Week 7: Recovery

I'm so thankful for this past week and weekend.  It was my recovery week, and I needed it in so many ways.  First of all, I've been nursing a pesky soleus/achilles tendon strain which has made running a bit of a bear.  So the decreased mileage was a huge help.  Second, I was finally able to stabilize my food and water intake after the binge that was spring break.  And third, my fiancee and I (and our dogs) were reunited after about eight weeks of not seeing each other (they can be seen in my profile picture).  His visit, and the endless cuddles I got from our furballs, were absolutely soul-healing.  I had no idea how much I missed them until they were here, and now they are all I want.

There were some adjustments made to my training schedule due to the fiancee visit and my injury. Obviously, because the dude was here, I felt that every free minute needed to be devoted to them.  I felt guilty going on runs when I could have been spending quality time with them.  However, it was nice to have my running partner back, our German shepherd mix named Copper.  Back in Michigan, she would run with me every day.  She even knows which shoes are my running shoes and if she sees me pick them up, she gets all kinds of excited.  When I sit down to put them on, she lays between my feet and whatever surface I'm sitting on so I won't forget her.  It felt so good to run with her again.  I only had to tackle 15 miles this week, with one day of cross training, one rest day, and one recovery day. But even then, I had to walk a couple of those miles because my calf was just too tight.  Thankfully, I have the knowledge and the means to treat this injury (one of the instances I'm so happy that all my time is spent in an athletic training facility).

My food this week was delicious.  Last night I even made some cookies (two bananas, 1 cup quick oats, dark chocolate chips baked at 350 for 15 minutes), and they turned out really good.  I also tried some greek yogurt fruit dip (6 oz plain greek yogurt, 1 tbsp peanut butter, 1 tbsp honey,  1/4 tsp vanilla extract) and that was even better than the cookies!  And as much as I hate being in the kitchen, it did feel kinda good to be back at the cooking thing.

But anyway, now that I am rested both physically and spiritually, I'm ready to get back at it this week!
Until next time...