Why hello there!
I hope you are all enjoying your hump day!
I have been a busy little bee today and didn’t have time to post this morning. Deepest apologies. ;) Don’t worry I will make it up to you with a super amazing Whole Foods giveaway tomorrow! You won’t believe how fun this contest is going to be.
I have some other exciting news that has kept me from all of you today! Fresh restaurant has agreed to sample my Glo Bakery goodies!!!! So I have been busy trying to figure out what to send them and I have also been testing out a new Biscotti recipe. This could be a huge opportunity for me (if they decide they like the products and want to supply them in their restaurants), so I am really keeping my fingers crossed. Please send me glo-ing vibes!!!
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Light Exercise on Off Days
Yesterday, I decided to do some light walking on my off day to see if it helps with recovery.
I did 20 minutes on the treadmill at incline 10% walking at speed 3.5 mph. It was enough to break me into a light sweat, but I didn’t feel like I had to exert too much energy.
It is hard to say whether it helped much because I wasn’t really sore after my 12.40 mile run on Monday. However, my legs felt like lead so I am sure it helped get the blood flowing! I am going to try to get some light walking on most of my off days to see if I notice any difference in recovery long term.
With that being said, if I really don’t ‘feel’ like it on my off day, you can be assured that I won’t be pushing myself to do it. You all know how I feel about my off days! ;)
I also did something yesterday that I have been meaning to do for a long time now.
I did some knee strengthening exercises!
As you may know, I have been wearing knee sleeves since I started running again post-injury back in April/May. My knee sleeves have been a saving grace for me and have literally taken away 99% of my knee pain. It has been nothing short of miraculous.
However, I would eventually like to address the root of the problem which is likely weak muscles surrounding and supporting the knee structure. That is what my Sports Medicine Doctor told me in the Spring. At some point (when I can afford it) I would like to see a Physical Therapist so I can have targeted and professional help with strengthening my knees!
However, in the meantime, I have decided that I am going to try and strengthen my knees on my own.
You may have seen this excellent demonstration video that Caitlin put together:
I did these moves last night, in addition to this one:
It is now my goal to do knee strengthening exercises on a regular basis!
Now the only question I have for you guys is when should I do them? Should I do them on my off days or on my run days? I really have no idea.
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Tackling Speed Work Post-Injury
Today I tackled speed work!
I have almost entirely backed off from speed training since my injury. Aside from the two races I ran (10 km and 10 mile races), I have literally not done any speed work at all.
As you may recall, speed work was what contributed to my pelvic injury.
I was running a lot of Army Fitness Tests (run 2 miles as fast as you can) and I was pushing hard. The one I did right before my injury was 2 miles in about 13.46 minutes. I am almost positive pushing that hard is what contributed to my injury, along with doing the 30 Day Shred and intense yoga sessions. Superwoman syndrome, anyone?
So naturally, I have been really scared to really challenge myself speed wise. Today, I mustered up the courage to run a 10k speed run, but I promised myself that I would really listen to my body.
Lately, on my long runs, about every mile or so, I turn off my music and just do a check-in with my body.
I find music can be really distracting when you are trying to read the feedback your body is giving you. I just run in peace and quiet and do a scan of my body to make sure there is no strange pain. Once, I do this I can often put the music back on until the next scan. This has really given me an appreciation of working with my body when running. I highly recommend check-ins for all of you runners out there!
So when I headed out the door today, I told myself I would do my check-ins. Any strange pain, and I would stop. Easy as that.
The conditions today were pretty intense- it was one of the chilliest mornings we have had so far this month (11C/51.8F) and really intense winds (~25km/hr). I wasn’t sure how fast I would be able to run in this weather, but I gave it a shot. After all, no one says the weather conditions during my half marathon will be ideal, right? We could have snow for all I know! haha.
I started off dressed like this (sporting my ‘I Like It Green’ tee):
Went outside and came back in to put on this:
Yes, I am Canadian but I am a total cold weather wuss! Anyone else?
It will be nothing short of a miracle if all of you can motivate me to run outdoors a bit this winter. ;)
Once I got warmed up, I actually had a great 10k speed run!
Here are my mile splits (estimates from memory):
Mile 1: 9:15 min/mile (big hill)
Mile 2: 8:31 min/mile (big hill)
Mile 3: 8:27 min/mile (strong wind)
Mile 4: 9 min/mile (strong wind, stopped to walk 30 secs.)
