Dallas Half Marathon Recovery Week

Monday: Rest.

Tuesday: Rest and traveled back home.

Wednesday: 4 miles with the group at 605.

Thursday: 4 way too fast miles with the group that typically runs trails on Thursday night.

Friday: 4.26 miles at the coffee run while watching shooting stars!!



Saturday: 6 miles at the group run before yoga at WoodGrain.

Sunday: Rest. I really wanted to go out for 3-4 really easy miles, but I was so sore, that I opted for a rest day instead.


Total Mileage: 18.4 miles

Twin Cities Marathon Recovery

The week after Twin Cities, I rested a lot! I foam rolled 2x a day, every day until Thursday when I was down to just once. I did POWER on Thursday and had every intention of joining the coffee run for my first recovery run but I smoked my knee on a chair on Thursday and there was some swelling and discomfort Friday morning when I woke up. Oops. I did get in a super easy 2 mile on Saturday and continued to rest on Sunday! #rest

Monday: 5 Mile Monday with Chris! I had hoped for 4-5 and after the first ten steps my legs felt really good, so 5 it was.

Tuesday: Rest day.

Wednesday: 605 Group Recovery Run. It was so gorgeous out so we went a little further than originally planned.

Thursday: Rest.

Friday: Coffee run! 4.1 recovery miles with Kristin.



Saturday: I was supposed to do a longer run, but I woke up before yoga and just felt like I needed to SLEEP so I went back to bed and bailed on my running buddy. I felt cruddy the rest of the weekend, so no run for me.

Sunday: More rest.

Garry Bjorklund Half Recovery Week Training

Monday: Rest + foam rolling. I felt like I could run, but I opted for an extra day of rest and a little more foam rolling.

Tuesday: 4.24 miles with Toni. Kept it nice and easy.

Wednesday: I had every intention to run 4 miles with the group run, but it was raining cats and dogs and had been all day, with flash flooding. I opted to chat with runners about their Grandma's experience while foam rolling before yoga class.

Thursday: 5 recovery miles. Toni and I ran 5 miles after work. With less than a half mile left, I stepped weird and felt a yucky sensation up the back of my right knee. It dissipated after a few strides so I finished the run.



Friday: 4 recovery miles. Friday morning Toni and I met up for the coffee run and got in 4 miles. My knee felt okay during the run but after the run during coffee it started to feel really stiff and wonky.

Saturday: I had searched out local running groups to run a long run on Saturday. After driving to Des Moines Friday after our run, and then sitting in the bleachers for 7 hours, my knee was so stiff and felt like I had a ton of pressure under the knee cap. I iced it after the meet, and again after dinner.

Sunday: Still a lot of pressure under my knee cap, so I iced it before the meet. It was starting to feel better, but than I had to drive home. Grumble grumble.

Total miles: 13.38 miles

Recent Realization

This post was supposed to be about my Sioux Falls Parks & Rec 5k Goals for tonight. But instead it's a post about over-racing. I am someone who loves to race. This winter/spring it was so fun setting multiple PRs--1 mile, 4 mile, 5 mile, wahoo! And while I think I did a good job of fitting those races into our training plan, I suspect that I have been over-racing a bit. Oops.

I've been listening to a ton of training podcasts and continuing to read a bunch of training books, and one of them recently struck me. It talked about 2-3 goal races a year. Uh... we've had 2-3 goal races just from April to June. :/ When we signed up for Grandma's Half, we had also planned to do the Brookings half, assuming one would be better weather than the other, and it would give us two good shots for a strong race day. And then 605 Running Co. announced their first ever spring half, and we just had to sign up for that too. And we had that Chicago half marathon fun run in January, and a bunch of little tune up races along the way. Uff da, I'm tired just typing all of this!

When I was first getting back into running again a few years ago, I had a blast doing the summer and fall 5k series put on by the city. They were a huge mental boost to see where my training was, and also a good excuse for me to run hard for 3 miles each week for speed work. In those early days, that speed work was around 9 minute pace, maybe faster, so it wasn't a big deal to recover from. Somewhere in the last 6 months I think I failed to take into account race recovery. I enjoyed racing on tired legs because I wasn't specifically tapering for my goal race, and being thrilled with the results.

