Mile Markers: Recovery Week
Happy Monday! How was your weekend?
Nothing very exciting happened in regards to running. Although I didn’t feel sore or tired after the Lake Sammamish Half, I opted to rest for a few days from running and then stick to easy runs this week. Just one week off/easy after marathon and half marathon does wonders for me in terms of staying mentally motivated and preventing injury.
All my runs this week were on the treadmill, which was really no big deal since they were shorter and Ryan ran on the treadmill next to me each time. Since I planned on including several this week, I signed up for the free trial of Pilatesology to try new workouts. I’m still debating if I want to subscribe, but this trial definitely makes me want to sign up! The workouts are more challenging than any I have on DVD, the variety is endless if you fully subscribe, and most of the workouts are easy to do from home. Even $19/month beats out $19 per class, which is the usual rate for Pilates in this area.
Monday: 40 minutes Pilates
I did an advanced Pilates video that made my core burn 100x more than the last mile of a race. Ouch. Other than that, the most activity I did was walking Charlie for 30 minutes.
Tuesday: 50 minutes Pilates
Today’s workout focused on form, which meant intense periods of very specific micro-movements, periods of doing the full exercise, and then short breaks in between. The variety from a normal Pilates workout was appreciated, as were the form cues that help maximize the effectiveness of Pilates.
Wednesday: 3 miles easy + 25 minutes Pilates with toning ring
I tagged along with Ryan to the gym all this week for his early morning runs. Running at 5:30 AM with no coffee is different than running at 7:30 AM with coffee and a snack. I kept it sloooowwww and easy at about an 9:15/mile pace.
For my Pilates workout, I combined a couple of toning ring videos together for a shorter workout.
Thursday: 3 miles easy
Another 3 miles on the treadmill while Ryan ran also, this time at an 8:35/mile average pace. I just was not feeling Pilates in the afternoon, so I skipped it and had a glass of wine instead.
Friday: 3 miles easy + 25 minutes Pilates with toning ring
3 miles easy again on the treadmill. I forget already my average pace but it was something around a 9:00/mile. By mid-morning I missed my weekly long run, which is a good sign. After the Portland Marathon I wanted nothing to do with running longer than 8 miles. I’m ready to get back into those next week!
I thoroughly enjoyed the Pilates toning ring video I tried today, which was almost similar to a barre workout in the utilization of the ring, more upper body work, and the incorporation of micro-movements. Except Charlie thought it would be hilarious to set his favorite toys on a mat during a up position, so that I’d roll down onto his furry Chewbacca or pointy sharp chew bone.
Saturday: 3 mile walk
We took Charlie to the Marymoor Off-leash Dog Park in Redmond and, according to my phone, covered 3 miles in walking as we followed Charlie around as he played with other dogs. He certainly got his daily dose of exercise with all of the sprints he did!
We also stopped at REI to use our yearly dividend (REI members receive 10% back of all full-priced purchases). We purchased a spacious new tent for backpacking and new running shoes for me! I’d been waiting on the Saucony Kinvara 7s to arrive in stores, but I just got too impatient and instead went with the Kinvara 6s. And I just love the blue color of the Kinvara 6. I’m so excited to try these out!
Sunday: Rest Day
Even though blue skies tempted us to opt outside, we stayed inside and at home due to severely high winds (60 mph+ gusts). The weather this March has been insane. We’ve already exceeded record rainfall!
Maintenance Phase:
Since I start marathon training in a short 5 weeks from now, these next few weeks will be all about maintenance. I want to balance maintaining my endurance and my speed, so long runs and short speed fartleks will be my main focus. Additionally, I want to resume strength training and maintain a consistent Pilates practice. I’ve been saving several workouts to try on Pinterest, so I’m excited to play around with my runs some and try new strength workouts.
[Tweet “Half marathon recovery week via @thisrunrecipes #runchat #fitfluential #sweatpink #runningshoes”]
Run: 9 miles easy | 4 supplemental workouts
What colors do you choose for your running shoes?
How was your weekend? Did anyone race?
Do you prefer at-home workouts or group classes?
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16 Responses
I can’t wait to hear what you think of the Kinvaras! Looks like a great recovery week. I usually try to pick different colored shoes so it makes it easier to keep track of mileage when I rotate.
Hopefully they work well! That’s smart with the different colors – at one point I had 3 pairs of Pure Flows all in the same color and had to mark them up to tell them apart!
new shoes are so exciting! I never pay attention to the shoe colors anymore just because I know I have to go by fit and usually, the Adidas boosts don’t come in fun colors! if I am lucky, I get pink
I love the bright pink of your boosts! They’re so bright and cheery!
I am worthless at at-home workouts. I just don’t/won’t do them. I never fully engage with them at home, you know?
I definitely think it tends to be an extrovert vs introvert thing!
Way to recover from the half marathon and get a ton of pilates/core/cross training in. So glad that you took it easy this week instead of going gung-ho with training like so many people do.
Love the new Kinvaras- you’ll have to let us know what you think about them compared to your usual Brooks :).
Thank you! I can’t just go and go after a race, especially when I know I have marathon training coming up soon. ANd I will – I’m hoping the new Kinvaras keep me from supinating so much, which I do a bit even the neutral Pure line shoes!
What colors do you choose for your running shoes? crazy as possible
How was your weekend? Did anyone race? St. Pats themed 7k – ran the whole distance wearing a Jamison’s Whiskey fisherman’s hat. Sweaty head.
Do you prefer at-home workouts or group classes? I’m an introvert so typically I prefer to workout at home. I don’t mind an occasional yoga class, but about once/month is my limit.
PS your slow is my race pace. 🙂
I’m an introvert also and at-home workouts are so great for that! And great job on your race this weekend, that sounds like a fun theme!
I love Kinvaras! I have to slide a blue gel heel pad underneath the insole though just to lift my heel up a bit as I’m not used to the 4mm heel drop (my Asics are 12mm!) and even then I can feel my calves shouting at me a bit. But I used to use them for quicker paced runs and races. Loved them. Hey great week this week and your maintenance plan sounds perfect. I love Charlie, I love the pic of him running at the dog park. So cute.
Oooh good! I’m hoping they’ll work well as a marathon shoe/racing for me especially. And thank you! Charlie is such a happy little puggle when he can run.
Sounds like you had a great week of recovery. I had not scheduled myself to rest/recover this past week after the Hot Chocolate, but life kind of made it that way. :/ Which was probably a good thing since I had not taken any time off (other than scheduled rest days) since the first of the year!
Love your blue shoes!!! They look speedy! 🙂
I do not mind at-home workouts, but I find that I do much better when I can be out and with other people. I lack the ability to push myself to the level in which I know I am capable and I know I make myself push a little more when there are others around me.
And YES! The weather this month has been absolutely crazy. I was playing soccer yesterday in some of the crazy ridiculous wind. Needless to say, the ball did not always go where one had intended. 😉
Sometimes life helps with building in those recovery weeks! It was definitely easy to recover with how bad the weather has been. And thank you! I love the blue also – it’s my favorite shoe color! Now this wind just needs to stop and the sun needs to come out! The Accuweather forecast says it will but I’ll believe that when it happens.
Way to do it right! I’m really impressed with your recovery. I have no doubt you will be ready for your marathon training to commence!
Thank you! Those recovery weeks are part of the yin and yang and balance of training, and I honestly look forward to them. I hope your training is going well!