Mile 5-6.2: 8:07 min/mile (strong wind, steady hill incline,stopped to walk 30 secs)
I was really happy with this run. My goal was to finish strong, like I would hope to in a race. And my final mile was my fastest, so it worked out well.
10k stats:
- Duration: 53:17
- Avg pace: 8:42 min/mile
- Max HR: 175 bpm
- Avg HR: 163 bpm (much higher than Monday’s long run stats)
I was so excited hitting my watch at the end of the ‘race’ look what I did!!!!!!!
Major ouch!!!!!! Right down to the skin!
This run felt absolutely awesome! :) I came home and guzzled a shot of protein, Amazing Grass style:
And had one of my ‘RENEW’ recovery Glo Bars (11 grams protein). Thanks for your help with voting on the name everyone! You guys rock. I really like the name Renew.
Afterwards, I stretched, did a mini ice shower and I’m feeling on cloud nine right now. :)
My running plan over the next 10 days:
My running plan for the rest of the week is to take tomorrow OFF and then run another 6 (easy!) miles on Friday. Saturday is probably going to be some form of cross training as we are going to Eric’s parents house for the weekend and will likely be active doing some kind of sport.
Next week is my TAPER week since the race is the 27th!
I think I am going to run 3 easy miles on Monday and Wednesday and then *maybe* 2 slow miles on Friday. I’ll play it by ear. I want to be very rested for Sunday morning (7:30am start time- gulp!)
For the racers out there- What do your taper weeks look like?
I’m so excited for my race I can hardly stand it!!!
Do you think I have caught the race bug?
I can’t remember being this excited about ‘exercise’ in years and years- if ever!
We have some huge giveaways coming up on OSG! I will be announcing the winner of the 6 bottles of Barney Butter Giveaway tomorrow morning (I have extended the contest until midnight tonight so get your entry in!). And then tomorrow I will be announcing a new contest for a Whole Foods Giveaway of over $350 of Whole Foods Gift Cards!!!! And yes, this will be open to US and Canadian residents once again.
Another reason to be excited? Tonight marks the kick-off of the Leafs first pre-season hockey game!!!! I love hockey season!
You don’t want to miss this contest!
Great run!!! and I hate when I do that to my nails :)
that is SO exciting about Fresh – I hope everything works out for that – it would be amazing!
can’t wait to hear about this WF giveaway!
ummm total weather wuss right here!! I am from Buffalo, NY but now live in Miami. I am always freezing though so then everyone is like but umm aren’t you from like really cold? I moved here for a reason people!! Not to mention that air conditioning here is killer, I have to take sweaters everywhere and I’m usually still cold!
I can’t wait to hear about the WF give away. The closest whole foods is nearly 30 miles away (which seems to far)so anytime I go I stock up! I love the name of the new bar too cute!!
great post angela, i have been worried about post injury running and I always look to you as someone who is patient and smart in letting the body heal.
I’m not a fan of the extremes: too hot (Summer)or too cold(Winter).I’m a Fall Kinda gal:-) cc
CONGRATS!! that’s so awesome that Fresh wants to sell your stuff!…i can’t imagine they’ll taste your stuff and say they’re not interested lol :-D
FRESH!!! ANGELA, THAT’S HUGE!
I am sending you a simultaneous congratulations AND good luck!
And thanks for the knee exercises! I have chronically achy knees (unless I stick to zero impact activities!) so this is great!
good luck with fresh! :)
Not sure if this will help anyone, but I thought I’d put it out there just in case…
When I started running in March (or was it April) of this year I got terrible knee pain just a couple weeks in. You can imagine how discouraging this was, but I wasn’t going to let it get me as I had just signed up for a Running Room Learn to Run clinic, as well as bought $150 shoes! I talked to the Running Coach (who was the most amazing lady) right away as I didn’t want to screw up my knees at the young age of 25! She emailed me all weekend over the Easter long weekend helping me with the pain and recommending things. She even talked to her chiropractor who came up with a possible diagnosis for me- Patellar Tendonitis. I ended up going to see this Chiro and it was like a MIRACLE! I was leery of chiros before…and now I’m a total believer! It was in fact, Patellar Tendonitis, otherwise known as Jumpers Knee (kinda wierd for a runner isn’t it?!) The patellar tendon connects the knee cap to the shin bone, so the pain was right under my knee cap when I ran, walked up and down stairs…what a PAIN! It turned out that my hips were totally out and as I started running the impact on my joints caused this horrible knee pain that I couldn’t live with! Luckily this WONDERFUL Chiro (if you live in Edmonton and need a great chiropractor, I’d totally recommend her!) is a runner herself and knows a lot about running injuries. With a couple adjustments, I was back on my feet and only missed a week of running. I haven’t had any knee pain since!!