I had originally planned to run the 5k tonight, as it's the only 5k of the June series that doesn't conflict with the half. And then I realized that this is my last big-ish week of training for this cycle, and it's more important that I get some strong miles in without overly taxing my legs for race day. So no 5k for me.

I'm glad I had this realization now instead of later in the year as the marathon gets closer. It's also helping me to see our 2019 race plan in a new light. I guess this is why people have coaches, huh? :)

Recovery Boots Review

Normally I toss most things that end up in my race packets, but for the 605 Running Co. Half Marathon, I was super excited to see a coupon for a free 30 minute session in recovery boots at Active Spine in town. I constantly see elite athletes posting pics of using them at home, and I've wanted to try them for the last year. I was super excited to try them out without having to pay for a session first!

On Friday, I did a nice easy 4 mile at the coffee run, and then 4 hours later had my session. I wore comfy Lululemon yoga pants, and brought a book to read. On my drive in, I had wished that I had brought earbuds because I was listening to a really interesting podcast about hill training (mental note: don't forget to train for the hills of TC this year). When I checked in, they led me downstairs to the chair, got me set up and then let me sit for the 30 minutes.

I pulled the boots up, velcroed them at the top, and was on my way to recovery bliss. The gal who helped me showed me how to adjust the intensity of the squeeze if it was too much. I had thought that the boots would just inflate and then stay for 30 minutes, so I was pleasantly surprised when they seemed to toggle through. Starting at the feet, to calves, through the thighs, and then the tops of the thighs it would inflate, and inflate, and inflate and inflate, and then just about the point where you started to feel some uncomfortable tingling in your feet, they'd release out and start over.

The 30 minutes flew by. My legs felt awesome when I was done. They charge $10 per 30 minute session, and I plan to make it at least a monthly occurrence. I try to get a massage monthly, so I'm hoping I can book a session in the boots two weeks after my massage so every other week I'm getting some sort of recovery TLC. Honestly, once marathon training starts ramping up, I could even justify being there more frequently. My only wish is that they had more than one set, so I could go with a buddy (ie: BRF Toni).

**I am in no way being paid or compensated for this post. I received a free session for my participation in the race, just like every one else, but was very satisfied with the experience and wanted to share for other local runners!

Thanks Active Spine and 605 Running Co.!

Twin Cities 10 Mile Recovery Week

Week of October 2-8

Monday Planned: Rest
Monday Actual: Rest

Tuesday Planned: Rest
Tuesday Actual: Rest

Wednesday Planned: 3-4 Miles Recovery
Wednesday Actual: 3 Mile recovery run at the group run + some yoga.

Thursday Planned: General Aerobic 5-6 Miles
Thursday Actual: 6 Miles General Aerobic. Legs felt REALLY good. 



Friday Planned: 3-4 Miles recovery 
Friday Actual: 4 Mile recovery run for coffee!! Followed by an epsom salt bath before work.

Saturday Planned: 7 miles with 8x100 strides.
Saturday Actual: Unplanned rest day. I was exhausted and had to teach yoga, so I took another rest day. It's recovery week, after all! I did a 60 minute float at Escape Float Spa. Heaven.

Sunday Planned: 9 mile long run
Sunday Actual: I was starting to feel a cold or crud coming on, so I opted to not fully run long and take it easy for just another day. I forget that I'm usually broken after a race, and then I get sick. So with not getting injured, my body is just feeling run down.

Total Mileage Planned: 30 miles (ish, I wasn't fully committed to running any miles this week, just a  rough guide)
Total Mileage Actual: 13.1 miles

Escape Spa Float

A few weeks ago, I booked an appointment at the Escape Float Spa in town. I've been taking epsom baths pretty religiously for the past year, but I was really excited to try out the pods. I had heard that they were great for sensory deprivation, and working in a public library, sometimes I just need a break from sensory overload (I'm also someone who's incredibly sensitive to sounds/noises, so I thought this would be great!).

