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!

Workout Recap 6/16 – 6/22

It’s been a while since I posted a workout recap.  I honestly haven’t felt like I’ve had a solid week of workouts since long before the marathon.  Well not long before, but a few weeks before.  And that’s been a month and a half ago…

I pushed myself pretty hard for a week post-race, post-PR on top of it, but I really missed the feeling of being sore!  If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you right?

Monday – 3 miles, CXWORX, and shoulders.  My goal is to focus on weight lifting, and I like to break it down by separate muscle groups.

Tuesday – T25 Speed 1.0 (killer) and leg day.  I don’t think this was the smartest idea I’ve ever had.  OUCHIE!  Leg day consists of leg press (3x12), leg extension (3x12), leg curl (3x12), abductor and adductor machines (3x12), squats (2x12), and lunges.  I didn’t do very many lunges, I won’t lie.

Wednesday – 30 minutes of random cardio (bike, elliptical, and funky cross skier machine) and Body Pump.

Thursday – 6 treadmill miles.  I woke up to a loud clap of thunder and pouring rain at 4:55 so I headed to the treadmill.  I can’t say that I minded, I did a simple workout of a warm up mile @ 8:30 and then I sped up for half mile increments and recovered in between.  I was sweating like a crazy person and I got to watch old Jon and Kate Plus 8 episodes on TLC.  Can’t hate on that!

Friday – 5 miles, CXWORX, and Body Pump.  Not all at once… I got up and ran before work, CXWORX at lunch, and Body Pump after work.  Fridays used to be my REST day, and now it was a triple workout day.  I can’t lie, I was totally tanked by Friday night, but it felt great to have sore, exhausted muscles from strength training!

Saturday – Well, Friday did me in, and it was just too hot Saturday and I slept too late.  Sounds like a lot of excuses, I know.  I started out around 8:00 and it was already hot and sunny.  I made it 3 of my goal 6 miles and just called it a day.  That’s the best part about “training for nothing” some days are just better to throw in the towel than to push yourself to sickness for no reason.  I spent the rest of the day at the golf course (6 hours to play 18 holes to be exact)  I SUCK at golf by the way.

Sunday – walked to the Y and lifted chest and triceps and walked back home.  Active rest day for the leggies.

Laugh and a Half Marathon - 1:43:33 - June 2014 - PR

Remember when I said I had NO idea what to expect out of this race?  And I wasn't feeling confident AT ALL.  You know how sometimes when you just relax, move any expectations, and just get out there, things end up working out.  I think back to last year how badly I wanted to PR this race, and how angry and frustrated I was when I didn't.  I think about this Saturday and how incredibly happy I felt because I was relaxed the entire time.  I had no pressure on myself, no high expectations, nothing.  Just get out there and run a race, and that was what I did!

Waking up in your own bed in your town for a race is the best ever.  I look forward to this race every year because the community support is wonderful, and it's just so easy to get up, run, and go home!  I got up around 5:15 to start waking myself up and stretching.  I had a MASSIVE bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios and a few bites of a Clif bar.  (I've been cereal-free all during and since my 24-Day Challenge, so this was a huge treat!  Cheerios have always been my go-to race and long run breakfast!)

Standard Advocare procedure, took my O2 Gold about an hour before the race, and drank my Spark/Arginine Extreme combo on the way to the starting line.  We met at a friend's house and walked up to the starting line at the high school.

I decided I was feeling confident, so I lined up towards the front...

5K, 10K, and Half Marathon all started at once.  Last year it was kind of a cluster, but this year the start seemed much smoother.  They didn't have pace markers, but they made more of a point to tell people to line up by pace.  Last year I did some serious bobbing and weaving and passing...

My mom came down and stopped along the route to take pics.  I like to wave in all of my pics.  I knew I was relaxed when I was talking to people in the first mile, and even a few miles after.  Again, a nice thing about a hometown race, you know who you are running with!  It was fun to chat it up a little.  This guy joked with me after the race about passing him!

More smiles, more waves.

I normally look like death while running, here I look alive.  Thanks to a friend for taking this pic!  I don't remember much of what went through my head during this race.  I do remember telling myself this is going fast, enjoy it!  It's funny how when you run 3+ hours in marathon training, a half marathon seems to fly by!

Here are my splits.  I ran a fairly consistent race, and dominated the last three miles!  My last mile was my fastest, and I'm very proud of that!  I'm typically a positive splitter all the way!  I was wiped out at the finish, but I do question now if I could have pushed it a little harder.  The thing is, I ran how I ran, I enjoyed it and smiled, and oh hey, I PR'ed!

1:43:33 was my official time, and it was good enough for 11th female overall, and second in my age division.

Someone asked her if she just had a baby, and she said no.  Just for the record.

I would be lying through my teeth if I said in the back of my mind I wasn't HOPING for a PR in this race and to make the podium in the age bracket for the third year in a row (out of three).  I definitely thought about both of these things, and deep down inside probably would have been disappointed if I didn't get either, BUT on the flip side that wasn't my goal at the beginning of the race.  Even during the race, I didn't look at my overall time on my watch, I didn't look at the women ahead of me, I just ran. 

It's taken me three years of running to finally get where I am.  I've learned SO MUCH.  I've made mistakes.  I've had highs.  I've had lows.  I've been proud of myself, and I've been disappointed in myself.  I'm competitive by nature, but the thing about running is you are only in competition with YOU!  If you start the race bound and determined that you have to beat yourself, it's probably not going to happen.  If you start the race focused on each moment and each mile, and smile along the way, you'll likely find the greatest reward at the finish line.  Not every race will be a PR, that's why the ones that are are so sweet.  There will always be someone faster, always be one winner, but you've won every time you laced up your shoes when you run with a smile on your face.

Thoughts before a half marathon

Tomorrow is my first half marathon of 2014.  I’ve obviously ran 13.1 countless times already this year, but never in the official sense.  Crazy.

Thoughts….

It’s supposed to be crazy windy tomorrow.  22MPH to be exact.  FAIL.

I don’t find carb loading necessary for a half anymore, which makes me kind of sad.

I don’t have a rockin’ playlist, as a matter of fact I don’t know that I even have a charged iPod…

I sort of had my mind on a PR until a couple of days ago.  My goal now is just don’t PW (personal worst)

I’m wearing my 26.2 headband to tell everyone that I ran a marathon and that’s why I might start sucking during this race.  #justification

My calves are really tight, and I’ve been rocking some Pro Compression sleeves and KT Tape at work.  And people have been asking what I did to my ankle.  It’s my Achilles, and it’s fine, thanks for asking.