This past week I got back into the roll of things by making sure to prioritize runs the way they are programmed. Sticking to the program actually gave me just enough time to recover from my runs and feel like the next run was not so daunting. I still feel sore especially from the long run but overall it wasn’t too bad. I think preparation of nutrition really made a difference in my performance.

So last week started with a speed workout which entailed running 3 mile repeats. If you’ve been following me these past couple of weeks Ive been stressing over some injuries that I have been dealing with, specifically my hip. this is the same injury that I got when I was training the last season of the marathon. but last season was so much worse. I looked into what I can do and what it might be and I think I finally cracked the code for what I was dealing with, which turns out might be sciatic pain. This last week I focused on doing stretches that are specifically hitting my problem areas and making sure to warm up and cool down with some foam rolling and dynamic warm-ups. I gave myself an extra 30 minutes after my workouts to do these things so that way I can be 100 percent positive I did everything I could to prevent more injury. and it worked! I had no issues besides mild to moderate tightness in the glute. but the pain was gone and I was overjoyed at that fact. I was worried after my 11 mile long run I would feel that kind of pain again but I haven’t. This week I want to continue working on this so that I can feel 100% confident going into these next long training sessions.

So when I said that preparing my nutrition made a difference in the quality of my workouts I mean running with gu’s for the first time. I’ve used gu’s before in races but never really during training. I would usually bring water or some gummies on my long runs and never really for runs that lasted an hour but after the miserable time I had running last week running my ten mile run I decided I wanted to come prepared with gu’s and gummies even for what I would consider my easy runs and I have got to say it makes a huge difference. Not just in the way that I feel but also in my mental fortitude. I think at a certain point I just don’t want to keep moving because my body has nothing left to give. This time for my long run I had a plan to take one gu for every four miles. I felt great and I ran the whole thing minus I few times I was running straight up hill because I was trying to keep my heart rate down. The picture above is the view from that run. it was so lovely to run so early in the morning and see the sun rising over in the distance. I actually can’t wait to do it again this week. I also think I’m going to run that same route over again too, even though there were hills upon hills there. At a certain point in that run, I was just cruising. I didn’t feel my legs, I didn’t feel the pounding in my feet, or the exhaustion I should’ve felt 7 miles into the run. it just felt good and I think that had to do with being prepared this time around. I still need to figure out the water situation but overall good workout.

I’m glad I did what I said I would do in the last blog. I went out there and had a positive mindset and worked out the little chinks in my game plan and I feel all the more confident for it. last week was such a bummer but it made me learn and progress. its cool what the mind can do if you just change perspectives. anyways I’m excited for this week and I hope to continue to share with you my progress this week. Till Next week!