Sunday, August 28, 2011

My New Site is Up and Active!

Good evening!

First off I would like to tell you how much I have truly enjoyed writing this blog and sharing my trials and tribulations as I continue my journey towards a healthy and happy life. Now don't get worried I am not quitting this whole blogging thing. I am just moving!

Now to the second thing I want to tell you. My new blog site is up and ready to go, which means I will no longer be writing here at The Life and Tales of a Runner. My new blog site is called Runner's Tales and if you click on the name you will be taken to the new site.

I really hope that you will find your way over to my new site and will continue reading my blog!

Thanks,
Rachel

Friday, August 26, 2011

Final Race Email from Disney!

Friday – Strength Training

  • Kettlebells – Sculpt & Condition Workout (40 minutes)

Before I get to the super exciting news of the day, let me tell you how the rest of my day went. After such an exhausting and amazing run last night, I decided that sleeping in would be better than waking up early and trying to get my workout done before work. I also didn’t want to spend the day being upset with myself for not doing my workout before work. Work today was the same as it has been all week, sort of slow and relaxed. I still have two weeks before my next deadline so I am not having to kill myself at the office.

When I got home, my sister was still working on dinner and indicated she didn’t need any help. I decided that there was no time like the present to workout, I changed into my workout clothes and popped in my kettlebell DVD. After today’s workout, I can honestly say that I am really comfortable with the basic kettlebell exercises. I am completely thrilled by that fact because next week I start working with the Volume 2 DVD. I am a little nervous but mostly very excited. I can’t believe how much I have progressed in the last three weeks.

Now for the good stuff! As I got ready to leave work today, I got an email from Disney. It is the last one before the the race. That is right people! There is only five weeks left before my very first half marathon. I am ridiculously nervous about this event but also super excited. This race email included information about race numbers, waivers, and final race instructions. On the waiver form next to my race number was the shirt size I ordered. I didn’t realize that I would have lost so much weight since I registered and my shirt is going to huge. I quickly sent and email to Disney asking to change my shirt size. Hopefully everything will work out!

Thursday, August 25, 2011

It is never too late to be great …

Thursday – 6 miles

  • 6.03 miles, 1:03’ 57” minutes, 10’ 36” min/mile average pace,

So my plan didn’t work very well this morning. I had every intention of waking up early and doing my 6 mile run before work. The early mornings have actually been really nice outside … another sign that fall is on the way. I think that because my work had slowed down my body has gone into some sort of hibernation mode. Every morning it feels like my body is trying to get me to stay sleeping. One of these days I will win the war of waking up exactly when I want to.

Work today was pretty uneventful and I had plenty of time to stress about my 6 mile run. Because I didn’t wake up early enough to do it before work, I knew that one of two things was going to happen. If I got home early enough, I would be able to run during the sunset/twilight hours. This option also depended on how hungry I was when I got home and if my sister already had dinner ready.

My other option was the treadmill and not starting my run until after 9:30. The thought of running 6 miles on the treadmill made me very nervous because I barely finish 5miles before the machine forces me to start cooling down. I knew that I could adjust the belt pace during the cool down but then I wouldn’t have any type of cool down. I was also going to have to increase the belt pace to make it all possible. Needless to say I really wanted to run outside.

Unfortunately my hopes of running outside were quickly dashed. I left work later than I wanted and I had to get gas and stop at the grocery store on my way home. By the time I got home, my sister was already working on dinner. So with that, I decided my run was going to be on the treadmill. I really don’t mind running on the treadmill as long as the distance is 5 miles or less. Knowing I had a 6 mile run scheduled and that it was going to be on the treadmill absolutely stressed me out. Rather than enjoying my dinner, I spent the entire time trying to figure out what my pace was going to be so that I completed the distance and didn’t kill myself.

Around 9:30, I was ready for my run and headed over to the treadmill. My training program had today’s run scheduled as a 6 mile interval run. I decided that I would listen to my body and push myself as much as possible to complete the distance in less than 65 minutes. I started off at a pace faster than usual and was able to maintain it for the first mile without over exerting myself. I increased the pace in an effort to make sure that I would finish in time.

After the second mile, I started the intervals. My program had 5x3 minute intervals scheduled for today. The treadmill only does intervals in multiples of 2 minutes. I chose to do to 5x2 minute intervals with 2 minutes of easy running in between. I really pushed myself with my tempo effort tonight. I was running at a pace that I have never attempted before. I was thrilled that I managed to push myself that much.

After the intervals, I had run right about 2 more miles. I finished my run at the same pace I started. Before I hit the 6 mile mark, the treadmill tried to get me to cool down. I forced the pace to stay where it was. When my iPod didn’t start the 400 meter countdown one minute into the cool down, I started to get really worried. But there was no need for me to worry because the countdown started and I actually finished the 6 miles with a minute to spare! I was completely thrilled and really exhausted all at once!

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Stop and smell the flowers …

Wednesday – Strength Training

  • Kettlebells – 2X Fat Blast Workout (24 minutes)

I am so glad that work is finally slowing down again. Don’t get me wrong though. I really do enjoy my job but I wish the workflow was smoother. It just seems that my workload goes through periods of crazy intensity and calm. While I absolutely enjoy the periods of calm mostly because it allows to catch up on everything it would be really nice to have a consistent level of work. This relaxed period at work has allowed me to refocus on my life outside of work. I cooked a delicious recipe last night that I enjoyed for lunch today and will posting on Sunday with step-by-step pictures. I am also working on a revamped blog site, which I am hoping to roll out this weekend or early next week.

IMG_1595

I woke up this morning to do my workout before work. What an empowering feeling it is to actually set a goal and achieve it! I want to always get my workouts done before work because I love how alive I feel. That feeling usually lasts me all day. I also love having my evenings available to get more stuff done. Today marks two days in a row that I have woken up early enough to workout before work. The real test will be tomorrow. I have a 6 mile run scheduled and I really want to knock it out before work. I also really want to run outside.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Back to my regularly scheduled program!

Tuesday - 5 miles + Strength Training
  • 5.51 miles, 59' 55" minutes, 10' 53" min/mile average pace, 146 BPM average heart rate
  • Kettlebells - Sculpt & Condition Workout (40 minutes)
Yesterday, I decide to ajust my training schedule in response to how my body felt after a rather intense weekend of running. I didn't want to injure myself because I pushed too hard. I really have a tendency to do that sometimes. When I got up this morning, my legs still felt a little worked over but MUCH better than yesterday so I decided to go ahead and so my kettlebell workout before work. It felt great to do some physical activity again. I know it was only a day but it felt like an eternity.

I would have preferred to do my 5 mile run before my kettlebell workout but I didn't wake up early enough. I figured that sitting at my desk for 8 hours would be plenty of time between workouts. I ended up way more than 8 hours though. When I left work, a huge thunderstorm came rolling through and my hopes of running outside tonight were thwarted. I love Florida weather ... but only when it doesn't interfere with my runs! Its ok though because I can always run on the treadmill. My sister had dinner ready when I got home so I didn't get to run until 10:30.

Today's run was scheduled as an easy 5 mile run. So when I climbed on the treadmill, that is exactly what I did. I started with a super easy warm up pace for five minutes. After that, I bumped it up to en easy pace for the rest of the time. At the beginning of the run, I could definitely tell that my legs were still protesting from the weekend. After 10 minutes of running, I fell into stride and my legs followed suit. No more screaming and protesting. Just the gentle rhythm of my breathing and foot falls.

Monday, August 22, 2011

25 percent

I hope you guys had a great weekend! Mine was long and filled with craziness but I had a lot of fun. Be sure to check out my race review and recap for the Ace of Diamonds 5K that took place yesterday. Also I posted my first featured piece as part of my new ongoing series, A Few of My Favorite Things. This Sunday’s article featured a great Vegetarian Recipe that will make either a delicious lunch or dinner. It is super healthy (around 300 calories per serving) and is relatively inexpensive (under $5.00 per serving). Of course, that depends on the ingredients you use to make it.

I originally had a strength training workout scheduled for today but I chose not to do it. The hilly race course really did a number on my quads. I decided to give my legs a full day’s rest before I continue my training. I did have a very exciting day though. When I weighed myself this morning, the scale said that I weigh 151.8 lbs., which means that I have lost 53 lbs. since embarking on the healthy lifestyle journey. I have lost more than 25% of my starting weight. I am getting really close to a healthy body weight and I am really happy about that.

Sarah's Graduation 2010 121Also, a couple of weeks ago, I entered a raffle over at Running With Sass that benefited the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. She is raising money as part of her Team in Training Program. Last week, I found that I won one of the prizes. I received my prize in the mail this weekend and am already planning what to do with them. Since the headband is Disney themed, I am definitely going to be wearing it for Disney’s Wine and Dine Half Marathon. I am planning on putting the decal transfer on a tank top and wearing the day after my first marathon.

Have you ever won a raffle? What did you win and what did you do with it?

