sidebar | life and training 5.2 – 5.8

Greetings and happy Monday. Changing the Monday narrative by dubbing it happy.

I hope all the moms of the world enjoyed their day yesterday, were pampered appropriately, and loved wholly. I visited mom in the afternoon and made some Blackened Shrimp Caesar Pasta (honest to goodness one of my favorite recipes ever) with my sis on a Facetime chat watching all the while. ‘Twas a nice evening, as they usually are when I’m around family.

How did you celebrate mom, or your life’s mother figure? Or, if you’re a mom yourself, did you do something special to recognize your badassery?

Reintegrating into real life after our long vacation was not the easiest thing this time around. I was equal parts ready to be home and unwilling to accept that my day-to-day schedule was set to resume, especially after a big flop that was trying to get a grad school application done. Such as it were, I’ve needed to pivot on that route but am not sure which direction to pivot towards. Do I get a PT certification? Demote myself to a second Bachelors and then try to get an MS? Too many questions and very few answers.

Trying not to get too down on myself about the whole process. I’ll get answers eventually, I suppose.

California Photo Dump

I’ll share some photos from Chicago in next week’s post!

My Post-Marathon Training Plan

I’m two weeks post-race and already moving the pieces of my newest training approach.

I’ve discussed prior my enjoyment of strength training and this theme will continue through my current offseason. 5-6 sessions a week, split by muscle group, 45-60 minutes apiece. Spending more than an hour in the gym isn’t very productive and probably means I’m being too willy-nilly with my sessions. You should be reasonably spent.

Along with my heavier lifts, I’m incorporating a lot of mobility, particularly focused in my hips. I haven’t been amazing about it except on my two leg days, but I’m hoping to throw a move or two in during each session. Core work ends my lifts, usually 5-15 minutes.

As far as running goes, I’ll build back up to 5 days of low heart rate training. I’m really trying to keep to that approach since something was clearly awry during my Big Sur cycle. Easy runs should not be averaging over 160 bpm no matter how much I slow down. In maybe a week or two I’ll start tossing in a short speed session just to give my legs something else to think about.

I’m not particularly invested in any sort of goal race right now, especially since its summer and racing is just a terrible idea. I might jump into a 5k here and there (I always say that and never do it) and am eyeballing some 10k race or another over the fall or winter to form a speedier plan around.

The overarching theme of my training coincides with how I need to approach life nowadays. Reduce my stress, slow down, go with the flow. I’ve never gotten bloodwork done but I wouldn’t be shocked if my cortisol was through the roof, perhaps partially as a lingering side effect of Chicago and because of outside circumstances.

What can you do in your life to reduce your stress?

What I’m Up To This Week

Testing…An easy salmon meatball dish, an orzo salad, a vegetarian Lebanese dinner, and a riff on Nashville hot chicken that doesn’t involve chicken!

Wanting…To build a capsule wardrobe. I honestly find myself buying new items in the same color scheme anyway, and the basis of the capsule is reducing what you own and finding ways to utilize it in multiple fashions. I adore the pieces Vetta sells and might leastwise use them as a start.

Avoiding…Fast fashion. We went to an exhibit at the Chicago Architecture Museum, and the theme was sustainability and how we can do our part to reduce waste and our carbon footprint. One of the ideas that stuck was buying more eco-friendly clothing. Vetta, mentioned above, is one, and Quince another I’m browsing for ideas.

A Few Things I’m Digging

Movie…We watched Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on Saturday and dude, what a good movie! Probably up there in my Marvel favorites along with Doctor Strange.

Canned salmon…Been using this is a primary protein source of late. Great tossed into simple pastas or as the bulk of a big salad. Which reminds me – I need to scare up a Niçoise salad concept soon! They’re my favorite since you basically just dump a bunch of good, hearty shit like potatoes and olives in a bowl.

Cake…The Dirty Coconut Chai Tres Leches Cake is a real treat for anytime baking. So simple, sweet, and indulgent.

Week in Training

Monday, 5.2: 2.46 miles, 12:12 pace/149 BPM + 50 minute back & biceps

Dudes, LHR training is really frustrating. One thing I do appreciate, however, is feeling fresh and un-fatigued at the end of runs. I can even say I had some endorphins for the movement! I kept the treadmill at 4.8-5 mph for the most part and took a couple walk breaks to get any spikes to calm.

