Workout: Long run - 6 1/2 miles
Weight: 125.0
An okay run this morning. I labored through the first 3 miles. Really struggled to stay on and not take a break. Knowing that I've done it before helps me do it again - I repeat to myself, "You can do this!" It helps.
Right around mile 4.5 I felt like I had to go to the bathroom. I ran through it, but finally at 6.1 miles I had to stop. I was mad at myself, but I wasn't sure I could keep going for the additional 4 minutes without having some kind of accident. TMI.
This week I have been the model of lack of self control/discipline in terms of eating. I have lacked motivation in all areas of my life. When I look back at the entire week I feel like I have not accomplished anything and my eating falls right in line with that. I have gotten to the place of being over confident in what I can eat and have been snacking a lot and eating crappy snack food. I haven't gone to the grocery store. Haven't stuck to my menu. Haven't created a menu for next month. All of this needs to change. I work too flippin hard in the gym to waste it on junk. I have 3 weeks until Steamboat (!) and I wanted to be at 120 by then. It is definitely do-able, but I need to crack down and get serious about it.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Wednesday February 24, 2010
Weight: 124.6
Workout: 4 miles + 10:00 cross
Run was good this morning. Better than on Monday morning. I felt good throughout with the exception of ankle pain during the first 3 songs. The pain was not as severe as it was on Monday, but definitely lasted longer into the run than I think I've estimated.
Ran the entire 4 miles without breaks at 6.0 mph. Cranked it up to 6.2 for 3.25 - 3.75 and then 6.5 for 3.75-4.0. Heart rate was 166-168 before cranking it up and ended around 174.
For the cross training I walked for 10 minutes. Mostly because I didn't feel like spending the time wiping down the treadmill, going to a new machine and having to wipe that one down afterward too. I put the incline up to 13% and walked at 3.5 mph. Heart rate was in the 120's most of the time. Incline varied throughout the 10 minutes.
I would like to spend some time re-evaluating my eating. I think that I've gone over to the overconfident, can eat whatever I want side of the pendulum. Ultimately, I'm happy where I'm at and know that I'm probably truly around 123ish and the fluctuations are due to water retention (based on how my clothes fit and the gain/loss amounts over night), but I know that if I lose 5-10 pounds I will be able to run better. So I need to actually sit down and figure out a do-able 1500 calorie/day diet. I get so screwed by my height (5'1"):)
Cornbread, on the other hand, is melting away. He has lost 15 pounds since January 4th. I look at his weight chart every morning and am amazed! I feel like we're in that commercial where the woman is like "we cut out sweets. I shrank one size. HE shrank 6 sizes" lol! I'm happy for him - he looks good, feels good and is being intentional about it. This is the first time in our relationship that he has actually included a change in his eating in order to hopefully lose a little weight. Used to be that all he had to do was start running and he'd drop 20 pounds easily without altering his diet. Age, I believe, has caught up with him. So I'm thrilled to see him take it seriously and make it a priority. I want to be active with him until we are old, old, old!
Workout: 4 miles + 10:00 cross
Run was good this morning. Better than on Monday morning. I felt good throughout with the exception of ankle pain during the first 3 songs. The pain was not as severe as it was on Monday, but definitely lasted longer into the run than I think I've estimated.
Ran the entire 4 miles without breaks at 6.0 mph. Cranked it up to 6.2 for 3.25 - 3.75 and then 6.5 for 3.75-4.0. Heart rate was 166-168 before cranking it up and ended around 174.
For the cross training I walked for 10 minutes. Mostly because I didn't feel like spending the time wiping down the treadmill, going to a new machine and having to wipe that one down afterward too. I put the incline up to 13% and walked at 3.5 mph. Heart rate was in the 120's most of the time. Incline varied throughout the 10 minutes.
I would like to spend some time re-evaluating my eating. I think that I've gone over to the overconfident, can eat whatever I want side of the pendulum. Ultimately, I'm happy where I'm at and know that I'm probably truly around 123ish and the fluctuations are due to water retention (based on how my clothes fit and the gain/loss amounts over night), but I know that if I lose 5-10 pounds I will be able to run better. So I need to actually sit down and figure out a do-able 1500 calorie/day diet. I get so screwed by my height (5'1"):)
Cornbread, on the other hand, is melting away. He has lost 15 pounds since January 4th. I look at his weight chart every morning and am amazed! I feel like we're in that commercial where the woman is like "we cut out sweets. I shrank one size. HE shrank 6 sizes" lol! I'm happy for him - he looks good, feels good and is being intentional about it. This is the first time in our relationship that he has actually included a change in his eating in order to hopefully lose a little weight. Used to be that all he had to do was start running and he'd drop 20 pounds easily without altering his diet. Age, I believe, has caught up with him. So I'm thrilled to see him take it seriously and make it a priority. I want to be active with him until we are old, old, old!
