| Busy prepping for my mini vacation to Maine. Tuesday 8/6 - 60 minutes on treadmill at 6.5 mph - 6.48 miles Wednesday 8/7 - 40 minutes on elliptical Friday 8/9 - 50 minutes on treadmill at 6.6 mph - 5.5 miles The big 10 mile run is coming up this Sunday - it's the longest distance I'll have to run during my half marathon training. I am soooo thankful that I will be in Maine at the time. The lows are in the 50s!!! |
0 Comments
I started out the week strong...and finished a little weak. On Friday, I planned to hit the gym after work to run on the treadmill, but someone was using it, so I headed home to my apartment gym. It is air conditioned, but the work gym has fans that blow directly on you when you run. I am a hot person - meaning, I'm always warmer than average. After a hot day at work, the fans help a lot. I lasted about 35 of the 50 minutes on the treadmill before I felt overheated. Understandable, it's been in the 90s all week. It was 77 degrees at 5:30 am today. I walked the rest of the 50 minutes.
On Saturday, I used the elliptical at my apartment gym - the one with the multiple settings and requested actions during the workout (i.e. bend knees, reverse stride, lift heels, etc.) - for 30 minutes. Before the endurance run on Sunday, I had brunch with friends and went to see Jaws at the Tampa Theatre. I had a great time - I had never seen it on the big screen and the theatre was built in 1926, so it's very intricate. The pre-movie organist was an awesome addition. So...when I got home, I didn't want to wait until it go dark (to "cool off") because then I would be hungry, so I bit the bullet - and the 85 degrees - and went for my run. I got 3 miles into it and realized I should have brought water. I don't normally run when it's that hot out, and my body was not happy. I walked with the intention of starting to run again after 10 minutes, but 2 minutes into running for the 2nd time, I stopped. I should have never stopped. It's all mental and I could have fought through it. Tough medicine...but a good lesson to learn. I'll push myself harder next time. Treadmill run on Tuesday during my lunch break at work - I varied the speed between 6.6 and 6.8 mph. I definitely noticed the difference, which is strange because it is so small of a measurement, but I guess I can tell. I went for 50 minutes. I wanted to go for more, because I missed last week's endurance run, but I was not feeling at the top of my game, and Marathoning for Mortals advises you not to "make up" missed workouts...so there you go. On Wednesday, I planned to swim, but Mother Nature had different plans. Torrential downpours and lightning tend to close public pools, so I didn't even bother to stop to see if they were open. Instead, I went to my apartment gym and tried the new elliptical's "Complete Body Workout" or whatever it was called, which changes what you're doing on the machine every minute or so, with the following options: lift toes, lift heels, bend knees, push bars, pull bars, forward stride, reverse stride, stationary (feet on sides). So, a certain combination of those is presented on the screen of the elliptical and you follow along. I watched the season four finale of Oz and changed up my cross training for the day. It was pretty fun, and I did feel a little sore the next day - a sure sign it did something! lol.
I did add the backstroke this workout as well - so I did laps with freestyle, sidestroke and backstroke. Like I said, I felt a lot better - much less winded and was able to complete each 100m portion without stopping every 25m like last time.
I also tried something new on Saturday - hashing. It has nothing to do with illegal substances, but rather is a social gathering that involves a mixture of drinking and exercising. Some participants are there more for one reason than the other, but it was a lot of fun. We biked a course that was set only an hour previously using flour, and the object is to try to figure the course out while completing smaller challenges along the way. I'm doing a terrible job of explaining it, but it was a lot of fun. This is a good site that explains it a bit more. Needless to say, the 10 mile bike ride that included going over the bridge to Clearwater twice kind of wiped me out and I was not feeling up to a 7 mile run the next day. The hashes are usually runs - this was a special bike hash - so future hashes should fit into my training. This was also my first non-stationary bike ride in over 7 years, so I'm happy I didn't wipe out. I ran on the treadmill after work on Friday for 30 minutes at 6.7 mph. I felt pretty good, but I've been tired all week. I got on the elliptical for 30 minutes after work on Saturday - still at Level 2. Blah blah blah. I've just done the work-outs this week, but I have to say I'm looking forward to my first weekend in 12 days. This afternoon I was itching to run and didn't want to wait for nightfall for it to be "cooler" so I hit the gym at my apartment complex. They have swanky new equipment including a treadmill with an iPod dock and a fan that blows at your stomach - didn't do much good for me. My arms were dripping sweat all over the arms of the treadmill...yuck. I was able to run 2 miles at 7 mph, which I know is pushing it, but I was doing alight. But then I was a good Samaritan and let someone into the gym (security card access) and that threw my rhythm off. I walked about half a mile of the remaining 3 miles and varied the pace between 6 and 6.6 mph. I am going to just say this week was off because of the 12 day work week and leave it at that.
