A Week of Rest, And Looking Ahead

Dreaming of Disney!

A Week of Rest?
As you may recall, I took last week as a rest week.  I had all the best intentions of using my week to cross-train.  But when Ethan started showing signs of croup last Sunday night, I had a feeling cross-training was not going to be in my future.  It's officially Sunday night/Monday morning as I write this and so far he's sleeping soundly.  But each night this week we've been playing the *sleep*cough*cry*drool*nurse*repeat* game.  And in the spirit of loving my neighbor (doing unto others as you wuld have them to unto you... you know) leaving Toddlerman in the Kids Club at the gym was not an option.  Thanks to my wonderful husband, I did manage to make it to the gym once in order to do my upper-body weight routine.  I was so excited that he was home early and that we had a free evening to hang out as a family that I really didn't want to leave.  He had to demand that I leave, actually.   

Oh, and I also managed to pop an exercise DVD in and do a ten-minute total body workout.  Ethan was not amused to see Mommy squatting repeatedly and not sharing her cool basketball.  He was also not impressed with my exercise DVD competing with his Blue Clues viewing (on the laptop).

Looking Ahead
I plan on starting off easy tomorrow with an easy two miles and a pilates class.  For Christmas I got cash to pay for a personal session with Wendy Foster of Mamalates here in Portland.  She's putting together a running-specific core exercise routine for me and my friend Kaylee and is going to spend an hour making sure we are doing it right.  I'm so excited!  I attended a COREnection Workshop (a class specifically tailored for women who've had cesarean deliveries, recent or not) last year that Wendy offered and was impressed with her teaching ability and demeanor.  She has a special talent for helping women of all physical fitness levels to connect to their bodies and learn to strengthen the core muscles that support your bodies movements as you go through your day.

From there my plan is to jump back in to my weights routine, take a mid-range test run to make sure my achilles is ready to train, and then perhaps a long run on the weekend?  I'm going to play it by ear (er... by achilles?) before commiting to a certain number.  According to my training plan I'm due for a 9 miler this weekend, but I'm not stressing about it at this point.  Between now and the race in March I've got 8 weeks training and only 3 miles to add to the long-run.  The plan I'm using has me do two 9 milers, then two 10s, then two 11s - then the race.  If I have to give up one of those long runs this coming weekend, I'll have to do some thinking and decide which one to sacrifice.  I don't know if there's any strategy to it on the physical end, so I'll just have to think through the mental training aspect.

I should be sleeping right now, so I'll have to get back to you on what I decide.  I'm open to input!

Oh - and keep checking back. I have some really exciting surprises lined up for February.
Operation: Love Muffin

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