Fun for Friday - 5 Things from the Week

Not only is it Friday, but we're actually above freezing! And of course this is my rest day, go figure right? Today I thought I would just share 5 Things from the Week for Fun for Friday.

1. Book
Anatomy for Runners: Unlocking Your Athletic Potential for Health, Speed, and Injury Prevention
by Jay Dicharry (apologizing in advance for not giving a review that does this book justice)

This book is fantastic. It's not a book telling you to rest and do prescribed exercises to overcome an injury. No, it delves into the causes, the root of injuries. So that piriformis pain or knee pain, it's not just about strengthening your hips and glutes, it's about understanding the full connection of the body and also strengthening, say, the multifidi and deep core muscles. This, of course, is just one little example that I thought many runners might relate to.

He talks about the various types of tissues and how they are supposed to align. When there are weaknesses and discrepancies then they become misaligned. I also really appreciate his take on rest. We are so often told to stop completely and rest. Or to always rest after a long run or hard run. But that's not always ideal. He gives examples (and I can absolutely attest that this has happened to me) where the athlete rests, does cross-training, strength training then gets back to running and the injury comes right back. So, runners, this one is a must!

2. Bike trainer
I love having the option to spin on the bike and watch either a movie or catch up on TV shows (Parenthood is pretty funny by the way). It's low-impact, keeps my muscles loose, and is a low-intensity workout perfect after high intensity runs.

3. Race
Tomorrow I am doing the River Trail 15K. I signed up on Wednesday, not really sure I wanted to race. However, I will be doing a long run anyway, so I thought it might be nice to have a change of scenery. The weather is not ideal for me with my asthma though. Like my last race, 100% humidity is the forecast plus 14 mph winds. My plan is to just totally play it by feel. If I'm feeling good, I'll race, otherwise, it's a training run.

4. Hill Repeats
Ok, I wouldn't say that this is something I technically LOVED, but it was a way to shake up the normal runs with a real workout purpose. You see, I am lazy with running. I know. You're shaking your heads. But I just want to enjoy running. I do tempos when I feel like it. I run faster when I feel like it. But I don't ever schedule in the true workouts that I should be doing like hill repeats, 800's or even 1600's.

So, despite the 12 degree temps, the frozen water bottles, and the total darkness, Amy and I did our hill repeats on a bridge over the river. Much better than roads where there are random potholes, cars, lights that go off, AND stray dogs.

5. Sunrises
I lov that it's getting lighter earlier already. By the time we were done with our hill repeats on Thursday, the sun was beginning to edge it's way up over the river.

What would your 5 things be for the week?

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