In Workout Week posts I will tell you everything about my last week’s workouts.
On Monday we finally went outside for our Jooks Jõud Venitus. The weather was just pure amazing: sun, no wind and around 20 degrees Celsius. Summer! We ran for 30 minutes, then did some running exercises, ran for another 15 minutes and finished the class with 15–20 minutes of strength training. I LOVED that workout! Can’t wait for more days like this.
Tuesday: BodyPump. I enjoyed it very much. Increased the weights in back track, it felt good. I think I should also add some in squats soon… Anyway, after the class me and 2 other girls had a nice long stretch downstairs with Florian. Oh, and I ran a few of laps to warm up before the class. Unfortunately I didn’t have time for more than 7 minutes. 😦
Wednesday. Oh, man. So many emotions! I could write a whole blogpost just about Wednesday’s workout. Running. HILLS. I had never ran a session of hill work in my life. I didn’t know what to expect. But I couldn’t have ever imagined what was ahead of me. This was easily the second hardest workout of my whole entire life, right after climbing a steep hill in Thailand.
First of all, we did a really slow 2K to Tähtvere Spordipark. It was 10 degrees outside but the wind was really really strong so I had way too little clothes on. I should’ve also had a jacket and a headband but I didn’t think about the wind when I packed my stuff together. 😦 Plus, I was coming down with a nasty cold: sore throat and stuffy nose. We did some quick stretches, then some running exercises and then Maris decided we would run hills. 2–3 times 1,3K laps of hills at a fast speed with a slow 0,85K lap in between.
I don’t even know how many times I ran uphill that day. I couldn’t even count anymore. Before the 3rd lap Maris asked me if I can do this. I thought I could. But on the last hills I couldn’t even tell who or where I was. 😀 That’s how tired I was.
Then we ran back to TYSK and I stretched for about 15 minutes. 1 hour and 5 minutes of running (running exercises excluded!), 10K, average pace of 6:24 min per km. Considering what we did that day, I think it’s a great pace! I was exhausted but proud of myself. Can’t say I enjoyed that workout when I was doing it but I absolutely enjoyed the feeling afterwards (= “I did it!”-feeling + sore muscles the same night).
Thursday was BodyPump day. I ran about 15 minutes to warm-up. My calves were still tired and sore from the day before. In the class, Maris changed up chest, back and triceps track and as always: if you change something, it works. Since I was tired, I didn’t add any weights. At the end of the class, Maris strongly suggested me to take the weekend easier and run 16K on Monday in the SEB training in Elva. So I replanned everything and started to mentally prep for Monday. 16K: I have never ever run this far!
Friday began with a morning cycling session at the gym. I was on the bike for 1 hour and 10 minutes and completed about 32K. Pretty good! I have started to enjoy cycling more with every workout. And what’s especially great about indoor cycling: you can do other things at the same time, for example, I read a sports magazine and the time just flew by. Fun!
Saturday: time to start taking things easier to run 16K on Monday. I did a very slow recovery run. Distance: 8,16K, time: 1 hour, average pace: 7:21 min per km. It was such a great run! The weather was just like summer: around 20 degrees Celsius, very slight breeze, sun shining. I saw so many people doing sports and being happy and that made me even more happy. 🙂 It was great to just enjoy my run, think my own thoughts and pay no attention to pace or speed. Just pure joy and no pushing myself. Loved it, loved it, loved it!
Sunday: rest day. I have to admit that it was really hard for me not to work out (= go running) because the weather was still so beautiful. Instead of running, my morning began with a nice long walk in Tartu. There were a lot of athletic people running, biking and moving around… Soon I learned that we had ACE Xdream race going on that day. Later I also saw them rollerblading and canoeing. It looked like so much fun! 🙂 I also made another 2 really short walks to Anne channel and back since I spent most of my day sunbathing and studying there.
In total:
3 hours 50 minutes of running
2 hours 20 minutes of strength training
1 hour 10 minutes cycling
1 hour 45 min of walking
In general a good week, very active and mostly outdoors. Fresh air, sun & sports: what more do I need?
But there’s something that I really didn’t mention before: my left leg started to hurt a little during the second half of the week. 😦 Could the hills on Wednesday have a role in this? Probably. Now the pain is yet again in a different spot: near my inner ankle area. I don’t think the joint hurts, it feels more like a muscle/nerve. I think it might be a posterior shin splint.
I have had so many pains/aches/injuries in my legs during my life that I don’t think I have a spot that’s been fine the whole time. 😀 My butt, hamstring, knees, ankles – you name it, it has given me a bad time at some point. Hopefully this one will pass soon.
I am very excited but also a little worried about tomorrow’s 16K run in Elva. I really want to do it but I don’t know how my leg will feel. Hopefully this rest day today did me good and I will be OK tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed for me! 🙂
Nourish, Train & Flourish 