Prairie fire training short runs: week two
Okay.
After a little deliberation, we decided to split up the training recaps. Maybe it’s just us, but we think everyone who has tried to train in the summer finds out that trying to cram in short and mid distance runs between work, travel, friends, errands and the summer heat can be even more challenging than a grueling long run on a Sunday morning. Hope you enjoy the change.
MONDAY:
Me: Body Pump. Do you remember the SNL skit about the Bad Idea Jeans? If not, Google it right now. This is how we felt when we headed to body pump on Monday. Cocky and stupid. We figured it would be one of those classes that sissy women take to “try” and lift weights. Well let us tell you, this class is not for the weak. First of all, everyone in the class was ripped including our instructor. She looked like a body builder. We gasped when we saw her. We honestly thought we could hang, but clearly we were out of our league. We think we may have died twice during the class.
Mr. B: Rest. Travel to New Mexico.
TUESDAY:
Me: 3 miles. Stupid, stupid, stupid. We ran along our usual route by our house but our legs felt like cement the entire run and were seriously pissed afterwards. We couldn’t even sit down! How we managed to squeeze in 3 miles is beyond us. We tried to foam roll when we got home but the pain was excruciating.
Mr. B: 3 miles. A pre-dawn jog through downtown Midland is the only way to start a road trip (well, maybe not). Here is a tip for all you readers that have to travel for work while training: Run in the morning. Your chances of actually completing your run are much higher if you have to get it out of the way before work than trying to squeeze it in after a long day. Your mind isn’t awake enough to talk you out of running.
WEDNESDAY:
Me: Rest. Our body was pissed!
Mr. B: 4 miles. This was our the first morning run in the town of Hobbs, NM. The traffic on the main highway out of town (the Lovington Highway) flows 24hrs a day and the only place to run is across the highway from the hotel. Even at 5am it was like a real life game of Frogger. Aside from there being limited places to run and zero scenery except for the local dog track/casino, it was a good run. The temperature shot up once the sun peaked over the horizon. So glad we brought water.
THURSDAY:
Me: 4.5 miles. Feeling better. We ran this morning by myself which was interesting. Apparently, we missed the memo that bum dodging would be included on our run. Geesh. They were everywhere! We tried the foam roller again when we got home. Much better today.
Mr. B: Rest. We were actually a little bummed about taking a morning off. We've started to enjoy our morning runs and didn’t want to miss one, but our legs needed a day off and we needed to re-hydrate.
FRIDAY:
Me: Rest.
Mr. B: 3 miles. Back to the morning run! The high is supposed to be 108 with strong winds, so we're hoping that a good morning run will help the day go by quickly.
TOTAL:
Me: 7.5 miles
Mr. B: 10 miles
REFLECTION:
Me: We need to lift weights at least once a week. We used to lift twice a week but when we started training for The Big D We stopped. Why? No idea. We do like the idea of doing more cross training even though body pump was terrible. It gave us variety in our workouts which was fantastic.
Mr. B: Start time is 7am in the field and the hotel is 45 minutes away from work, which means getting in a morning run, shower and breakfast can be a little stressful, but switching to mornings sets the mood for the rest of the day (thank you endorphins). The down side: we're hungry all the time!
