Hey friends! Happy Wednesday! For those of you on the east coast – how about this summery weather? It’s been so warm here this week – perfect for deck eating!
I didn’t get a picture of last night’s dinner since it was nearly dark out on the deck by the time we ate, but here is Monday night’s dinner! Blue Apron, obvi. This one was delicious, but lacking in the veggies (it had asparagus in it but not a lot), so I added some string beans on the side. 🙂
As for fitness this week, I kicked things off Monday morning with a session with Paul Medina from Capital Energy Training! I love that the weather is nice enough for us to do our sessions outside now instead of in the dark basement. Big upgrade!
This week, we focused on the usual suspects (stretching and strengthening hips in particular), but with the addition of some oblique work because strong obliques are especially important for running! Why are strong obliques important for runners? Because you need them for stability while running/jumping/landing and to maintain a strong pelvic and spinal position. If the obliques (and abs/core) are weak and can’t hold the pelvis stable, it will place stress on the hamstrings, potentially leading to muscular tears down the road, and over-dominance of the external hip rotators.
If you don’t have a bench available (pictured below – a bit more challenging so you’ll want a partner/spotter to make sure you don’t fall off in action), try an oblique move like the one I’m doing pictured above on the floor! Lie on your back then roll onto one hip and lift the corresponding shoulder and other hip off the ground. Keep your bottom leg straight, then lift your upper leg (keeping it straight) at the same time as you lift your upper body towards it in a crunch.
It was another great session, as always – we are definitely seeing improvements in my mobility and hip strength and I’m happy to report my lower back and right hip are no longer bothering me/sore all the time – hizzah!
As for yesterday, I put those strong obliques to work at the track! It was nice to be back with my track buddies after a week away. 🙂
We did a threshold workout slightly building in speed:
- Warm up jog
- 2000 (5 laps)
- Short rest (1 to 2 minutes – light jog or walk)
- 1600 (1 mile, 4 laps)
- Short rest
- 1200 (3 laps)
- Short rest
- 800 (2 laps)
- Cool down jog
I felt a little sluggish out there at first but got into the groove after the first 2000. Totally forgot to wear my watch, so I am pretty sure I finished each lap in half past a freckle. 😉
Juuuust kidding – according to the splits my coaches were shouting out as I ran past I was doing about a 7:40 – 7:50 minute mile pace, building in speed slightly over the whole workout. Good times! I bought myself a new pair of Brooks PureConnect 4 shoes to rock at the track since my old ones were dying – still insanely sad these are getting phased out. Nooooooo!!!!! At least that means they are on super sale… might have to get another pair for later, too!
As for this morning’s workout, I was up early again and at Urban Athletic Club via ClassPass for a boot camp with Chelsea and Kathleen! I hadn’t been in way too long (due to needing to rest up for or recover from both the Rock ‘n’ Roll DC Half Marathon and then the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler!) and it felt AWESOME to be back. Love this class so much! Teisha – our fave – was teaching. I didn’t get any action shots since the class was packed, but here is a picture of me and Kathleen joking around after class. 😉 How cute is her baby bump getting?? She’s 5 months now and feeling good – proud of her for keeping up the workouts! (She did some modifications for the ab work but was able to do most everything else!)
This has been a crazy busy week so far and will continue to be because I’m about to rush off to the airport again! Going on a quick blog/RD-related trip. 🙂 I’ll be back in DC on Friday afternoon, and you can see what I’m up to in the meantime on Instagram and Twitter!
Have a fabulous day, my friends!
