Workout Recap 7/7 - 7/13

Super UNEVENTFUL week...

Monday - 6 miles and CXWORX.  Never miss a Monday!

Tuesday - 6 miles and weights (I can't even remember which muscle group, oops)  My throat was KILLING me, but I was able to run strong.  I never really came down with anything major, I think it was allergy related, but a week long sore throat is not fun.

Wednesday - Body Pump and like 10 minutes of cardio.  Throat again...

Thursday - 6 mile progression run.  I actually pulled this one off.  Lifted back and biceps.

Friday - CXWORX and Body Pump

Saturday - 7 miles on the treadmill.  I kind of forgot what treadmill running was like.  It was stormy looking outside, so I threw in a Gossip Girl DVD and ran.  I did a warm up mile and then would do 800s with easy 800s in between.  This is a totally random workout that helps the time go a little faster!  I think I sweat out 500 gallons of water during this just being inside.  Yuck.

Sunday - REST!  We hung out by the pool all day!  I did attempt some pool running and some flutter kicks, but most of the time I was immobile!

Operation = get stronger

It’s hard to believe it’s been almost a month since my last race.  Even harder to believe it’s been that long since I’ve ran double digits.  It’s crazy to think there were only a handful of Saturdays from January to June that didn’t involve a double digit run.  I go back and forth with sitting around missing the long runs, to being so relieved that I don’t HAVE to run that far right now.  The heat and humidity play a huge factor in the whole “not wanting to” thing.  I will slowly start building a base back for half marathon training in August, but right now short and sweet wins the race.

My goal after the half marathon in June was to scale back the running (a little bit) and focus on strength training.  So far, so good!  I truly enjoy strength training, and challenging myself in a new way.  I’ve always been a bit intimidated by weights, mainly because I’ve just never had a solid amount of strength, especially in my upper body.  

My challenge to myself was to make it to two Body Pump classes per week, and I’ve been successful!  I usually go to class on Wednesday and Friday evenings.  I lift separate muscle groups on the other days using a series of workouts from different sources, but mainly bodybuilding.com.  

I FEEL a difference already.  I still do girl pushups (on my knees) but I can do lots of them, and get nice and low.  I will work up to my toes, and rock those like no other!  I challenge myself in Body Pump by adding weight on different tracks.  When I’m lifting on my own, I take minimal rest between sets, and work with some supersets to really fatigue my muscles.

Strength training thus far has not only made me feel stronger, but I’ve been running stronger as well!  This week was the first I’d noticed some new “get up and go” in my legs.  Oh, and my metabolism is through the roof!  There are so many resources and workouts out there to keep myself challenged and interested in strength training.  I don’t plan to give this up anytime soon!  I’ll keep ya posted!

Do something that scares you

A friend of mine that teaches group fitness started a private page on Facebook to challenge and motivate ourselves in many aspects of life, not just fitness.  Our recent “challenge” was to step out of our comfort zone and do something uncomfortable, or something that might scare us a little.  I don’t mean go grab a snake from the yard or go skydiving… but so many of us are afraid to step out of our comfort zone, especially when it comes to exercise.

Most runners find their comfort zone in well, running.  Duh.  So what is uncomfortable?  Maybe signing up for a new distance (5Ks still scare me a little…) or trying a new type of cross training (pool running for example). 

For me personally, strength training is slightly out of my comfort zone.  I’ve never been “strong” when defined by amount of weight lifted.  In high school I could only bench press the bar (45lbs) and I’m pretty sure I never touched the squat rack.  I’ve always been tall and slender, and “weak”.  I remember being hounded by my coaches to get stronger and get tougher out there.  I was the tallest girl we had, so I was manning the post in all of my lanky glory in high school basketball.

There’s no doubt in my mind that I’m strong.  I ran 26.2 miles, I’ve ran hundreds of miles leading up to that point.  I don’t think physical strength is defined by the amount of weight you can lift, but I think there are so many misconceptions about women and lifting weights.  It’s pretty darn intimidating walking into a big weight room full of dudes curling 75lb dumbbells and you grab the 5s.  That’s the “stepping out of the comfort zone” aspect for me.  Having confidence to walk into a weight room and do my thing, without worrying people are judging me for not being “strong” enough.

The weight room in our Y is scary to me, and it made me feel better to find out I’m definitely not the only one who thinks that way.  So our challenge this week is to head to the weight room and confidentially rock our workout.  I’ve found a love for lifting now that I have more time to devote to it (not in marathon training) and it excites me to get in there and challenge myself in a new way.  I get most of my lifting routines from bodybuilding.com and I’m learning that it’s a PROCESS.  Just like running.  You don’t run 26.2 miles one day out of the blue, you work towards it.  Same way with strength, and muscle building.  It’s not an overnight process, it’s a challenge.  If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you right?

