NYCM Training Week 1

Monday:
I wasn't too sore when I woke up but I was still generally tired from such a long weekend. I decided to go to the gym for one last strength session before leaving for school though. Unfortunately my left shoulder was feeling a little funny so I cut out almost all of my upper body exercises. It wasn't a long workout but I still felt strong.

Tuesday:
I made sure to head to my Tuesday morning yoga class before heading down to school to move back in to my apartment. My legs were still pretty tight from Sunday's triathlon so the stretching felt fantastic. I'm pretty sad about not being able to go to yoga class anymore but I think I learned enough to get in some solid stretching on my own.

Wednesday:
Wednesday was my first day of classes so I knew things would be chaotic. I didn't have class until 2:30 but really didn't want to wake up at 7:00 to beat the Baltimore heat. Instead I ran in the evening after class. I didn't have much motivation but I knew I needed to run. I accidentally left my Garmin at home so I just ran for 55 minutes and then mapped out how far I went. I was so surprised during the run with how great I felt. That same run would have kicked my butt last year but felt like a piece of cake on Wednesday.

Thursday:
Since I don't have classes on Friday this semester and have off on Monday for Labor Day I decided to go home Thursday afternoon after class. I was planning on running 4 miles but decided to call it quits after 2 miles because of how terrible my legs felt. I could have pushed through but I wanted Friday's long run to go well and thought it wasn't worth using so much mental and physical energy.

Friday:
Long run day! I was all set to do my long run in the morning but my stomach wasn't cooperating and by the time it was it was already 90 degrees outside. I figured I could just run in the evening or move the run to Saturday. I wanted to do this long run with some half marathon goal pace miles to see where I am at before my half in a couple weeks. I did 3 miles warm up, 6 miles @ HMGP, 3 miles warm down. The first 9 miles of the run went really well but then my stomach started to hurt. At the same time I ran out of water. I decided to go back home and finish the last three miles after I could get more to drink. Those miles were brutal. I felt dizzy and exhausted but I needed to finish. After the run I ate all the salty things I could find and almost instantly felt better. I think I may need to start taking salt tabs with me on long runs because I am a really salty sweater.

Saturday:
I normally don't wait so long between my twice-weekly strength sessions but I wanted to wait until after my long run. I have been having some weird shoulder pain/ache for the past few days so I only did a few upper body exercises. I stopped as soon as I felt any pain or discomfort. Later in the day I met my boyfriend at a local lake. He was going mountain biking so I decided to bring my dog for a trail run, which turned into a trail run/hike. It was a really beautiful day but unfortunately my hip area started really hurting as the day progressed. By the time I went to bed I could barely walk up the stairs because of the pain. I am not sure what caused it or what it is but my guess is that it is from lifting.

Sunday:
I was supposed to do a recovery run on Sunday but decided to do a bike ride instead because of my hip/leg. It felt much better after when I woke up in the morning but I still wanted to be careful. I went for a 20 mile bike ride with my dad that really loosened up the area. The pain is definitely getting better but I'm going to be extra cautious next week not to do any more damage.

Weekly Totals

• Running: 21.83 miles
• Biking: 20 miles
• Yoga: 60 min
• Strength: 1 hour 17 min
• Total Hours: 7 hours 54 min