Monday, February 22, 2010
Monday February 22, 2010
Weight: 125.0
Resting heart rate: 55bpm
Workout: 4 miles + 10:00 cross
Saturday killed me for this morning. I had a rough 4 miles this morning. My ankle hurt really, really bad, but ultimately it is my ankle that kept me going and not taking a break. I felt like I was laboring for a good portion of the run, however, I knew that if I stopped and started again my ankle would hurt again (ankle hurts for first 30 seconds - 1 minute of run then stops) and I wanted to avoid that so I just kept going. I was fine, it was just more of a struggle than it was comfortable.
Heart rate was 165. I increased my speed for the last mile - to 6.1 and then to 6.3. Heart rate then was 174.
Saturday night I was so exhausted and so unbelievably hungry. Apparently the tape worm comes back at 6 miles;) We had a good night - dinner was good, the wine was fantastic and the time together was worth it all. The B&B was cute and cozy and breakfast on Sunday morning was amazing. Very, very glad that we went and will be happy to return. The B&B is only 10 minutes from our house, but the downtown area feels like we're in a completely different area. I would like to return when the weather is nicer so we can walk around a bit and enjoy some time out on the balcony.
Hoping to rest my ankle so Wednesday's run is not nearly as difficult.
Resting heart rate: 55bpm
Workout: 4 miles + 10:00 cross
Saturday killed me for this morning. I had a rough 4 miles this morning. My ankle hurt really, really bad, but ultimately it is my ankle that kept me going and not taking a break. I felt like I was laboring for a good portion of the run, however, I knew that if I stopped and started again my ankle would hurt again (ankle hurts for first 30 seconds - 1 minute of run then stops) and I wanted to avoid that so I just kept going. I was fine, it was just more of a struggle than it was comfortable.
Heart rate was 165. I increased my speed for the last mile - to 6.1 and then to 6.3. Heart rate then was 174.
Saturday night I was so exhausted and so unbelievably hungry. Apparently the tape worm comes back at 6 miles;) We had a good night - dinner was good, the wine was fantastic and the time together was worth it all. The B&B was cute and cozy and breakfast on Sunday morning was amazing. Very, very glad that we went and will be happy to return. The B&B is only 10 minutes from our house, but the downtown area feels like we're in a completely different area. I would like to return when the weather is nicer so we can walk around a bit and enjoy some time out on the balcony.
Hoping to rest my ankle so Wednesday's run is not nearly as difficult.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Saturday February 20, 2010
Weight: 123.2
Workout: Long run - 6 miles
Run was fantastic this morning. Fantastic! I ran the entire 6 miles at 6.0 and no breaks (with the exception of a short step-off to turn the fan on in the middle of the 5th song). The first 4-4.5 miles were extremely comfortable and after that I really had to mentally push myself to stay on and not take a short break.
I put together a playlist of perfect songs that was 60:22 - I wanted as close to an hour of songs as possible. I put them in a particular order and paid close attention to what the final two songs were so I'd know when I was close to the end. That ended up being a great motivator - I knew I only had 3 more songs, then 2 more songs, and finally 1 more song and less than 1/2 mile to go. Worked really well.
The order of the songs got slightly skewed from my original list so the first 3 songs were pretty difficult to run to (I find that What About Now by Daughtry is my absolute number 1 choice for first song and it ended up being song #4). After that, though, I got into a really good rhythm - song choice is so important for my running.
Toward the end I was figuring I had only 4 more songs that I hadn't heard... I was struggling a bit and felt like I was laboring. Knowing that I had only 4 songs left - the long songs though - kept me going through the song I was on. Then that song ended... I'm thinking, okay 4 more songs. And a different song came on than I had counted. UGH - crap, FIVE more songs, not 4. That was a bit of a mental challenge, too, but I worked through it.
My confidence is high - my mental game is good. I was scared that when I came back after my 4 month break that I would suck and have a difficult time getting at least the mental game back. I think the fact that I ran so many miles last spring and summer has really helped my mental confidence this time. I KNOW I CAN do it, I just have to train to the point of being able to do it again. I've done it already, I can do it again.
Its one thing to get my body back into physical shape - I didn't lose a ton of fitness/endurance/stamina, but I did lose some - but its an entirely different thing - for me - to get my mental fitness back in line. The mental game has always been my struggle with running - always. Now I know - I CAN push through it.
Tonight Cornbread and I are going out for a nice italian dinner and staying at a nearby bed and breakfast. It will prove to be a higher calorie day and I'm certain that my tapeworm will be back by dinner time so it will be an even higher calorie day. Oh well. I'm going to enjoy it - and the $50 bottle of wine that our friend gave us for the night:) And breakfast tomorrow. Ahhhh - working hard has its rewards sometimes... no guilt for a weekend like this!