I was able to run on Tuesday. I didn’t look at my training schedule, so I ran for 40 minutes at 6.4 mph, thinking that it was Week 4 and the minutes would probably be upped (which is why I "downed" the speed). I was wrong – so that day I ran an extra 10 minutes…but that worked out because I was so wiped the next day that I did not cross train. Hey, when you’re not feelin’ it, you’re not feelin’ it. Marathoning for Mortals also recommends not to train when you’re tired. There is a greater risk for injury and you might overtax your body and immune system. And Thursday was a rest day, which was sorely needed. I went to bed at 8pm! Technically, I did have a pretty hard day at work - a large tree fell across the train tracks and we had to remove it. It took seven of us about 30 minutes to get the pieces off and loaded onto a truck. So...we'll call that a "more or less."
Today, I ran for 30 minutes on the treadmill at the gym after work. I was able to hit 6.7 mph, which puts me under a 9 minute mile pace. Woo hoo! It did feel like a little extra work, but with me pushing the speeds up the last few weeks, it was doable. Going to finish out the week strong, but I am looking forward to seeing Man of Steel on Monday (my “Sunday”)! Oh…my…god. But, I’ll get to that. :o) So, yesterday I continued my trend of running at the gym after work. I amped it up (extreme!) to 6.5 mph for 30 minutes and ran almost 3.3 miles. Very happy with that. The Voice was on and I had the cardio room to myself, so I watched the first half of that (and finished it once I got home on the DVR). And now, to discuss taking the Lord’s name in vain earlier. I found a program similar to “Couch to 5K” but for swimming. The first workout consists of 4 x 100m (with 12 breath breaks in between each 100m), 4 x 50m (with 8 breath breaks) and 4 x 25m (with 4 breath breaks). I stopped at Sports Authority and bought some Speedo® goggles. They fit pretty well and I didn’t get water in my eyes at all. I debated on what swimsuit to wear – thinking the smaller and tighter the better – but I’m glad I went with mid-length trunks, so I didn't stick out too bad. It is a semi-public pool and I was the only one doing laps. The rest of the kids were all playing, diving, etc. and had long board shorts hanging off with their underwear visible. I don’t understand this! You want your suit to dry off as soon as possible once you’re out of the water. Cotton (boxer) briefs don’t allow that. But I digress… I was unable to complete the Week 1 workout – at least with the freestyle stroke. I got to my third 100m and had to switch to the sidestroke – I could not get enough air in between strokes and I started swallowing water. I think I went out too fast. In any case, I am sure my arms will be a little weak tomorrow. According to the workout, which says you can swim a mile after six weeks if you follow the program, I need to swim three times a week. I should iterate here that this is not my goal. I am merely using swimming as a cross-training activity so I have some variation – right now it’s just elliptical and stationary bicycling. As I’ve said before, cross-training is twice a week. Because of today’s performance, I know I have a long way to go. It felt eerily similar to when I started running over a year ago – barely able to jog for 3 minutes. It was definitely eye-opening. I have a newfound appreciation for swimmers like Ryan Lochte (see above) – meaning, those that compete at any athletic level. I consider myself a fairly good swimmer, but I have never done laps before today. We shall see how I develop - skill- and body-wise.
I've already completed one half marathon, so I'm technically trained to run the one this September. The challenge is to maintain that training, or even better, get better. So, in light of that sentiment, I ran a little faster on the treadmill after work today. I set it at 6.4 miles per hour, as opposed to the 6.0-6.2 mph I was running earlier. It definitely felt faster, but I'm going to continue to challenge myself. I'm so used to running at 6 mph (10 minutes per mile)...it's too comfortable. I need to push myself. So...I've been very busy this week. I am the Fundraising Chair for the Tampa Bay Chapter of the American Association of Zoo Keepers and besides coordinating the smaller fundraisers, it means I'm in charge of the big one - Bowling for Rhinos (BFR) - and it was yesterday. Despite my work schedule and getting prepped for BFR, I managed to maintain my Week 1 training. No excuses! Thursday was a rest day, and I rested the hell out of it. Well, I had a dinner date, but I rested before and after. The resting went better than the date. One more episode of Downton Abbey: Season Three to go. I ran about 3 miles on Friday - on the treadmill at the work gym during lunch. Again. This is only going to work on these short distances...I'm going to have to get up early eventually. And finally, today. After a dramatic accident at work involving a riding mower, I was a little banged up (scrapes on my wrist and forearm, and some raspberries on my back and butt), but okay. Thankfully. I had two thoughts: 'I'm glad I'm okay' and 'No excuses!' It's probably better to keep moving anyway and not allow my body to tighten up. So, when I got home, after checking on the five dogs I'm currently dog-sitting, I went 30 minutes on the elliptical at my apartment's newly-renovated gym. Pretty nice. Tonight, I had some vanilla ice cream (give me a break!) with Kahlua (there it is!) at a friend's house whilst sitting in her hot tub. And now, I'm back to relaxing at my other friend's house with her five dogs. The three chihuahuas will be my heat packs for the night. Ready for sleep! |
Archives
December 2018
Categories
All
|