Monday Mileage Recap: Week 2

Two down, 16 to go! Can’t wait for warm weather! Just not too warm…ehem, Cellcom, ehem.

Here is how I worked it out last week to prepare to run a good 13.1 miles this summer:

Monday: 2 mile run + Yoga class led by Sister
Tuesday: Walk + Weight lifting!
Wednesday: 2 mile run + Yoga class by Sister
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Rest/Shovel
Saturday: 2 mile run + Body Pump DVD
Sunday: 3 mile run + Body Pump DVD

Total weekly mileage: 8.5!
Lifted: 3!
Yoga: 2!

It seemed like a pretty good week in training (which is good considering it’s just week two…). I was planning to not run + lift back-to-back days over the weekend but Friday’s plans got messed up because of more snow. Shocker.

It actually ended up being really nice weather over the weekend though so I was glad I waited out the blizzard Now if only the forecast for the snow tomorrow would be false, I could actually start believing Spring exists. And yet, 4-7″ more tomorrow. Gross. Why now, Wisconsin? Why? What was wrong with snow at Christmas and nothing now…

I miss the Florida sunshine…

 

Monday Mileage: Week 1

I wrapped up my first official half marathon training week on Sunday! 18 weeks always sounds so far away but then the weeks start ticking by at a break-neck speed and race day is here before I realize it.

My first week of mileage was kind of low but I’m trying to be smart(er) this time around. Crossing my fingers it pays off but with my luck, nothing is out of the realm of possibility! Snow/100 degrees/hurricane in June, yeah…

Monday: Snowy walk + Physique 57
Tuesday: 1 mile run + 1 mile walk + Body Pump DVDs
Wednesday: 2 mile run + 15 min BP core DVD
Thursday: Rest
Friday: 2 mile run + 30 min BP DVD
Saturday: 3 mile run
Sunday: 55 min BP DVD

Running mileage for the week = 8
Weight Lifting Sessions: 3+

I really liked the mix of weight lifting + running this week. I know in the past, being more consistent about weight lifting while training has helped my legs and core stay stronger so hopefully building both from the get-go this time around will = success.

I also found out I can earn Humana fit points through my insurance to work towards getting a free FitBit or something similar! That has motivated me to start tracking my workouts on my phone app also. The app is not perfect but at least it gives me credit for walking/running. I just wish the weight lifting part would count too…Maybe I’ll have enough points sometime this year yet

Have a good week!

18 Weeks.

So my first half marathon of this year is in 18 weeks. That gives me hope for warm weather! But it also got me thinking about half marathon training. I’m pretty sure I’ve never really done it… oops!

My first attempt at Summerfest and also probably the last time I semi-trained for a half marathon. – June 2011

So maybe I should actually try to be a good runner and train for races, no? Well, at least this one. I am revisiting a training plan that I loosely followed two summers ago when I ran this race but with less focus on speed-work this time around. I’m also going to follow the 6 week lead-in option since I haven’t done much running since the marathon in JuneJanuary. So the 12 week program + a 6 week lead-in = 18 weeks of training which = THIS WEEK!

The first 6 weeks are pretty low mileage and even the peak week is not that crazy high so (knock on wood) hopefully, I can avoid injury and ease my body back into training and running consistently again. I’ve been such a bad runner this past year it’s really sad…

My week has not really started out on track already… Monday was supposed to be 2 miles but… it was black-ice galore and 40mph winds. Let the excuses begin!

Here’s to making 2013 different than 2012, or at the very least trying

20 and Done.

Yesterday, Sister and I tackled our very last long distance training run for the Disney Marathon!  How we finished, I still don’t really know but we did.  I took off from work on Friday to run but the lovely weather here in Wisconsin decided not to cooperate so we postponed until Saturday morning.  It was still kind of chilly but the wind was much calmer.  I think when we left it was like 5 degrees or something like that.

Yeah, we actually got like 1″ here…

We set off by 7:45 am or so because we had some fun afternoon plans with the parents.  Right away I think Sister was struggling on this run – maybe too many sugar cookies or something?  But I felt better than on our last 20 miler over Thanksgiving weekend.  We ran a different way than our typical long run route which was a good change of scenery and also considering the weather, was probably the safer route to take as well.  For once in our lives, we planned ahead and brought money so we could refuel with gatorade at a gas station instead of stopping home and man, that was a good idea.  Otherwise, this 20 miler might have turned into a 15 miler!

We also each tried out our new lulu turtlenecks we scored on clearance!

We kept a more moderate pace and walked a lot but that seemed to really help me make it to the finish.  Sister was not feeling the relief but at least it helped me?!  Also, when we stopped at the gas station, we took a few minutes to stretch and do a down dog or two and hip stretches and that made all the difference for me on the last 5-6 miles of this run.  I also should have taken one more gu sometime in the last 3-4 miles but realized it with only like 1.5 to go and I figured at that point, it was not really going to help… made that last part not so fun…

Highlights:

• Finishing
• Realizing I don’t have to train in the winter anymore this year!!!
• Running with Sister
• Talking about our newly developed running plans for 2013
• Reminding Sister that finish time is not important!
• Somehow being dressed appropriately – not too cold and only too hot for like 10 minutes!