Workout: Long run - 6 miles
Run was fantastic this morning. Fantastic! I ran the entire 6 miles at 6.0 and no breaks (with the exception of a short step-off to turn the fan on in the middle of the 5th song). The first 4-4.5 miles were extremely comfortable and after that I really had to mentally push myself to stay on and not take a short break.
I put together a playlist of perfect songs that was 60:22 - I wanted as close to an hour of songs as possible. I put them in a particular order and paid close attention to what the final two songs were so I'd know when I was close to the end. That ended up being a great motivator - I knew I only had 3 more songs, then 2 more songs, and finally 1 more song and less than 1/2 mile to go. Worked really well.
The order of the songs got slightly skewed from my original list so the first 3 songs were pretty difficult to run to (I find that What About Now by Daughtry is my absolute number 1 choice for first song and it ended up being song #4). After that, though, I got into a really good rhythm - song choice is so important for my running.
Toward the end I was figuring I had only 4 more songs that I hadn't heard... I was struggling a bit and felt like I was laboring. Knowing that I had only 4 songs left - the long songs though - kept me going through the song I was on. Then that song ended... I'm thinking, okay 4 more songs. And a different song came on than I had counted. UGH - crap, FIVE more songs, not 4. That was a bit of a mental challenge, too, but I worked through it.
My confidence is high - my mental game is good. I was scared that when I came back after my 4 month break that I would suck and have a difficult time getting at least the mental game back. I think the fact that I ran so many miles last spring and summer has really helped my mental confidence this time. I KNOW I CAN do it, I just have to train to the point of being able to do it again. I've done it already, I can do it again.
Its one thing to get my body back into physical shape - I didn't lose a ton of fitness/endurance/stamina, but I did lose some - but its an entirely different thing - for me - to get my mental fitness back in line. The mental game has always been my struggle with running - always. Now I know - I CAN push through it.
Tonight Cornbread and I are going out for a nice italian dinner and staying at a nearby bed and breakfast. It will prove to be a higher calorie day and I'm certain that my tapeworm will be back by dinner time so it will be an even higher calorie day. Oh well. I'm going to enjoy it - and the $50 bottle of wine that our friend gave us for the night:) And breakfast tomorrow. Ahhhh - working hard has its rewards sometimes... no guilt for a weekend like this!
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Thursday February 18, 2010
Weight: 124.0
Workout: 13:00 circuits. Dreaded, horrible, despicable circuits.
I guess today's circuit training was as bad as previous. I think it helped that I chose a different program for the stairmill and the intervals were only 13 seconds long rather than 48 seconds long. Felt better and like it went by quicker.
Bike - 13:00. Got my heart rate up to about 145, but generally stable at 135. Never feels like I'm working very hard on the bike, which is why I do it first.
Stairmill - 13:00. Not sure about my heartrate on the stairmill because I don't know how to check it. Didn't feel out of control like it does sometimes on that machine. Still hate the stairmill. How anyone can do it for more than 15 minutes is beyond me.
Treadmill - 13:00. Ran 1.25 miles in the 13 minutes. Did the random hill program and hit a high of 5% incline. Ran the entire 13 minutes without a break at 5.8mph - did not slow my pace at any point (have always done so in the past). Heart rate was between 164 - 174 depending on the incline. Good workout. I like running the hills
Eliptical - probably close to 20:00. Got on the eliptical next to C and finished her workout with her. She was very chatty, too, about something she's upset about so I couldn't just quit after my 13 minutes without looking like a total creep - "Hey, sorry to hear about all this, but my time is up. I'm going to hit the shower now. Hope it works out for you." I love her. I would sit and listen to her forever if she needed me to. Ultimately - it wasn't about me, it was about her.
Good workout. I always feel like I could take a nap when I get home.
Workout: 13:00 circuits. Dreaded, horrible, despicable circuits.
I guess today's circuit training was as bad as previous. I think it helped that I chose a different program for the stairmill and the intervals were only 13 seconds long rather than 48 seconds long. Felt better and like it went by quicker.
Bike - 13:00. Got my heart rate up to about 145, but generally stable at 135. Never feels like I'm working very hard on the bike, which is why I do it first.
Stairmill - 13:00. Not sure about my heartrate on the stairmill because I don't know how to check it. Didn't feel out of control like it does sometimes on that machine. Still hate the stairmill. How anyone can do it for more than 15 minutes is beyond me.
