week in review: october 13–19

Dopey Challenge Training: Week 16

Monday, October 13: rest day

Tuesday, October 14: unscheduled rest day

Wednesday, October 15: rest day

Thursday, October 16: 2.33 miles (60/60 run/walk intervals)

Friday, October 17: rest day

Saturday, October 18: 7.06 miles (30/60 run/walk intervals)

Sunday, October 19: 17.01 miles (30/120 run/walk intervals)

Weekly mileage:  26.4 miles

Total mileage for Dopey Challenge Training: 256.05 miles

It was yet another busy week for me here. I'll probably be saying that every week, so my apologies now haha. I wanted to go for a run on Tuesday, but the weather just wasn't permitting it. I think it ended up being a good thing with how many miles I had for the weekend, and it gave my sore arches a needed break. Wednesday night I went to a Beer 101 'class' with my husband at a brewery – it was a lot of fun and I learned a few new things, which is always exciting. I also added another brewery shirt to my collection. It's a super soft thermal long sleeve, which I'm excited to start wearing in this cooler weather. I've found that brewery shirts are some of the softest shirts, which I love.

On Thursday I FINALLY joined the gym and tested out one of the treadmills. It was ok, but needing to change the speeds for my run/walk intervals was a pain in the butt. I'm hoping one of the other machines they have is better for such things. We'll see this week :) I also plan on getting in my cross training there, now that I've got my membership. Cycling and swimming? Don't mind if I do.

Try not to judge, but this week was very heavy on the beer activities. Friday my husband and I went on a Brews Cruise – a bus took us to three different Chicago breweries where we learned about the beer making process (not to sound like a smarty pants, but we knew most of it already haha), distribution, and got to try a variety of samples from each location. There were only 10 people on the tour, which was really great. We ended up stopping at Goose Island, Revolution, and Lake Effect – all with very fun, knowledgable tour guides (or even brewers and owners). Afterwards we met some friends near where we finished the tour for dinner.

At Revolution.

Saturday was a big day of cleaning. We held our fourth annual Oktoberfest at our house. I managed to squeeze in my 7 miles outside – it was a cold day, but the sun came out right when I started which made it a nice temp. I was doing well, and completely forgot that I was supposed to be walking it in order to save my legs for Sunday's long run. Oops. I honestly thought my watch was wrong, because I didn't feel like I was doing better than usual, but I ended up with an average pace about 30 seconds faster than normal... even for my 5k, so I was quite pleased. I wasn't pleased when my phone decided to die at mile 4 and I had to run back home to get my external charger so I could continue listening to music for the final 3 miles. How obnoxious that my phone decides at 40% that it needs to turn off. Anyone else's iPhone do this? I know it's old and tired, but it has another 9 months to go! Ugh. Anyway, I was happy with my run and the weather, and our party had more people than I was expecting. It was a fun night, but unfortunately also late.

7 miles went well Saturday!

Recovery mode for Sunday's 17 miles.

Sunday I woke up around 7 to find out that it felt like 31 degrees out! Ahhh! I was not prepared for that number. I couldn't wait too long to go for my run, since I had a birthday party to get to that started at 1. I put on a pair of Nike capris, Zensah Compression Sleeves (I normally don't wear them when I run, but I find them extremely helpful for the long runs), Feetures running socks, a Patagonia base layer long sleeve top #2 midweight, a short sleeve dri-tech shirt, Brooks jacket, Nike visor, sunglasses, and Orangemud Double Barrel HydraQuiver filled with water and TriBerry Nuun, then hit the road for my trail run. 17 miles were on the schedule, which would be my longest run yet. 

ENERGYbits mid-run.

I took 20 ENERGYbits before starting, hooked my Jabra Sport Wireless+ onto my ears (trying a different eargel in my right ear this go around), started my watch and was on my way. I took a Clif Shot Blok Orange (1/2 shot caffeine) every 2 miles and took 10 more ENERGYbits at mile 7 and then again at 13. 


I ended up switching from my Jabras to my Yurbuds around mile 8 or so. The right ear was bugging me again (I don't know why the left one is fine, but I can't seem to get it right for my R ear) – time to try another eargel. I don't know if you're like me, but if there's something that's even slightly annoying, I fixate on it until it drives me insane. Hence, why I had to switch. It wasn't even that bad, I was just wasting energy on being annoyed.

Beautiful autumn scenes.

Another issue I had was getting rocks in my shoes. From about mile 6–10 I was annoyed with both feet because rocks were in my shoes hurting my feet. I finally sat down to empty them. Isn't it funny that they seem like giant rocks, but when you dump your shoe they're actually pretty tiny? I need to look into some gaiters. 

Both my calves were feeling a bit tight and sore early on, but they would switch which one was bothering me – not both at the same time, which was nice haha. I have to admit the miles went by pretty slowly, and not just because I was out there so long because I'm extremely slow. I was much slower than I anticipated – I think being up late and running 7 the day before at a quick pace rather than walking like I should have been had me paying the price during the 17. 

When I finished with 7 and realized I still had 10 left, I almost cried. Luckily, my husband kept sending me well wishes and encouraging texts throughout the hours, so it helped me keep truckin'. I never skipped an interval of running, which makes me happy, and I never even used the bathroom. I don't know if that's good or bad, but I was glad I didn't have to stop. Granted towards the end I had to go, but refused to stop because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get back going. I think it was about 35 degrees when I started (I could see my breath for most of the miles)–I was mad I didn't bring gloves!–but the sun was out and by the end I was pretty warm and sweaty. It was about 45ish when I finished, I think.

UGH! 7 more miles!

So, it was a very slow 17 miles, and I was exhausted by the end. I texted the hubs to let him know I was done and on my home, and asked if he could have a glass of chocolate milk ready for me when I got home so I could drink it and hop in the shower since we were already so late for the party. Lucky girl that I am, he was actually waiting at the door with a straw in my already opened bottle of milk ready for me to grab. What a doll. Anyway, I showered quick, tossed in my Zensah Ultra Compression Leg Sleeves, Feetures PF sleeves (along with regular clothes, of course), and headed to the party. 

I wanted to get the pic before the record went away... so of course my phone focuses on the wrong object.

Protein Plus! Yes, please. Another bad photo, sorry.

I was pretty much ready for bed when we got home at 6. We actually ended up going to bed around 9, but I had a hard time falling asleep and had a bit of a restless sleep. Is that normal? I thought I would just pass out and sleep through the night.

Zensah Ultra Compression.

I don't feel too bad today, which I'm thankful for. A bit sore in my feet (arches) and legs, but I'm usually expecting much much worse. I attribute the recovery to my Zensahs, Feetures, chocolate milk, Nuun, and ENERGYbits.

How was your week? Did training go well? Any races over the weekend? What are your recovery tools/tips?

P.S. Make sure to review your race(s) on BibRave.com, and join us for #BibChat tomorrow night at 8pm CT.