I came in a few minutes early to fill out paperwork while setting up at the air bar, which comes with the float experience. Then I got a tour of the facility and a run down of how things would work. 

I had a 60-minute float, and I absolutely loved it. At points I felt like I was floating in space, and it was a pretty trippy experience. I failed to notice the earplugs that were set aside until after I completed my float, so I ended up with water in my ear. I figured it would eventually come out, but after dealing with crackling and an awkward feeling all weekend, Kyle finally poured some water into my ears so I could rinse the salt out. Noted: wear earplugs.

Despite the ear issue, I had a really lovely experience and can't wait to integrate the floats into my training and recovery more regularly! At the library, we end up working a 7 day stretch the week after our weekend to work, and I always notice that my sensory issues flair up with that week without a break. I hope to fit a float in during that week to calm my brain and sanity down a little bit. TBD how that works out!

Recovery + Injury Prevention

My running has been going really well for the past year and a half, and I have a ton of things to attribute my health to. I've really been focusing on recovery. I've started tracking my recovery in my training log, as a reminder of how important of a component it is to my training.

My favorite recovery practices are:

• Epsom baths: At least 2 times a week, I am taking an epsom bath for 20-30 minutes. Sometimes this is after a run, sometimes it's a true rest day, or other times it's when work has been crazy and I need just some quiet moments to chill. I'm obsessed with the Dr Teals Lavender Epsom Salt . Lately I've been adding the Dr. Teal's Lavender Bubble Bath which takes it to an awesome level. I do need to drink a ton of water after doing it, as epsom bath's can be dehydrating.
• Hydration: Speaking of drinking all of the water, I've really been upping my water intake this summer. When it's hot out, I sweat like crazy, so I know I need to drink a ton of water to replace everything I've lost. It's been helping to flush out some of the soreness in my legs.
• Compression socks: I've been a firm believer in compression socks for years, so I've been wearing them a lot in the evenings and after runs. I've even contemplated wearing them to work with knee-length dresses, but I think I might get weird looks. Kyle just loves when we go out to lunch and I refuse to take them off. 
• Massages: I started doing monthly massages this past spring, and I think it's really helping! I look forward to massage day so much! I would really like to do 2 massages a month but that's just not in the cards money wise. It's moments like this that I wish I was a sponsored runner. :P

In addition to recovery work, I've been focusing on injury prevention as well!

Injury prevention practices:

• Glute activation drills: I'm doing these before EVERY run. Whether it's a see-saw lift, or clam shells, or a standing banded leg lift, I'm doing *something* to get my booty woke up and ready to run. And it's truly making all the difference. Sometimes when my legs feel super heavy on a run, I will stop and do some quick leg lifts to invite the booty to the party. I got a pair of resistance bands for Christmas that were just okay, but I recently ordered this set, which is what we use at POWER and they're amazing.
• Sanford POWER: This is one of the #1 things that has kept me injury free, and I know I've bragged about it a million times, but I'm going to keep doing it. I LOVE POWER. It's functional strength-training specifically for runners. My runs after POWER are always rockin' because my form is so spot on after a 60 minute session. 
• Foam rolling/stick: This is probably my least favorite practice. I know I need it, but I don't love it. And my runs the day after doing it usually feel junky, but I still do it. 
• Core work: Somewhere during the time of doing all the yoga during teacher training, I stopped doing core work. I thought I was getting plenty during yoga, right? Wrong. But now I'm getting back to it. I know that my posture is the first thing to go when I'm tired on a long long run or a race, so I'm hoping that more core work will lead to better form when races and runs get really tough and tiring. Not quite Operation: Alba Abs of days past, but I also wouldn't mind being able to shed the shirt on some really toasty runs without fear of being judged.

**I've included a couple of affiliate links to Amazon for specific products that I have been buying, using, and loving. If you purchase from the links, I get a few pennies back!

Napping Rules

I've learned a few things about running, racing, and training over my years of trial and error. One of the best training tips I learned when I was training for my first marathon, and I learned it by accident. Once my long run mileage got up there in the 2-3+ hour range, I would naturally nap after I got done and showered, and my nap almost always equaled my long run time.

And it stuck.

