A Plan is Just a Plan

Last week as I planned my workouts leading up to my LIVE race on Saturday morning, I thought hard about what workouts I might want to skip so my legs would be fresh – I’m starting to notice my recovery after workouts takes longer as I’m getting older. I decided it would be fine to join in on a medium length somewhat hilly gravel ride on Sunday if I kept my workouts easier for the rest of the week. In the back of my mind I planned to run on Tuesday and perhaps walk one other day. I’d do my normal strength training workouts on Monday and Wednesday, and would skip legs on Friday.

A plan is just a plan and sometimes better options come along and adjustments must be made. Case in point, the weather was perfect on Tuesday afternoon for a ride along the Potomac River from Mount Vernon to the National Mall in DC, and more importantly, my husband had some flexibility in his schedule. Two years ago he’d included riding to the National Harbor in Maryland as part of this excursion, but agreed to keep it shorter if I would join him.

I quickly adjusted my workout plan, skipped my morning run, and had a delightful afternoon enjoying the views in our nation’s capital. In the end, my legs felt great on Saturday morning and I had a great race.

 

Overview of the Week

Before discussing each day’s workouts, here’s an overview of my workouts from this past week. Scroll down for daily details…

 

Sunday

I wanted to sleep in, but FOMO won out and I got up at 6:30 AM to get ready for a 9 AM ride with Bill and our friend Ed. The start of the ride was close to an hour away in The Plains and we always allow at least 15 minutes to get our bikes ready once we arrive at the start. It was sunny and 69° as we rolled out of the parking lot and 80° 37 miles later as we rolled back in – talk about a sudden introduction to the heat. Overall, we kept the hilly gravel ride at a comfortable pace and finished with an average speed of 11.5 MPH.

 

Monday

I lifted for an hour between early morning clients and then went for a short walk (about a mile) with Bill to check out the flowering trees in the neighborhood – both redbuds and dogwoods are in bloom. After my walk, I foam rolled and stretched for 10 minutes each.

 

Tuesday

It was a glorious day for a roundtrip ride with our friend Barb into DC from Mount Vernon in Alexandria. With the sun shining brightly and the temperature rising from 61° to 68°, we couldn’t have picked a better day. We rode 23 miles at an average speed of 11 MPH, slow for a road ride, but this was a total touristy ride with lots of stops for pictures.

 

Wednesday

My workout was limited to just over an hour of strength training.

 

Thursday

Before the day could get away from me, I walked 5 kilometers at 8 AM in the  delightful 55°. I’m not sure why, but I averaged a 13:34 pace, about a minute faster than my normal walking pace. Later in the day I spent an hour transplanting spearmint from my neighbors’ garden into ours with the promise of inviting them over for mojitos once we have a bountiful crop of spearmint.

Once in from gardening, I stretched for 10 minutes.

 

Friday

Wanting to keep my legs fresh for my race the following day, I limited my workout to mostly upper body and core which had me finishing in 45 minutes. I did, though, spend some time doing single-leg movements during the 15-minute balance portion of the balance and stretching class I teach. And of course, my body was treated to 15 minutes of stretching at the end of the class.

 

Saturday

After seventeen months of no racing because of an injury and then a global pandemic, it was finally race day! To say I had a great race and lots of fun is an understatement. I finished the Courage Day 5K in 25:23 (8:11 pace) and got to see lots of running friends! It was my first time running on a cross country course and to have met my goal running on grass, gravel, and dirt while climbing up and down hills just made it all the better.

I hope to have my recap up on the blog on Tuesday.

 

Once home, I treated myself to 10 minutes each of foam rolling and stretching and then a 2-hour nap.

 

Here’s What You Might Have Missed

In case you skipped checking in on my blog this past week, here’s what you missed…

 

Questions:
  • • Have you gone for a run, hike, or bike ride just to see the flowers or blooming trees?
  • • What’s your favorite spring flower or tree bloom?
  • • Did you run in a race this weekend? If so, was it live or virtual?

 

And that’s my rundown… Have a great week!

 

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I’m linking up with Deborah at Confessions of a Mother Runner and Kim from Running on the Fly for their Weekly Run Down. Be sure to check out not only the hosts’ posts, but those of the other great bloggers joining in on the fun!