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Motion Is Life Return to Running 2012


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@vivalasvegans - yes! As a matter of fact, today I am taking a much needed rest day (from formal exercise at least). I always try to listen to my body and allow it the time it needs to recover. As one of the CrossFit coaches likes to say, every once in awhile you need to take a day off and do nothing but eat!

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Great news - I saw the ortho hip surgeon today and he encouraged me to continue to go the conservative route. I'm pain free 85-90% of the time, and no activity seems to make the pain worse (although I do occasionally have some pain when I run). Phew!

 

This is exactly what I wanted to hear, especially since Coach B and I put our heads together this weekend and laid out a back-to-basics injury prevention plan. Essentially, I'll go back to day 1 of my 6 month marathon plan, refocusing my efforts on Michigan's North Country Trail Marathon in August (so much more fun than a standard road marathon and one step closer to my ultra dreams). This time around, Coach B is taking me out of CrossFit and putting together a traditional strength and conditioning program of compound movements (think deadlifts and squats) designed to boost my base strength and protect me from future injury. It's brilliant really, although I know I'm going to miss my daily WODs!

 

The new plan kicks off next week, but until then I plan to have a little fun with CrossFit, like today:

 

Strength:

Bench Press

12-9-6-3

(45-65-75-85(fail)) this is exactly why I need to go back to basics! Weak.

 

WOD:

"Annie"

50-40-30-20-10

Double unders

Sit ups

9:22, scaled to single unders 3:1

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@vivalasvegans - yes! As a matter of fact, today I am taking a much needed rest day (from formal exercise at least). I always try to listen to my body and allow it the time it needs to recover. As one of the CrossFit coaches likes to say, every once in awhile you need to take a day off and do nothing but eat!

Definately, rest is CRUCIAL. If there was one thing I could change or alter back in my running days I probably would have taken a little more time off ~ on my big running weeks I was clocking up close to 200km, usually around the 150km mark though.

 

Good luck anyway, I just jumped in and read through this second page. What are your race goals for this year?

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@Mini Forklift - my race goals are constantly evolving (mainly due to work schedules and this recent injury). My goal for 2012 is to run my first marathon, and make it to the finish line injury-free. I hope to build on that in the long term with ultra running and/or ironman. At present my target marathon is Michigan's North Country trail marathon in August.

 

Today's workout:

AM

30 min RUN, HR zone 2

2.87 miles

 

PM

Home PT exercises

 

Felt amazing! Mild discomfort in my hip still, but my fastest avg pace in target HR zone since before my injury. Form is coming back!

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Good luck, trail marathons are stunning. Leave the MP3 player at home for that one, you will have so much to take in and music would take away all of the special moments during the marathon I'm sure you will experience.

 

Let me know if you want any help/advice with anything, I've ran a few ultras and 10 full marathons so I have a little experience. Good luck and enjoy the training ~ it's too tough to do if you aren't enjoying it !! MF

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WEDNESDAY 1/25

CrossFit

 

WOD

"Cindy"

5 pull ups

10 pushups

15 squats

 

Results: 15 rounds + 5 pull ups + a little belly burn from the band I used to assist my pull ups (ouch)

 

It's the first time I've done this classic WOD, and a great benchmark to use before beginning my base strength program next week. It's one I can easily repeat to see how far I can progress with 3 months of basic strength work. During the squats I found I was quite a bit lazy with my left glutes and focused on keeping it tight. Things to work on are glute strength, triceps strength (I can only do wide, wide pushups), and more glute strength.

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Book Giveaway!!!

 

A good friend of mine, Jason Hicks, recently wrote a book in collaboration with his father, J. Morris Hicks, extolling the benefits of a plant-based diet. I recently reviewed the book on my blog, Motion Is Life, and will be giving away one free autographed copy to one lucky reader! Be sure to check out the review and enter to win!

 

http://www.motion-is-life.org/?m=1

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Thursday 1/26

RUN

30 min HR zone 2, with form drills

2.56 miles

 

Friday 1/27

YOGA

60 min Power Yoga

 

Hip is sore and quads are so very tight. I would love nothing more than to go out tomorrow morning for my weekly pre-dawn long run on the trails (I like to channel my inner Dean Karnazes), but believe it's in my interest to back off for the weekend and be ready to start fresh with my coach's new plan come Monday. We'll see if I can actually hold out!

