What a week! This week has been very important to me, as I achieved many things both personally and health wise.
So, let’s get right into it!
Day 1 – Sunday, February 23, 2020
The first half marathon of 2020.
This was a big day for me, and all thanks to the Michigan weather. My preparation plan had 10 miles, but the weather was so good I just couldn’t resist myself going for the half marathon. And, I decided that mid-run during the 5 mile mark.
Let us go through this run in a chronological order.
Pre-run meal – I knew I was going to run a long distance and during the afternoon, so I needed to properly fuel myself. Therefore, I decided to eat a good amount of food before starting this run. It turned out to be a brilliant decision to load myself with a lot of carbs before a long run, and I will definitely repeat it before my long runs.
My pre-run meal looked like this.
It is a single slice of garlic cheddar bread with two slices of ham, one slice of cheese and two hard side up eggs and a glass of black coffee. The meal was tasty and very important for the long run.
Run – The run was really good. If you get temperature in 50s and the Sun is out during this time of the year, it is considered great weather in Michigan. I had to take advantage of it, because it gets boring after a while to keep running on the treadmill. I knew the 10 miles won’t be easy, I was so wrong. Not only I could scale that 10 miles to 13.1 miles, I did it without breaking a sweat. The only reason my T-shirt was sweaty is because of the three layers I wore to protect myself from the cold weather.
As soon as I completed 13.1 miles, I walked a good 10 minutes before reaching my car. I think those 10 minutes were really needed to destress after a long run. Once I reached my car, I stretched a little bit and then headed home.
Here’s my Apple Watch after this run.
I was so happy with the time. Before this run, I imagined finishing the Half Marathon in around 3 hours, but I was so sweetly surprised that the time was just shy of 2 hour 30 minutes, with an impressive pace for a Half Marathon.
Recovery – Damn, I needed recovery after this run. During the mile 12 of this run, I realized the amount of pressure I was putting on my legs, so it was obvious that I needed recovery. Apart from this, to see myself go through the last mile of the run, I promised myself I would go for a KitKat after the recovery.
Here’s me enjoying my recovery session.
The good thing about this recovery session was I could sit in water more than my previous recovery session. This is one of the indicators that I am making progress each day. I felt better after this “ice bath”.
And obviously, treated myself with a “King” size KitKat.
It was a day to remember!
Day 2 – Monday February 24, 2020
Monday was a rest day for the run. I did go to my CrossFit bootcamp and kicked some serious ass. Jeff, our trainer, made sure that we put in some good work and work harder.
Even though it was a 30 second ON and 30 second OFF workout, those OFF 30 seconds seemed less and we wanted more rest to prepare for the next rep.
Day 3 – Tuesday February 25, 2020
Tuesday brought in a 3-mile run, the distance I was going for after many days. This 3-mile run seemed like a warmup for a half/full marathon. This is going to be the case on April 18th, when I am registered for a combo of 5K and Half Marathon. I am so excited for it.
Talking about the run, nothing too extraordinary. I think this 3-mile run was better given that I just ran a Half Marathon on Sunday. I felt good after the run and the rest of the Tuesday went like a breeze.
I finished this 3 mile run in 35 minutes 46 seconds, the pace being 11’55”.
Day 4 – Wednesday February 26, 2020
This Wednesday brought in so much snow that only five people showed up for the bootcamp workout in the evening. To give you an idea, this is my car covered in a blanket of snow with my Starbucks cup on top of it.
We had so much snow that our trainer, Jeff, was running late, so we were helped by a different trainer, who made sure that we work just as much, and hardly gave us any rest.
All complaining aside, it was an awesome session and he helped us perfect our rowing techniques, our wall-ball squats, and push-ups.
Here’s the workout from this session.
Day 5 – Thursday February 27, 2020
The Wednesday snow continued until the midnight, so I could not make it to my gym in the morning. I had to come back from work and kill the 4-mile run.
I think I got enough rest from Wednesday’s bootcamp, and hence, could kill this run.
Here’s my Apple Watch after this run.
Whenever I see my pace below 12’ for the run, it lifts my spirit.
I finished the 4 mile run in 47 minutes 31 seconds at 11’52” pace.
Day 6 – Friday February 28, 2020
A rest after what seemed a very long week. The only exercise that I did this day was help a friend move from the third floor of his building to the second.
Day 7 – Saturday February 29, 2020
Welcome to the LEAP DAY. A day that we witness once every four years. Naturally, I did many special things this day and totally enjoyed it.
The day started with a 4 mile run. If you remember my last Saturday, the one mistake that I corrected was to start the run before 7.45 to make sure I get enough rest between my run and the interval workout.
During the 3rd mile of the run, our interval trainer, Jen, told me that we have a lot of running in the workout, so advised me not to overdo it. It was so nice of her to pay attention to details.
Here’s my Apple Watch after the run.
I finished the 4 mile run in 47 minutes 39 seconds at 11’54” pace.
The run was followed by the interval workout. We had fun during this workout. We got to work on our legs and I completely destroyed the workout.
Here’s the workout that we did.
I mistakenly put the date as February 28th. Silly me.
And, here are the times for this workout.
Your truly topped two categories – 30 Box Jump Overs and 500 meters ROW. Felt so good after this.
The interval workout was followed by a quick shower at the gym and then the usual Saturday brunch at one of my favorite places.
That’s my usual Western Omelette with wheat bread.
The rest of the day was spent with friends and eating food. I went to a restaurant after so many days. Drank tea after many days and had an Indian sweet called Gulab Jamun after months, I guess.
I will leave you with a nice looking picture of the Gulab Jamun. Please do not blame me for your cravings.
Now, before closing, here’s the weekly summary from my Running Journal.
Take care, folks!
stochasticity 