Sometimes You Need a Slow Run

Good morning and Happy Thursday all 🙂

I know all my friends on the east coast are almost to the afternoon by this point, so I hope you’re having a wonderful day so far as well, and I am a bit jealous that you’re almost half way done with your work day. . . but that’s neither here nor there :).

Zach and I had a blast at the game last night

I plan to have a full review later this afternoon, it was actually a pretty cool experience.

But, thanks to the game, Zach and I were in bed quite a bit after our normal bed time, so I was very thankful for my late start morning when my alarm went off.

At 745, I crawled out of my comfy bed and hit the gym for a very easy recovery run to loosen them up after a good strength day and tough hill workout the day before

Workout of the Day: 4 + miles on the treadmill: recovery

Today’s run stayed between 6.1-6.3 speeds for the most part, going up to 6.5 by the end.

I know this isn’t very fast by a many peoples standards, but for me it was very nice to just zone out and move the legs this morning.  I didn’t want anything tough, and even when I got bored and wanted to speed it up, my smart half told me to keep it under control and save the tank for a long run this weekend.

Overall — I think the easy run was the perfect start to the AM :).

And now — it’s about time to head to work.  Which normally I would be a little grumpy about — but I had an experience last night at the game that was pretty humbling, and reminded me exactly why I do what I do. . . so I think today I’ll grab my coffee, and put a smile on my face as I head to work.

Question of the Day: Does anyone else struggle with keeping pace sometimes on easy runs?  Or just work outs that are meant to be easier in general?

A Weekend of Football and Running!

Another weekend is already on the downward slope.

At least it was a great one 🙂

After my run yesterday, Zach went for a bike ride while I relaxed with Insurgent.

 

Some of you may remember the Lemon bar from yesterdays post that I was very excited about post long run?

 

Unfortunately, Gusman was more excited about it and ate it while I was in the shower.  PUNK.  So — Gus and I headed over to Ink for a different breakfast treat to enjoy while Zach rode.

 

An apple and apple fritter + espresso.

 

It hit the spot alright. . . but I’m definitely going to be going for another lemon bar at the market next week . . .

 

Zach hit probably the only nice couple of hours we’ve had recently and took it as an opportunity for a long ride.

He took my camera with him and took some pictures. . . the boy is crazy with his mountain rides!

He rode up Lookout Mountain, which leads up to Boettcher where we got married.

 

We were both really curious as to what conditions the roads and the mountain would be in after the storms and flooding.  But Zach said that although it was wet and there were spots of road damage, overall Lookout Mountain looked pretty spared.

Once Zach got back from his ride, we headed down to our neighbors for an afternoon of college football.

Apparently, 10+ miles and long bike rides make you tired. . . Zach and I were back up in our apartment and asleep on the couch by the end of the Notre Dame game around 9 PM.  Luckily the Irish took the game 31-24 over Purdue.

Party Animals we are.  By 10 we were crawling ourselves into bed.

One thing that going to bed early is good for, is waking up early.

Zach was up at an unGODLY hour. . . and I was woken up around 745 with a sweet surprise from Zach :).

By 8 AM, I was in the gym and energized for a good sweatfest.

 

Today’s workout was unplanned. . . I wasn’t really sure what I was feeling and decided I wanted to do what felt good for recovery for the old legs after a long run.

Workout for the Day: Easy 5K on the treadmill and 10 miles on the bike.

Nothing special to really note about the workout, except that I continued reading Insurgent while I was on the bike and am already anxious about finishing it.

 

I love this freaking series!

50 minutes and 13 miles later, I left the gym happy and hungry.

Lucky me, Zach had a Restaurant.com coupon for Mona’s  for brunch.

 

We’ve enjoyed Mona’s a couple times, and today was no different 🙂

 

I went with a quiche this morning and side of fruit.

 

Delicious as is everything I’ve had from Mona’s :).

I believe this mornings Quiche had chicken, cheddar and potatoes.  Zach definitely had to help me, but between the two of us my plate had nothing but some potatoes and a slice of tomato left.  Yum.

And now, thanks to the light mist and rain that is stuck around Denver, we plan to hang out with some football for the afternoon.

 

Question of the Day:  What was the highlight of your weekend?

Recovery Runs

This morning, when Zach got out of bed to work, I knew I should get out of bed and attack my work out of the day.  Instead, as I often do on Sunday mornings, I rolled over, sprawled out, and enjoyed a little bit more of that glorious Sunday slumber.

Yup.  I was a happy lady.

I let myself sleep some more, until I could hear Zach making some coffee.  I started stretching out, and felt that soreness that I always get after a long run.

I wanted to skip my work out.  I got my long run in yesterday – I could give myself an extra day off, right? Anyway,  I’m way too sore/tired to work out.

I try and tell myself that often.  “I’m too sore/tired for a recovery run.”  But the funny (and logical) thing is, I always feel better once I’m out of bed.  And the thing about recovery runs (in my opinion) is they really are important to increasing fitness and endurance during training (and for me, while I know it’s argued in literature, I feel that it helps to relieve that stiffness and soreness).  

I’m certainly no expert on this, but this article does a good job of explaining the benefits/purpose of recovery runs.

http://running.competitor.com/2013/02/training/workout-of-the-week-recovery-run_11839

So, my amazing fiance brought me a cup of coffee, while I laid in bed, getting on twitter and youtube to try and find that motivation I needed to get my recovery run in today.

PS: It would be SWEEEET if people followed me on twitter. @chocolatemedals  It’s a great networking tool (I’m still learning…) and on mornings like this when I need motivation, I know yall would be exactly what I need in those moments!

I then headed down to the apartment gym and got it done.

Workout of the Day: Recovery run 4.13 miles

40 minutes:

steady run (between 6.2-6.5) until I reach 4 miles

walk it out until 40 minutes @ 3.5-4.0 @ 8% incline

I did struggle a bit on the run, and am still going a bit slower than I’d like, but at least I pushed myself out of bed and ran!

The gym was empty, so I was able to take a nice awkward post workout pic.

For the rest of the day, I have some baking planned (granola and cookies.  Recipes to come!), and we may run a few more errands.  Think CostCo, Home Depot…maybe I can talk Zach into going with out me…

First:  maybe a shower and breakfast.

Question:  Do you do recovery runs??