Taking the Good with the Bad
Thursday, June 16, 2011 at 02:58PM Today’s alarm went off with a shock at 5:25 am. After a few minutes of self-pity, I peeled myself out of bed because I wanted to get in a hard 7-mile run this week before Joe and I head to Cape Cod for the weekend. I may or may not be running a 15k in two weeks (the reason I say may not is because it happens to be on Monday, July 4th and I don’t want said race to interfere with the patriotic celebrations that will ensue that weekend. Priorities, people. You understand.) Regardless, it’s good to be prepared.
So I grabbed a half a Picky Bar, and somehow got my butt to the gym. Joe was telling me recently how when ultra marathoners train, they don’t necessarily talk in terms of distance, but rather in terms of time. (i.e., “Today I need to run for 3 hours”) I am clearly not an ultra marathoner, but I decided to track my workout in minutes rather than miles just for the mere sake of “switching it up.” You know. Have to keep ourselves entertained when doing treadmill workouts, right? Oh, and check out this handy little website I found.
Anyways. This workout sucked. Here’s how it went down:
| Katie's Treadmill Workout 06.16.2011 | ||||
| Minutes | mph | Pace | Incline | Comment |
| 0 - 1 | 4.0 | 15:00 | 1.0 | Ugh. Morning. |
| 1 - 4 | 7.3 | 8:13 | 1.0 | Lead legs. |
| 5 - 10 | 7.5 | 8:00 | 1.0 | Okay, waking up. |
| 10 - 12 | 7.6 | 7:54 | 1.0 | |
| 12 - 14 | 7.7 | 7:48 | 1.0 | |
| 14 - 16 | 7.8 | 7:42 | 1.0 | Lets try for 7:30's. |
| 16 - 18 | 7.9 | 7:36 | 1.0 | |
| 18 - 20 | 8.0 | 7:30 | 1.0 | |
| 20 - 22 | 8.0 | 7:30 | 1.0 | Comfortable here. Time for some incline. |
| 22 - 24 | 8.0 | 7:30 | 2.0 | |
| 24 - 29 | 8.0 | 7:30 | 3.0 | Ugh. Hello, stomach. Bad night? |
| 29 - 30 | 8.0 | 7:30 | 0.0 | Recover. |
| 30 - 32 | 8.0 | 7:30 | 1.0 | |
| 32 - 33 | 8.0 | 7:30 | 2.0 | Okay lets do this hill workout. Now or never. |
| 33 - 35 | 8.0 | 7:30 | 3.0 | |
| 35 - 36 | 8.0 | 7:30 | 4.0 | This blows. |
| 36 - 38 | 8.0 | 7:30 | 5.0 | Joe just walked by - and laughed at me. |
| 38 - 39 | 8.0 | 7:30 | 7.0 | I'm dying. |
| 39 - 40 | 8.0 | 7:30 | 3.0 | This sucks. |
| 40 - 42 | 8.0 | 7:30 | 0.0 | How long of a recovery is appropriate? |
| 42 - 45 | 8.0 | 7:30 | 1.0 | Ugh. Should I just do 6? |
| 45 - 46 | 8.1 | 7:24 | 1.0 | Feeling ok - might as well finish strong. |
| 46 - 47 | 8.2 | 7:19 | 1.0 | |
| 47 - 48 | 8.3 | 7:14 | 1.0 | |
| 48 - 50 | 8.4 | 7:09 | 1.0 | Make it end. |
| 50 - 52 | 8.5 | 7:04 | 1.0 | Thank goodness for Eminem. |
| 52 - 54 | 8.0 | 7:30 | 1.0 | |
| 54 - 56 | 3.0 | 20:00 | 1.0 | Done. |
| Total Time: | 56 min | |||
| Distance: | A little over 7 miles | |||
| General Note: | Felt like crap | |||
After I stepped off the treadmill, I was exhausted, my stomach was a mess, and I was glad it was over. Suddenly optimistic delirious, I made my way over to the dumbbell rack to see if I could get in some strength training (and by strength training, I mean doing some bicep curls with a 10 pound weight.) I was sweating profusely. My face was the color of an apple (green and/or red apple) I started getting dizzy. Took the cue to stop and call it a day. Too much, Kate. Go home.
