Mon/Feb10 - Back In Action!
Remember last week how I was slightly whining about waking up with a sinus cold on Saturday? Welllll…It got A LOT worse before it got better! I ended up taking Monday, half of Tuesday, and Wednesday as sick days/work-from-home days. Unfortunately, between the sinus pain and congestion, the coughing, and the fever, I was also forced to take Monday-Wednesday off from training. Thank goodness I was in a recovery week, so at least I didn’t have to lose base-building time!
I took it super easy on Thursday and went to my usual Ashtanga yoga class at Talisman, followed by a lengthy soak in the hot tub. It felt AMAZING to get myself moving again, even if only for a deep stretch session like that.
I was cautiously optimistic heading into Saturday’s run. My coach’s original plan was a cruisy six miles, but after being out sick most of the week (and given that I was, and still am, congested in my sinuses), he suggested I start with a half an hour and see how my legs and lungs felt before continuing. Well guess what? The first thirty minutes felt like a piece of cake, even at my newly established CRP! Not only that, I felt strong all the way through the full six miles plus an extra half! While I didn’t quite feel up to hot yoga, it felt great to bounce back from feeling so awful all week with a session like that!
Today (Sunday) consisted of yoga+strength & core, and I also added a quick thirty minute bike drill set to the mix. The yoga class today (due to a subbing instructor) was more of a Vinyasa Flow style as opposed to Natasha’s usual Ashtanga style, and it was kind of fun to mix it up a little! I put in a hard hour on the weights, followed by the thirty minute Keiser session. I was really hoping for a longer drill set, but it was fairly busy at Talisman today, so I didn’t want to be a bike hog!
A slight silver lining to my work/training week being derailed is that I had a bit of extra time (when I wasn’t getting some much needed rest) to make a big batch of my “Super Six” salad base mix. It consists of romaine lettuce, spinach, broccoli, kale, carrots and red cabbage. I also made a couple of homemade vinaigrette dressings (honey-cinnamon and balsamic-flax). For lunch today after I got home from the gym, I piled a heap of Super Six on a plate, then added sliced strawberries, golden raisins, roasted in-shell pumpkin seeds, and flax seeds. To add some protein to my post-workout meal, I topped the salad with a few strips of herb chicken breast and drizzled with the cinnamon-honey vinaigrette. Yum yum yum!
