Mary’s Recap
Wow. I realize I haven’t posted to this blog since April 23rd….that is a long time ago! My update on the 23rd was in regards to the tendonitis in my foot, and how I was able to postpone my marathon until next year (yes!). The doc told me I could continue to play sports and run, as long as my foot didn’t hurt so much. That’s a tricky thing to tell an athlete, especially one as competitive as myself. In short: I’m not going to stop when there is some pain. If the pain is crippling, then I’ll stop. And I mean crippling, debilitating pain.
My foot has continued to improve in the meantime; however, there are still times when it is severely sore (of course, I don’t stop playing). After a hard couple days of practice, my ankle is generally tender for the rest of the night. I don’t ice it or strengthen it the way I should. It would probably be in my best interest to pick up my game on that. I guess partly, I figure, since it hasn’t stopped me so far, I don’t NEED to take care of it. However, it would be nice to play soccer without feeling any pain for once.
So here’s the deal, since I last checked in, I’ve been off my marathon training plan, and have been focusing on soccer fitness. Besides my tendonitis, I’m in excellent shape right now. I have a great base fitness, and feel like I could dive right into a marathon training program with my current fitness level. Hopefully, I can maintain (or even slightly build) this fitness level, so that when marathon training time comes around next February, I’ll be strong, fit and ready to go.
Above photo is a picture of my recreational soccer team. We were runners up in the league last season.
Here is a recap of what I’ve been doing every week to stay in shape.
Mondays - off
Tuesday - 90 minute practice (semi pro soccer team)
Wednesday - 90 minute practice (semi pro soccer team)
Thursday - 3-6 mile run
Friday - 45 minute soccer game (co-ed, 7v7)
Saturday - 90 minute practice/pickup OR 90 minute game
Sunday - 90 minute game
The Saturday/Sunday schedules vary. On Saturday, I always have either a game for my 11v11 recreational women’s soccer team or we play pickup at the park. In these games, I always play the full 90 minutes. Sometimes on Saturday I have a game with my semi-pro team. Sometimes we have a game Sunday. Sometimes we have a game both Saturday and Sunday. In semi-pro, I typically average between 30 and 45 minutes a game. This is a shorter workout than my recreational team, but the pace of play is way faster. Even though I don’t play as long, I end up sweating just as much because it’s such a high intensity workout.
My semi-pro season is coming to a close, so the workout regimen will change up. I’m going to be sad to not have weekly soccer practices anymore. My team is incredibly good, and it’s so much fun to play with such high caliber players. Seriously, a practice with my semi pro team is a greater workout than a game with my recreational team.
At most, we have two weeks left of the semi pro season, as playoffs are starting this weekend. On Saturday, my team plays the California Storm (the same team that Sissi and Brandi Chastain play on). After we win, we play again on Sunday. After winning on Sunday, we will be Regional Champions, and will travel to Dallas, TX for the national championship playoffs. Here’s a flier for this weekend:
I promise to check in more, starting immediately!