2011 Ace of Diamonds 5K Race Recap

What a great morning! Like the other two races I have run so far, I set several goals for today. The first goal was to run the entire race and the second goal was to improve my time from the my last race. These are pretty much the same goals I have had since I started racing. Before today, I haven’t been able to run an entire 5K in a race setting. As much as I have trained in the last few months, I was really hoping that today would be the day for me to run the entire race. I am really excited to say that I actually completed both of my goals. I felt like I was going to die at some points but I did it and that is what matters the most.

I woke up this morning at 5:15. I didn’t get moving right away though. When I finally got out of bed, I fixed up my breakfast of yogurt and granola. Last night I took the time to get my running clothes ready so that I wouldn’t have to go fishing around for them this morning. After I finished my breakfast, I changed into my outfit and finished getting ready. I chose not to take one of my water bottles because there was going to be a water stop around the halfway point. I also chose not to bring my headphones with me mostly because I wasn’t sure what the rules were and I have found that I actually enjoy running without the sound of music. I left my place at 6 and started heading to the race location.

T ShirtAccording the email I received on Friday, the packet pick up was going to start at 6:30 and the race was going to start at 7:30. I like to show up early to races as early as possible so I made sure to leave my place in plenty of time. I arrived at the parking location right 6:30 and headed over to packet pick up. Of the three races that I have done, this is only one that didn’t have a goody bag and wasn’t chip timed. To be completely honest with you, I was actually really disappointed by that. I know that some people don’t like getting the goody bags because they are usually full of advertisements. I actually really like getting them because of the samples and coupons inside. I think I was more disappointed that it wasn’t chip timed though. That means that while the results are official, they aren’t accurate. I was actually hoping to use my time from the 10K next month to change corrals at the Disney race. Oh well. The one one thing we did get was a really nice tech shirt although the logo and colors don’t make a whole lot of sense to me.

Once I got my number (#425) and shirt, I quickly went back to my car to throw my shirt inside. I had plenty of time before the start and I didn’t want to run with my shirt. Then I headed back over to the starting area. A little while later, my friend (the one who convinced me to run this with her) sent me a text message asking where I was. We met up by the “packet” pick up area and talked while we waited for the race to start. As we stood there waiting, I started stretching my legs that were starting to feel really tight. I started thinking that running 10+ miles yesterday wasn’t the best idea. I figured I would deal with it later if it started to affect my running. I also realized that this morning was not going to have any hints of Fall whatsoever. At 7, it was already so humid that I was covered in a nice sheen of moisture and I was being eaten alive by mosquitoes.

Before I knew it the race director told us to line up at the starting line. He also told us about a few last minutes items of importance. (1) There was slippery area on the course … (WHAT!!) (2) The course map shown online is actually backwards … (REALLY!?!) Right before the start of the race a trumpet played the national anthem, then the gun went off and the running began.

31663070-5 AceDia OTR2-1788Mile 1: Going into this race, I knew that the race opened with a hill, which what I assumed classified the course as hilly. Boy was I wrong on that assumption. First, we headed up a pedestrian bridge that crosses a major road. My friend is much faster than I am so she was already out of site by the time I was off the bridge. I decided to take it easy and try to keep up with my friend. After that we followed a paved trail through a wooded area. As we came around one of the first turns, I saw it. There was a sign warning bicyclists about a 10% downgrade! That’s two hills in the first quarter mile. After we got through the wooded area, we found ourselves on a boardwalk over a pond. More mosquitoes! After the boardwalk, I saw the Mile 1 marker. I was very happy with myself so far because I was still running and was starting to hit my stride.

Mile 2: I think that mile 2 was definitely the flattest part of the course. It was also not shaded for most of it. It was the paved trail that went around the pond we just crossed. The glare from the sun off the water was pretty bad in stops but I didn’t let that stop me. I was a woman on a mission. I did learn something though. I need to invest in a pair of sunglasses that I can run with. Less than a quarter mile past the Mile 1 marker, we hit a little switchback that took us to the other side of the loop. Right after that, I spotted the race director (or at least the guy making all of the announcements) standing next to the trail telling everyone that this was the slippery portion of the course. It looked like a stream was crossing the road. I carefully watched my footing and made it through unscathed. The hills started to appear just as I spotted the Mile 2 marker and the water stop. I can’t help but smile as I remember the two guys manning the water stop yelling “Get your Bud Light here!” Hearing that made me laugh and I responded to them with “I wish!” I grabbed a water cup and attempted to drink it while running, managing to get most of it in my mouth. Unfortunately, water was not what my body wanted at that moment. I felt the water hit the bottom of my stomach and knew that I had burned off my breakfast and was running out of expendable calories. I reminded myself that there was food at the finish line. And then the hills came …

31663071-8 AceDia Fin-1594Mile 3: Shortly after passing the Mile 2 marker. My side started to cramp. Not again! During my last two races, I got a cramp in my side so bad that I stopped running in hopes of walking it out. Just breath Rachel. Don’t stop running. You are almost there. I was approaching the really bad hills at this point. You did this once already so you can do it again. I kept running and eventually the cramp in my side went away. I continued to focus on my pace and breathing trying to maintain my level of effort. Finally, I could see the start of the pedestrian bridge. As I started the approach, my stomach began to revolt. I was running out of stuff to give and my stomach was letting me know it. I refused to stop running though. I had made it this far and I could see the end in sight. After I crested the bridge, I could see the stop clock and I was doing great. I was on pace to knock almost a full minute off of my previous time. As soon as I got off of the bridge and made the final turn into the finish shoot, I stepped on the gas giving it everything I had. I felt like I was flying towards the finish line. My friend and her fiancé were waving and cheering me on. As I ran past the stop clock, it read 38:07, a full minute faster than my last time!

304325_10100382675541991_5002888_53193151_6422916_nAfter finishing the race, I headed straight for the water tent. I grabbed a water bottle and a protein shake. I was thirsty, hungry and completely drenched with sweat. What a glorious way to start the day! I found my friend after that and she showed me where to fill out my time card. Then we got in line for breakfast. I must say that this breakfast is definitely tried with the Tampa May Classic 5K for yumminess. They were serving whole wheat english muffins, fruit salad, fresh fruit (bananas, oranges, and apples), and scrambled eggs. I grabbed a little of everything but ended up only eating the fruit and a bite of the muffin. All in all, I thought it was a good race. I learned that I really can run a 5K race and on a course with crazy hills. I also learned that I should probably bring an energy gel with me if I am going to more than 2 hours before a race.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

2011 Ace of Diamonds 5K Race Review

125px-Playing_card_diamond_A_svgRace: Ace of Diamonds 5K
Date: August 21, 2011
Location: Clearwater, Florida

Registration: I registered for this race as part of the Aces are Wild Series, which also includes a 10K, 15K and 1/2 Marathon. You could have also registered for each of the races individually but there was a discount for doing all of them at once. The online registration for this was on Active.com, which means that there were processing fees attached to the registration fee.

Parking: After the fiasco of the first race I ever ran (the 2011 Athleta Iron Girl Clearwater event), I have a tendency to get to the race start as soon as I possibly can. I got to the Parking area at 6:30, which was an hour before the start. I had no problems finding a parking spot but the lot did fill up as it got closer to the start of the race. The Parking area was a bit of a walk (almost 10 minutes) from the packet pick up and race start. There weren’t any volunteers to show you where to go so you really had to know your way around the area.

Packet Pick Up: The packet pick up area was about a 10 minute walk from the parking area. To be honest, I was a little disappointed with the “packet”. This race was definitely on the no frills side. No goodie bags or packets just a tech shirt (very nice) and a race number. I personally like the goodie bags with the swag. The lines moved fairly quickly and didn’t really get backed up at all. After you checked in, the volunteers gave you a number, safety pins and your shirt. I was also a little disappointed that this race wasn’t chip timed.

Getting to the Start: The starting location was in the same areas as the packet pick up. Once you got your number and shirt you didn’t have to go very far to get to the starting line. The port-o-potties were located in the same area, which was nice. Logistically speaking, everything was pretty simple except for the distance to the parking area.

Course Review: Course Map
The only thing I can say about this course is OH MY GOSH! The course was described as a loop with a mixture of flat and hills. For a girl who runs in the Florida, a hill is usually nothing more than a bridge going to the beach. The course followed the Ream Wilson Trail, which is a paved trail and by trail I mean it goes through the woods and over the river. The first and third miles included fours hills with a 10% grade and a rather large pedestrian bridge. The second mile was the flatter portion of the course and was along a boardwalk that crossed over a pond.

The views on the course were really nice especially in the wooded area. I felt like I was back in the mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina except for the fact that I was covered in sweat after the very first hill also known as the Ream Wilson Trail Pedestrian Bridge. The pond also provided some beautiful views but it was a little tainted for me due to the blaring sunlight.

This course is not a great course if you are looking to PR. It is however a good one if you are looking to improve your hill technique. The hills on the course are crazy and definitely provide a challenge.

