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Friday, June 1, 2012

May Recap

Miles: 63.18 (+ ~12 miles in the pool)

X-Training: 11 (9 swims, 2 yoga classes)

Rest Days: 9

Race(s): Frederick Half Marathon - 1:51:28, Kinetic Half relay (1.2 mile swim) - 31:23, Jim McDonnell two mile lake swim - 56:32

Workout goals:
Less running - Success! I took a full week off after the half and ended the month with about half of the mileage I ran in April.

Swim 50k (or at least try) - I didn't make it to 50k, but I did get to 30250 yards. I think if I hadn't needed a mental break the week after Frederick and I wasn't in California for five days, I might have made it. Hopefully next year!

Mix up my routine - This month was heavy on the swimming, but I did make it to two yoga classes.

I'm happy with how May turned out. I raced my goal half for the spring and PRed and then took part in two fun open water races, first as a part of a relay and then on my own. I knew that after the half I'd need a break (mentally more than physically) and I took full advantage of my decision to back off from training this month. I didn't run for a week and took plenty of extra rest days through the rest of the month. I fit in one short run on my trip to California for a friend's wedding, but it was nice to not worry at all about missing workouts. I didn't have a chance to swim as much as I would have needed to reach the (ambitious) goal of 50k that I set at the beginning of the month, but I did keep going to the pool regularly. By the end of the month, I could finally start to feel the positive effects of the iron supplements I started taking at the end of April. I no longer sit at work daydreaming about taking a nap and I been able to stay up well past 8:30 without a problem. I'm looking forward to seeing similar effects on my running in June!

June  Preview

Workout goals:
Get back to running - I'd really like to start marathon training in the fall with a solid basis. I'm not sure how many workouts I'll do in June, but I do want to focus on adding more easy miles and slowly building myself back up.

Swim something other than freestyle - I'd like to start do another swim meet and if I'm going to sign up for anything other than distance free events, I need to start mixing up my training. It's time to add in some IM or breaststroke days.

Glute stretches and strengthening exercises - I slacked a bit during my relaxed May and I need to get back on track. These are things that I can't afford to skip.

Races: Lawyers Have Heart 10k - June 9 and most likely a 5k towards the end of the month.

10 comments:

Beth said...

ooh, other strokes. I forgot there were such things!

Victoria said...

So happy to hear about the iron supplementation effectiveness. It can take a while but it sounds like it's working.

I'll still donate $30 to NAMI for you.

AKA Darkwave, AKA Anarcha, AKA Cris. said...

I'm glad to hear that the iron is kicking in!

Jon said...

Just shows how pure of a swimmer you are. I swam the same yardage as you, and you kicked my butt by a LOT!

MJ said...

If I could ask (trying to figure out some fatigue issues of my own) - what symptoms made you get tested & what blood tests did you use to get a diagnosis of being iron-deficient/anemic - and was it obvious from the tests? Can you say which iron supplement you are taking? (I've heard they vary widely in side effects and somewhat in effectiveness, so interested to know possible good options) Thanks! I read that it can take several months to get back, glad it's going more quickly for you!

Might you run the Dash for Dad 4 Miler on Father's Day at Pentagon Row Pacers? Sounds like you're on a good path.

Jen Feeny said...

Great month! And man, I can't even imagine swimming all that. I was proud when I almost swam a whole mile one month last year! LOL!

Elizabeth said...

Awesome month. I think your swimming fitness is going to really come into play as you start marathon training!

Anonymous said...

I'm also very interested in details about your iron supplements—diagnosis, symptoms, dosage, etc. Whatever it is, it seems to have worked—that's a solid month of training and racing you logged, lady!

Teamarcia said...

So glad the iron is helping! Very nice job in May--gotta love a sweet PR! :)

Katie said...

I like that you worked hard to achieve your goal of less running :)