Lowlights:

• Knowing Sister was struggling
• Remembering a marathon is 20 + a 10k
• Freezing water bottles/gu
• Rude cars that refuse to be polite to runners and slowdown/move over

We ran for about 4 hours which, to me, didn’t feel that long at all.  I really think running with someone makes the long distances more fun.  I can’t wait until I get to run with Sister over the finish line in Florida three weeks from today!  In fact, by this time, three weeks from now, we will be DONE!!!!!  And sporting some awesome Disney race bling around our necks!  Whoop!

‘case you forgot what this looks like.

11 for fun.

Sometime in the past year, 10, 11, 12 mile runs have become no big deal.  That makes me both sad and happy at the same time.  Sad because I know next year that distance will probably go back to feeling like death even when my brain is like NBD and happy because, well, at least for now those distances aren’t so terrible awful

I felt pretty good on my run this morning, keeping a 10ish minute mile pace the whole way through.  And for whatever reason, finished the last mile in 9:00?  WTF is with that?  I went back to taking Gus ever 45 minutes or so and walking every mile for a minute and that really does help so much!  I decided to pick the hilly version of a long run course this time and will likely regret that later this afternoon when I am trying to shop!  The weather today was also so warm!  Like 45+ when I left!  I can’t recall the last December run I’ve done in a tank top and was over dressed like that!  I’m pretty sure the weather was colder for Lakefront!  (How was it only 2 months ago that I ran a marathon?  Sometimes I feel like time is going fast and then sometimes things feel ages ago that are really not long ago at all!)

I just spent the last 20 minutes looking for the only pair of jeans I own that are not awfully tight on my thighs.  #runnerproblems And will likely go from fine to dying of starvation this afternoon when I am as far away from food as humanly possible… sometimes I really wonder what I like about running

Favorite running quote I think

Hope everyone is having a good Saturday!  Happy December!

NASM Update.

So, I’ve had my NASM materials for about 6 weeks now and I figured I should post an update to try to get myself to stay more on track from here on out… When I first got my materials in the mail, I was so excited and ready to learn about personal training… and then… a few weeks passed where I didn’t even open the book or review materials, nothing.

When I was in school, I tended to be more of procrastinator so I feel like part of my problem has been no deadline.  I think it might be time for me to sign up for the test.  Problem is, I realized they do not have a testing facility within a reasonable distance from me so it looks like I will have to take a road trip.  All these things are just really excuses and probably are masking the fact that I am not sure if anything is going to come from this and I’d rather keep that option in my mind as long as possible before realizing it’s really not going to take me anywhere (positive thinking, I know).

So far, I’ve learned some interesting information  about cardio, core work, how to foam roll!, planning an exercise routine on the NASM model, etc. but there is also SO much that I don’t have a clue about! aka Muscles?!  I have only learned one new muscle thanks to my sister… the sternocleidomastoid!  ha!  That’s gonna come in handy…

now you know too!

Not really sure what I am trying to say here except that I am very unmotivated and very confused about this whole thing!  I think I want to do this but what if I hate it as much as my current job?  It’s kind of a scary thought and I really don’t want to have to make a decision…

My goal for this weekend: Study the Chapters for week 4 and only worry about that.  Don’t over think everything!

Marathon Monday: 11/12

9 weeks until Disney!  How are the weeks going so fast?  The days go slow but the weeks fly by so that means it’s time for another Marathon Monday post.  I’m proud of the fact that I got a whopping 2 hours of yoga in this week!  That never happens…

Monday: Ripped in 30, week 4
Tuesday: 2 mile run + 15 core workout
Wednesday: Bob Harper Yoga DVD
Thursday: Ripped in 30, week 4 + 2 mile run
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 15 miles down by the lakefront with a running buddy! + yoga class
Sunday: Ripped in 30, week 4 + Insanity Relief DVD (super good stretching DVD, not real Insanity at all)

Total running mileage: 19!
Total Ripped in 30s: 3!

Overall, a pretty successful week.  My sister and I broke down and joined a new gym for the upcoming winter months.  We both got really tired of running outside in the cold last winter so hopefully the treadmill option with be nice this year.  We also will be able to try out some more classes and I am going to shoot for getting to yoga there once per week at a minimum.  I’m looking forward to belonging to a gym again!  Hopefully this one works out better than the last…

My 15 mile run on Saturday was fun but challenging.  I met up with Amy (met her at the Lakefront expo!) down by the lakeshore and just ran and chatted for the first 11ish miles but then my legs just died and every step felt so incredibly hard.  But I finished!  And I am guessing it was challenging because of my lack of training lately catching up on me so hopefully with more training, it will get slightly better  I am totally hooked on running with someone though – long runs are SO boring when you have no one to talk to!

Goals for the upcoming week include a reduced mileage level, I’m thinking 8-10ish?  4 times of Ripped in 30 (1x of each week so I can blog a review on it) + more yoga and stretching.