Anyway, thought I’d share as it seems that lots of runner have knee troubles and maybe aren’t as lucky as me to have found the right fix :)
PS- Love the new Globar name! (It was the one I voted for!)
Oh wow that is really amazing a few adjustments took all your pain away!!! Ive never heard of that before. Once I see a PT I am definitely going to mention this.
Do you know what adjustments they did to your hips? Is there a name for it?
I can find out some more info and let you know. Another amazing thing about my Chiro is that you can email her about any questions or concerns and she actually emails you back (almost always the same day!)- unheard of in the world of doctors/health care!
I will keep you posted!
How weird – I was also feeling that same fear about speed as I had a track workout to do yesterday. You did an amazing job on that run!! Theis half marathon better be shaking in it’s boots! :)
I am a ridiculously cold person. It needs to be above 75 for me to truly feel warm. :) And no matter how many layers I have on, it’s never enough during the winter! However one thing I learned from another runner is that you should always dress to run as if it was 20 degrees warmer than the actual temperature. Definitely has helped me to dress a little more appropriately!
Oh, and congrats on Fresh!!! You might need your own kitchen office soon!
Thanks!
RE: Dressing as if it were 20 degrees warmer…you mean in Farenheit right? At first I was thinking in celcius and I was like whoa that is HOT! bahahaha.
But yea I hear you…I was WAY too hot on my run today in the lulu jacket.
Believe it or not, I’m actually kind of looking forward to cooler fall/winter running…I’ve never done it before, but I over heat SO much…and you can only take so much off!
Awesome run today Angela! I did 10k this morning in 8 C and it took me soooo long to get out the door. I thought I could get a proper running jacket and tough it out this year, but I may be forced to the treadmill soon! The worst part actually isn’t the cold, it’s that my nose is like a non-stop faucet in the cold air! Screws my breathing up! Glad to hear I’m not the only wussy Canadian :)
My nose runs like a faucet too! And yes it really does make breathing very difficult. I never remember to bring tissue either.
So exciting about Fresh!! I need to do those knee exercises too! I need to do strength training in general lol.
Ah I hate when I do that to my nails!! Great job on the run!!
Sarah
I grew up in Minnesota (northern US state that borders Canada if you dont know or care about your US geography :)) Anyway, frigidly cold winters. -40F regularly then moved to Chicago. Also cold and awful weather. And working out outside was such a chore but I did it, dressed properly like a trooper. Now I live in Phoenix where I just did 5 miles this morning while pushing a 60 lb stroller in 107 F heat. Extremes, I tell ya :)
Great job on the 10K “race!” I’ll bet the light activity yesterday helped! That’s so awesome that Fresh will be selling your Glo bars:D Super cool. I can’t wait for the WF giveaway!!
So exciting about Fresh wanting to sample your Glo bars. Congrats!!
CONGRATS ON FRESH!!! GOOD LUCK! I KNOW THEY WILL LOVE YOUR GOODIES!!
i have to admit, i prefer the cooler weather… i would rather warm up (quickly!) than start out hot with nowhere to go!
this week has been my taper (3.5 days until race day!) and i did 6 on saturday, 30 easy minutes on the treadmill yesterday, and am doing probably another 30 easy treadmill tomorrow. maybe go for a walk or do elliptical or something friday if i feel like it, then my race starts at 7am sunday!! WOW is that early, haha. but the full marathon starts at 8am and they must want us out of their way :)
I like to run in cooler weather, once I get out there… but I am a wuss too! I don’t know what I’ll do if I actually move up to Canada!! lol
xo
K
omg angela, if I could do my half (without training consecutively) you are gonna rock your Half! I know it! Thanks for all the workout advice and recovery recomendations! I am going to do some treadmill work tonight bc my legs are still not yet recovered from the race on sunday! cant wait for the awesome giveaway!
xoxo
Lo