What I learned: Today I learned that I am not very strong when it comes to hills, which I will have to figure out how to deal with sooner or later. Knowing that this course was going to have hills, I started running at what I considered a slower pace for a race and I didn’t let it bother me when I was being passed. I also learned that hydration is very important. I spent the last week really making sure that I drank plenty of water each day so that I wouldn’t be dehydrated going into today. I knew that it was likely to be really hot and humid today and hydration is really important in those conditions.

Best Part and Worst Part: The best part for me was actually completely my goals for the race. I actually ran the entire course, which was quite a fantastic feat for me and I wasn’t sure that I would be able to do it on this course. The fresh fruit at the finish line was also really good. The worst part was probably the hills. I was totally not prepared for that feature on the course but I ran them and I feel like a better runner because of it.

Overall Recommendation: I will definitely be doing this race next year if it fits into my schedule. I think that it will be a great test to see how much my running has improved in a year’s time. If you are looking for a hilly course that is similar to trail running (paved), then this is a great race for you. It is hot and humid but the shaded areas really take the bite out the sun glaring down on you. The only drawback to this race is that it isn’t chip timed. I had to write me time down on a card and turn it in after I was done running.

Skillet Gnocchi with Spinach and Navy Beans

A Few of My Favorite Things: Vegetarian Recipe

IMG_1564I found the recipe at eatingwell.com and made some modifications based on my own personal tastes. I absolutely love the flavor of gnocchi, spinach and fire roasted tomatoes so I thought this would a perfect recipe for me to try. This recipe truly is delicious. It is full flavored and filled with unique textures.

Gnocchi are delicious Italian dumplings that are typically made from flour and potatoes. I have personally not attempted to make them fresh because the process can be rather difficult and time sensitive but I will definitely be trying at some point in the future. I have found a great brand (Gia Russa) at my grocery store that offers several different varieties. The original recipe called for Swiss Chard instead of Spinach. I personally prefer the flavor of Spinach so I chose to use that instead. It called for the use of White Beans (usually Great Northern Beans) but upon further inspection of the nutritional facts I found that the Navy Beans were actually healthier. One of the biggest things was the amount of sodium in the White Beans.

Skillet Gnocchi with Spinach and Navy Beans

Yields: 6 servings

Ingredients:

  • 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
  • 16 oz. package of gnocchi
  • 1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 1/2 cup of water
  • 6 cups of chopped spinach
  • 15 oz. can of fire roasted diced tomatoes
  • 15 oz. can of navy beans, rinsed
  • 1/4 teaspoons ground pepper
  • 1/2 cup Shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1/4 cup Shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:

  1. Heat 1 tablespoon of EVOO in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.Add the gnocchi and cook, stirring often, until they have plumped up and started to brown, which is about 5 to 7 minutes. Once the gnocchi are done, transfer to a bowl.
  2. Add the remaining 1 teaspoon of EVOO and onion to the same skillet and cook, stirring over medium heat for approximately 2 minutes. Stir in the garlic and water. Cover and cook until the onion is soft, 4 to 6 minutes. Add the spinach and cook, stirring until it starts to wilt, another 1 to 2 minutes.
  3. Stir in the tomatoes, beans and pepper. Bring to a simmer or until the sauce just starts to bubble.
  4. Stir in the Gnocchi and sprinkle with the mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Cover and cook until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling, about 3 minutes.

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Saturday, August 20, 2011

Long Run No. 8 ... Is Fall on its way?

Saturday - 11 miles
  • 10.30 miles, 2:22' 32" minutes, 13' 50" min/mile average pace, 158 BPM average heart rate
  • Splits:
    • mile 1 - 11' 26" min/mile
    • mile 2 - 11' 43" min/mile
    • mile 3 - 12' 06" min/mile
    • mile 4 - 12' 10" min/mile
    • mile 5 - 12' 19" min/mile
    • mile 6 - 14' 55" min/mile
    • mile 7 - 12' 57" min/mile
    • mile 8 - 17' 33" min/mile
    • mile 9 - 14' 38" min/mile
    • mile 10 - 17' 27" min/mile

I know that I had an 11 mile run scheduled for today but I only did 10.30 miles. I am not disappointed with myself though because I really listened to my body and focused on the the fact that I have a race tomorrow. I didn’t want to have such worn out legs that I wouldn’t be able to do my best during my race. I also knew that I was going to be on my feet for at least 8 hours at my second job later today. One sign that I know I am a workaholic is that I still work at one of the jobs I had in college. I can’t complain too much though because that is where I met my wonderful boyfriend.

I set my alarm for 5:30 hoping to get an early start to my day. Unfortunately, my alarm cam and went without me. I didn’t actually wake up until 7:20, which was almost two hours after I wanted to. I flew out of bed, inhaled my breakfast and got ready for my run. I was out the door in 25 minutes, which was quite impressive for me to say the least. Before walking out the door, I filled my water bottle with water and loaded up the pocket on my belt with 3 servings of energy gels. I also ate a serving of Mountain Berry flavored Clif Shot Bloks. (I think that were much better than the Strawberry flavored ones.)

As I started walking towards the running trail, I noticed that I wasn’t sweating yet. I was surprised when I checked my phone and the temperature was only 79 degrees! Around 8, I started running and really tried to focus on keeping my pace down and keeping my breathing under control. After the first three miles, I really felt great. My pace was right where I wanted to be and I was still breathing through my nose (no huffing and puffing!). After mile 4, I ate my first serving of energy gels (more Mountain Berry Shot Bloks) and washed it down with my first sips of water. I guess my focus on staying hydrated this week actually worked. At the 4.5 mile mark, I hit the turnaround point on the running trail so I headed back to where I started. About a mile down the road, my brain kicked into high gear and started trying to get me to stop running. Yes, I really run for over an hour before I took my first walk break. Of course when I stopped running my legs felt like jelly. I walked for about a half of a mile before I started running again. I figured that it I could run the first 5.5 miles than the last 5 miles (after my half mile walk) wouldn’t be a problem. After just a mile and a half of running. I was walking again. My legs were starting to scream and my feet weren’t working as well as I wanted to. At that point, I decided to cut my run short and walked the rest of the way.

IMAG0012Even though I didn’t go the scheduled distance, I still feel like today’s run was a success. My wall didn’t hit until the 5.5 mile mark, which is a mile past where I was two weeks ago or even last week. After my run, I was literally soaked with sweat. My curiosity peaked and when I checked my phone the temperature was only 82 degrees! Please keep in mind that the weather lately can only be characterized as hot, humid and sticky! Not today though! I just hope it feels this good tomorrow morning. Before taking a shower and getting ready for work, I enjoyed my favorite post run protein shake. I really love the flavor of Mix1’s Acai-Pomegranate Shake. I have tried the grape and blueberry ones but I always come back to the acai-pomegranate flavor. Absolutely yummy!

Off to work I go but I will have plenty of stuff for you tomorrow! 

Friday, August 19, 2011

Finally over!

Friday- Strength Training
  • Kettlebells - Sculpt & Condition Workout (40 minutes)
What a feeling of relief! I can not tell you how good it feels to finally be done with this project at work. I feel like I have put my heart and soul into this proposal these last few weeks and now all I can do is wait to see if we win it. I have such a feeling of relief and anticipation right now. I won't find out for another month if we win the project but I really hope we do. All that is left for me to do now is throw myself back into my training. Tomorrow is my first ever double digit run and I am really looking forward to seeing how it goes.

Not too shocking, I didn't do my workout before work this morning. I decided to get to work early and get the rest of my work done as quickly as possible in hopes that I might actually get to leave work early. That didn't happen but at least I won't have to go into the office this weekend. After work, I met my dad for dinner at Panera Bread and we sat talked for several hours, which was great. Then I headed home to do my workout.

My strength training workout for today was scheduled to be the 40 minute Sculpt & Condition Workout. This was the second time I have done this workout with the 15 lb. kettlebell. Oh my word am I going to feel this one tomorrow. I totally forgot how much I hurt on Tuesday after doing this workout until I was doing the front squats. It should make my 11 mile run tomorrow very interesting. I haven't been nearly as sore this week as I was last week, which I find a bit surprising since I have done the 40 minute workout twice. It could have something to do with the face that I had more rest days this week in between my strength training workouts.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

My bliss ...

Thursday - 3 miles
  • 3.58 miles, 40’02” minutes, 11’ 10” min/mile average pace, 140 BPM average heart rate

IMAG0011What is your bliss? My bliss is enjoying my afternoon cup of coffee from Starbucks. My bliss is laying in a pool of my own sweat after a really great workout. My bliss is eating my favorite breakfast while I am curled up reading a book. My bliss is getting my run in no matter what.

