[Day 74]
But it turns out that's probably just because you didn't do much moving all day. No overt discomfort all day so I went into my run feeling pretty confident, was gonna go for 2 easy/4 fast/1 easy for 7 miles but it became pretty clear about a half mile into the fast segment that it really wasn't meant to be today. I was actually hitting a pretty solid pace and probably could have pushed that through, but I was doing it on not the best form and over-striding had me worried a bit about my knees. My legs just had no kick to them today, it felt like it took all the concentration I had just to keep the turnover reasonable (and actually the average cadence was quicker than it felt so that was a pleasant surprise) and I could really feel the fatigue from yesterday's ride even though I really hadn't noticed that all day. Just goes to show sometimes you really don't know where your body is at until you're in the middle of the workout.
In any case, I adjusted and just decided that it would be better to try and focus on running well instead of running fast. In a race situation I'll be feeling those heavy legs anyways and it's always good to program good form in while you're fatigued so it's more natural in race situations when your brain isn't always there to take the reins. In the end the pace ended up looking much better than I thought it would, given that I really wasn't focusing on that, so I was happy about it. Also the pace definitely built as I went on, so my body was easing itself into the workout which was promising. Surprised by how trashed my legs feel from yesterday, but then again maybe I shouldn't be. 3 hours is really not a joke for someone as relatively new to riding as I am. Here's the update.
Today's Workout: PM base run
Summary: 7.05 mi, 1:04:36, 9:10 average pace, 173 spm
Pace splits by mile: 9:32, 9:25, 8:56, 9:13, 9:09, 8:56, 9:06
Hit Rate: 78/86 (90.6%)
Swim practice in the morning tomorrow and what will likely be a long day I'll split between lab and studying for finals. Honestly not being too aggressive this week or next because school is the priority and I would like to keep my wits about me as best as possible. That said, Wednesday will still be a big day, but we'll talk about that when we get there. Happy Monday everyone!
Much love,
Jess
Showing posts with label tired legs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tired legs. Show all posts
Monday, March 14, 2016
Monday, January 4, 2016
Check your ego at the door
[Day 4]
Aw yeah getting back in the gym. Feeling super weak, even by my standards (not that I was ever strong to start with). Definitely just sort of gave up on my last real lifting exercise because my arms were failing me and I can only drop weight on myself so many times while my fellow early morning gym-goers look on before I tell myself that it's probably just time to move on with my life. xD Anyways, here's the update:
Today's Workout: Gym + short treadmill run
Summary:
Notes/thoughts:
Food/shower/school time! (:
Much love,
Jess
Aw yeah getting back in the gym. Feeling super weak, even by my standards (not that I was ever strong to start with). Definitely just sort of gave up on my last real lifting exercise because my arms were failing me and I can only drop weight on myself so many times while my fellow early morning gym-goers look on before I tell myself that it's probably just time to move on with my life. xD Anyways, here's the update:
Today's Workout: Gym + short treadmill run
Summary:
- Back squats: WU 12 @ 65 lbs, 5 x 8 @ 85 lbs
- Flat bench: WU 12 @ 45 lbs, 3 x 10/8/6 @ 75 lbs + drop set of 10 @ 55 lbs (last set)
- Deadlifts: 3 x 8 @ 95 lbs
- Pulldowns: alt. wide/narrow grip, 4 x 12 @ 6 plates
- Giant set: 3 rounds, full rest between rounds
- 12 box jumps
- 12 single arm DB shoulder press (seated today because my legs were blown) @ 15 lbs
- 12 single arm DB rows @ 35 lbs
- Incline bench: 1 complete set of 10 at 55 lbs, 1 broken set of 10 because I dropped the bar twice, then I decided to just call that a day.
- Treadmill run: easy 20 minute run (6.0-6.5 speed)
- Treadmill stats: 2.15 mi, 21:20
- Garmin stats: 2.03 mi, 21:08, 10:23 pace
- Core/mobility superset: 3 rounds
- 12/side of cable low to high core pulls @ 2 plates
- 20 bodyweight band squats
- Total Time: ~ 1:45
Notes/thoughts:
- My legs were getting wrecked by the squats. They just wanted to keep seizing between sets so I had to stretch a lot. Protecting my back during that lift actually loads my legs a lot more, which I guess is the idea, but it's sad that it makes me functionally weaker. Probably going to up reps before I try to up weight, I want to make sure that I'm lifting right and I won't throw out my back again.
