on my legs (particularly after a morning strength workout).

    Friday: 6 easy.

    Saturday: Rest/work.

    Sunday: 10 "long"

    I finished the week feeling good (except for the stupid LEFT hip), so hopefully I'm timing things right & not jumping into 30+ too soon.

    I wish I had more to say, but I'm in Boston for work right now and 6 hour flights are exhausting. :-/

    2 comments:

    1. A few weeks ago I fell and hit my right hip HARD, and since then my left hip has hurt. Go figure.

      ReplyDelete
    2. It's good to hear that your running is feeling the way it should again post-marathon. I've been reading about your recovery with interest because I'm planning to run two marathons 12 weeks apart. I know it's going to be tough but your posts make me think that it's doable.

      ReplyDelete