As my deadline at work quickly approaches, I realized that my exercise routine has actually suffered. Not in the fact that I am not doing the scheduled workouts. Instead, I feel like I am not giving my all to every single workout. I felt so great after my run on Tuesday night that I wanted to carry that energy forward. I woke up yesterday and did my scheduled kettlebell workout before work but didn’t feel my usual bliss afterwards. After another long and very frustrating day at work, my positive energy from Tuesday’s run was completely gone. So much so that when my alarm went off this morning, I didn’t jump out of bed and change into my running clothes. I didn’t rush out the door to knock out an early morning run on my favorite running trail. I simply turned off the alarm and laid in bed thinking of all the things that I had to get done. This is NOT how I wanted to train for my first half marathon. I promised myself when I started this that work would not get in the way. I guess some promises are meant to be broken even the ones you make to yourself. Luckily, I should be back on track this weekend and I really can’t wait for my upcoming race on Sunday!

I found my bliss tonight on the treadmill. I wasn’t sure that I would be able to find it twice in one week but I did! My run tonight felt wonderful. My training program had today’s run scheduled at an easy 3 miles. I thought this would be a great way for me to test my running strategy for my race on Sunday. I hadn’t realized that I had a strategy until I starting running on the treadmill. My goal for tonight’s run was to keep my heart rate in check and to maintain a relaxed breathing pattern. I figured this would give me a baseline for how I should try to pace myself on Sunday. I am really looking forward to seeing if my time has improved and by how much.

What is your bliss? Do you find it through exercise or through another activity? How do you hold on it that positive energy?

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Really missing Bikram ...

Wednesday - Strength Training
  • Kettlebells - Joint Mobility Warm Up (6 minutes) and 2X Fat Blast Workout (24 minutes)
Work has really taken up a lot of my time the last couple of weeks. So much so that I have not been able to go to my Wednesday night Bikram Yoga class. I don't like sacrificing my health and fitness for work but I think that I can give up a few Bikram classes as long as I keep up with running and kettlebell training. Hopefully I will be able to attend a Bikram class next week. That style of yoga is one of those things that people either love or hate and there really is nothing in between. I happen to be one of those people that absolutely loves the feeling of peace and serenity that I leave every class with. I can't wait until I am not so busy at work and can actually attend a Bikram class.

I woke up this morning and decided to actually knock out my workout before getting ready for work. Even though I was tired from going to sleep so late after my run last night, I rolled out of bed and changed into my workout clothes. As I was walking around, I noticed that my right ankle felt a little swollen. I think I must have landed on my foot wrong on the treadmill last night (stupid treadmill!). I didn't let that stop me though. I even added the Joint Mobility Warm Up to my scheduled strength training workout in hopes that it would help to loosen up my ankle. Throughout my workout, I didn't really feel any tenderness at all in my ankle, even during the Squat Thrusts. I really hope that it goes away before this weekend. Maybe I will ice it down before I go to bed.

Speaking of this weekend, I actually received an email from the Premier Racing Institute about my upcoming race on Sunday, the Ace of Diamonds 5K. I was a little surprised because I didn't receive any emails about the last local 5K that I did. The email was just about a change in the parking location but it sparked my interest. I went to the race website to the see if there were any other changes. Luckily, there weren't any changes but the course map had finally been posted. This course should be interesting to say the least mostly because it is not described as a flat, out and back course. This course is actually described as hilly! Where do you find hills in coastal Florida? I guess I will find out on Sunday.

Have you ever tried Bikram Yoga? What did you think about it? Did you love it or hate it?

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

I let my fears get the best of me ...

Tuesday - 5 miles
  • 5.25 miles, 59' 41" minutes, 11' 22" min/mile average pace, 150 BPM average heart rate
As much as I wanted to wake up early enough to run before work, I couldn't bring myself to roll out of bed this morning. Yes, I did turn the alarm off but my fears and sleep deprived self got the best of me. I say that my fears got the best of me because I know that a 5 mile run will take me an hour to do. A 12 minute/mile is where I am right now and trying to push myself any faster than that will likely lead to an injury and I don't want that. Taking an hour out of my morning to run 5 miles didn't seem like a good idea this morning. I was afraid that it would take longer than an hour, which would make me really late for work. A silly fear I know but that is what was going through my head this morning when it was time to wake up. I still have days where my confidence disappears and I don't feel like the runner that I am. Instead, I feel like I am not a runner at all because I am no where near the point I want to be or feel I should be. I saw a quote the other day that really helped me deal with my insecurities today.
"I often hear someone say I'm not a real runner. We are all runners, some just run faster than others. I have never met a fake runner." -Bart Yasso
All I can do is continue running and I will improve as time goes on. I know that it won't happen overnight no matter how much my competitive nature wants it to. I have complete confidence that some day I will be a fast runner but that day is not today.

I eventually got to go for my run around 10:15 tonight. According to the Nike+ training program, my run was supposed to be 5 miles with some intervals. After 1 to 2 miles of easy running, I was supposed to do 4x2 minute intervals at tempo effort with 1 to 3 minutes of easy running in between. Before I started my run, I figured out which interval button I needed to push to get the right intervals. I didn't do my usual walking warm up again because I was on the treadmill and I only get 60 minutes of running before it automatically starts the cool down. (Stupid treadmill! I think I need to get my own or strat trying to run outside more ... where are you fall!) To compensate for my lack of walking warm up, I started my run with the belt pace set at 3.5 mph. I felt pretty good after 5 minutes at this pace so I bumped it up to 4.0. I continued running at this pace until my iPod told me that I had completed 2 miles. I felt absolutely fantastic. My heart rate was down and I wsn't breathing heavy. In fact, I was still breathing through my nose! I pressed the interval button and set my tempo effort to 5.0 mph while leaving the easy pace at 4.0 mph. Now I know that I was only supposed to do 4 intervals but I felt so great that I actually did 6 intervals, which ended up being just over 2 miles. I finished off my 5 mile run at an easy pace (4.0 mph) and then did a five minute walking cool down.

After a week of doing this reworked training plan, I really think it was the way to go. I felt fantastic after doing three 5 mile runs and even though I know that my was a little on that fast side (for me) for the longer distances I honestly felt like I could have kept going for at least another mile or two. I truly felt amazing after thonight's run. I am going to try and carry this feeling forward to rest of my runs this week, which is going to be one of the toughest weeks that I have had so far. My long run for this week is scheduled to 11 miles on Saturday. On Sunday (the very next day), I have the Ace of Diamonds 5K, which will be my first race since May and I am really excited about it.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Sore as sore can be ...

Monday - Strength Training
  • Kettlebells - Sculpt & Condition Workout (40 minutes)
Let me just say that the Back Lunges and Squats from yesterday really worked out my rear end. No joke! As I was climbing out of bed this morning, I realized just how sore my back side really was. I rolled around trying to loosen up my muscles before I decided to go ahead with my workout this morning. Oh my word! Today's strength training workout was scheduled to be the 40 minutes Sculpt & Condition Workout. This is the first time I have done this workout with the 15 lb. kettlebell. I didn't think that this workout would be terrible because I have done it before with the 8 lb. bell and I feel like I getting my comfortable with the 15 lb. bell. I had no idea that my kettlebell could kick my butt any more than it already has. Boy was I really wrong. I think the butt kicking was magnified by the fact that I was already really sore from yesterday's workout. When I was done with the workout, I could barely hold the bell because of the amount of sweat pouring off of me. Not to mention the fact that I was completely out of breath. I really do enjoy working out! I hopped into the shower and got ready for work. As I was getting ready to spend my a day in gray walled cube, I realized that I could hardly move. Every muscle in my body was screaming at me and asking me why I insisted on putting them through such torture. I only smiled an continued getting ready. Let me tell you that if you are trying to get a firm and shapely rear end, then kettlebells and Lauren's workouts are totally for you! It hurt to sit and I literally sit at a computer for at least 8 hours a day. I honestly can't wait to do this workout again.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Another great kettlebell workout ...

Friday - Strength Training
  • Kettlebells - Practice Demonstrations 10 reps each (20 minutes)
My strength training workout today consisted of practicing the exercises on the Volume 1 DVD ten times each. Once again, I was faced with the task of creating a kettlebell workout on my own. Now I could have simply just done the exercises in the same order as they are presented on the DVD but honestly where would the fun be in that. While I ate my breakfast, I figured out a workout that incorporated all of the exercises. This workout focuses on reinforcing what I have been working on all week: the basic kettlebell exercises. It is based on the required number of repetitions instead of time intervals. As I was developing this workout, I tried to be as liberal with the rest breaks as possible. When I was done, I actually thought that I had given myself too many and decided that I would adjust as necessary. I didn't want to lose the momentum of the workout or prevent my heart rate from increasing. Finally I was ready to get started so I got my interval timer ready to time the rest periods and body weight exercises. I changed to the television to the free music channel that I found before and started working out. I really surprised myself with this workout. I ended up taking every single rest break and was really drenched with sweat. Doing 10 repetitions on each side of the Clean, Squat & Press was rough! It took everything I had to get out of the squats as I got towards the end of the set. This workout ended up being a great workout and really challenged me.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

I need to drink more water!

