Workout Recap 1/27 - 2/2

Instead of Workout Recap, I should just start calling these posts running recap.  I do miss doing the variety of workouts I used to do when I wasn't in full blown training mode, but right now it's all about the run!

Monday - 8 miles on the treadmill.  No set workout, just make it through.  CXWORX (30 minutes)

Tuesday - Body Pump Express at lunch and 40 minutes on the elliptical after work.  I was dragging all day, but made it through.  I really found myself appreciating my light cross training day!

Wednesday - 7 miles, pyramid style.  Kicked my tail!  I skipped CXWORX at lunch, I felt really drug out and had a tight IT band.  The run was it for the day.

Thursday - 6 miles, some speedwork.  I did a couple mile repeats.  Again, feeling kind of blah.  Made it to the Y at lunch for weights and abs.  I did all legs, extensions, curls, wall sits, and some lunges.

Friday - CXWORX (30 minutes) and Body Pump (60 minutes) I'm LOVING the new releases for both CX and Pump right now.  This coming week will be the last week of doing only the new releases, and I'm a little sad.  Pump makes me super sore in the shoulders every time.  The lunge track also left me feeling rather shaky on Friday night!

Saturday - 13.1 miles.  I posted about it here.

Sunday - 5 miles OUTSIDE!  It was a gorgeous afternoon!  It felt great to get one run in outside this week, even if it was my shortest, and my recovery run.  It was perfect.  Finished off with T25 ab intervals.

Workout Recap 1/6 - 1/12

Only in Nebraska.... this week started off with Wind Chill Warnings and schools being closed because the high was below zero and wind chills were around the -30 range.  Flash forward to today, Sunday, it's 50 degrees above zero out and gorgeous.  

Monday - 7 miles, pyramid style.  7.0, 7.5, 8.0, 8.1, 8.0, 7.5, 7.0.  It might have been -11 outside at the time, but inside I was drenched in sweat.

Tuesday - Body Pump Express (40 minutes) and Zumba........ yeah, I gave it a try and felt like a total freak.  I had a friend who wanted to give it a try, so I decided to help her out and help myself branch out of my comfort zone a bit.  The instructor was awesome, and class was pretty fun, but I've never felt so uncoordinated in my life.

Wednesday - 7 miles, pyramid again, this one I finished 20 seconds faster than Monday.  CXWORX (30 minutes)

Thursday - 6.2 miles 8:31 avg pace.  I came home after work and headed out the door as quickly as I could to get this run started in a little bit of day light.  It was about 27 degrees and pretty nice other than the wind.  I had to be pretty careful with ice and snow that was still lingering on the streets and sidewalks, so I kept it slow.  It felt great to get out and run on pavement again.  I came inside and finished off with T25 Ab intervals.

Friday - CXWORX (30 minutes) and Body Pump (60 minutes)  Love my Les Mills days!

Saturday - 9 miles at 8:03 avg on the treadmill.  I had to be up early and get the run in early before heading to work (BOO!) so I decided to be safe and stay inside.  Even though the temps were pretty decent, I was concerned about ice.

PS. My tank is from Target, and it is probably my favorite tank ever!

Sunday - NORMALLY my rest from running day, but how could I not get out for an easy run in this weather?!  5 miles, 8:20 avg.  Came home and did level 2 of Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred to finish off the week!

Workout Recap 12/30 - 1/5

I had half of this week off of work to finish up holiday break.  Then back to reality... We are in this wicked Wind Chill Warning deal now.  Hello treadmill.

Monday - 1 mile (8:35 pace) Then I went shopping.  Hit the Y for some cross training, 60 minutes on the arc trainer.  I hate that the machine shows I'm always a second or two short.  I'm not, I swear.

Tuesday - 8 miles (64 minutes) to finish off 2013!  I finished the year with 1240.47 miles, which was almost double my 2012 yearly total.  I did T25 Ab Intervals after my run.

Wednesday - 8 miles (64:34) and Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred (Level 1)  Holy sweaty mess.  I LOVE Jillian's workouts, especially the quick 30 Day Shred levels. 

Thursday - 6 miles (48:46) Easy run, followed by Jillian again.  I stuck with the first level all week, and yes, it's the easiest by a long shot.  But it is intense every time.  I did some strength training over my lunch break and focused on quads and hamstrings.  I did the basic seated extensions and curls and threw in some wall sits for good measure.

Friday - Body Pump (60 minutes)  The lack of strength training this past week made this a little tough and made me a little sore the next day.

Saturday - 8 miles (64:29) I was tired and sore, and this was just hard.  End of story.

Sunday - REST DAY!

Workout Recap 12/23 - 12/29

Better late than never on last week.  We had gorgeous weather and I was able to rock out 35 miles, which was the most I'd ran in a week in quite a while.  Christmas was my rest day, and I ate PLENTY to uh refuel my muscles :)

Monday -6 treadmill miles then headed out to start and end Christmas shopping... last minute style.  That should also count as a workout.  Yuck.

Tuesday - Christmas Eve! 8 treadmill miles, plus weighted lunges (ouch) and shoulder workout.  And Ab intervals with Shaun T.  Don't worry, I ate back every single calorie burned within 5 minutes at my parent's house.

Wednesday - MERRY CHRISTMAS!  Rest day.  I planned on running some easy miles in my new Wave Rider 17s, but I felt extremely sore, tired, and well, lazy.  It was a nice afternoon and I did make it outside for a walk around the lake which is close to 2 miles.

Thursday -8.5 miles at 8:12 average pace.  HELLO perfect weather!! This morning was so gorgeous.  I just wanted to run forever!
I hit the gym in the afternoon for some weights, and walked the lake with my parents.

