It's weird adjusting to NOT running 4-5 days a week. But, I'm not training for a next event yet, so there was no reason for me to push the running (and during such a hot week...toward the end of this week/into Memorial Day weekend, the high temperatures were in the upper 80s/low 90s with high humidity).
Later on the day of the half marathon and Monday morning, my quads and hamstrings were feeling tight. I wore my Zensah calf compression sleeves the night of the half marathon, there's no way to tell if that lessened the tightness in my legs, but it couldn't have hurt, right?
I think I should have stretched more than I did immediately after the race or I should have taken them up on the 5-10 minute post race massage in the finisher's area (But the beer tent's call was louder than the line for the massages).
I scheduled a last minute massage for Monday afternoon with a focus on my legs. It felt like more of an intense stretching session than the typical relaxation that might come to mind when you think of a massage. It was hard to keep my leg muscles relaxed as I braced myself for the pressure of the knots being worked out of my legs. It was definitely worth it though. Tuesday I felt like my legs were back to normal! I was told that my legs are so strong that next time I should schedule the entire hour just for my legs. Yay muscle!
By Tuesday afternoon my legs were starting to itch to run again, but I took that entire day off. Actually, that's a lie. I went to a rowing practice for a Dragonboat Race I will be taking part in with my coworkers. I'm pleased to say my arms and shoulders were not one bit sore the next morning (and yes I paddled by little arms off at the practice).
Wednesday I went for an easy 2.28 mile run after work. Pretty uneventful.
Thursday I did nothing. Except this:
3x20 stability ball crunches (1 set was alternating sides)
3x20 lower back on stability ball
3x10 tricep overhead extensions w/5lbs in each hand
45 sec plank w/arms extended
60 sec plank on forearms
3x12 shoulder press w/5lbs in each hand
Friday Hubs, pup, and I went for a hike at nearby park. We covered 3.13 miles, then stopped for cold coffee beverages on our way home.
We found a frog. toad?
I wore my Merrell Pace Gloves
.
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Iced coffee beverages and a nap on the...dirt
After we got home, I made use of a portion of the several quarts of strawberries we bought.
We grilled lots of salmon and made fish tacos (subbing salmon for the tilapia used in the recipe).
Sunday Did this in my living room:
2x25 reg crunches with knees bent, feet on the floor
25 crunches with legs out straight
2x25 crunches alternating sides
45 second plank
Hubs and I biked to a nearby farm/farm store to pick up rhubarb to make strawberry rhubarb pie with all the strawberries we bought at the grocery store the day before. While there we took a break to have some frozen cider and cookies. Then we made the bike ride back home. And I can't actually take any credit for the pie...that was all him.
Monday (Memorial Day): Planned to run early in the morning. Was awoken by a crazy thunderstorm with lightning and sideways rain before 6:30 am. Was bummed that I wouldn't be able to run through my favorite park, and went back to sleep for 2 hours. Got up and was way too indecisive and couldn't figure how far/where I wanted to run. Ended up heading out around 10am and ran for 4.93 miles...through the park that I thought would be too wet (it wasn't). It got pretty warm, I ran until my HR got higher than I wanted it to for an easy run, then walked until it went back down. Then repeated.
What celebration of Memorial Day is complete without...
That's all for now. Hope everyone's enjoying their weekend.
This morning I ran a virtual 5k and went to a friend's baby shower. Tomorrow I've got a dragonboat race!
PS - Make sure to congratulate Alyssa on her first ultra marathon!!
How cool that you're doing dragon boating today! I used to do it when I lived in Hong Kong, and I'm just hearing from all my old teammates who are starting the races now in HK!!
ReplyDeleteJust discovered your blog, I love it!
:)
Congratulations on sticking to your rest week - for the most part!
ReplyDeleteVanessa - thanks for reading! Dragon boating was pretty cool, I'd definitely do it again!
ReplyDeleteGreen Girl - thanks! It's hard to do absolutely nothing when I'm used to running 4-5x/week, so it was nice to still be active doing other non-running things.