Weekly Training Update: 4/28-5/4

Awesome. It's the best way to describe this week in training.

Why? Here are seven (lucky) reasons.

1. I ran with my this girl. My best friend of 12 years. Though we've gotten married together (not to each other, obv), had kids together, lost weight together, the one thing we've never done is run with each other. Saturday, we were able to change that. I was ecstatic and grateful for every step of the 7.02 miles. And, yes, we planned the coordinating outfits.

2. I got to run with Mark sans Miles. I include the details below but it's been a long time since that happened.

3. I ran my fastest mile in some time thanks to No. 2 on the list (as opposed to the No. 2, which could also contribute to such a milestone).

4. I got in some consistent weight training for the first time since leaving the BBG.

5. I successfully managed to fatigue my glute medius, which is a weak spot.

6. I got in all of my morning workouts before taking Miles to daycare, save for Friday's run. Hooray for no whore bath in the office bathroom!

7. I made it work. The weather was a fickle bitch this week but everything got done.

Monday, April 28
CROSS TRAINING | Circuit workout
5-minute warmup, including lunges, jumping jacks, knees and butt kicks 5 sets of circuits that included planks, high knees, push-ups, squats, wall sits, tricep dips, lateral step ups, one-leg deadlifts, bicep curls, diagonal raises, squat walks, clam shells, Russian twists.

Tuesday, April 29
RUN | 3.25 miles
Time: 30:52     Pace: 9:30
I pretty much sucked wind the entire time on this run. I had Miles in the stroller and the dog on the leash for an easy run but I just couldn't find my legs. It probably didn't help that this was the first humid morning I have had all spring. I was drenched in sweat by mile one.

Wednesday, April 30
RUN | 4.1 miles
Time: 36:58     Pace: 9:01
It's amazing the difference a day can make. This run felt so much better than the 3 miles the day prior. I didn't feel like I was working as hard yet I was hitting much better paces. Less than a half-mile from home, Miles requested some Nuun and I took the opportunity to break and then push the last bit home to work on my goal of a sub-8 stroller mile by the end of summer. We maintained a strong effort and the best pace of the day was a 7:05 (for, like, 40 seconds).

CROSS TRAINING | Outdoor boot camp
I had planned to coach the workout rather than lead (does that make sense) but it was easier just to lead. We did four sets of tabatas, with a round of abs in between each set. The workout seemed to fly by with the shorter intervals and sets but still managed to kick my ass - literally. I was sore for days

Thursday, May 1
CROSS TRAINING | Ripped
The class before mine was canceled so I was able to squeeze in an extra track, which was nice. I definitely need to prepare more for this class since I'm not teaching in a gym setting but once a week. Mark was in class again, which helped me stay upbeat when I was struggling with choreo.

Friday, May 2
RUN | 3 miles
Time: 27:05     Pace: 9:01
I had a 8 x 1-minute hill workout on tap, and I had hoped to log 5 or 6 miles total. Especially since I was taking a personal day to get a massage. But, as I usually do, I overbooked my personal day and only had time for 3 miles. I did get in a couple "hills" and threw in some strides for fun. My glutes - medius and max - were still quite sore, and I was *almost* glad I didn't have time to do more hills.

Saturday, May 3
RUN | 7.02 miles
Time: 1:16:25     Pace: 10:53
My first run with my BFF. We met up in Cincinnati for part girls weekend, part (respective) family weekends. She just signed up for a June half marathon - her second! - and wanted to do 7 miles. We hit up a park on the other side of town for this west side girl and enjoyed the new surroundings. There were some rolling hills, to be expected, as we wove around the lake path, gorge trail and parcouse area. It was so much fun! And, as we finished, we had our own little cheering squad as Mark and Miles met up with some friends to play as we ran. They were all on the deck clapping as we ran underneath. Pretty rad, if I do say so myself.

Sunday, May 4
RUN | 4.2 miles
Time: 36:55     Pace: 8:47
This morning, the plan was for Mark and me to take turns pushing Miles up the torturous hills of my grandma's neighborhood. And then Miles declared that he did not want to go for a run in the stroller. I nearly freaked out - I needed the run - but my grandma obliged us and  kept an eye on Miles as Mark and I ran solo. What a treat! I picked a route that would make up for the missed hill repeats and groaned the entire way. When things started to flatten out the last mile, Mark thought he would put his pacing plan to the test and pushed me - and I mean PUSHED ME. I might have called him a not nice name when I saw the 8:12 split pop up.