Strength:

• 3 x 10 eccentric biceps curls 20#
• 3 x 10 ea. balanced single arm row 35#
• 3 x 10 cable hammer curl 32#
• 3 x 10 narrow rope pulldown 62#
• 3 x 10 boat curl 20#
• 3 x 10 bent over front raise 30#
• 3 x 10 ea. single arm pulldown 32#
• 3 x 20 weighted deadbug 15# med ball
• 3 x 16 plank drag 30#
• 3 x 20 leg drop 30#
• 3 x 20 weighted Russian twist 25#

Tuesday, 5.3: 35 minute elliptical + 55 minute shoulders & triceps

Lowkey cardio after 4 hours of sleep and a good lift. Came back inside, had a recovery drink, and fell right back to sleep for a bit.

Strength:

• 3 x 10 ea. balanced military press 20#
• 3 x 10 lying triceps extension 40#
• 3 x 10 ea. slow side raise 15#
• 3 x 10 chest press 70#
• 3 x 10 diamond pushup
• 3 x 10 shrug 45#
• 3 x 12 ea. single arm pulldown 11#
• 3 x 10 barbell OH press 10# on bar
• 3 x 10 ea. slow slit squat 10#
• 3 x 15 ea. plank lateral taps
• 3 x 20 plank leg raise
• 3 x 15 stir the pot

Wednesday, 5.4: 2.9 miles, 12:04 pace/150 bpm + 55 minute legs

Heat probably impacted my effort level here but I felt good afterwards and most of my running paces were pretty normal for regular training, which was encouraging!

Strength:

• 3 x 10 deadlift 110#
• 3 x 10 ea. static lunge 70#
• 3 x 10 leg press 150#
• 3 x 10 ea. leg extension 50#
• 3 x 10 elevated narrow squat 70#
• Various stability and core exercises I didn’t write down so I forget

Thursday, 5.5: 30 minute elliptical + 50 minute back & biceps

Early session and a really frustrating battle with the automatic light timer in the gym, so I spun a good long while in the dark before it finally responded to my phone light.

Strength:

• 3 x 10 lat pulldown 70#
• 3 x 10 preacher curl 50#
• 3 x 10 mid row 70#
• 3 x 10 reverse preacher curl 35#
• 3 x 10 ea. single leg row 40#
• 3 x 12 ea. cross cable pull 11#
• 3 x 10 concentration curl 15#
• 3 x 10 scarecrow row 30#
• 3 x 20 plank knee taps
• 3 x 20 hip swivels
• 3 x 20 decline leg drop

Friday, 5.6: 2.43 miles, 12:21 pace/149 bpm + 50 minute shoulders & triceps

Temperatures have been really climbing in the mornings, dew points around 71 which is nothing compared to a couple months down the road.

Strength:

• 3 x 10 bench press 30#
• 3 x 10 triceps pushdown 32#
• 3 x 10 ea. upright row 20/25#
• 3 x 12 chest fly 20#
• 3 x 10 ea. single arm triceps extension 15#
• 3 x 12 T raise 15#
• 3 x 10 incline bench press 25#
• 3 x 12 skullcrusher 30#
• 3 x 10 OH press 15#
• 3 x 20 decline plank knee to elbow
• 3 x 15 v-up

Saturday, 5.7: 5.01 miles, 12:50 pace/150 bpm + 57 minute legs

Woke up to thunder and a whole shit ton of lightning. The storms receded by the time I was due to start running, but wow there were some streaks in the distance. I think the stress of the weather, the high heat, and some intense wind made my heart rate spike up quite a lot, or maybe I was just tired and uneasy in general. Very slow session indeed.

Strength:

• 3 x 10 ea. split squat 50#
• 4 x 10 plie squat 110#
• 4 x 10 ea. single leg press 100#
• 3 x 12 front squat 60#
• 3 x 10 OH squat 40#
• 4 x 10 high leg press 150/160#
• 3 x 8 leg extension 160#
• 3 x 20 banded knee drives10#
• 3 x 30 lateral banded walk
• 3 x 20 hover tippy toe knee-outs (da fuq)
• 3 x 10 ea. weighted bird dog 10#
• 3 x 20 bridge knee raise SS 20 crunch

Total running mileage: 13.36 miles