Saturday – 5 miles + Strength Training
  • Kettlebells – Joint Mobility Warm Up (6 minutes)
  • 5.00 miles, 1:01’ 18” minutes, 12’ 14” min/mile average pace, 164 BPM average heart rate
  • Splits:
    • mile 1 – 11’ 09” min/mile
    • mile 2 – 11’ 06” min/mile
    • mile 3 – 13’ 01” min/mile
    • mile 4 – 14’ 24” min/mile
    • mile 5 – 11’ 33” min/mile
Besides the fact that I am likely dehydrated, I feel like my run went much better today than last Saturday’s. I know that it isn’t really fair to compare a sort of horrible 9.5 mile run to a slightly dehydrated 5 mile run but I think my run today really helped to renew my confidence in my running. I did walk for about a half mile, which is likely the result of being slightly dehydrated. The only way to correct this problem is to make a conscious effort to drink more water every day. With my new training regiment, I am actually working out six to seven days a week much harder than I have been and I need to really focus on keeping myself more hydrated. My goal for next week is to drink at least 12 glasses of water each day.

My alarm went off at 6:30 this morning but I was not feeling it so I shut the alarm off and rolled over. Not such a bad thing though. If nothing else, I have really learned how important it is to listen to my body and give it what it wants. I slept for another hour and then got out of bed to start getting ready for my run. I ate my breakfast and changed into my running clothes. I decided to use my handheld water bottle today because I knew that my run wasn’t going to last much longer than hour so I wouldn’t need to take any energy gels with me. I filled my water bottle with 16 ounces of Powerade and 6 ounces of water. Before I headed out the door, I did my kettlebell workout. I know that is against everything I have said about my training and the importance of focusing on the most crucial aspect but today it is ok. My strength training workout for today is to just do the Joint Mobility Warm Up. I figured this six minute workout, which doesn’t use the kettlebell at all, would be a great way to loosen before my run. After the warm up, I headed the door and started walking to my running trail. After 15 minutes of walking, I started to run.

My goal for today’s run was to simply run and to not take any walk breaks. Of course, when I set this goal, I didn’t realize that I had not had enough water yesterday. Even though I started off at 8:15, the heat and humidity wasn’t horrible yet so I decided not to run through the residential neighborhood. After the first mile, I was feeling really good and had only taken a small sip from my water bottle. I was confident that I would have plenty of fluids and wouldn’t need to refill along the trail. By the end of the second mile, I started to fear that 22 ounces wouldn’t be enough. The sweat was pouring off of me and I only had half of my fluids left. The next half mile seemed to go on forever and the audiobook I was listening to was not helping me at all. It wasn’t distracting me from the fact that I was not going to have enough fluids to last me the rest of the 5 miles. Finally, my iPod told me that I had reached the halfway point so I turned around and headed back.
About a quarter of a mile later, my brain won the battle with my legs. My brain was working against me trying to get me to stop running and walk for a little bit. I kept telling my brain that I could walk in 2.5 miles after my run but my dwindling supply of fluids only fueled the fire. Much to my dismay, I stopped running and started to walk. Once again, I had hit the wall and couldn’t push past it. I walked until my iPod told me that I only had two miles left. Even though I only had two sips left, I started running again reminding myself that I had already run 2.75 miles today and that these last two shouldn’t be too hard. A half mile later, I was walking again and completely out of water. I thought about going back to water fountain I passed but decided that I didn’t want hot, stale water. After a quarter of a mile trying to figure out what to do, I made my decision. If I run the entire 1.25 miles I had left, then I would go to Starbucks as a treat on my way home. I started running again and actually felt better that last mile than I did during the first one. I successfully accomplished my goal of running the entire 1.25 miles I had left.

At this time, I would like to apologize to everyone that was in the Starbucks for being the gross, sweaty, smelly girl who tainted your morning coffee experience for about 10 minutes. I would also like to thank the employees of Starbucks for making me a damn good iced coffee. I really needed it and you provided it to me. I also bought a bottle of water and pretty much chugged it while waiting for my iced coffee to be ready. I left the Starbucks and walked home sipping on my iced coffee. Just to be on the safe side, I didn’t put any milk or cream in it and had the Sugar Free Cinnamon Dolce syrup instead of the Classic syrup. Oh man was it good. By the way, my audiobook of choice today was not a good one. While I like the book and will listen to the audiobook again, it did not create the desired result. The miles felt like they dragged on and my mind did not stay focused on the book. My mind wandered and was able to start working against me. I will have to choose a much better audiobook next week if I am going to stay distracted from the fact that I am running 11 miles. I am a little intimidated by the fact that my run next week is going to be double digits but I know that I really can run the entire distance. I am going to have to really focus on my hydration and find a audiobook that will help me stay focused my running and not on the mileage.

I also wanted to let you guys know that I will be starting a new featured article next week called A Few of My Favorite Things. Every Sunday (starting next week) I will be posting an article about a favorite thing of mine. It will be related to my healthy living and running lifestyle. I will be using this article to share with you reviews of my favorite books, recipes and anything else that has really inspired me along my healthy living journey.

Friday, August 12, 2011

An easy Friday workout …

Friday – Strength Training

  • Yoga – Yoga Conditioning for Athletes DVD (56 minutes)

Boy was I sore this morning! Four days in a row of kettlebells has really worked my muscles in a way that they haven’t been worked in forever. I woke up this morning and could barely move. I decided not to do today’s workout until after I got home from work to give my body more time to loosen up. The workout scheduled for today on my strength training plan was a 30 to 45 minute walk. I chose to do yoga instead because of my running plan. The Yoga Conditioning for Athletes workout is a great workout for me because it really works on stretching all of the muscles that were tight. I am still a little sore after my hour long yoga workout but it is a good kind of sore. I can’t wait for my 5 mile run tomorrow because I feel like my new (reworked) training schedule is really working. I know that it has only been a week but I can already feel a difference. My running has felt great this week and I just hope that it continues into my long run tomorrow morning.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Oh. My. Gosh!!

Thursday – 5 miles + Strength Training

  • 5.20 miles, 59’ 41” minutes, 11’ 28” min/mile average pace, 147 BPM average heart rate
  • Kettlebells – 2X Fat Blast Workout (24 minutes)

I didn’t have the energy to get up when my alarm went off to workout. I figured that I could use my run today to get used to running at night, which is what Jeff Galloway suggested in one of the articles in the Official Race Program. Unfortunately, I didn’t really think that through very well because I also had a kettlebell workout scheduled for today. I also didn’t account for the fact that my parents would want to go to dinner. As the day wore on, my workout was being pushed back more and more. I soon realized that I wouldn’t be getting any kind of break between my run and my kettlebell workout if I was going to get to bed at reasonable hour or at least before midnight.

I finally climbed on the treadmill around 9:45. The stupid treadmills that I use have a preset time limit of 60 minutes. From experience, I knew that it was going to take me at least 55 minutes to run 5 mile (probably a few minutes more), which means I didn’t have time to do my normal five minute walking warm up. According to the Nike+ training program, my run today is supposed to be 1 to 2 miles of easy running followed by 5 x 3 minute intervals at tempo effort with 1 to 3 minutes of easy running and then finished off with easy running. I started my run by setting the belt pace to 3.5 mph to compensate for not doing my usual walking warm up. I maintained that pace for 5 minutes and then increased the pace to 4.0, which I stayed at until my iPod told me that I had completed 2 miles. I waited a little bit longer for the next even minute until I pressed the interval button on the treadmill. It isn’t that I pressed the wrong interval type but I didn’t do the math correctly in my head. I ended up selecting the 1-3 interval, which meant 2 minutes easy and 6 minutes tempo. Oops! I continued with my selection anyway setting my tempo effort to 5.0 mph. I also made sure that the belt incline was set to 0%. Because my intervals were not exactly what was called for, I only made sure that I ran for 2 miles instead of the correct number of intervals. After those two miles, I set the belt pace to 4.0 and ran the last mile. I was surprised how well I felt after the intervals. I felt strong and that is something that I haven’t in a while. I finished my run with a five minute walking cool down.

My kettlebell workout scheduled for today was to do the 12 minute Fat Blast Workout twice. I didn’t start this workout until after 11 but I did successfully get through the scheduled workout. When I was done, I was drenched with sweat and completely out of breath. I actually laid on the floor panting for several minutes before getting up and washing up for bed. The 15 lb. kettlebell absolutely kicked my butt tonight! And I totally loved it! I could barely move when I was done so I can only imagine how I will fell tomorrow.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

I am really sore … YAY!