I needed to re-fuel big time. I made myself Ye ‘Ol Standby but decided to switch it up and use apple butter instead of PB. In hind sight, I probably should have stuck with the PB for protein. I also had a yogurt bowl with bananas and blueberries. And coffee. And a ton of water as I was clearly dehydrated.
Hours later, I still feel pretty crappy, and am trying to figure out what the problem was. I have a feeling the stomach issues were due to some canned organic mangoes I incorporated into dinner last night. But as far as the sluggishness? I think I’ve just been over-doing it a little lately. I think I need to cool it. Joe and I are heading up to the Cape this weekend, and I’ll be taking a rest day tomorrow, and will maybe fit in a few easy runs on Saturday and Sunday. Maybe.
I have also been trying to continue re-fueling throughout the day. I am still on my pear kick…
… And check out this kick-butt, colorful salad I made: Organic mixed greens, carrots, beets, left over grilled teriyaki chicken from last night, and some whole wheat kashi crackers.
I also decided to give coconut water another shot. The first time I had the regular kind, I thought it tasted like tanning oil and threw it out immediately. But today I picked up this Vita Coco pineapple-infused flavor:
Tried it and loved it! (and wondered what it would taste like with Parrot's Bay added, but figured that would defeat the purpose) Definitely can’t drink the whole thing in one sitting, but it was refreshing. Coconut water is loaded with electrolytes and potassium, so I’ll take anything to help me recover.
Although I felt horrible for the majority of the time during this morning’s workout, I’m pretty happy I sucked it up. Sometimes these workouts aren’t only for exercising our bodies, but are also for training our psyches for the mental part of running and racing. (I apologize for getting all zen on you today, but it’s true.)
On another note – I’m super excited to be representin’ NaturaStride at Philadelphia Runner’s Ladies Night event tonight! Check out this gift basket we put together for one lucky raffle winner!
Contents include Picky Bars, Tera’s Whey Protein, Fruition ProBars, and Rokit Fuel Cereal Cups and Energy Mix, and Earnest Eats Planks! Pretty sweet, right?!
Anyways - Do you have any recommendations for the best way to recover (physically and mentally) after a crappy workout?
NaturaStride, Running, Training, Treadmill in Energy Bars, NaturaStride, Races, Supplements
Reader Comments (4)
I hate when I have a crappy workout. I normally recover by napping. Most of my crappy workouts can be tied to days after a craptacular night's rest, so napping brings me back in the game. For refueling, I am starting to enjoy Green Monsters. The bf even likes them! :)
Even if you weren't feeling 100%, you still banged out a pretty serious hill workout (7% incline, omg)! I'm still trying to improve my post-workout recovery routine, but hydration and eating some carbs + protein ASAP seems to be key. Maybe try a protein smoothie later in the day?
That gift basket is filled with all of my favorite stuff - that'll be one lucky winner :)
Aw, I am sorry to hear about your crummy workout, but this post made me laugh (not the crummy workout part, the rest of it:). I love that your thought on the coconut water was what would it taste like to put parrot bay in it, haha! (I thought that when I first had crystal light...back when I actually drank that stuff, lol).
PS, my order came in the mail today, SO excited. I am definitely going to blog about it at some point:).
Hmm...after a crummy workout I just try and recover as best I can that day (I hate when it makes me feel sick for a while though, that's never fun), shrug it off, and try and get in a good workout the next time around. It's usually just a fluke. They can't all be perfect (unfortunately). You're so speedy, though. You still rocked that workout even when you weren't feeling great!
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