Friday - 6 miles at 8:17 avg.  Again, perfection.  Spent the gorgeous afternoon visiting some family in Iowa, and finished off the day with Body Pump (60 minutes) and it felt amazing.

Saturday - 7 miles at 8:34 avg again outside.  And oh so hard.  Maybe it was from pump the night before, or just the extra miles I wasn't used to running outside, but I really thought I was just going to fall over.  Some runs are like that I guess...

Sunday - 45 minutes elliptical, Body Pump (60 minutes) and CXWORX (30 minutes).  I was tired after this :)

This was an awesome last full week of 2013.  I am off work, so I have lots of extra time to devote to fitness, which makes me extremely happy.

Workout Recap 12/9 - 12/15

Monday – 6.2 miles. CXWORX (30 minutes) 

Tuesday – Body Pump Express (40 minutes) 

Wednesday – 6 miles. CXWORX (30 minutes) FIRST night of Focus T25! Beta Cardio (25 minutes) I think I went to bed right after this. I was wiped out. 

Thursday – T25 Speed 1.0 (25 minutes) followed by 1.3 miles on the treadmill. This was the beginning of the end for my left calf. My calves were definitely feeling the burn on Wednesday night during Cardio, but felt decent during Speed 1.0, and I was sporting some Pro Compression sleeves. The goal was the T25 workout followed by 5 easy treadmill miles. FAIL. My calf gave one distinct pull and that was it. I hobbled off in defeat. 

Friday – Weights hit arms and legs (30 minutes) T25 Total Body Circuit (25 minutes) OK, I did not give my all on the TBC, I really went half speed, took most of the modifiers, and still almost didn’t make it. Sore calf or not, this was TOUGH. 

Saturday – 10 miles T25 Ab Intervals. Nothing like laying your towel on your mat to do ab intervals when you are as drenched as you would be post-shower… CONFESSION, I only made it 20 of the 25 minutes of the ab intervals. I had trouble getting set up for each new move, I learned I need to watch each one first so I know exactly what I supposed to be doing, and maybe what the modifier is doing… 

I'm in a full blown hibernation mode, contrary to the belief of the cute bear in the pic...

Sunday – Arc Trainer (60 minutes) and not much else... Laaaaaazy day. 

Since T25 came in the mail mid-week, I don’t know that this counts as my first week of the program. I plan to officially start it on a Monday, but I may need to wait until my calf is full strength.

T25 Total Body Circuit and it's baaaack

Welcome back to my life KT Tape. You really are miraculous.  Calf strains have nothing on me.

Friday night was my third day of T25.  Total Body Circuit on slate.  I did a little bit of strength training earlier in the day, but mostly just hobbled around and tried to ease the horrible cramped pain in my left calf.  I was nervous to do the T25 workout, but threw on some Pro Compression sleeves and went for it.

Barefoot.

I did some research on the best shoes for T25/Insanity, and I know this is a big discussion.  Shaun T himself recommended the barefoot approach, or minimalist shoes.  I had done my first two days in clean Wave Rider 15s I had in my treadmill room, and I think that play a part in my calf tightness.  I really loved being barefoot as opposed to the clunky shoes.  I am considering getting a pair of minimalist toe shoes, just to prevent slipping around, but the yoga mat and my rug on the floor seemed to work well.

The Total Body Circuit was an absolute killer.  I had to stick with the modifier in several points.  Part of me was being over cautious on the calf front, but mainly it was just a butt kicker.

Injured… T25 Day 2

I have to have the most injury prone body on the planet.  I was definitely feeling the effects of my first T25 workout.  All of the jumping, squatting, and lateral movements did a number on my calves and hip.  For someone who can run long, run fairly fast for races, and lifts weights and core trains on a regular basis WHY does this happen?  UGH.

Well, last night I did Speed 1.0.  I wore my Pro Compression sleeves thinking that would be a benefit to my legs.  I made it through my T25 workout no problem.  Then I hit my tready for some easy miles.  My warm up mile was complete and it hit the speed button to increase for a while, and with the first step my calf muscle pulled.  I tried to just run it out for maybe a minute.  No such luck.  I hobbled off and immediately used The Stick and foam rolled.  I spent the rest of the night on the couch with some ice and compression sleeves on.

I’ve struggled with calf issues in the past.  I don’t think it’s a major strain, but it’s a nice, unhappy pull.  I’m really frustrated at the moment.  T25 day 3 calls for the Total Body Circuit.  I’m guessing the calf isn’t going to be ready to handle that tonight, so I might swap out and do Total Abs instead.

Sucked in by infomercials

My T25 DVDs arrived…

Yikes.

I got sucked in by the infomercial.  I have this weird form of self-motivation where I have to watch workout infomercials while I’m on the treadmill.  I have even put in a Jillian Michaels DVD just to watch while I’m running.  I think maybe that’s weird?  I don’t know, it works, whatever gets my butt moving.  So T25 is always on during the lovely 5AM hour, and I decided after two weeks of seeing the lovely before and after testimonials that maybe this would work for me.

I’m using this blog as a way to hold myself accountable to actually do the dang workouts.  I’ll do a full review, and updates on my progress.  I even took some scary BEFORE pics this morning… (I'll spare you those)

 

My GOAL and purpose for doing this is to get stronger and hopefully increase my muscle definition.  I’m excited about the 25 minute idea.  

Update:

DAY 1 – first workout in the Alpha phase is Cardio.  I’ve never done Insanity or P90X, but I’m assuming most of these moves are incorporated in those workouts as well.  It was tough no doubt about it.  I was able to hang in the full time, the only modifier I did was on the jump lunges. (I stuck with touching my knee as opposed to the floor.)  The 25 minutes went really fast, and you couldn’t lose your focus otherwise you’d miss out on the next move.

I’m definitely feeling it today!  

Tonight after work I have day 2 which is Speed 1.0.