Workout Recap 6/30 - 7/6

This week started off by saying adios to June.  I was determined to hit the stupid 100 miles in June challenge, and I needed 6 to do it, so that's how my week started!  It was cooler than normal at the beginning of the week, and now it's HOT.  And I've got a lovely sinus/sore throat issue going on.  Lovely.

Monday - 6 miles, CXWORX, and chest and triceps after work.

Nike + rounded up.

Tuesday - Random cardio for 30 minutes at lunch, and legs after work.

Wednesday - 6 miles in the morning and Body Pump after work.

Thursday - Back/biceps/shoulders for one hour.  Looked like this:

 Friday - 7 miles on the 4th o July...

Rehydrate has been a staple this weekend!

Saturday - I woke up too late to run (it was HOT) so I ran one mile to the Y for Body Pump and one mile home.  Both miles were right at 8:00 flat, which is decent for the heat and post-pump.

Sunday - 20 minutes Arc Trainer and lifted legs.  Not much, just a little sweat to feel better!

Workout Recap 6/23 - 6/29

Another week down... June is FLYING!
Week two of my strength training plan was a success!  I feel stronger already!

Monday - 6 mile run, CXWORX, and shoulders after work.  I love my new UA tank!

Tuesday - 6.05 miles again, 8:26 avg pace this time.  It was much more humid on Tuesday morning than Monday.  I lifted legs for 30 minutes at lunch.

Wednesday - 30 minutes of random cardio and Body Pump.  I managed to hurt my wrist during shoulder track.  I wasn't able to finish the track, aka the push ups.  My wrist took about a day and a half to feel normal again, must have sprained it a bit.

Thursday - 4 miserable, rotten miles.  Yuck.  I barely made it back home.

Friday - CXWORX and one hour of weights.  I did some cardio in between sets.  I lifted legs, glutes, back, and biceps.  It was a killer workout!

Saturday - 6.2 miles @ 8:18 avg pace.  I got up and headed out early so I could get ready to go look at wedding dresses!  Turns out I found the one on my first official try.  SCORE!

Sunday - 4 miles @ 8:10 avg in da heeeeat!  I ran right about 1:15PM which I NEVER do.  I am determined to make the stupid 100 miles in June challenge, so I needed the miles.  It wasn't a bad run, it was just a sweatfest!

Up Next

I might still be on a high from the race this weekend.  I didn’t have any soreness on Sunday (thank you Rezzerct, foam roller and Nighttime Recovery by Advocare) so I kind of hit the ground running towards new goals.

Literally, I ran on Sunday.  I normally don’t even do a shake-out run after a half marathon, but my lack of soreness made it way too easy to just run a 1.5 to the Y and lift some upper body weights.   We can reference back to this post if I get injured and this will probably explain why…

Up next I really want to focus on MUSCLE!  I want to get stronger and LOOK stronger.  I’m tall and lanky and gaining muscle has always been difficult for me.  In high school, I loved basketball more than anything, but based on my height I was typically planted in the post and literally man handled by all of the other girls due to my lack of strength.

I’m basing a new strength program on Jamie Eason’s LiveFit trainer from Bodybuilding.com.  I LOVE Jamie and her programs.  She has amazing recipes and workouts.  I’m focusing on individual muscle groups on certain days and also incorporating Les Mills Body Pump in as well.  I plan to lift 6 days a week, and alternate what day is what.

Chest/Triceps

Back/Biceps

Legs

Shoulders

Body Pump

This leaves one day as a duplicate, which will just kind of depend on the week.  I love working legs and shoulders, those will probably always be the repeated day, or two days of Body Pump.

This morning I dusted off my T25 DVDs as well.  I did Speed 1.0.  I started the program this winter and ended up straining my calf, so for the sake of marathon training I stuck the DVDs in the drawer and haven’t touched any besides Ab Intervals since.   I’m hoping that incorporating agility and strength training will make me stronger, faster, and look toned up.  (Think wedding dress…)

My plans for running are kind of up in the air.  I don’t mind getting up and running an easy 3-4 miler at this point, and that’s probably what I’ll stick with here for a couple of weeks just to get my mind refocused after 5 ½ months of marathon/half marathon training.  I really want to focus on some shorter distance races this summer, and start to gradually increase long run mileage to gear up for a fall half.  My GOAL is for the Omaha Half Marathon to be a new PR!