Week 2 of Training

Monday –Went well! I got up at 4:00 a.m. and made it to the gym for the 5:00 a.m. class. Sometimes I think I’m still half-asleep when I’m there. Super glad I go though. Honestly, I couldn’t even tell you what we did today.

Tuesday –This was a 35-minute run. It’s just so humid, and the air is completely still. As I looked around this morning, everything was quiet. I’m so glad I got up early. Google said it was 75 degrees with a “feels like” of 80—really?! At 5:00 a.m.?!

I can’t dwell on the heat—there’s a run to do. The heat really messes with my head. During this one, my lower back was tight and my calves felt sore—well, more like heavy. But as the sun started coming up, it was so freaking beautiful. That’s got to be my favorite part of the day.

I tried to distract my brain by focusing on the colors in the sky. There’s this one spot with two huge palm trees—they silhouette against the sky as the light changes. I’m sure I’ll talk more about those trees; they’ve been a beautiful reward more than once. They always put me in awe.

Wednesday –Rest day. I decided to experiment a bit with recovery. I’m usually so tired on Thursdays, so I thought I’d try taking Wednesday off and see if that helps. We’ll test it a few times and see how it goes.

Thursday –Today wasn’t a good day. I had trouble sleeping and woke up super tired. I reset my alarm for another 30 minutes and still woke up foggy. I got up, did my usual morning routine, and normally I feel okay to go after that—it’s not a fight. But today was different.

I was struggling so much to get going that I decided to just walk. I got in a 45-minute walk, and honestly, I’m still not feeling great—so that was probably a good call.

Some days are just like this for me. I’m disappointed in myself right now. I keep thinking, I should’ve just pushed, right?! But truthfully, I don’t know what would’ve happened if I tried to run. This is where I have to give myself a little grace—but not too much. I can’t do this often, and I can’t ever miss a long run. Still, the sunrise was beautiful.

Friday –Gym day! And I worked hard today. I brought myself to failure on every movement. I couldn’t hit the full number of reps they asked for, but I still pushed to failure—and that’s pretty cool if you ask me. Oh yeah!!!

I’m going to keep experimenting with my training for a few weeks to see what works best for me. Thinking maybe I really do need two rest days.

This week wasn’t the best, but in the context of a six-month training cycle, it’s just a small part. This is part of the journey. I know there will be ups and downs. I’ll struggle with some things—and that’s okay. The point is to learn and not stop. Maybe it’s my food, hormones, or needing more rest... who knows?

Oh—and I had a really good long run this week: 5 miles! I just forgot to write about it after.

What a week week two has been.