I think sleep is such an important part of recovery and training, but I also know that most of us go to bed early Friday night so we can be up early to run on Saturday, and if we didn't nap after the run on Saturday, then we'll be in bed by 7pm yet again. And that makes for a boring social life. I realize I'm lucky in that I don't have any obligations other than Kyle and my pug baby, and they can both usually be talked into taking a nap with me. And if Kyle can't, then surely he's got some project somewhere to work on, leaving Pugbear and I to snooze on and on.

So give it a try during your next long run. And if anyone tries to give you any guff about it, just tell them that Jeri said you had to. Surely that'll work. :P

Things I Do When I'm Not Running

After a half marathon (or any race longer than this), I typically take a full week off from running. Usually I do this because I'm broken and can hardly walk, because I've messed up something royally during the race (typically my knee/IT band/hip area). For the past year, I've been pretty shocked at how great I feel after races (San Antonio not withstanding, I felt terrible after that race for a full week. Major humidity=major dehydration=looooong recovery).

Surprisingly, after Brookings my legs were immediately tight but not broken. Sunday I looked at my recovery plan in my Pfitz book, and drew up a little mini plan. Yeah, remember when I said I'd be going plan-less for a couple of months? Apparently I lied!

I thought I'd run Tuesday or Wednesday, and ended up waiting until Wednesday. And it sucked. Well the run itself was fine, but my knee alerted me that it was not fully healed from the race.

So I rested.

AND WENT STIR CRAZY.

That Wednesday pre-run, I had myself convinced I was going to run a marathon in less than a month.

Since the knee pain, I have looked at marathons in January 2018, as well as March and April 2018. Do I want to run 20 miles through our winter? No. What am I thinking?!?

I've been looking at running calculators to see what they think I can run a marathon in to further fuel my desire to sign up for one. Is it sub 4? No. Am I trying to build up speed so that is the obvious race goal. YES.

Stick to the plan Jerbear.

Finally I've talked myself off the ledge (I think) by focusing on this summer's races. Plotting out some goals for the June 5k series, some pace goals for a couple of 10ks I'd like to do. Reminding myself that I'll be putting in lots more miles this summer, in a good amount of heat (yay heat training!) before my big goal races. That's the crappy part of a too hot summer, is that I have 6 months until my next goal race, which feels like FOREVER (4.5 months if I get in to the TC 10 Mile). OH! And I looked up my ten mile PR thinking maybe I could run a PR in October if I get in. 8:23 pace?! Are you freakin' kidding me?! There's no way. I'm so annoyed at how much speedier I used to be. Good god.

Brookings Half Recovery Week

Week of May 15-21

Monday: I was finally able to take a cycling class at the new yoga and cycling studio in town. I was super excited, but planned to take it fairly easy since I was recovering from the race. 45 minutes flew by.

Tuesday: 60 minutes of POWER. I had wanted to do another cycling class, but I was pooped after POWER so I didn't.

Wednesday: 4 miles at the group run. My left knee didn't feel good before the run, I had a lot of pressure behind my knee cap. It didn't bother me during the run, but teaching yoga after the run was a challenge. I realized on my drive home from yoga that I hadn't foam rolled since Sunday so I remedied that when I got home.

Thursday: Rest and more foam rolling + stick. Left knee was really sore, couldn't extend it all the way.

Friday: See above. Grrr.

Saturday: I taught a 60 minute yoga class at the brewery. My knee was feeling better, but still not 100%. When it hurts to kneel and do cat/cow, it's probably not a good sign. I foam rolled a LOT after class and took an epsom salt bath.

Sunday: Another cycling class. So much fun, and I felt recovered enough to push myself more than Monday's class.

Marathon Recovery

After the Bemidji Blue Ox Marathon, I gave myself two weeks of recovery.

Day 1 (Sunday) was full recovery, minus walking down the dock (OMG SO MANY STAIRS!) to take pictures of the sunrise. And then sitting in a car for a trillion hours driving home.

Day 2 (Monday) was another full recovery day of doing nothing other than snuggling with the pug. I did make the trek downtown to pick up celebratory sushi and sign up for the 605 Running Co. group! I had to park really far away from the running store, so I got in at least 4 blocks of walking.

