Hi everyone! Week two of HTH training is complete!
Monday: I literally had 30 minutes between getting home from work and picking up Andrew from work to get this run in, and I was so proud of myself for squeezing it in there! It was just too warm and sunny for me to wait until later.
Tuesday: GOTR practice (note: playing tag is like a speed workout for adults!) and then a Pilates reformer class. During class I had a pretty strong calf cramp – cramps are normal but this one was intense and didn’t go away for a while! After class it still hurt.
Wednesday: To my horror I woke up with severe pain in my calf muscles, especially on my right leg. My muscles felt so tight I could barely walk! After stretching it felt better, but I was hobbling around all day. I really almost skipped my HTH speed workout because I was convinced I was injured, but I couldn’t bring myself to skip the exact type of workout I need, so I powered through a 4 mile tempo workout with the group. We had to run 2 loops of 2 miles each, alternating between a tempo pace and a recovery pace each time we ran past the cones that were set up on the course through the neighborhood. I did the first 2 mile loop on my own, but on the second loop I met up with two women who were running at the exact pace I was and we alternated between pushing ourselves as hard as possible and then sharing running tips on our breaks. Overall, our pace was 10:30 – and that’s including walk breaks between cones so I must have been running REALLY fast! My running buddies were just what I needed to push faster than I’ve ever run before! My legs felt a bit looser after the run so I’m glad I went.
The view from the trail
Thursday and Friday: rest days because my calf still hurt and I was so afraid of overdoing it and making it worse. I was so tempted to get in one more Pilates class but also felt like another cramp would do me in for sure.
Saturday: I woke up early for the 5k that my GOTR team was running. We ended up having enough running buddies for all of the girls who showed up, so me and the other coach sprinted across the neighborhood to meet up with the runners later on the course with the signs that our girls made in practice on Thursday. When the girls saw us with their signs screaming their names they got so excited! Near the end of the race we waited for the last girls in our group, and helped them cross the finish line while everyone from the other groups screamed at the finish line! It was such a cool event and I’m so excited I got to be part of it!
Best GOTR team ever! The girl in front of me actually ran the 5k in 27 minutes so we’ve got some speedy girls!
I then had to race across town to do a gig for work, and when I got home I was ready to do my long run for the week. My goal was to do 5 miles in an hour with a 15 minute cool down, but then something crazy happened: I went out fast, and never slowed down!
WHAT! If I kept running for another .2 miles at the same pace, this run would have put me only a few minutes behind my 10k PR – that’s how fast it was! I felt tired but really great afterwards. I could tell I was running faster than usual but it didn’t feel harder and I actually really felt great the whole time. I’m hoping this speedy trend will keep up for the next 10 weeks and I’ll be able to run my fastest half. After I went home I was inspired to sign up for a few upcoming short races that I’ve been dragging my feet over signing up for. It’s been so long since I’ve PRed a race and while I’m not sure if I’m there yet, I do feel like trying to push myself in a race to see how fast I can get.
Sunday: I decided to follow up my 6 mile run with a 6 mile hike! We hiked out at Eklutna Lake for the first time and it was flat, sunny, and gorgeous!
If this trail wasn’t so far from Anchorage I’d be running here all the time. We plan on coming back soon to ride bikes on the gravel road and rent kayaks to use in the lake. The trail is 12 miles one way and the hiker in me hates not getting all the way to the end this time – but I’ll do it someday! And the best news from today is that my calf didn’t hurt at all! The super fast run must have been exactly what it needed to go back to normal.
Next week I’ve got 4 runs instead of 3, getting back to normal with Pilates classes (with less cramping!), and a bit more yoga for extra stretching.
How was your week? Have you ever gotten a cramp mid-workout?
Mom in the Mtns 
I am glad the GOTR 5k was a success! It is great that you are involved with such a wonderful program. They had the program at the school district I used to work for in Ohio. I loved being a part of it!
That’s awesome! I had so much fun coaching and I’m sad it will be over this week.
Reformer class with a calf cramp is the worst! Tendon stretch always does me in.
Yes! This happened to me during hip rolls and I wanted to DIE. There’s just something about the way my toes/feet have to wrap around the bar that makes it so tough to get through without any cramps.
Great job on your speedy 6 miler! I’m glad that your calf cramp/pain was just a temporary issue.
Thanks! Yeah, I guess I just overused it during Pilates. I have to make sure that doesn’t happen again!
Amazing job this week on listening to your body! I feel like when you first start ramping up miles, little aches and pains come out and sometimes you just have to run through it to determine how serious it is. You did a great job of this…and your pictures are INCREDIBLE! I’m so jealzzz!
Haha thanks! Well using Pilates as cross training during half training is new to me and maybe my legs just need to adjust a bit. I never cramp while running but it happens all the time in Pilates class!
All your pictures and stories about hiking make me want to drop everything and move to Alaska! Congrats on your speedy run! Maybe you were feeling inspired by your Girls on the Run? I know after our GotR 5k this weekend I felt motivated to run, which I haven’t felt in a long time.
Haha do it! It’s so pretty right now! And I totally did feel more inspired! But I hate running fast so I feel like it’s got to be more than that. I’m hoping it’s from Pilates – they said this would probably happen! Whatever it is, I’m just excited to finally be speeding up again!
Great job this week, especially with your tempo run and speedy long run! Have you tried foam rolling? I also get those calf cramps / charlie horses, and I find that rolling helps a lot. I use The Stick.
Thanks! I foam roll every day, and I’ve never had problems with cramping while running – it was definitely Pilates class 😦 I love the reformer classes but I definitely get crazy cramps when we do one certain exercise and I hate it! Rolling it out definitely helped, along with extra stretching!
Awesome week! It sounds like your running group is already helping your performance 🙂
Thanks! I’m thinking that Pilates has something to do with it too. I do feel stronger, especially in my core!
What a GORGEOUS lake. I’m jealous! (Though not of the hike AFTER a run part. Ouch! HA!)
Haha thanks! It was a day later, but it was a little tough towards the end. It was worth the views though!
Sounds like you had a great running week! I had really bad calf pain this week too but my runs made it worse instead of better. I’m hoping my rest day yesterday and lots of stretching and foam rolling will help today’s run.
Oh no! Keep stretching! I just felt like it was super tight, but stretching and wearing compression socks around the house helped a lot. Also, I think it’s probably good I took an extra rest day to give it a chance to get better. I hope your calf starts feeling better soon!
What a great week and views! You are getting speedy… hello sub 2:30 🙂
I hope so!