In other news, I finally learned how to properly foam roll in my NASM study materials!  I thought I’d been doing it right but after reading about it, I was not holding the spots long enough at all.  You are actually supposed to find a painful spot and then hold that spot on the roll for a minimum of 30 seconds to allow the muscles to release.  Makes so much more sense now and I felt a huge difference when using it yesterday.  So maybe I will be better about that this week too!

What was your best workout of the week?

Marathon Monday: 10/29

Another week of training is complete which means only about 11 weeks until Sister and I will be running a marathon!  Here’s how I spent the last week:

Monday: Ripped in 30 + 2 mile run
Tuesday Ripped in 30 Week 2
Wednesday: 4 mile run
Thursday: Ripped in 30
Friday: 6 mile run
Saturday: Monster Dash 5k!
Sunday: Bob Harper’s Pure Burn Strength DVD

No real rest day last week but I’d planned to take one Sunday but then had way too much energy this weekend so I needed to get rid of some

Total miles ran: 15.1 miles
Total times doing Ripped in 30: 3

Which means I met my goals this past week – whoop!  Ripped in 30 has been just the kick in the butt I needed to get back to doing weights routinely.  I’m kind of scared to see what weeks 3 and 4 hold though!

For the week ahead, my goals are to up the weekly mileage to about 16 or 17 and do week 3 of Ripped in 30 about 3 times!

How about you, any goals for the week ahead?

Friday 6 Miler.

Since I am running a 5k tomorrow (!!!), I won’t have time for a true long run this weekend so instead I did a medium long run this morning.  I set out for 6 miles at the whopping hour of 5 something o’clock.  Here are 6 random bits about these 6 miles:

1) It’s SO much colder this morning!  Yesterday it was 20 degrees warmer at this time… Oh Wisconsin, I <3 you – blah!

2) 6 miles is a really long way to run at this time of the morning… but it feels so good now that I am done.

3) I set out on 2 3 mile loops but that ended up making me feel like I was running a 3 mile run and paced myself accordingly… I finished this run with a 9:38 average which is much faster than I normally do a 6 mile run.

4) I want to take a nap now but instead I have to go to work.  Yuck.

5) I hope once the time change happens that it’s not quite so dark when I run in the morning…it’s like running at midnight.

6) I’ve missed running and I am glad to be back at it

Happy Friday, Everyone!

Disney Prep.

So you’re probably sick of hearing this already, but… I’m going to Disney World!!  In less than 80 days  I’m super excited for this trip and this run and just everything about the week we are spending down there!  I don’t really have time to go crazy with training and everything for this upcoming marathon in Disney but I do think it will help me a little to make some preparations for it to make sure I make it there without injury, etc.  Here are a few things I am going to implement to try to get to the start line healthy and injury-free:

1) Track my pre/post long run eats on a calorie count website/on paper.  In the past I’ve always just went with the mind set of eating whatever I want after a long run but that decision has led to quite a few extra pounds acquired in the past year… oops!  I obviously won’t starve myself if I am really, truly hungry but seeing a tally of my eats around my long run helps me see that maybe it’s not always that I am hungry but maybe I need more water/protein/fats, etc.  I’ve recently found a newish site called SlimKicker and am really liking the points you can accumulate for reaching certain goals, etc.  Plus with a long run, I’ll get tons of points and my self chosen reward is a new iTunes song.  Too bad I have to buy my own rewards

Too much ice cream, not enough vegetables…

2) Ice Bath, Stretch, Foam Roll.  Like it’s my job.  I’m so bad at this but I’m going to work to get better.

The Stick will become my friend. And new shoes will be in order soon I suppose!

3) Shoot for weekly mileage totals instead of per day totals.  That way, if I have a horrible run one day, I can cut it short, skip it, whatever and make up for it on another day.  So some weeks I will have a really long run + 1-2 very short runs and other weeks I will have 2-3 moderate size runs or any combination.  I’m hoping this will help me avoid burn out.

4) Leave my garmin hiding in a drawer somewhere.  Even though I wanted one so darn bad, now that I have one, I really, truly hate it.  It turns me into this time obsessed monster and I’m not really too keen on turning into that again.  I may have to wear it on long run for the sole purpose of knowing my distance but I will have to keep it in a pocket or something… or maybe I’ll try getting my iPod with Nike+ to start working again?  How do you ignore that 50lb weight on your wrist?  And I would also like it better if it didn’t show me such depressing information…

5) If I start feeling any kind of nagging pain, stop with the running for a number of days until the pain gets better.  I’ve always been really bad about pushing through but that just leads to a cycle of hurts and I don’t want to go there this time around.

6) Have fun.  I’m likely only going to get to run this marathon once in my life (unless I move closer to Florida ) so I want to enjoy everything about this training and experience as a whole.  I know I didn’t enjoy the half marathon last year as much as I should have and I am glad I get a do over with the marathon.  For whatever reason, DisneyWorld/Land turns me cranky sometimes  But I am really trying to stop getting so annoyed by everything…

Can we leave yet?

It’s crazy to think how soon I will be toeing this start line.  When I registered, it seems like years away but now that it’s getting so close, I am so, so excited!  Plus this time of year always goes SO fast with Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, etc. so I will be packing my bags before I know it!

Anything I am missing?  What else should I do differently this time around?