Wednesday – Strength Training

  • Kettlebells  - Practice Dead Lifts, Swings, Cleans and Squats (13 minutes)
  • Yoga – Standing Poses (22 minutes)

When I first saw what today’s kettlebell workout was, I was a little intimidated because if required me to practice certain moves on my own. To be honest with you, I had absolutely no idea how to do that, which is why I didn’t attempt to do this workout in the morning before work. During my lunch break today, I had a great idea on how I should approach my kettlebell workout. I made a list of all the exercises that I wanted to practice. My list included all of the variations of dead lifts, swings, cleans, and squats. Then I looked at at Lauren had structured the Fat Blast Workout and the Sculpt & Condition Workout to see figured how she sequenced the exercises. I tried the structure my workout using 30 second intervals and in the same manner as the workouts that on the Volume 1 DVD. I thought that I did a really good job but I wouldn’t find out until after I got home from work. When I got home, I ate my dinner and watched a little television before I changed into my workout clothes. I grabbed my GymBoss interval timer and set it up for 30 second intervals. I turned the television to one of those free music channels that had upbeat music similar to what was on the DVD. When I finished my workout, I surprised at how well it actually worked. Sometimes I really amaze myself. I was drenched with sweat and my heart rate was definitely raised. Success! My workout did exactly what I wanted it to do. I got to practice the required exercises and I feel like I did an actual workout at the same time. After my kettlebell workout, I popped in my A.M. Yoga DVD and did the Standing Poses workout. I haven’t done this DVD in a long time and found that it was a great way for me to cool down after my kettlebell workout.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

An early morning workout …

Tuesday – 4 miles + Strength Training
  • 4.13 miles, 46’ 50” minutes, 11’ 20” min/mile average pace, 145 BPM average heart rate
  • Kettlebells – Fat Blast Workout (12 minutes)
What a great morning! I woke up at 6 this morning and actually got both of my workouts done before work. Today was my first day of running and strength training. It was also the first day of my new running plan. I read somewhere that when doing multiple types of training on the same day (i.e. running and strength training) the most important thing to keep in mind is which one is the most important for your fitness goals. Since my running is the most important part, I am going to focus on that when I do two workouts a day. With that being said, I changed into my running clothes as soon as I woke up. Even though I haven’t been running any distance more than 3 miles during the week, I felt confident that wouldn’t be a problem running 4 miles and adding my kettlebell workout after my run.

I headed over to the treadmill and started off with a five minute walking warm up. Since this was the first day of my updated running schedule, I chose do an easy run this morning. The Nike+ training schedule didn’t have any specific type of run assigned for today as I knew it wouldn’t be a problem. After my warm up, I increased the belt pace to 4.0 and started to run. I continued listening to my audio book, which helped me ease into my rhythm. Maybe I am too dependent on my headphones. I think I am still in one of those awkward places in my training where I haven’t quite broken through to my true “inner flame”. I found that it wasn’t too difficult for me to maintain my pace throughout the entire 4 miles. Hopefully as I continue to increase my weekly mileage, it will continue be effortless. I cooled down with a five minute walk before I started my kettlebell workout. Now I have been doing the Fat Blast Workout for about a month with my 8 lb. kettlebell. I have gotten so “comfortable” with it that I have been doing it twice in a row. According to Lauren’s plan, the workout for today is only supposed to be one time through the Fat Blast Workout, which is exactly what I did. Silly me actually thought that it would almost be too easy for me. Boy, I was wrong! Using the 15 lb. kettlebell took this workout to a whole new level for me. I was sweating more after this workout then I ever have before using kettlebells, including doing the 40 minute Sculpt & Condition Workout with the 8 lb. bell.

Immediately after the workout, I didn’t feel any soreness so I became worried that I didn’t get the right sized bell. When I asked my boyfriend about it, he indicated that I am probably out of the “conditioning phase” and into the “training phase”. I was utterly confused by this. He said that in the beginning I was conditioning my muscles for the increased physical activity, which means that I was more likely to be sore all of the time. Now, I am actually training and developing muscles so I won’t be nearly as sore anymore. I think that totally sucks by the way. He also said that I will know when it is time to increase the weight when I can fly through the workouts, which definitely didn’t happen today. When that happens, my muscles will have reached a point of stagnation. Later, I did a  search on the internet found that there actually three phases of fitness conditioning: preparatory, conditioning and maintenance. After reading several articles about this, I determined that I am probably in the conditioning phase because I am no longer asking my body to get used to regular exercise (the preparatory phase). Instead, I am trying to reach my desired fitness level. Of course, I am not quite sure what that is but I am hoping that I will know when I have reached it.

Monday, August 8, 2011

First day of my new (reworked) training plan!

Monday – Strength Training

  • Kettlebells – practice all demonstrations (16 minutes)

I must say that even though I already know how to do all of the exercises on the Volume 1 DVD of the Ultimate Body Sculpt & Condition Series me new 15 lb. kettlebell kicked my butt! The first day of my workout rotation plan was to practice all of the demonstrations on the Volume 1 DVD, which I actually already did about 4 weeks ago. After doing the exercise demonstrations with the 15 lb. bell, I am really glad that I started from the beginning with Lauren’s workout rotation plan. I am now really confident that the heavier weight will improve my overall fitness. There are 15 different exercises that Lauren walks you through. Of the 15 exercises, three of them are body weight exercises: push ups, squat thrusts, and mountain climbers. The other twelve utilize the kettlebell and the basic building blocks for kettlebell training. My push ups have actually improved from the first time I went through these demonstrations. When I purchased the strange looking contoured kettlebell, I was unsure how it would feel when I used it. I was actually surprised with how it felt, especially after doing some cleans with it. It wasn’t terrible awkward to use at all. In fact, it didn’t bang up my forearms at all. It will take some getting used to because it is such a different shape than normal. I am really happy with the heavier weight though. I am already more sore now than I have been since I started my kettlebell training.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Long Run No. 7 ... a very hot and sweaty 9.5 miles

Saturday - 9.5 miles
  • 9.51 miles, 2:08' 48" minutes, 13' 32" min/mile average pace, 152 BPM average heart rate
  • Splits:
    • Mile 1 - 11' 10" min/mile
    • Mile 2 - 11' 12" min/mile
    • Mile 3 - 11' 26" min/mile
    • Mile 4 - 15' 12" min/mile
    • MIle 5 - 14' 06" min/mile
    • Mile 6 - 11' 49" min/mile
    • Mile 7 - 16' 05" min/mile
    • Mile 8 - 14' 48" min/mile
    • Mile 9 - 16' 48" min/mile
My run this morning wasn't the best but it was also very far from being the worst. As you can see from my splits, I ran the first three miles without stopping but after that I started taking walk breaks. I am not really happy with myself for taking so many walk breaks but I am happy with the average pace I maintained for the first 3 miles.

My morning started at 4:45 when I woke up trying to rotate only to find myself pinned down by my cat sleeping on my legs. I did fall back asleep but that only lasted until 5:30 when my alarm went off. I slowly started moving around until I managed to have enough energy to get out of bed. I ate my delicious breakfast of yogurt and granola (what else) and then got dressed. Before I went to bed last night, I filled my new water bottle with 12 ounces of Powerade and 10 ounces of water and put it in the fridge. Since the waist pack is insulated, I figured it would be nice to actually have cold water on my run for a change. After I got dressed, I assembled my new hydration belt and the pocket with two of my energy gels (chocolate and razz flavors). I wish there would have been a picture or mannequin in the running store that demonstrated how to actually wear a hydration belt. Every company website depicts it differently, which can lead someone to much aggravation when they are using one for the first time. After messing around with my new belt, I figured that I had it situated correctly. I ate a serving of Clif Shot Bloks and headed out the door.

I started off with a 15 minute walk in the direction of my running trail. Even though it was only 7:30 in the morning, the humidity already in the air made it feel like I was walking through soup. I decided that it would probably be a good idea if I stick to the shade this morning. I was actually hoping that it wouldn't be so sticky because I didn't want to run through the residential neighborhood. I feel like I am more susceptible to stopping when I have to make so many road/driveway crossings. Either that or I have way too many thoughts in my head telling me to turn around because I have many "more" important things to be doing. I really am tired of hitting "the wall" and not being able to push past it. After 15 minutes of walking, I started to run and quickly realized that my new hydration belt is not supposed to sit on my hips. While running, I managed to adjust the belt so that it would not bounce up and down. I was quite impressed with myself for accomplishing this task while still running. I quickly found my stride after that and became completely engulfed in my audio book. This lasted until I started watching my clock and iPod trying to figure out when I should eat my energy gel. When that moment finally came, my mind told my legs to stop running so that I could ingest my energy gel and drink some water. Insert expletives here. From that moment on, I couldn't find my rhythm. It was completely lost to me and no matter how hard I tried to find it I couldn't. What really irks me is the fact that I have run a solid 6 miles already and that was weeks ago. I spent the rest of my run trying to find my groove again and trying to figure out how to get past this wall. By the end of my run, I had determined that my weekly maintenance runs are not giving me enough mileage. When I got back home and cleaned up, I sat down and reworked my training schedule. I used the mileage that Nike+ recommends for their beginner's half marathon program and incorporated the long run distances I already had planned. Hopefully, this revised schedule will help me break through my wall.

