It’s finally Thursday (even though I feel like it should be Friday by now) so I’m linking up at Running with Spoons for Thursdays are for Thinking Out Loud.
1. Planks are hard. Usually I do them for a minute or two, but I might change it up by alternating side planks, lifting an arm/leg, etc. I started The Lyon’s Share 30 Day Ab Challenge and as part of the challenge we hold a plank and add 5 seconds on each day. I don’t know what I was thinking by starting out with 2:30 plank, but it’s been rough. I’ve been scrolling through instagram on my phone and finding other ways to keep myself distracted to make the time go faster.
2. I’ve been trying to decide if I should run with music for Saturday’s 10 miler or not. I usually bring it for 1/2 and full marathons, but go without for shorter races. 10 miles is kind of right in the middle and I haven’t quite decided what to do. I might start without it, but bring headphones, I just don’t really want to be messing around with getting it started while I’m running. I’m not the most coordinated at doing other things while I am running. I would rather not have to make any more trips to patient first any time soon. (See: The run that was more painful that the marathon).
3. My calves have been feeling a little sore and tight lately but I don’t really like wearing compression socks to run while its hot out. This is another question mark for Saturday’s race. I ran with them this morning and I don’t think they made me feel any warmer than I already did, but I don’t like when they get all sweaty and stick to my legs. Yuck.
4. Sometimes I find it really hard to decide if I need a rest day or not. I typically “schedule” them for Sundays but I have been trying to be better about listening to my body. However, lately I have felt like easy runs have actually made anything that was tight feel better. When I get some intense ART from my chiro I usally feel a little sore the next day, but I have found that after an easy run it feels better. So my plan has been to see how I feel after 2 miles. If I feel better than when I started, I keep going. If I feel worse or not great, I cut it short. Usually by 2 miles I start to feel good so that’s worked as a good barometer lately.
5. I have had a serious Starbucks addiction lately. On Tuesday morning I decided that I “needed” an iced skinny vanilla latte before work. Its not on my way and I had no more money on my Starbucks gift card. I saw that Rob had a $15 card that he hadn’t used so I actually texted him to ask if I could steal it. He rarely goes to Starbucks, so he was fine with it, but that one drink cut the gift card down to $10. What an expensive habit. So this morning I tried to bring my own iced coffee with me to work but I got in and realized it was not yet cold. (It wasn’t really hot either). Total disappointment. Since tomorrow is Friday I will probably convince myself that I deserve another Starbucks trip for making it through the week.
cold water and luke-warm coffee.
How long can you hold a plank for?
Do you run with music when you race?
Do you wear compression socks when you run in the heat?
How do you decide if you need a rest day?
Are you addicted to Starbucks?
There’s a groupon for starbucks (US only… boo … ) that’s $5 for $10 if you want your addiction to be cheaper 😉 haha
Ooh thanks! I will have to look into that. I would need a lot of them:)
A 2:30 plank is awesome! I’m at a weird phase right now where iced lattes don’t sound good to me. It’s all about the iced coffee which is thankfully cheaper! I made my own cold brewed iced coffee last summer from a pioneer woman recipe and it was SO good! The problem is I’m too lazy to make it all the time 🙂
During the winter I am happy to make my own coffee and drink that all the time, but during the summer I just don’t like how my iced coffee tastes as much. I go through phases of iced lattes/iced coffees so hopefully I will go back to craving coffee soon since its cheaper! Maybe I’ll try a recipe at some point like you did to save some money.
I’m addicted to Starbucks too this week. Today is the second day in a row I’ve gone! I had an old gift card I found, but I was thinking the same thing…that it’s a pretty expensive habit lol. As for planks, I don’t think I’ve ever tried to do one over 2 minutes, but my abs are the strongest part of my body so I don’t mind planks too much. I just get a little bored sometimes.
Starbucks is pretty smart making awesome drinks and then charging way too much:)
I think my biggest issue with planks is boredom also. I try to distract myself to make the time go faster.
That is an insanely long plank! I cap mine at 2 minutes and that usually feels torturous especially when I do pushups beforehand. Core work kicks my butt. I am NOT up for an ab challenge now!
I never listen to music when I race. I like to keep things simple and figure the race itself will be all the stimulation I can handle.
I also so scheduled rest days and it’s hard for me to decide when i need an extra one. I’m feeling like after my 10k this Sunday I may need an extra rest day. Since adding more speed plus the humid weather I’ve been feeling a little less recovered than I’d like.
Pushups before planks!? That sounds really hard. My arms actually get the most tired when I do planks.
I feel the same about recently adding harder workouts and running has felt harder in this weather (plus I will have done 2 races in 7 days after not racing at all in 2 months) and I will likely make next week a super easy one.
I have to do my restdays a bit by feel and a bit by looking at the calendar. I think there is certain tenuous balance to the whole enterprise, really. I hate being forced to rest, but I know without a doubt that it is often for the best. BLARG
Yea, rest days are all too important but I hate taking extra days off. I think if I was better at going off of feel that would be the best way to go, but since I can’t trust myself to take off when I need it, planning seems to work better.
Starbucks is basically my home away from home. Like… it’s gotten so bad that the baristas all know me and start my order when they see me walk through the door. One of these days I’m seriously going to have to mess with them and change things up. 😆
Haha you should! I always see people in Starbucks who the baristas already know their order. I’m not at that point just yet, but getting close:)
I always race with music (except that one time when my iPod died before the race start!) but I’d like to learn to be better without it. I have a hard time pushing myself to my limit when I can hear all the breathing, footsteps, etc. With music, I can just get pumped or angry and push hard. I used to only wear socks for recovery or marathons but I think I’m stuck with summer runs in them because I’ve been having a little calf pain without them and I’d prefer to not get myself injured before my fall races!
I transitioned to only using music on long runs, and now I don’t even notice that I don’t have it on most of my runs.
I agree that its better to wear the socks than risk an injury! I’ll probably wear them for harder runs now since my calves have been kind of tight.
I found out I can hold it up to 3 minutes, but my form is terrible by then so 2.5 minutes is really my best… as long as I don’t do abs before.
So I plan to workout everyday and then I see how I feel that day. I usually get it done in the morning so I may sleep through the planned workout and come back in the afternoon. If I don’t feel like doing it by then, I take a rest day.
Your rest plan sounds good! I always run in the morning so most of the time I get going before I really have time to think about how I feel.
3 minutes of planking is awesome…but 2.5 is also great especially if your form is good the whole time!
I’ve only managed a plank for a little over 3 minutes. Did you see the girl (12 years old??) that did it for over an hour!?!? Crazy! I usually run with music unless I’m running with friends. I like to run races with music because it pumps me up and get’s me running faster.
My calves have been SUPER sore but then I haven’t been stretching. Oops
A 3 minute plank is awesome! I didn’t hear about that girl but that is unbelievable! I start shaking after planking for 2 minutes.
My calves also get really sore when I don’t stretch. Foam rolling helps alot, too!
I love me some Starbucks, too! I try and keep it under control. There is one on the way home from my running group, so…I figure I earn it after my Saturday long run, right? I don’t even get fancy drinks. I love their dark roast black coffee. I just love going in there and smelling the coffee!
The smell is the best! You definitely earn it after your long run!