- Deadlifting today was the first time I'd done that since I injured myself way back in May or whenever it was. I went real light, not very many reps or sets, just want to get back into the swing of it and make sure I'm teaching myself how to protect my back through the lift. We'll see how my back feels the rest of the day and tomorrow, but as of right now, it's perfectly normal so hopefully things stay that way.
- I was pretty much ready to go home by the time I was doing pulldowns. Maybe it was because my forearms were feeling really destroyed and that always makes me just grouchy, but I'm amazed I then got through the rest of the workout somehow. There were a couple roadblocks today, including how I felt during the pulldowns and dropping weight on myself during incline bench, and yet somehow I stuck it out and finished which really amazes me. It was like one of the bad long runs, I just kept telling myself to do one more set or to run for one more song and eventually I was at the end. Good job Jess. (:
- Running after lifting sucks. As does lifting after running. Which I guess is why it's important to do both things separately and together. Separately so neither thing gets compromised, together to get better at running on tired legs and maintaining strength even when you're aerobically drained.
- I'm really not happy with where I'm at in terms of fitness (probably because it's day 2 of real training) but I was very happy with the effort today. I could have probably totally justified doing less and just going home early, but I didn't, and I'm glad I got through it.
Food/shower/school time! (:
Much love,
Jess
Sunday, August 2, 2015
Tired legs and many musings
Yesterday's afternoon run was a long slow ordeal, and generally fairly low on the perceived effort scale, which gave me a lot of time to contemplate training and life in general. And then I had sort of a weird night following what was overall a very positive run. I will share my thoughts below, but first, the workout details:
Yesterday's PM Workout: Base run (6-8 mi)
Summary: 7.04 mi, 1:13:09, 10:24 pace.
Pace splits by mile: 9:27, 10:02, 10:30, 10:42, 10:36, 10:40, 10:49, 10:40.
Hit rate: 24/26 (92.3%)
In regards to the actual run, I was happy with the effort level I held even though the pace was slow. My legs felt like lead the first two miles and surprisingly they were the fastest, although that has a tendency of holding true any time I'm starting out on tired legs. I think it's just an attempt to compensate for how strange they feel before they get into it. The cadence got way low in the second half of the run so that's something I have to continue working on. I feel like I'm getting better at moderating effort on the hills, which I think is an important skill that I'm developing. I really need to take this route backwards at some point, just to see what it's like to run all those hills in the other direction.
Now for some musings:
(1) Quality versus quantity. I had this entire conversation with myself about how maybe I was focusing too much on quantity and not enough on quality. At the end of the day though, I realized that my goal Olympic distance race is likely not going to be a super high quality race. It's going to be a finish as quickly as possible on as even an effort as possible (read: try not to blow up halfway, don't get too ambitious, just get to the end). And in that regard, it makes sense for my training to be similar. What's going to be hard about this race isn't quality so much as just going the distance, so it really is quantity that I'm struggling with and I have to get that quantity in before I can even worry about quality. I thought a little bit about how that relates to swimming and how the focus with young swimmers is always increasing volume while focusing on technique, not speed. So I think I'm going to try to take a similar approach with the training: Focus on volume and technique, not speed. We'll re-evaluate in 3 weeks at the halfway point and see if any changes need to be made to that focus overall.
(2) Optimizing training versus maximizing life in general. I had this entire realization that a lot of times I sit around trying to figure out how I can get the most out of training when I should really be trying to figure out how I can get the most out of life. Just like with the prioritization, there are going to be other things in life that bring me satisfaction and fulfillment that may take away minutes from my finish times. That's okay. Nothing rides on my finish times. What's most important is figuring out what is worth those minutes to me and what isn't so I can try and get the most out of life. I'm really going to work on balancing my goals with my other pursuits and my happiness and my love for everything that I do.