After all of that craziness this morning, my boyfriend and I went to lunch. I took him to a little Cuban sandwich shop and we had an absolutely delicious lunch. Then we headed to Target where I found my new kettlebell. Lauren Brooks recommends some great brands on her website but I don't have the money to spend on those brands. I did some research yesterday to see where I could buy an appropriately sized kettlebell to start using on Monday. To my surprise, the Sports Authority by my place didn't offer any kettlebells in the store according to the website. I did find out that Target carries the GoFit brand of kettlebells. When we got to the store, I walked around getting the other stuff I needed before heading to the Fitness section. The only GoFit kettlebells they had were either 25 lb. of the Bob Harper contoured kettlebell. I went ahead and purchased the 15 lb. contoured kettlebell. This wasn't first choice but it was all they had. I will let you know on Monday how it works out after I try it with my workout DVD. Also, this kettlebell comes with a DVD but I am NOT going to use it. I watched the DVD and was not impressed at all. I felt like it was teaching bad form. One thing I have learned is that form is crucial when working with kettlebells, even really lightweight ones. I highly recommend purchasing Lauren's DVDs if you don't have access to an RKC instructor.

Friday, August 5, 2011

Grrr ... I have to work this weekend!

Friday - Strength Training
  • Kettlebells - 30 minutes (Joint Mobility Warm Up and 2X Fat Blast Workout)
When I went to bed last night, I decided to not set my alarm for 6 am. I knew that I would likely not get up to do my workout before work so I would give myself and extra hour of sleep. Even though I enjoyed a gloriously wonderful extra hour of sleep, I still got to work earlier than usual for me. I guess deadlines really inspire me to move quickly in the mornings. After feeling so very productive at work this week, I let myself done when I realized that I was going to have to work all weekend. This realization was made by lunchtime, which put me in a really foul mood for the rest of the day and I probably seemed really irritable to the people around me. I left work around 6:30 and headed to the mall before I went to me parents' house. I needed to get some supplies from the running store before my long run of 9.5 miles tomorrow morning. I spent almost 45 minutes in that store contemplating the practicality of each hydration belt. I was trying to figure out which one would as much water as possible and the most room in its pouch to hold my energy gels and cell phone. I finally decided to sort of create my own. I bought a Nathan Triangle Waist Pak and a large FuelBelt Ripstop Pocket Belt Loop. The water bottle that came with the waist pack holds 22 ounces, which was the largest one I could find. The pocket on the waist pack didn't fit my phone and barely held two energy gels, which is why I got the large pocket to go on the belt of the waist pack. I thought I did really well in creating the running belt that fits all of my needs. After I was finished at the mall, I went over to take care of my parents' cats. Eventually I made it home around 9 to find that my sister was almost done with dinner. I must say that she has been truly amazing this week by helping me out as much as she has. Her dinners have been amazing and incredibly healthy. After dinner, we watched some television while I allowed my stomach to settle. I get very nervous when I try to workout right after I stuff my face.

Tonight's workout was super late. I didn't start until almost 11 but I refuse to let my work get in the way of my training. As I was doing my kettlebell workout tonight, I realized that it will be the last one with my 8 lb. bell. I know that probably isn't enitrely true but it is part of my plan. Hopefully, I will be able to find a heavier bell this weekend to use during my workout rotation plan. After I received Lauren's email in response to my question about her rotation plan, I decided that I would start her plan this upcoming Monday. I want to make sure that I get the most out of her plan and in order to do that I need a properly sized kettlebell. I am hoping to find either a 15 lb. or 18 lb. bell in my search this weekend. Both her website and DVDs indicate that either of these two weights is the proper size for women just starting with kettlebells. Even thought I have been working with kettlebells for awhile, my experience has been limited to extremely lightweight ones and I don't want to destroy my shoulders.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Late night easy run ...

Thursday - 3 miles
  • 3.56 miles, 39' 50" minutes, 11' 11" min/mile average pace, 134 BPM average heart rate
Work has me so stressed out this week that I can't seem to get up in the morning when my alarm goes off. So even though my alarm went off at 6 AM (as usual), I didn't actually get out of bed until 7:15 except to turn the alarm off of course. I don't think that I am going to be able to wake up early at all this week. With that, I decided to just go into work early and try to have a really productive day. Work literally flew by today and before I knew is the clock on computer said it was 5. I continued working for another two hours before I headed over to my parents' house to look after their cats. When I finally got home, my sister had dinner ready to go so I ended up waiting even longer to get my run in.

At 10:30, I felt like my stomach had settled enough to go knock out my 3 mile run on the treadmill. As much as I enjoy doing my speed workouts, I didn't feel like doing one tonight. My week was shaping up to be just as long and stressful as I had predicted it would be. I even considered not running at all before a random thought popped into my head. There are a bunch of those signs at my local running store that say useful but random information. One of those signs popped into my head and I quickly changed into my running clothes.
"It can take 2 weeks to make up for 1 week of training missed."
Once I started running, I was amazed that I had ever considered missing  my run. My run tonight was nice and easy. After my walking warm up, I set the belt pace for 4.0 mph and I felt like I was on cruise control. Maybe that had to do with the fact that instead of listening to my workout music play list I decided to listen to one of my favorite audio books, "Born to Run". To me, this book is very inspiring and helped me decide how my overall nutrition would work. Now I am not a straight up vegetarian (nor am I saying that I never will be) but I have really switched from eating overly processed foods to eat eating a very large amount of vegetable and lean proteins. This book also helped me realize the importance of running mechanics and how one's stride should look to avoid injury. I am also considering trying out thin soled running shoes (not Vibram Five Fingers though) to help strengthen my foot muscles. After 40 minutes of running, I felt great and the book had successfully distracted me from the fact that I was running. I really do love running but as I get into the longer distances I end up looking for excuses that allow me to stop running and walk for a little bit, which doesn't really jive with my goal for my first half marathon race. I think I will try listening to an audio book during my long run on Saturday and see how that works.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Almost a perfect day ...

Wednesday - Strength Training
  • Kettlebells - 40 minutes (Sculpt and Condition Workout)
My day was almost perfect. If could have been better but not by much. I actually got a lot of stuff done at work, which made me very happy especially after the power outage yesterday. Of course, I wish that i had gotten more done but there are only so many hours in the day. As usual, my alarm went off and after I shut it off I crawled right back into bed. I beat myself up later when I finally woke back up. I didn't let that destroy my day and I actually ended up getting to work earlier because I didn't do my workout. It was kind of nice to get to work early because I felt like I got a lot done by the time I left the office at 7:30. I headed over to my parents' house to make sure that the cats were okay and to feed them before I went home.

When I got home, my sister was still working on dinner so I changed into my workout clothes. My sister is awesome by the way. Ever since she started her healthy lifestyle journey, she has completely taken charge of making dinner. I love to cook and when she first moved into my place, I actually made dinner most nights. Then her schedule changed and almost all of her classes were at night, which wasn't conducive for cooking dinner. Now that she has decided to do the cooking, she actually kicks me out of the kitchen most nights because she doesn't want my help. Tonight was no different, which is why I did my workout while she finished cooking. Before I decided which workout to do, I did check with her to see how much time I had until dinner was ready. She told me that I had about 45 minutes so I did the Sculpt & Condition Workout, which is 40 minutes. I am not sure what was different tonight but I was really sweating when I finished. I also did the squat thrusts tonight. I haven't done these exercises for about a week because my left knee has been really sore. My knee hasn't bothered me at all today so I decided to give them a try again. When I finished my workout, my knee still wasn't sore and I felt really good. By the way, my sister's dinner tasted as delicious as it smelled the whole time I was working out.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

An early morning run and a stressful power outage …

Tuesday – 3 miles

  • 3.50 miles, 39’ 57” minutes, 11’ 25” min/mile average pace, 141 BPM average heart rate

Knowing that my day was going to be as rushed as it was yesterday, I made sure that I woke up early enough to get my run in. Let me tell you … I had no desire to get out of bed this morning but I did. I noticed that my knee was a little stiff as I rolled out of bed but I decided to go for my run anyway. I don’t believe that it is actually injured. I have hurt my knee before so I know what an injured knee feels like. I didn’t want to cause anymore soreness in my knee so I didn’t do my normal hill workout. I chose to take it easy on the treadmill this morning. After my five minute walking warm up, I set the belt pace to 4.0 mph and maintained that for 40 minutes. I didn’t adjust the incline on the treadmill and left it at 0% for the duration of my workout. After my run, I shortened my walking cool down to five minutes instead of ten. I made that decision because I was already a little behind schedule. My run felt really good this morning. Hopefully, I will be able to start getting up earlier so that I can run outside more as it closer to the big race.

When I finally got to work, I was completely amped up from my run and ready to get lots of work done today. Unfortunately, that was not in the cards. Apparently, at 7:30 this morning (while I was happily running on the treadmill), the transformer blew and the power went out in the whole building. REALLY! I was so livid and absolutely beyond furious. What really upset me the most was the fact that there was nothing I could do to work around it. I did wait around for a little bit and cleaned my desk but the minimum time to fix the problem was 4 hours. I headed home after my desk was cleaned. My boss had already given us the all clear to leave and I was actually one of the last people left in the office. I guess there is always tomorrow.

