Friday, April 20, 2012

Getting back into shape... April 9-April 20

Well, I now understand what people mean when they say it's just so hard to stay motivated to run.

With being out for 13 days with basically bronchitis, I got into the habit of not working out. I was watching what I was eating so that I wouldn't put on any extra pounds, and actually lost weight from not working out. Yeah, I'm not sure how that works either.

So, it was very hard for me to start running again. Luckily, I had no choice on April 9th.

It had been two weeks since my last real day of working out, and I was driving two athletes to their triathlon practice. I was in workout clothes because I was considering running since I was no longer coughing up mucus....and the kids asked me to come with. So, since I was planning on running anyway, I ran with the kids. When I stopped 2 miles in (they had a plyo set to do before running back), I began coughing again. I ran back with the kids and then hopped on the treadmill--no coughing. So, I decided the next day to do my 800m repeats on the treadmill.

April 10th.
800s on the treadmill, AND in my new TypeA5's, worked out wonderfully. Not only did the 800s go better than I was hoping (started at 2:52 to see if coughing occurred... went down to 2:35s for the last two), but the shoes felt great! I ran a 30minute tempo on Friday per my schedule...but my hamstrings remained sore for quite some time after (4 days). Very frustrating.

April 16th.
The workout called for 20min tempo (5min jog), 10min @10k pace (5min jog), 3min@5k pace (3min jog), 1min @mile pace. I again planned to do this on the treadmill as I just didn't want to get back to the hacking cough that I had while sick. I was able to complete the workout with no real problems, and even swam with the kids after. Not surprisingly, my upper body was what was sore the next day.

April 18th.
Schedule called for 2x1200 at 6min pace, 2x1000 fast. Well, I was staying at my aunt and uncle's house in Overland Park, Kansas, for work and they just happen to live right across from an elementary/middle school...which just happens to have a track. Do you see where this is going? YES...I broke away from the treadmill habit! My 1200s and 1000s ROCKED and my hamstring soreness was completely gone!

I guess what I would want everyone to take from this semi-rambling post is DON'T GET SICK! And if you do, AND if it's respiratory, DON'T RUN! No matter how badly you want to run a semi-fast 5k so you and your mom can win the Mother-Daughter division, DON'T RUN! It will prolong the respiratory problem and you'll be coughing up blood for weeks!

It's definitely hard to stay healthy with all of the stress that we put on our bodies on a daily basis, so if you start feeling sick...EsterC usually does the trick for me. Load up on that Vitamin C, Green Tea, etc. and take a break from working out. Your body will thank you for it:)

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