Training Update

Sorry for the delay! Life has gotten away from me a bit, but I'm back.

Last Thursday was XT. I honestly can't for the life of me remember what I did. But I know I did something!

Friday, I finished up at work and went to meet T. We were both exhausted and seriously consisted just resting before a 10pm movie for my other roomie's birthday. We were supposed to do a 40-50 minute run. But we got our butts moving, and went and had a great workout. We did speed intervals on the treadmill. I went between jogging at 5 and running anywhere from 7-8.5 mph. Ran 40 then did a 5 minute cool down walk. I didn't go extrememly far, but I did push myself on the sprints. It felt great! After that was a quick dip in the pool for about 10 minutes of laps, then to the sauna and hottub. :-D

Saturday was a rest day, combined with me working for 8.5 hours, and a birthday party at night. We are also trying hard to eat better as well, and doing a fair job at it.

Sunday was supposed to be a 5K race, then 5-7 miles total. I did the 5K hard... probably my best in 3 years. It wasn't super fast... 26:32, about a 8:30 pace, but I'm happy with it! After that, we walked for a few then stretched. Later that evening we went back and played raquetball for an hour.

Monday, T went to the gym in the morning and ran the additional 2 miles. After work, I met him there, and I biked for 45 minutes. T is sick. He was so sweet to just come to the gym, bike for a few, then sit on the ground and talk to me, and not let me stop at 30 minutes even though he was feeling awful.

I'm pretty sure today is 40-50 minutes on the treadmill. Hopefully, I'll get that done. I'm working late tonight, but I'll head to the gym right after. I hope T is feeling better. I might swim a little as well. Or if he's feeling much better, play raquetball!

Happy Running!

Keeping on Pace

I went to the fancy new gym last night... sadly it's kinda far and up the toll road. It was nice though. Every treadmill had the attached TV; so I watched the Biggest Loser as I ran (and some Scrubs). I did a random hills course, kept it at a slow 5mph pace, and ran for 40 then walked 5 for cool down. (The goal was 40-50 minute of running.) Then I jumped in the pool for about 20 minutes - about 10 minutes of breastroke, and about 10 minutes of floating on my back just kicking. My ankle felt fine which was really exciting!

My legs have been sore so I didn't want to push it to much last night. Slow and steady wins the race, right? Today is just a 20-30 minute run. The plan is to take the dog out after work and do a slow 5 minute warm up, run hard for 20, then a slow 5 minute cool down. :-) Maybe I'll get motivated and do some abs at home too!

Happy Hump Day to All!

Accepting the Process

Yesterday, I had a schedule chance so I ran to the gym between clients and did a 45 minute hill course on the bike.  I even put the resistance a little higher than usual.  It was tough at points, but felt good afterwards as usual.

One things I'm struggling with is being patient.  The marathon is still a whopping 194 days away, so I have plenty of time.  It just is frustrating when I can't run as fast or as far as I want to.  I know from previous half marathon races, that the endurance part of running is very much a mental game for me.  All three times, I was always able to run further and stronger than I thought.  I have lots some of my base that I had 3 years ago since I rarely run anymore.  T has a really strong base; he can consistantly do a 6 mile path outdoors in under 45 minutes.  Speed-wise he has me easily.  My fastest 1 mile ever was 6:58!  Just gotta keep plugging away I guess.

Today is 40-50 minutes of running, and then hopefully, I'll be at the new gym and can use the pool for some lazy laps.

Runner's High!

So after being at the house all day, helping a 6th grader with homework, going through paperwork, etc, the roomie and I finally went to the gym tonight.  My calf was a little sore, so I was just going to do 45 minutes of a semi hill courese (so I thought.)

Well, it started me out just walking and then did a big hill, then I upped the speed so I was running.  After about 20 minutes, I decided to just do 30 minutes, then walk the rest.  Right before I hit 30, T sent me a lovely email, and I decided I could make it to 45.  I got to 45 and decided I wanted to hit the 5 mile mark (since today was 5-7 miles).  So I kept going... and even at 5 I kinda wanted to continue!  It's my first Runner's High since I started training!  YAY!!!  I did stop at 5 miles (about 53 minutes) and walk the remaining time to 1hr.  Then the roomie and I did some stretching.

But it felt so good!  And it went by quick, didn't seem like an hour at all, and I didn't even have any magazines or anything to look at.  Legs all tingly and such :-)  Yes!

Actually did it...

I had planned to do the 40-50 minute run today.  After working from 8:45-5:30, and sneezing from allergies all day I was not in the mood to run.  Although, only one or two (if any!) people read this, I still felt bad about having to write that I didn't run.

So I ran.

I tried to do a little bit of interval running (or tempo, still figuring out the difference).  For the first 25 minutes, I would do a slow job for one song, then a quicker run for the next song.  After that, I just slowly upped my speed every few minutes.

I ended up doing 4 miles in 40 minutes.  And now I know I nice flat 4 mi course!  :-)

Tomorrow is supposed to be hills, 5-7 miles total (so warmup, hills, cool down, etc.)  I'm starting a free trial at T's gym as well. 