Day 3 (Tuesday) was another recovery day back at work. I had two storytimes in the morning, so I got in lots of stretching/dancing with the kiddos. I did sit out of the crowd favorite jumping and counting for my knees' sake.

Day 4 (Wednesday) I finally went out for my first run after a foam rolling session. I did 2.7 miles of slow jogging with walk and stretch breaks. My knees were super stiff and painful to start, but warmed up after about a half mile of jogging. My legs felt insanely heavy.

Day 5 (Thursday) I picked up a Burlesque workout video from the library and did that for 45 minutes. It was laughable. Somewhat fun, but for the most part I felt like a fool.

Day 6 (Friday) I attended a 60 minute hot vinyasa at a nearby studio.

Day 7 (Saturday), Day 8 (Sunday), Day 9 (Monday) were all rest days. My allergies and sinuses finally caught up with me. I went to work on Saturday and went to sleep within 20 minutes of coming home. And slept for 12 hours. And repeat after work Sunday. Uff.

Day 10 (Tuesday) was another 3 mile day. My legs felt dramatically better. My knee (L) was stiff for the first couple of minutes.

Day 11 (Wednesday) I spent 60 minutes with a smile on my face in restorative yoga. By far my favorite way to spend an hour of the day.



Day 12 (Thursday), Day 13 (Friday), Day 14 (Saturday) were all rest days apparently. I had an emergency "Help me find a dress to wear for my wedding reception party!!" on Thursday, Friday Kyle and I actually went out with friends, and Saturday I felt the effects of Friday night out with friends and then had the aforementioned wedding reception party. Woof.

Day 15 (Sunday) I finally convinced myself to go to yoga sculpt. And it almost killed me. I'm sore in places I didn't know existed. Holy moly.

After yoga sculpt, I stayed around for the restorative class I'm obsessed with. Except when you destroy every muscle in your body from sculpt, restorative is anything but easy and/or recovery. Uff.

Noted.

This was the gorgeous sunset as I left the studio. 

Recovery Week Training + Weekend Shenanigans

Monday and Tuesday I spent foam rolling and eating all the food. That's how you recover best right? Good. 

Wednesday my legs felt great so I decided to give my speed work session a go at the track with Jenn J. 

We had 800s on the schedule, and I was excited to do some real speed work. We did our one mile warm up, stretched, and set out for our first 800. My legs felt like LEAD. I realized 200 meters in that I didn't do my dynamic stretches and hoped that was why my legs were so heavy and my hips so tight. After the first 800, I stopped to do those stretches and then got back to work. The next 800 caused pain in my left hip, so I threw in the towel after that one. No sense getting hurt with marathon training just around the corner!

We may have spent more time stretching/talking/race planning post-workout than we spent *actually* running. Oh well, you need those sorts of runs sometimes, right? We both left the track feeling defeated, but made promises to do the same workout + an additional 800 the following Wednesday as punishment!

Saturday I had to run to get my car after I had two beers too many to drive my vehicle home the night before. Thank goodness we chose a spot that was only a couple of miles from my place instead of a long run's distance away. Uff. I had a headache and Jenn telling me to hustle up and come hang out with her. Without realizing it, I was hauling and just kept pushing it. I let myself cooldown the final quarter of a mile.

Friday I counted down the hours until 6pm when I was done with work and could meet up with Jenn and Megan. We met for dinner and drinks and lots of catch up, and Otto snuggles.

Photos taken 10 months apart, from not even yet an inkling of a bump to a fresh new baby!

My favorite ladies.

Me and aforementioned giant beer. Mmmmm.

Two of my favorite people, Jenn and Otto.

Saturday I met Jenn at the lake and met up with Megan shortly after.

We had fancy celebratory bubbles. And in classy South Dakota fashion, the price tag was written on the bottle in permanent marker. 

More Otto snuggles.

She couldn't be a more gorg mommy.

NBD, Otto just fell asleep holding my hand. *i die*

Can every weekend be a Megan/Jenn/Jeri/Otto weekend plz??!?!

