Weekly workouts: Postpartum week 6 (week ending 8/3/14)

This week marked my return to running! I cannot even begin to express my excitement about that. I ran twice this week, once around my neighborhood and once at the beach. Oh how I missed running at the beach!

I also started the Fleet Feet 21 Day Challenge for Change this past Saturday, which meant a fitness test in the form of a HIIT workout plus a few additional intervals and yoga stretches to round out the 20 minutes. And wow...I was sore the next day, which resulted in a run/walk instead of a run thanks to my screaming quads.

It's amazing how out of shape I really am. Or more accurately, how far from my former fitness level I am, despite having worked out my entire pregnancy, albeit at very reduced intensity levels. My lungs and breathing always feel good, so I'm thinking my VO2 max could possibly bounce back quickly, but my muscles are taking a beating, especially my upper body and arms (and my quads apparently, but not my other leg muscles).

I'm hoping the muscle memory kicks in fairly quickly and I can start getting a little speedier in my runs and having a little less pain after HIIT workouts. While I'm glad to be back out running, it's hard (and humbling) to see the slower paces. To be honest, I didn't expect to be quite as slow as I am compared to my former paces. I figured I'd be hovering around a 9:45ish pace, so seeing 10s and 11s was sort of shocking to me. But I'll keep at it and hope that improvement comes. It generally does, right?

If I had to make a decision today about what distance I'll be training for this fall, I'd say the 10K and I'll be skipping the half marathon until January. Fortunately, I have a few weeks until have to make that decision. Either way, I'll be training for something starting at the end of August.

The week in workouts:

• Monday: Pure Barre DVD
• Tuesday: Pure Barre DVD + 20 minute elliptical workout
• Wednesday: Rest
• Thursday: 1.5 mile run (pace 10:52/mile)
• Friday: 2 mile beach walk
• Saturday: 20 minute HIIT workout
• Sunday: Run for time: 20 minute run/walk at the beach (1.75 miles, pace 11:26/mile)