Birthday Breakfast in Bed Week

For my 30th Birthday, E made me breakfast in bed for a week!

Le Menu

 

*Didn't get a photo of Tuesday... *

I didn't take the best photos, but it was all delicious.  And all of it - gluten-free!  This was wonderful, and you better believe I took advantage of the "bottomless" coffee!

Fern Canyon Hike

Yesterday we did a beautiful hike through Van Damme State Park.  I've been meaning to run the upper loop of this trail for ages, and my seester finally got us out!  She was carrying a 40 pound pack in preparation for her Na'Pali Coast Hike in a couple weeks, and I almost felt bad for her... but not quite. 

The trail is called Fern Canyon, and is aptly named.  We started at the top of the 4 miles loop and hiked down a winding single-track, crossed a creek, and began the steep ascent to the top along an old logging road.  Four miles in just under 1.5 hours.

It was just what these legs needed.


One of my monthly goals is to stick to my long run schedule.  I'm getting nervous about this one - seems like between a 5 hr. round trip + superbowl on Sunday I'll have to fit it in Saturday (tomorrow!) or Monday.

The Recovery Run That Kicked My Butt

My first run since Steep Ravine was a Wednesday recovery run on the home trails.  I only ran 3 miles, but they were the hardest 3 miles I've run in a looooong time.

I kept waiting and waiting for my quads to let me know they were on their way to recovery.  But on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday I was met with tough resistance on the part of my quadriceps femoris, most espcially my vastus medialis.  This must be the "go-downhill" muscle, and it prevented me from going downstairs (and thereby leaving our second-floor apartment) more than once daily.

If you are not physically prepared for descents on race day, the effect will be twofold.  First, damaged muscle fibers caused by early downhill miles in the race will negatively affect the latter portion of your race. Your legs will feel heavy and tired well before you reach the finish line. Damaged muscles don’t perform as efficiently as healthy muscles.  In the hours, days, and perhaps weeks after the competition, you will experience delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), which will impact your post-race recovery and return to normal training.

 -- From Ian Torrence at Runningtimes.com

 That pretty much sums it up.

Although my quads didn't feel 100% ready for their shake-out run, I was glad I did it, if only to humble myself into remembering that 3 miles can be really tough.

In the realm of recovery, I've done two 30-45 minute yoga sessions -one on Sunday and one on Thursday- and one painful 20 minute long session with my foam roller PVC-tube-wrapped-in-a-yoga-mat.  I hope to more of both of these things in the weeks to come.

Today I'm planning a 3+ mile hike/run through the state park trails just south of here.  It's a beautiful warm day and I'm happy to get outside on the trails.

January Recap

Miles Planned/Ran: Didn't really have a plan.  44 Ran.

Rest Days Planned/Taken: Oh lots of rest days.  Just lots and lots of them!
Highest Mileage Week: Thanks to an unexpected half marathon, 20 miles
Long Runs Planned/Ran: 0 planned, 1 ran
Current Book: Off Grid - entertaining enough, but I loved reading Walk the Bible right before
Current Shame-Inducing Guilty Pleasure: A WEEK OF BREAKFAST IN BED.  Did you read that?  
Current Obsessions: very currently, getting my new Nike Frees in the mail. Thank you cousin-that-works-at-Nike!
Current Drink: coffee and sparkling water
Current Song: Endless Summer theme song keeps getting stuck in my head
Current Wish-List: The realistic list, or the actual wish-list? A trip to Baja or Hawaii, a real work-from-home job that is meaningful, clarity of intention in my running, my eating and my relationships. 
Current Need: Money
Current Triumph: Running a flipping half marathon!
Current Bane of my Existence: Money
Current Goal: Learn how to cook in my new slow-cooker.  Stick to my long-run plan for 1 month and see how it goes.  Eat more greens.  Go to hot yoga twice.
Current Blessings: Turning 30
Current Excitement: Impending travel (still 4 months away!) that can't be avoided (graduations). That's the only kind of travel I get these days.