Mile Markers: Balance

One of my favorite things about base building is that weekly mileage and workouts can sort of ebb and flow. I didn’t quite reach my mileage goal, but I had a well-rounded week of workouts including strength training, Pilates, and a solid rest day. I determined each day’s mileage based on how I felt that morning, and while I really enjoy having a plan, I do also enjoy those weeks where running is just running, plain and simple. 

Monday: 25 minutes Pilates

I’m trying to take advantage of the variety on the Pilatesology website and opted for a new workout, which ended up focusing more on stretching and some core work rather than a hard workout. But this was good – my body appreciated the stretch! 

I’m working on taking a few longer walks on my rest days. I got out of the habit for a while with the record-breaking amount of rain we had this year, but I always feel better with long walks. We’re fortunate that we live near a park, so I walked the dogs to the park early in the morning for a 30 minute rest day. After work, Ryan and I walked back to the park to play fetch with the dogs. 

Charlie’s version of fetch is hilarious. The first time, he chased speedily after the ball and came bouncing back with it in his mouth. The second time, he shot off after the ball, became distracted by a scent on a tree, marked it with his scent, kicked up some grass, and then pranced off into the brush, clearly forgetting about the ball. 

Tuesday: 7 mile run & 20 minutes strength training

Finally, after a week of humidity, that blissfully perfect Seattle summer weather arrived. The temperatures hovered right at 50 degrees with 78% humidity and blue skies. 

Ollie’s cough still lingered, so I ran 3 miles by myself before meeting back up with Ryan for another 4. Ryan had to wrangle the yodeling labraheeler into his crate because Ollie had a minor breakdown after he realized I was going off on a run without him. 

For strength training, I did a quick strength workout:

2 x 20 squats with medicine ball
2 x 20 lateral band walks
2 x 15 single leg bridges
2 x 20 donkey kicks
2 x 30 seconds pushups, 30 seconds plank

Wednesday: 7 mile run & 35 minutes strength training

Ollie finally was back to normal health and energy (and starting to chew up everything in the apartment), so I took him with me for 3 miles and picked up the pace a bit in the last mile to a 7:40-ish. We then ran 4 miles with Ryan and Charlie and by the end, Ollie was back to his normal self. I feel like he and I are a lot alike: we get antsy without running, but the miles soothe away that nervous energy. 

I know strength training two days in a row isn’t ideal, but I also know that I was most likely to get it in when Ryan was going to the gym. I am currently using a 15-pound kettlebell and it feels like it may be too light for some moves, so I got creative with this workout and added in extra sets on some exercises. 

3 x 10 kettlebell orbits
3 x 10 kettlebell single leg halos
3 x 10 kettlebell figure 8s
3 x 15 kettlebell swings
3 x 12 kettlebell squats
2 x 10 kettlebell lateral lunges 
2 x 12 kettlebell push presses
2 x 10 stability ball pikes
2 x 12 hamstring ball curls

Thursday: 3 mile easy run

I woke up feeling a bit sore from yesterday’s strength training, as did Ryan, so we both decided to treat the morning’s run as a recovery run. Especially when there’s no race on the near calendar, I figured it was best to listen to my body. Three slow miles, out and back, and I felt much better after the run. 

Friday: 7 mile run and 15 minutes Pilates

Another 3 miles with Ollie before Ryan and Charlie joined us for 4 more. We kept the effort light since Ryan had a time trial on his training plan on Saturday and I was really pleased that our average pace was still under 9:00/miles. 

We finally saw Wonder Woman on Friday night and it immediately became one of my favorite movies.  It was one of those movies – just like an amazing book – deeply resounded with me. After all the buzz surrounding it over the past week, I went in with high expectations – and the movie exceeded them. 

Saturday: 5 mile run

I accompanied Ryan on a time trial run on Saturday morning. I haven’t run hard since the Snohomish Women’s Run 10K, so this would serve as a good reintroduction to hard running. We warmed up for a mile and then ran a 5K time trial before a mile cool down run plus some walking. He ran a 7:29/mile average pace (including having to dodge around some packs of cyclists), and I am so proud of him!

After the run, we decided on a brunch at a local cafe. We split a California scramble and a Northwest scramble, which had smoked salmon in it. This meal was so good: everything was delicious but not greasy or too salty. 

After our run and brunch, we packed up for a weekend of car camping! The last time we camped was in November for a blissfully relaxing weekend during the peak weeks of marathon training. We want to backpack camp soon, but we’re not sure how Ollie will react to sleeping in a tent. Instead, we set up the back of my Honda Pilot with an air mattress, strung up a tarp to protect us from rain, and made a campfire. It was surprisingly chilly in the mountains! It was in the 50s and rainy, so I was bunded up in several layers all weekend. 

Car camping is a bit luxurious compared to backpacking – we brought a portable stove for cooking and some drinks – and so relaxing to unplug and just be. 

Sunday: Rest day

After coffee and breakfast and a short walk along the river, we packed up and returned home. The rest of the day was spent cleaning and relaxing. 

[Tweet “This week’s workouts plus a weekend of camping and #WonderWoman via @thisrunrecipes #running #optoutside “]

How was your week in running?
How often do you unplug?