Lessons Learned and the Plan for the Pain

Over the past few weeks I have been working slowly to get use to the volume of running that I will need to accomplish in order to properly train for a 7 day, 360+ mile expedition for my first time. The one thing that is incredibly obvious to me is that I do not like to take time to recover! I am not much for stretching and have only done some basic yoga stretches over the past few years. This is something that NEEDS to change quickly in order for me to succeed.

The regluar running, as well as running on the treadmill has resulted in some hip pain that is not normal. I am use to back, shoulder, knee and heel pain (I have done some damage to my body) so new pain is something I try to avoid. With this new found hip pain I have decided to purchase myself a massage gun and I cannot say more about the help it has given all sources of pain old and new. This coupled with the new fitness programs released by Apple, I now have Yoga classes for free from the comfort of my own home. Because of this I have amended my original training plan to incorporate both of these into my daily activities.

I am going to start with a gradual increase in running over the course of the next two weeks. This will increase more as the weather eventually gets warm and I do not have to spend too much time on the treadmill. As I have said before, my running will focus on time and going slow. Trying to train to run slower has already proven difficult, but it is essential. So for week 1 I will do runs of 60 minutes then I will increase to 65 in week 2 with one 70 minute run at the end of week 2. 

I will also be adding in my strength training routines at least 3 times per week. This may be weight training or high intensity workouts depending on time and if I am able to get to the gym or not.

The best news is that I will be working remotely for the first almost 2 weeks of this month, so training time will be easier. I can run right up until the time I have to log on for work, or use my 30 minute lunch break for yoga or strength training. This will make the increased load of training a bit more convenient for me to start.

As a friend of mine always says, a plan of attack never survives initial contact with the enemy so I am sure there will need to be some modifications and changes to the plan as the week goes on, but I am hoping to keep things just as I have laid out below. I will update my progress and the exact workout routines (including any Apple classes I take) next weekend as well as my updated and/or modified training plan for week 2!