XT: Rock Climbing!

Last night we went to T's gym to do some XT. We decided to do some rock climbing, something he is into, but something I've only half tried once. Overall, it was pretty fun! A great arms workout and a little nerve-racking at times. We did that for about an hour, then did 15 minutes on the bike and a minute or two of abs. We went and had salads afterwards.

Today is supposed to be a 40-50 minute run. T isn't working today, so he'll probably do it at some point. I am exhausted and working from 7:30-7:00pm or later and just know it's not going to happen. Tomorrow is supposed to be a rest day, and I'll try to fit it in then instead. (I'm working 8:45-5:30.) As the runs get longer, I'm going to have to work on my time management skills to make sure I fit them in!

Happy Friday!

HEALED!

Yay!!!  I did 25 minutes on the treadmill today during my lunch break.   The first 20 were at 5mph, and the last 5 at 6mph.  No pain at all.  Felt a little stiff in the beginning, but no problems by the end or after!!!

Now its time to get fully back on the wagon!  :-D

200 days left!

Moving towards a stronger training

Went to the gym yesterday after work... according to the plan it was a 40-50 minute run.  So I did 30 minutes on the elliptical, then 25 minutes on the bike.  I followed it up with some stretching and some abs.  T went to the gym in the morning and did 30 minutes on the treadmill, then a lot of weight training.  

Today is 20-30 minutes of running.  I'm going to try running for another 10-15 minutes on the treadmill (slowly) at the gym today.  Then I'll finish the rest on the ellptical or the bike.  T is working today, so he'll try to get some XT done at the station.  It just depends how busy it is.

The biggest move towards a stronger training was food shopping yesterday.  I went to the grocery store and bought a bunch of fish, some more veggies, rice instead of pasta.  Tonight T and I are having cod (I think) that's marinated and cheese risotto and green beans.  Yummy :-)

Here's to a pain free run today!

Still a No Go on the Ankle

Yesterday, I met my friend A at the gym. He has decided to do the marathon and is following a navy seals training plan. A is a big Type A. :-)

I decided to give jogging a shot... I ran for 10 minutes at 5mph pace, then walked the remained of the mile. The ankle didn't quite feel normal. It was a little achy by the end. So I'm going to stay off it a little longer.

Today is supposed to be a 40-50 minute run, so I'm going to aim for 4-5 miles on the elliptical. Also, I found this exciting Training For SF Marathon shirts on the website!

The ankle thing is really frustrating. The worst I've ever injured myself was a jammed finger in middle school. Now when I start training for the toughest physical challenge I've ever done, I hurt myself. It sucks.

Sunday's Workout

Sunday T and I went to his fancy gym. I did about 30 minutes on the ellipical which felt okay. Then we went swimming. I tried to do some laps with the kickboard, but it hurt my ankle to kick in the water. So I swam some laps of breaststroke instead. Overall we probably did 10-15 minutes in the pool. We are going to start week 1 over again this week.

So today is XT again. It's rainy all day today, so I'll be at the gym, probably biking again, and may be a little elliptical. T is doing an all day shift, so he'll do some weights if there is down time at the station.

Today is also the first day back to office work... and back to the crazy schedule of life. Happy Monday to all!

Biking at the Gym was a Success!

I did a full hour on the bike at the gym yesterday while reading my book and playing Suduko on my phone :-)  My ankle felt find the whole time, but in the last five minutes the corresponding butt muscle started to burn, and it felt a little sore in my calf.  I'm wondering if I've just been walking funny on my right leg the last couple days and using different muscles.  We'll see...

But yay for being on the road to recovery and training again!

I think we are going to repeat week one again next week.

Getting back into Things

The gym was a n0-go last night.  We ended up cooking some, watching a movie, and relaxing at home with the roomie.

This morning T and I walked the dog to the bank.  My ankle feels fine walking.  Going up on the ball of my foot still aches a little.  I'm working midday for about 4 hours, then I'll head to the gym.  Today's goal is to do 45-60 minutes on the bike.  If the foot still feels okay tomorrow, I'm going to try the elliptical.  If that goes okay, then I'll try a jog.  

T is off to the gym shortly, after I leave for work.  We talked this morning about adding in more strength training.

Ankle Anguish

So yesterday, T (who is a paramedic) checked out my ankle and determined it was a minor sprain.
I stayed off it yesterday; we ace bandaged it for a little during the day and at night. It feels okay over all, just a little sore if I move it certain ways...

So Mondays XT was done; Tuesdays was cut short (20-30 instead of 40-50). Wednesday was skipped.

Make Up Workouts Needed: 40-50 minute run (I'm going to give the ankle a few more days before that one.) XT

I should do the XT today; we are headed to the gym soon. Luckily we are going to T's gym, so I can always swim if the bike or elliptical hurt. One nice thing about having 7 months to train is that we have a little leeway for such things. :-)