Building A Strong Base
November 3, 2019
T-169 days (from Sunday, November 3rd) until the Boston Marathon. That seems so far away, but I’ve already started fundraising and a little bit of training!
Since I have not been running much on a weekly basis (maybe 2-5 miles if I’m being honest), I knew I needed to start doing a little bit of base building before the official TNT training plan starts on November 4th. So I made up my own little training plan! The last three weeks looked something like this…
Monday – 1/2 to 1 mile warm-up run then my co-ed Volleyball league game
Tuesday – Alchemy Class
Wednesday – Off
Thursday – Alchemy Class
Friday – 2 mile run
Saturday – Alchemy Class
Sunday – 3ish mile “long” run
Alchemy classes were what got me back into working out this past spring. The class formats are based on a combination of yoga, strength training, conditioning with more yoga at the end…all the types of workouts I love! I was drawn to how supportive and encouraging the coaches were, the music during classes and how I was able to zone everything else out and just focus on being in the studio and pushing myself. (If you’re in the Minneapolis area and want to give it a try, let me know, I’ll glady go with you!)
In all my prior training blocks, strength training is something I’ve always cut out or skipped due to time constraints, even though it is so good for runners to strength train to help prevent injuries! One of my goals going into this training cyle is to make sure I’m keeping up with strength training, and I think making sure I get to Alchemy classes regularly will help! So, what better way to make sure I do this then to start now!
I was a little nervous about how I was going to feel getting outside and running again, but I was pleasantly surprised how good it felt! Yes, the first few runs were tough…I was sucking wind, my legs felt heavy, I wanted to stop and walk and my brain kept thinking about how “out of shape” I was. But, something clicked over the last week or two and now my runs feel much better! Breathing isn’t as hard, my legs feel strong (hills are still hard…I think they always will be), and I’ve been really pleasantly surprised at how I feel afterwards! My calves have been a bit cranky, which I am not happy about this early in my training, but I’m trying to look at it as a reminder that I also need to be foam rolling and “pre-habbing.” Good thing we have at least 3 foam rollers in our house!
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I actually need to get out and get my run in!
P.S. Thank you to everyone that has supported my Team in Training fundraising efforts so far! I am blown away by your generosity. Please visit my TNT page here for more information on why I’m running the Boston Marathon and to help support me and patients battling leukemia and lymphoma.