Rainier Training: 77 days and counting

Quick Look Weeks of April 9-April 15:

# of Workouts:  9

# of miles ran/walked/hiked/climbed:  28.2

Starting Weight: 220.8

Current Weight: 176.0 (Down 1.8 lbs from previous week!)

Total Lost to date: 44.8 lbs!

Chest: 40" (No change)

Hips: 45"  (Down 1" from previous week!)

Monday: 3 mile stroller run
Tuesday: 2.2 mile weighted walk (23 lbs)
Wednesday: 0.5 mile stairclimb; spin class; 40 min ST with Adam
Thursday: 4.0 mile run
Friday: Two 1 mile walks, rest day
Saturday: 11 mile run
Sunday: 5.5 mile weighted hike (32 lbs)

I added a line item this week, my starting weight.  It's a good reminder on tough weeks of how far I've come.  44.8 lbs since  a month after Avery was born.  1.8 lbs lost last week!  That puts me 10 lbs below my pre-pregnancy weight.

This week started rough.  My Monday stroller run was one of the hardest runs I've had in a long time.  My legs were just DEAD.  They were still tired on my weighted walk the next morning, so I canceled my 5 mile stroller run for that evening at the last minute.  As a result, Tuesday was a rough day mentally.

I bounced back on Wednesday with an awesome spin class!  First time that I can say I LOVED a spin class.  I have written that class into my training schedule for the foreseeable future.  

My 11 mile run on Saturday with a perfect long run.  I finally successfully experimented with GU - chocolate outrage.  I tried to do the first one too soon, because I was determined to force myself to try one.  I gagged down maybe 2/3 of it, and I was actually gagging.  I think I amused my friends Lynne and Andrew with the faces I was making.  The second GU was at the 7 mile mark and I was hungry, so it went down EASY!  Same flavor.  Oh happy day!  First time in a long time that I completed a double-digit run without feeling like I ran out of fuel/energy.  We celebrated by going out to breakfast.  I got the sausage biscuit bowl and a side of pancake.  

Sunday, Mark and I headed back out to highbanks metro park for a training hike.  My legs were tired the entire time.  I wore the Kelty pack (about 32 lbs) and Mark wore his mountain pack (20 lbs).  We actually met someone else on the trail that is also training to climb Mt. Rainier!  How cool is that?  He's taking a more difficult route and has previously achieved the summit.  He gave us some suggestions of other good training places in the area.  We passed going opposite directions on the loops, so we actually saw each other 3x.  By the 3x, I felt inferior.  He was going faster and told us he intended to go do the stairs at Alum Creek dam AFTER the hike.  I spent the rest of the hike reworking my training plan for the week in my head.

I am terrified that my "slow it down to avoid aggravating the knee injury" plan went too far, slowed down too much.  We walked enough miles to make it to Camp Muir on Sunday (about 4.5 miles to Camp Muir, we did 5.5), but only half the elevation.  (Camp Muir is about 4600 feet in elevation gain).  And, Camp Muir isn't the summit, that's an additional 4400 feet in elevation gain!

I keep trying to add more each week.  It is hard to work in enough training with an 8 month old and no contacts for babysitters....especially when your husband also needs to train.  This week, I'm going to try to find some sitters.  77 days until the climb, not that I'm counting.  

After the hike, we stopped at Dick's Sporting Goods to pick up a few extra things for training.  Some weights to add to our packs to increase their weight:

Some gloves for lifting, and, if the knee gets finicky, a fancy way to strap on an ice pack.

Mark also fixed the treadmill so that the incline works again, so I'll have to take advantage of that during naps.

Avery made some big leaps this week too.  She's crawled several "steps" and she held her own bottle for a bit.

I don't need you anymore Mommy.

How was your training this week???

Who's racing this week? (be it Boston, or something else)