Monday: After our long run on Sunday, Bailey and I decided to abandon our super early morning workout and do it in the evening instead. Which made us both happy campers. We decided to do a circuit outside at around 7:30, after Bailey got off work. I quickly jotted down some body weight movements with dads carpenter pencil and put on some jams and we got to work! We even had a guest; Bailey’s friend Kendall joined us! We only got interrupted a few times with people driving by and telling us we were crazy. All in all it was a good workout, and a great way to start a Monday!

Tuesday: This is the first day Bailey and I had to train separately. We ended up over sleeping a little bit, so I ended up going to the Y and ran on the treadmill. This is the first time I have ran inside since we have started training. A lot of people hate the dreadmill, but I have run many many miles on them, and there is just something I like. For one, I like to push myself faster and faster then entire time, no matter how tired I am. Secondly, I listen to music, and it gives me this weird motivation. I ended up running my little 3 miler in a little over 25 minutes. It felt nice to be done with my workout so fast. This recovery week is going to treat me well.

Wednesday: Today is just upper body!! Which feels like a rest day, when training like we are. First, I foam rolled for about 20 minutes. The proceeded to do a 45 minute shoulder/bicep/triceps workout. I got a good little sweat in, and got my workout finished. That’s a win in my book, and even better, I accomplished this all without leaving my house!

Thursday: Boo and I had a 3 miler and legs to get out of the way today and yet again it is more humid than I thought was possible. It seems like no matter how early we get up, the humidity gets up sooner, or maybe it never goes to sleep? I don’t know. Anyway, the workout was good. Got it done. We ran around our hilly neighborhood and did the leg workout in the Gym a la Menke.

Friday: Off Day!!! This is much deserved!

Saturday: Due to an ungodly amount of rain over the last few days, Bailey and I were forced inside on the treadmill for our 7-miler. I was fine with this, because it was a welcomed break from climbing hills and pounding the pavement. I turned on one of my favorite podcasts while we coasted through the first 4 miles, laughing the entire time. Bailey and I ran the exact same speed the entire time, and slowly increased our pace as the minutes went by. By mile 5, we decided to get going a little more and I changed to music, because I wanted a little more motivation. Bailey got a blister because her socks were too short, so she ran the last 1.5 miles without shoes! We both felt great when we got off the treadmill. The run felt easy. We averaged a 9:13 mile. Not too bad.

Sunday: Due to life happening, bailey and I had to run separately. It is only the second time since we started training. I ran at the Y again, for our 6-miler. She ran on my parents treadmill at around 9:30PM. The run was fine, and I actually ran faster than Saturday, even though my body felt worse. I ran at exactly a 9:00 mile pace. One thing I am really trying to focus on is getting my heart rate lower while I do my long runs. I averaged around 150 for this run, with most of it being in the mid 140s. It has improved a lot in the last month. When I first started running it was so high all the time, I was averaging in the 170’s. So this improvement makes me really happy. I would like it to be in 120-130s range by race time while improving my conditioning and speed.

Extras:

1. This is our first recovery week of training, and the easiest week we will have of our program. So I tried to savor it. Every weekend from here on out will be very challenging and take a lot of effort. It gets very serious from here on out, and I am just focused on staying injury free.

2. I think it is really funny that this was mine and Baileys easiest week and my friend Meghan’s hardest week of our programs. She is running her first ½ ironman in less than 3 weeks. She will taper now, but it is crazy how rough those weeks are on you.

3. I watched a lot of good Netflix. Maybe that sounds stupid, but when I start my job, I wont be able to really do anything. I will be gone from my house from 6:00AM to 8:30PM. So I am just enjoying the relaxation while I can.

4. My fam and I got to go watch our cousin and his band play at the Madison Theater! It is Tyler Bryant and The Shakedown, and it was a blast!! My cousin, Caleb is unbelievable on the drums, and it makes me so happy to watch someone do something that they love all the way to their bones.

5. I ordered a new Camelbak! I LOVE water bottles, and Camelbaks are my favorite. I like Contigo too, but mine seem to malfunction a lot. Camelbaks are the only water bottles that can handle me and the constant wear and tear I put them through. I could be a sales person for them haha

6. You guys finally got to see my new blog!!!! I am not going to lie to you, I am really proud of the way it turned out. It makes me really happy that it looks so much better.

7. I am really thankful that my little brother got home safe from Vaca.

8. I have really loved getting to spend time with my puppies these last few weeks. I am dreading the days where I barely get to see them.

9. I have been getting a lot more organized and excited about some stuff for the blog. I have been making a lot more recipes and testing different things. I m trying to get some compiled and ready. In case my work schedule gets crazy.

10. I am starting to get ready to move out of my house. Which makes me REALLY sad. I honestly don’t want to. So I am having a hard time actually doing anything that has to do with that. I am quietly protesting.

11. Fathers Day was awesome, and I feel really lucky to have good men in my life.

12. C.S. Lewis is the MAN!

With love and Distance,

-B

Training Diary: Week 4