Training Recap: May Week 1

Overall, this week's training was not great. I ran a Half Marathon on April 27th so I rightfully should have planned rest days but I have a training plan to following and I want to succeed. Well, sometimes a plan needs to be tweaked along the way to ensure success. While this was not my best training week, it was a good week, even with the spontaneous Strep factor...

Monday: 3 Miles + Strides

I knew I was going to start the 30 Day Love Your Greens Challenge with smoothies, but I decided I would step it up a notch and try again with my juicer. I made a huge batch so I could drink off it all week. The recipe wasn't awful; the ginger has taken a while to get used to. 

I soon realized you get what you pay for when it comes to a juicer. Towards the end of my juicing, I realized there was only one or two drops coming from multiple slices of apples. One of the pieces of the juicer was clogged with fiber so I transferred all the pulp to a strainer to get every last drop of juice. Not ideal, but it was a very cheap juicer and this is probably why I haven't used it as much as I would like, because it's not really efficient and crazy difficult to clean all the pieces.

Tuesday: 5 Miles
I headed to Gold's in attempt to run a few slow miles. I was pleasantly surprised my legs weren't screaming at me from all the rolling hills during the Auburn Half. After previous races, my legs (particularly my IT bands) have been so extremely sore after hilly races. While I am not really training for hills, I am training and it's nice to know my body is responding without revolting after a race. While my legs felt good, my heart wasn't feeling it. I tried to push through and just couldn't, so I finished two very slow miles and called it a day.

Wednesday: XT or Rest
In the morning, we attended my very last MOPS meeting. MOPS International, Mother's of PreSchoolers, is a Christian based mom's group and it has been a huge part of my "mom life" for the last 4 years. I've really tried to not think about this too much, this is definitely the end of a season of life for me. I will very much miss the advice and encouragement from these women on a regular basis, but I hope to continue the friendships made.

Matt had an all day golf tournament through work so I bought last minute tickets for Abigail and I to Disney on Ice! On Tuesday, I saw a commercial on TV advertising $15 opening night tickets, SOLD. I have wanted to take Abigail to a Disney on Ice show for a couple years now, but the shows have always been scheduled for dates when we already had plans to be out of town. This show was "World of Fantasy" incorporating Cars, Little Mermaid, Pixie Hollow & Toy Story. Abigail loved the show! I'm glad we got the prices we did because all the story lines were directly from the movies, the skating was very well done but for us it wasn't anything extra spectacular since we do have Disney Annual Passes and visit the parks frequently.

Thursday: 3-5 Miles
I went back to the gym, in attempt to run, although I still was not completely feeling it. I kept it slow and was encouraged when others tweeted me saying it's okay to have an easy week, sometimes your body needs it and I know to listen. I felt much better than Tuesday so I managed 5 slow miles.

When I got home, Abigail was getting out of the bath and Matt had be inspect her spreading rash/hives. Lovely. After a quick call to our Pediatrician's on call nurse, we gave her Benedryl and planned for a sick visit to the doctor on Friday to play it safe.

Friday: 3 Miles or XT
Abigail's doctor appointment was not at our usual location but in Acworth, about 30-40mins north of us. It seemed to take forever to get there but Abigail was still her usual self, no signs of a sick kid beyond the red spots. The doctor almost didn't do a Strep test, which I asked for since the on call nurse really seemed to believe the rash/hives was Strep even without seeing Abs. Abigail was a champ getting her throat swabbed, maybe it was the promise of ice cream? The test came back positive, the doctor was very surprised. We were sent on our way with an Amoxicillin prescription and a dosage for Zyrtec to help with the rash/hives. We spent the rest of the day taking it easy, and hoping for no other Strep symptoms! It's not easy forcing a child with so much energy to rest when she feels normal.

Saturday: LR: 8 Miles
Matt and Abigail had a morning home while I headed to breakfast with some awesome Atlanta runners & bloggers! We met at The Flying Biscuit in Brookhaven after Brandi's 5K. It was nice to sit and chat without literally running off before a race. We have been talking more since the Publix Georgia Marathon weekend and it was about time our calendars finally aligned for us to get together! In case you'd like to "meet" these ladies through their blogs, I have listed them below.

Brandi: Girl on the Run
Jen: Hello Fitness We Meet Again
Ramona: In the Life of a Runner

Sunday: Rest
We attended the afternoon Braves game against the Mets. Abigail was still feeling fine and with two and a half days worth of antibiotics in her, we decided she would be fine attending. She actually stayed awake the entire game but grew restless during the 7th inning when the Braves went through THREE pitchers (hey, I was growing restless too). Abigail wanted to stick around to run the bases and even thought the line was super long we waited. She did great!

All the kids receive a certificate for running the bases and a Braves shirt! 

QUESTIONS:
-How good are you at listening to your body when it comes to needing extra rest?
-How do you handle extra rest days when it doesn't "fit" into your training plan?