(3) Giving myself credit. I think this was something that I started thinking about on my run and not really sorting out until I had a bit of a sad streak late at night. I've realized that oftentimes I don't give myself permission to feel broken down. I never feel like I've worked hard enough to deserve feeling fatigued or sore or whatever, and so it makes me really upset when I'm beat down because I think I shouldn't be. It leads to a lot of guilt about wanting or taking rest (whether that's just lying down for a bit or napping or going to bed early) and a lot of guilt when I feel the need to complain about how beat down I feel. I think I really need to work on accepting that what I do is tough for me (may not be tough for other people or match up to their standards, but it's tough for me) and that I do my best and I'm allowed to be exhausted sometimes and I'm allowed to want rest. I need to give myself credit for the work that I do and stop feeling like I haven't earned my rest or recovery. In the long run, it will help with not only the mental side of things but also the actual quality of my recovery.
So those were the thoughts I had during/after my run. It's now early on Sunday morning and I'm planning on taking a brick in about a half hour. That will be my only workout for the day, which will be a nice break from the past two double days. I will report back on that one later.
Much love,
Jess
Yesterday's PM Workout: Base run (6-8 mi)
Summary: 7.04 mi, 1:13:09, 10:24 pace.
Pace splits by mile: 9:27, 10:02, 10:30, 10:42, 10:36, 10:40, 10:49, 10:40.
Hit rate: 24/26 (92.3%)
In regards to the actual run, I was happy with the effort level I held even though the pace was slow. My legs felt like lead the first two miles and surprisingly they were the fastest, although that has a tendency of holding true any time I'm starting out on tired legs. I think it's just an attempt to compensate for how strange they feel before they get into it. The cadence got way low in the second half of the run so that's something I have to continue working on. I feel like I'm getting better at moderating effort on the hills, which I think is an important skill that I'm developing. I really need to take this route backwards at some point, just to see what it's like to run all those hills in the other direction.
Now for some musings:
(1) Quality versus quantity. I had this entire conversation with myself about how maybe I was focusing too much on quantity and not enough on quality. At the end of the day though, I realized that my goal Olympic distance race is likely not going to be a super high quality race. It's going to be a finish as quickly as possible on as even an effort as possible (read: try not to blow up halfway, don't get too ambitious, just get to the end). And in that regard, it makes sense for my training to be similar. What's going to be hard about this race isn't quality so much as just going the distance, so it really is quantity that I'm struggling with and I have to get that quantity in before I can even worry about quality. I thought a little bit about how that relates to swimming and how the focus with young swimmers is always increasing volume while focusing on technique, not speed. So I think I'm going to try to take a similar approach with the training: Focus on volume and technique, not speed. We'll re-evaluate in 3 weeks at the halfway point and see if any changes need to be made to that focus overall.
(2) Optimizing training versus maximizing life in general. I had this entire realization that a lot of times I sit around trying to figure out how I can get the most out of training when I should really be trying to figure out how I can get the most out of life. Just like with the prioritization, there are going to be other things in life that bring me satisfaction and fulfillment that may take away minutes from my finish times. That's okay. Nothing rides on my finish times. What's most important is figuring out what is worth those minutes to me and what isn't so I can try and get the most out of life. I'm really going to work on balancing my goals with my other pursuits and my happiness and my love for everything that I do.
(3) Giving myself credit. I think this was something that I started thinking about on my run and not really sorting out until I had a bit of a sad streak late at night. I've realized that oftentimes I don't give myself permission to feel broken down. I never feel like I've worked hard enough to deserve feeling fatigued or sore or whatever, and so it makes me really upset when I'm beat down because I think I shouldn't be. It leads to a lot of guilt about wanting or taking rest (whether that's just lying down for a bit or napping or going to bed early) and a lot of guilt when I feel the need to complain about how beat down I feel. I think I really need to work on accepting that what I do is tough for me (may not be tough for other people or match up to their standards, but it's tough for me) and that I do my best and I'm allowed to be exhausted sometimes and I'm allowed to want rest. I need to give myself credit for the work that I do and stop feeling like I haven't earned my rest or recovery. In the long run, it will help with not only the mental side of things but also the actual quality of my recovery.
So those were the thoughts I had during/after my run. It's now early on Sunday morning and I'm planning on taking a brick in about a half hour. That will be my only workout for the day, which will be a nice break from the past two double days. I will report back on that one later.
Much love,
Jess
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