They're baaaaaaaaaaaaack

I had given myself a strict rest day on Tuesday after the IT band and foot/ankle pain from Monday.  What better way to fill the void of running, than to go out with new running buddy to celebrate her MARATHON!  (Ok, I know that whole MARATHON crap is probably beyond old, but it's still fun for me.  So please deal just b/c you heart me, k?)  Question:  Can we technically call each other running buddies if we have yet to run together?  Or should we be considered Marathon Celebration Buddies?  We have a run planned for this weekend, so we'll solidify the relationship asap to keep people from being up in arms about the title, mmk?

Jenn and I met up at one of my favorite restaurant/bars in town for some celebratory libations and food.  In hindsight, probably should've emphasized the food portion of the evening and down played the libations area just a smidge.  We talked all things racing (obviously) and tried to figure out other random similarities that we shared. I honestly feel like I've known her for my whole life, it's pretty effed up but yay for us.  At one point in the evening, it was obviously photo shoot time.  Oh Lord.  I literally have 24549583749530489 photos on my camera, and I'm sure she does as well.  But any good blogger knows, the key to good pictures is to take 1 million

of them because a few are bound to turn out.  And we followed that rule to a T.  However, since we are both fairly photogenic and adorable (sorry boys she's off the market) we now have 24549583749530489 (times two with her camera I'm guessing) good photos.  Excellent.

I also had a familiar face as my DD for the evening because drinking + driving = Jeri's going to punch you in the teeth.  Apparently we're only able to take cute pictures when we're not together.  Which is super awesome.  We are also only able to get along when we're not together.  So that's another fun fact.  Hah.

And as a gift for the lift home, you get a lick from chin to temple.  Because that's how I roll.  I could probably make a full album out of pictures of me licking him.



After waaaaaaaaaaaay too much fun on a "school night" I was not too amped about my run on Wednesday.  Also, I was super nervous that my legs would be "not ready" yet again.  I had an 6 tempo miles on the schedule which I down graded to 6 easy miles, with the intention of running however far I could depending on how my legs felt.  If I could only do 2 before the IT bands and/or ankle started hurting, I would do 2 slow miles.

In other super-dumb-I'm-an-idiot-and-should-know-better-news I ate 42 servings of dairy today.  My lactose intolerant body?  Not lovin' that.  Honestly....everything I ate today was 2-3 parts dairy to 1 part non-dairy.  And the non-dairy part was merely a vehicle to get said dairy to my mouth.  So. Much. Pain.

I had to dig up my old school running watch because my Garmin's battery was dead.  And out the door I went.  As soon as I started up, my legs felt fab.  No pain, no achy, no sluggishness.  The only thing that was weird was my breathing.  I felt like I was breathing hard for no reason (perhaps my lungs aren't used to running in 12,000% humidity yet!).  After about a half mile, I apparently remembered how to breathe again, and all was well.  Even without Garmin, I knew where my mile markers typically are, and mentally noted my splits.  9:20-9:23 range.  This should not be surprising anymore, as that is auto-pilot runner Jeri pace.  Which is a-ok with me.  I was literally beaming on the run.  I smiled and waved at everyone on the trail, I was totally "that girl."  Oh well.  :)

Within the first mile I was within 15 feet of a deer.  It ran up to the trail and then just looked at me while I was running at it.  I didn't want it to think I was ready to engage in battle, but I also didn't want to stop running.  Luckily, it must've thought I was too tough of an opponent, and it took off into the trees.  Bye Bambi!  The last 1/2 mile I had the WORST stomach cramps and almost thought I was going to revisit my dairy-heavy dinner.  Uff.

I did 6 miles in 56:06 for a pace of 9:21.

When I got home, I went to the bathroom to do the quick face rinse of sweat to see this.  Ohmygodthat'ssounbelivablygrossithinkithrewupinmymouthalittlebit.  But seriously.  Just for some frame of reference, one of those black dots is a mole.  The other 47....... [shudders].  Also, for the record, I don't sweat I glooooow.

But most importantly:  welcome back leggies.  I havemissed you. :)