After a somewhat lazy at home due to a lack of power at the office, I received a rather exciting email. I am sure that you know how much I love kettlebells by now. So while I was at home today, I emailed Lauren Brooks to see if she would send me her 8 week rotation plan for Volumes 1 and 2 of her Ultimate Body Sculpt and Condition DVD series. She responded to me rather quickly and I am so excited to start her plan. Before I start it, I am going to need a heavier bell so I am going to go get one this weekend. Her program looks very doable and like it will fit well into my current training plan. Of course, I am going to be doing either two-a-days or running and strength training  back to back starting next week.

Monday, August 1, 2011

A really long week ahead …

Monday – Strength Training

  • Kettlebells – 30 minutes (Joint Mobility Warm Up and 2X Fat Blast Workout)

Hello August! My week is not going to be easy at all. In fact, it might be one of the toughest weeks that I have had all year. My training won’t even be the most difficult part … well maybe the 9.5 mile run I have scheduled on Saturday will be difficult. I have deadlines du jour at work, my parents’ cats to look after and training to keep up with.

I woke up early this morning but it wasn’t to workout unfortunately. My sister’s cat had an appointment at the vet so we had to drop him off early this morning. I actually got to work much earlier than usual but I still felt like I got nothing done. I probably felt that way because my list of things to do got longer while I only checked off two of the things left over from last week. Even though I left work at 7:30 but didn’t actually get home until just after 9. Now, I only live 15 minutes from where I work but this week I am taking care of my parents’ cats. So instead of going home right away, I went over to their house to feed and play with their cats. Luckily, my sister beat me home tonight so she had dinner ready by the time I got home. It is really nice having a roommate sometimes because it really helps me stay on track. I was also pleasantly surprised when I got home because my new kettlebell DVD had arrived in the mail today! I probably won’t try it out this week because I have so much going on and I want to try the workouts on the Volume 1 DVD with a heavier bell.

By the time I was able to get to my workout, it was after 10:30, which is not the ideal time to be working out. I didn’t let that stop me though. Working out is really important to me and I better have a really good excuse for me not to do my workout. (And yes going on vacation is a really good excuse but only when you have several hikes planned.) As I was getting ready for my kettlebell workout, I made a rather startling discovery. My knee wasn’t sore at all. In fact, my knee hadn’t felt sore since Thursday morning. I was extremely happy to say the least. I still modified my workout so that instead of doing the squat thrusts I continued doing push ups. I also wrote down the exercises and time intervals so that I can take it with me to the gym … whenever I get around to joining one.

Hopefully, tomorrow will go much smoother for me and I will be able to get a lot more done at work so I won’t feel so stressed when I get home. Hmmm … maybe I will have time to do one of my yoga DVDs tomorrow.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Magic Mile No. 2 … No one ever drowned in sweat …

Saturday – 4 miles
  • 4.01 miles, 48’ 08” minutes, 12’ 00” min/mile average pace, 159 BPM average heart rate
  • Splits:
    • Mile 1 – 10’ 34” min/ mile
    • Mile 2 – 10’ 53” min/mile
    • Mile 3 – 14’ 21” min/mile
    • Mile 4 – 12’ 13” min/mile
Today definitely started out rushed. My sister and I were supposed to meet our other sister for breakfast at 9:30. So when I woke up at 7:30 this morning, I had a funny feeling that we were not going to make it to breakfast. In an attempt get my day rolling quickly, I skipped my usual breakfast, which was ok because I was out of granola anyway. I quickly changed into my running clothes, filled up my water bottle, ate a serving of Clif Shot Bloks (to compensate for my lack of breakfast) and was out the door by 8.

The morning was already shaping up to be warm one. By the time I had walked to my running trail, sweat was already starting to bead up on me. Now according to my phone, the temperature was only 80 degrees but the humidity was making it feel like it was at least 90 degrees. Last week’s weekend run was actually very bearable regardless of the heat because I spent most of the time in the shade. Of course, last week’s long run was about completing the distance and this week’s run was about speed. My goal for today’s was to improve my time from my last Magic Mile, which meant I needed an uninterrupted length of trail to run on. Unfortunately, the shaded sidewalk is littered with driveways and side streets, which prevents me from running as fast as I can. Once I made it to the running trail, I started running, trying to push myself as much as possible. After the first mile, I stopped to drink some water and catch my breath. Being in the direct sunlight was brutal and the sweat was really pouring off of me. I continued running after my brief pause and really tried to stay in the shade. It was a little difficult though to run in the shade during mile 2 because I was trying to get to a safe place to cross the street. Most of mile 3 and all of mile 4 was in the shade but the damage of the heat had already been done. I actually walked for a portion of mile 3, which was not what I wanted to do at all. When I finished my run, I was literally drenched with sweat and it wasn’t pretty let me tell you. I was also late for breakfast, which didn’t really matter since my sister was still asleep when I got home. None of that mattered though because I had successfully accomplished my goal for this run. My Magic Mile time was 4 seconds faster than my last one! While I was hoping for more of a difference, I will totally take 4 seconds!

Friday, July 29, 2011

No pain, no gain …

Friday – Strength Training
  • Kettlebells – 46 minutes (Joint Mobility Warm Up and Sculpt & Condition Workout)
When I woke up this morning, I felt much better than I did yesterday. Plus … NO PAIN IN MY LEFT KNEE! I almost jumped around my bedroom with an overwhelming feeling of joy. I thought better of that though and decided to wait until after work before doing my kettlebell workout. I didn’t want to push my luck. I also decided that instead of doing the squat thrusts during the workout I would replace them with either mountain climbers or push ups. While I was at work today, I ordered another Kettlebell DVD. I really think I have a problem. Lauren Brooks has several workout DVDs besides the one I already have. Today, I ordered Volume 2 of the Ultimate Sculpt and Condition Workout Series. After I receive it and try out the workouts, I will be sure to post my review for each of the workouts included on the DVD.

I ended up doing my workout really late again tonight. I wanted to make sure that my knee was good to workout so I decided to wait until after work. Unfortunately, by the time I got home from work, it was time for dinner so I had to wait until after dinner to workout. I really enjoyed my workout tonight mostly because I missed doing my kettlebell workout on Wednesday. I did modify the workout just a little though. Because my knee has been so sore recently, I decided not to do the squat thrusts and continued doing push ups. After my workout tonight, me knee didn’t bother me at all and I was ecstatic to say the least. During the rest periods of my workout, I took the time to write down the exercises and the interval lengths so that I can take this workout with me to the gym.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Another late night run ...

Thursday - 3 miles
  • 3.64 miles, 40' 11" minutes, 11' 02" min/mile average pace, 158 BPM average heart rate
I think that my work is starting to affect my sleeping patterns. When I dive into my work or I have a large deadline looming, I end up with a million things still on my mind even after I leave the office. My list of things to do takes over my thoughts and I don't shut it off. No matter how early I intend to go to sleep it doesn't seem to work out the way I want because I can't turn my brain off. One major disadvantage to this is that I usually don't wake up early enough to get my runs in before work. Most days that doesn't really bother me because I can still hit the treadmill after I get home from work. Today I was actually really upset with myself for not waking up early. My sister (the one who doesn't live with me) is moving to Chicago next week and she came over for dinner tonight. I wanted to have as much time as possible with my sister before she leaves. By not waking up early enough for my run, I was afraid that I wouldn't get to have enough time with my sister or I wouldn't get to run until midnight. My sister had a different idea for the evening then I did. After I got home from work, the three of us worked on dinner and played some video games. After we ate dinner, we watched a little bit of television before my sister left for a going away party with some friends. I guess I didn't have to worry about getting everything done tonight after all. I don't have anything against my sister but I must admit that I was more than a little upset with the evening's events.

After I calmed down and my dinner settled in my stomach, I changed into my running clothes and jumped on the treadmill. I really didn’t try to push myself tonight because my knee is still a little sore. I know I shouldn’t run with a knee injury but my knee doesn’t feel injured just tight. It feels like all the muscles around my knee are just really tight and don’t really want to move more than necessary. I still wanted to get in a good tempo run so I didn’t slack off too much. After my five minute walking warm up, I set the belt pace to 4.0 mph and jogged for five minutes to help loosen up my knee some more. Within 15 minutes of starting to run, I had increased the belt pace to 5.0 mph. While I was running, I tried to stay aware of my body and what it was saying to me especially my left knee. During the actual tempo portion of the run, I felt my knee loosen up and without severe pain. I continued at 5.0 mph for 25 minutes and my knee felt really good. I finished my run with the belt pace at 4.0 mph for five minutes and then cooled down with a 10 minute walk. After my run, I tried to really stretch out my knees in hopes that it will avoid anymore soreness tomorrow. I guess I will know if it worked when I wake up tomorrow.
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