I am currently trying to follow a training plan for a 50k on April 17th, 2021. Trying is the key word because I am quite terrible at following plans. There is an activity challenge going on at my work to do 30 minutes of activity per day, I have been going a little overboard. I am usually highly competitive when it comes challenges like this, so I have been doing my best to win even when it means throwing my training plan out the window. I know, it is not the wisest thing to do, but that is the competitive side of me overriding the logical side. The plan today called for 7 miles, which I was able to stick to. There has been an activity challenge every month for the past few months and I am planning on bowing out of the next challenge so I can hopefully be more dedicated to my training plan.
It was windy today and I am not a fan of running into the wind. When the weather is like this, I usually run into the wind for the first half of the run then turn around to enjoy a tailwind on the way back. There was a 13-mph wind out of the north east according to Garmin. Unfortunately, the tailwind assist never seems to help as much as it hurts on the way out. Not only was I battling a head wind but for the first 3/4 of run, my left calf was on fire. Not sure why this is happening, but it started on yesterday’s run and had an impact on my pace. Once the burning in my calf stopped, I started to feel much better, but it really is quite irritating when things like that happen.
In addition to running, I also like to watch anime. One of my favorites is a series called One Punch Man. For those not familiar with the series, the main character, Saitama, is a hero for fun. According to him he attained his super strength by working out every day. His daily routine consisted of 100 squats, 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, and a 10k run. I have taken this workout and modified it slightly. I’ll keep to my training play as far as the running goes but every day before I run, I do 100 squats, 100 pushups, 100 standing calf raises, 3 minutes of planking, and 100 hip raises. I started doing this workout on November 17th. We will see if it has made a difference after a month.
Received my race packet for the virtual Hot Chocolate 15k today. I was disappointed that I was not able to do this race in person this year. Running a race with 10’s of thousands of people in downtown Chicago is really something special. This would have been my 3rd year in a row doing this race if it were not changed to a virtual race due to the pandemic. If you have not done a race like this before, I highly recommend it. There is a certain energy before the race that you just do not get from smaller races. Not to knock smaller venues, but there is an electricity in the air that is totally on another level. I am really hoping that next year’s race is not canceled. It would be nice to run this race in person again next year.