Friday morning I woke up early early to me when I don't have to get up to tackle my long run of the week.
Today's goal was 8 miles and I wanted to feel stronger. I don't push myself to go "faster" on my long runs. I'm just working on putting the distance into my body. Tempo runs and repeats are where I build my speed. But I wanted to feel comfortable around a 9:45 pace today and keep consistent.
The weather was cooler and overcast. I listened to some "Ted Talks" for the first several miles of my run. It helps the miles go by faster and it can be enlightening.
I made it to mile 4 without a walk break and then walked for 1 minute at every mile after that. There were no snakes on today's run and my only complaint is that they took down the water jugs that used to be on my trail. Hello? You can't just move a normally placed water stop. Not cool.
My overall time for 8 miles was 1:17:58 for an average of about 9:45. After my run I rehydrated and took several bites of leftover anniversary cake that I had been saving.
I'm not the only one with a sweet tooth around here.
After I showered and had a leftover turkey meatball lunch I headed out the door for my afternoon appointment. A massage! I bought a package of massages back in March and am way behind on using them up. I ask the therapist to work on my legs and hips and was shocked when she said that they felt loose with no real knots. I'm usually very tight, however I've been making an effort to focus on stretching and foam rolling lately. It seems to be working.
Here's a look at my typical running day schedule:
- Wake
- Coffee, 1 cup Kashi Go Lean, almond milk, and berries
- One hour later - start run
- Run
- After run do leg plyo exercises like a crazy person in my driveway
- Drink Nuun and water
- Ice knee/ankle
- 30-60 minutes post run - Eat a protein snack like a banana/protein smoothie or meal like turkey meatballs
- Ice bath
- Epsom salt bath
- Stretch focusing on hips
- Foam roll
- Use tennis ball on my calves and "butt"
- Ice ankle/knee again before bed
The system really seems to be keeping me pain-free and not sore. I even ran 3 times this week and I never run that much.
After the massage I made another very necessary stop - Bath & Body Works. My fave "fall" scented candle gave its last sniff this week and I needed another. Thank you to my Twitter friends who pointed out that BBW had their awesome 3-wick candles 2 for $20. I found a printable online coupon for a free mini candle before I left the house too. 3 candles for $20. Yeah! (Coupon tip - always do a quick google search before heading to places like Bath & Body Works or Michael's. They typically have some deal going on.)
Friday night we kept it pretty low key. We echoed last week's pizza Friday and used leftover to make a veggie, turkey meatball pizza. Onto a thin crust we layered homemade marinara, spinach, green pepper, onion, leftover turkey meatballs, and mozzarella. Mmmm mmmmm!
Saturday morning I'm up before 5am to host the Miracle Miles 15k in Downtown Orlando. Then I think we're doing something fun.......this week was our anniversary and Kyle has been pretty quiet about our Saturday plans. I think he's up to something...
Do you follow a schedule on the days you run? What's part of your routine?
Love and habit helpers,
Carissa & Kyle
