Stretching, rolling, and recovery day.

I've decided to take Sunday to review my week on the blog for my future reference.  Overall had a good week.  The goal was 25-26 this week and I hit it.  The hill work was good and overall my body has been responding well to running again.  I was able to get some biking and swimming in this week also which will become part of my weekly routine to help with strength, muscle imbalances, and burnout.  It's going to get cold here so riding will be more challenging but I will just have to dress really warm.  

Overall I was happy with the week and plan on increasing my running mileage by about 5 miles next week.  Once I hit 30-35 I will keep it there for a few week and slowly increase to 40-45.

This run has lots of hills but it keeps me away from the main roads where I have to run on the sidewalk.  I've been trying to run in places where I don't have to run on cement.

My left leg was tight this morning.  Not sure why it will not loosen up but I can still run with it.  It just gets a little harder to really get the lets moving when I try to run faster.  Foot felt good until I hit the 5 mile mark.  At 5 miles I stopped and stretched for a minute.  Came home and iced/rolled the foot and feels fine tonight.

Did 6 hills this morning which was 1 more than last week.  It was really tough and the last one about killed me.  Basically 3/4 mile to the hill, 6 hills, and about a .4 mile run back.

When I finished I got on the bike and did a 10 mile ride in the cold.  There were times I though my face would freeze off.  Felt really good after the ride.

Around 12 I did a 1,500 yard swim at the pool.  Felt really good to get in the pool.

It sure feels good to be back running.  I can't be thankful enough to be finally feeling good and running consistantly again.  I'll take every day of this I can.

I could tell my legs were tired from my speed/hill work yesterday.  It was only 3 miles but the fast pace up the hills really take a toll on the legs.  Kept it at a slow pace (8:50) to let the legs recover.

After the run I spent some time doing core work and a little weight lifting.

Always fun to try new shoes.  I only did 3 miles but they felt good.  Todays run was a run to try to increase VO2 max.  It's something I read so I thought I would try.  

1 mile warmup

1.6 miles: 30 seconds at or slightly below my VO2 max / 30 seconds at 50% VO2 max

.5 mile cooldown

First speedwork I have done for a long time (AP: 7:26).  Felt really good to run with some speed.  

Shoes felt good.  I think I will like them.

After the run I did a 10.1 mile ride.  Still enjoying the ride.

My legs felt really good this morning.  Maybe the best I have felt since I started back to running.  Kept things comfortable though, even though I wanted to go a little faster.  AP:  8:16

Around 12 I did my swim.  Felt really good with the swim also.  My arms never felt tired.  I was able to go a little faster today with an average lap time of 2:03/100 yards.

10 mile run followed by 15 mile bike ride.  

It was a little too cold early this morning to ride so I decided to get the run in first.  I also thought my legs would like the run first.

Felt really good this morning on both.  I have really been working on my foot strike.  I think I was too much on the balls of my feet and that contributed to my fasciitis issue.  Really working on a midfoot strike and using the glutes to propel myself forward.