Running post coming up! I’m planning to run a bodacious half marathon in early October. A race in a beautiful part of Michigan, and one with lots of hills. I’m really looking forward to it. I have a training plan in place, and this past week was the first week. I had a lot of fun doing weekly training recaps when I trained for my marathons, and it really served a secondary purpose of keeping me accountable to staying with the plan, even when life and injuries tried to get in the way.

And, as if right on cue, life is already attempting to get in the way of my training plan. I have good reason to believe that I have injured the rotator cuff on my right shoulder doing mountain climbers two weeks ago. The pain was subtle at first but has been steadily growing to a level that is not acceptable to me. In short, it hurts like hell. I’m currently resting my arm as much as possible and medicating with over-the-counter ibuprofen until I can get in to see a medical professional. However, I’ve been assured that running should not bother it, so I’m going to continue with my training plan with just minor alterations to the strength training portions.

So, for your entertainment, here is last week’s update…

Sleeping Bear Half Marathon Training Week #1:
Monday: Strength training! 43 minute Fitbod workout: Quadriceps, chest, shoulders, triceps, abs, and lower back
Tuesday: 3 miles running
Wednesday: 20 minute Fitbod workout: Back, abs, and lower back
Thursday: 2.5 miles of running up and walking down hills
Friday: Cross training was planned but not completed
Saturday: 7 mile run was planned but also not completed

Notes regarding this week’s training. This was the week I expected to have more fatigue, because my monthly infusion was coming up the following week. When I looked at that, I was not surprised that I was dragging hard by Friday and was not discouraged to be unable to cross train or run 7 miles. The days I did complete i gave 100% effort and on the days I didn’t, I gave myself grace and permission to enjoy that necessary rest.

Also I’m noting that my strength training on Monday involved a lot of arms and that’s probably what contributed to the drastic increase in shoulder pain that I began to experience later in the week (not the mountain climbers from two weeks prior). Hindsight, huh? I’m actually grateful to have uncovered that information ahead of time so I can pass it along to my doctor when I meet with her in the morning!

Overall, it was a decent start to my training, even if I wasn’t able to stick to it all the way. If there’s one thing I learned from training for my marathons, it’s that life is always going to get in the way, but the most important thing is to keep moving forward. Progress is progress. And this week was progress, so I am content with how it went. No complaints here! Keep moving forward…