PGDRPWSD [Post-GDR, Pre-Wedding Stress Disorder]

Monday - 4/3
                Spent most of the Monday after GDR exhausted and sort of nauseous - personally victimized by my standing desk - and walking a bit funny. Doing A LOT of stretching and rolling the day before helped bunches, but you just can’t quite erase 72 miles and 20,000 ft of climbing as easily as you might think…

I'm just a damn trend-setter - LOVE these Lem's Boulder Boots

Tuesday - 4/4
                Getting antsy (and not sleeping well anyway) Luke and I got up early and headed to the gym. I spent 45 minutes doing some easy strength and recover exercise (with no weight) and a little bit of core work. It felt good to get my muscles moving again. Here’s my short strength circuit, which I’ll do after runs a few times a week, and my recover circuit which I NEED to start getting done every day or every other day to keep up with tight IT bands.
Strength Circuit x 3
                Squat - x 10
                Lunge - 20 Walking Lunges
                Plank - 1 Minute Plank. 
                Single Leg Squat - x 10 Each Side
                Push-Up - x 10
Recover Circuit x 3
                Clamshell - Each Side x 10
                Side Hip Bridge - 10 Hip Raise from Side Plank, Each Side
                Single Leg Hip Thrust - 10 Thrusts, Each Side
                Side Leg Raise - 10 Raises, Each Side
                Weighted Hip Thrust - 10-20 lb Weight on Lower Stomach, 10 Hip Thrusts
  Wednesday - 4/5
                Took a long lunch to get over to the on-site gym. Got on the stationary bike to get a good sweat going, pretty easy considering the AC hasn’t worked in the building in a few years, and went back at the recovery circuit.
                Couldn’t bear to miss the Pub Run this afternoon, so I laced up, and we jogged on over to our favorite brewery. Five easy miles shared with friends and I felt great, though I think I sweated 4 times as much as everyone else. The easy pace felt great but the short downhill we had to take mid-run nearly killed me. That and the LOADS of pollen that have descended on Huntsville. 6.4 Miles

Thursday - 4/6
                Legs feeling mostly back and bouncy - Luke and I went out for our favorite “Flat 6” around our neighborhood. It was National Biomechanics Day, I felt compelled to try to keep a consistent pace, my steps light and my leg swing high. Love my Milestone Pod for giving me that extra push to keep my form great.
 
Friday - 4/7
                Too beautiful out to stay in at lunch - I laced up for my loop around the power plant cooling towers. It’s a perfect out-and-back 3 miles from our parking lot (I know since we do a seasonal 5k race here!). I promised Luke we’d take the afternoon off and focus on some wedding stuff - this was not a difficult choice.

The Panorama view on top of Monte Sano - and all my favorite gear in one picture!

Saturday - 4/8
                A perfect trail day! We waited until the afternoon to get started, since it warmed up into the 70s, and after some pancakes and construction we headed out. From our apartment, to a trail head, to the tippy top of Monte Sano and pack ended up being a perfect 13 mile “long run”. I felt recovered and great (definitely pushing too hard on the climbs - Liz wear your HRM dammit!) until we headed for the descent and the heat and sun nearly knocked me out cold. Thank goodness we had thought to bring water with us - though strapping my pack back on nearly gave me PGDRSD - [ Post Georgia Death Race Stress Disorder, I made it up, its perfect].
                We even got Luke into some Lululemon!( He loved the Vent Tech Short Sleeve (which I now sing the praises of the women’s Swifty Tech Short Sleeve ) but a pair of shorts just weren’t perfect. The man has the widest quads known to man and everything (I mean EVERYTHING) was starting to chafe. Great yoga, swim and hangout shorts but we’ll hold judgement until he can get a hold of a pair of 3’’ inseam shorts.

Sunday - 4/9
                I volunteered to split time the Bridge Street Half Marathon in Huntsville - my favorite job! You’re telling me I get to stand in the sun, drink coffee and scream encouraging things at people! What! Yay!
I got to the start around 7 AM to start my stopwatch and headed out for an easy 4 mile run to my Mile 10 timing spot. AND I ended running into the entire half marathon - so I got to do more cheering!
To round out our day Luke and I hit the Redstone Arsenal for a bike ride - out to the river and back - it was gorgeous, if tremendously windy, and we had a great time. I hadn’t been on my bike in almost 5 months!

So to summarize - I was feeling great, like I hadn’t run 72 miles uphill, by the end of the week. I still somehow feel like I’m catching up on sleep. Our wedding is in 4 days - my training schedule is back with bite - and I’m pretty sure I’ll wander to the altar desperate for our honeymoon and to take a nap.