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Sunday 1/29

REST DAY ... Sort of. One hour hike with the dogs (and while my older lab put himself to bed hours ago, the puppy still isn't tired!) and a home "spa day" comprised of a hot Epsom salt soak, foam roller, legs self-massage with arnica oil, and yin yoga-type stretching. So relaxing!

 

Tomorrow kicks off Coach B's new plan. Goal = Michigan's North Country Trail Marathon on August 25!

 

Week 1

Monday: Easy endurance run

Tuesday: AM Strength, PM active recovery

Wednesday: Easy endurance run

Thursday: AM Strength, PM active recovery

Friday: Off

Saturday: Extensive endurance run

Sunday: Off

 

*plus PT exercises on as many days as I can fit it in

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Monday 1/30

Day 1 towards the North Country Trail Marathon

Easy endurance RUN 40 min, 3.5 miles

 

Felt GREAT today! Best my hip has felt in weeks. In addition, my new running-partner-in-training (my new pup Merlin) accompanied me on his very first run today (only the last 10 minutes) and he did great! Most importantly, he didn't knock me over or drag me down the street.

 

PT and foam roller planned for this evening. Tomorrow is a strength day with all sorts of fun stuff on the agenda (thinking pushups, deadlifts, bent over rows, shoulder press/push press, and cleans).

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Where did January go? First strength workout of the new plan. It sucks watching my husband take off for CrossFit in the early mornings while I work out at home, but on the bright side I save 40 min of commuting time and get to shower and eat breakfast at home instead of at the hospital! I'm sure all you smoothie drinkers would agree that a super fresh smoothie is so much better than one blended several hours before drinking! Suddenly I'm craving a big slushy fruit smoothie!!

 

Tuesday 1/31

STRENGTH

Dynamic warm-up with PT exercises

Deadlift - 2 x 12 reps, 95 lbs

Bench Press - 2 x 15 reps, 45 lbs

Bent over row - 2 x 12 reps, 55 lbs

Shoulder press - 2 x 12 reps, 45 lbs

Hang Cleans - 15 reps, 45 lbs

 

Looong way to go, but you have to start somewhere. Happy February everyone!

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Good to hear the hip is good right now, can't believe how fast February has came around.

 

Smoothies are awesome, I have to have at least one a day haha. How have you planned your weekly mileage progressions/increases leading up to the marathon, how many weeks are you giving yourself? I usually ended up having to cut down the gym just to fit in the miles !!

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Congratulations on completing the challenge!! You have done such an amazing job pursuing your goals and being patient with your body and adapting as needed. I am truly impressed. You have admirable discipline and tenacity. Even though the challenge is officially over, keep going with your progress. I have no doubt you will. You are truly dedicated and will certainly reap big rewards. Congratulations!

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Hey Charlotte! Great job with your journaling! I'm one of the VB&F team members, and we got your email request to have your journal reviewed for eligiblity. We'll be shipping out prize packages beginning mid-month! Great job! Hope you'll stick around the forum and continue to post and be a valuable member of this online community!

 

All the best,

Karen

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks for the support! February's been a busy month and while I haven't had much time to journal, I've been able to get in all of my planned workouts except one (date night with my husband!)

 

Here's a brief summary of the past 3 weeks:

 

Strength:

Basic strength work 2-4 days/week. Each session consists of one exercise each for legs, back, chest, and shoulders +/- one total body move (cleans, thrusters, snatch). I've been conservative this cycle (as recommended by Coach B), and could probably increase weight across the board (especially for the overload week - week 3).

 

Running:

I've been sticking to running for time, staying with my HR zone 2, and not getting caught up on speed/distance. It's frustratingly slow at times, but I understand the logic behind it. Long run is now up to 1 hour 23 minutes.

Week 1: 3 runs, 2.33 hours, 12.7 miles

Week 2: 3 runs, 2.52 hours, 13.08 miles

Week 3: 2 runs, 2.13 hours, 10.65 miles

 

My hip has been feeling okay. It's by no means perfect, and most of my pain during/after running is in my upper left quad as opposed to the joint. My MT gave it a good beating Saturday afternoon and it's feeling much better today.

 

This week is a rest week for me. My mind wants to go, but my body could use the rest. In addition to some light training, I have 2 complete rest days (yuck) and plan to do lots of foam rolling and mobility work.

 

Happy training!!

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