Treadmill - 13:00. Ran 1.25 miles in the 13 minutes. Did the random hill program and hit a high of 5% incline. Ran the entire 13 minutes without a break at 5.8mph - did not slow my pace at any point (have always done so in the past). Heart rate was between 164 - 174 depending on the incline. Good workout. I like running the hills
Eliptical - probably close to 20:00. Got on the eliptical next to C and finished her workout with her. She was very chatty, too, about something she's upset about so I couldn't just quit after my 13 minutes without looking like a total creep - "Hey, sorry to hear about all this, but my time is up. I'm going to hit the shower now. Hope it works out for you." I love her. I would sit and listen to her forever if she needed me to. Ultimately - it wasn't about me, it was about her.
Good workout. I always feel like I could take a nap when I get home.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Weight: 125.4
Workout: 4 miles
My run was really, really good this morning. Oh man does it feel good to be good at it again. I ran the entire 4 miles without a break and did it at 6.0 (I think I ran the first song at 5.9). Four miles in 40:35, which works out to a 10:09 mile. Awesome! This makes me so happy!
My heart rate was at 166 bpm around 2.75 miles so I would assume that was the case throughout. I ran the last .10 miles at 6.7mph (I think it ended up being about 30 seconds) and my heart rate got up to 174. I'm happy with 166. I felt like I was close to a conversation pace. I was trying to sing along to my music and I was almost able to do so.
I finally have hope that I could possibly get my running back up to 6.3/6.5 mph for at least my steady M/W runs. I was thinking that I would never get back to that. I really think that donating blood impacted my running.
Weight was up again this morning. I ate super salty smoked turkey soup and some cheese its last night for dinner, so I'm not surprised. Gonna have to hit the water hard again today. I wonder if my body is so sensitive to water retention due to the weather. During the summer my weight did not fluctuate this badly from day to day.
Feels good to be good again. Makes me look forward to running rather than dread it. Can't wait until I can get outside again!
Workout: 4 miles
My run was really, really good this morning. Oh man does it feel good to be good at it again. I ran the entire 4 miles without a break and did it at 6.0 (I think I ran the first song at 5.9). Four miles in 40:35, which works out to a 10:09 mile. Awesome! This makes me so happy!
My heart rate was at 166 bpm around 2.75 miles so I would assume that was the case throughout. I ran the last .10 miles at 6.7mph (I think it ended up being about 30 seconds) and my heart rate got up to 174. I'm happy with 166. I felt like I was close to a conversation pace. I was trying to sing along to my music and I was almost able to do so.
I finally have hope that I could possibly get my running back up to 6.3/6.5 mph for at least my steady M/W runs. I was thinking that I would never get back to that. I really think that donating blood impacted my running.
Weight was up again this morning. I ate super salty smoked turkey soup and some cheese its last night for dinner, so I'm not surprised. Gonna have to hit the water hard again today. I wonder if my body is so sensitive to water retention due to the weather. During the summer my weight did not fluctuate this badly from day to day.
Feels good to be good again. Makes me look forward to running rather than dread it. Can't wait until I can get outside again!
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Tuesday February 16, 2010
Weight: 124.0
Workout: 20:00 cross, lower body + back + tris
I only did 8 minutes of cross training on the eliptical this morning. I overslept and got to the gym later than I like to, so I cut out the cross and just did the weights. I finished lifting earlier than usual and the eliptical next to C was open so I finished out her workout with her.
I didn't feel great about it, but I'm okay. I have very high expectations for myself and while I don't get worked up about not losing a certain amount of weight or running at a certain speed, I do expect that I won't miss workouts. I don't think that is an unreasonable expectation and I get ticked at myself when I miss workouts. I'm glad I got at least the 8 minutes in, but even that seems like a waste.
Eating was good yesterday. I ate lots of vegetables throughout the day - zucchini, cauliflower, green peppers, red peppers, grape tomatoes, frozen mixed veggies. Its always a good thing to have that stuff so easily accessible and with my Plant First thinking I grab a plate of them before I eat lunch and have some with my dinner. I LOVE salads, but I despise making them - unless its a huge salad for many people to enjoy at dinner - so having a salad every night is not going to happen - unless I eat at Corner Bakery every single night:) I could make a big bowl of salad on Sunday, but I don't think it would be good for the whole week. As long as I have these veggies available as my appetizers I think I'm good. I may revisit the salad idea though.
I also drank a lot of water. I lost count, but I know it was up near 9 or 10 16oz glasses. And the scale showed the difference this morning.
One thing that I love about working out is that I sleep so well. Unless one of the girls is crying or the dumb dog flips his water dish, or we have a weird, out of the ordinary earthquake, I don't wake up during the night. I probably don't get as much sleep as I should - usually 6 1/2 - 7 hours. I try to be in bed around 10 and lights out by 10:15. The olympics severely alters that though, which is why I over-snoozed this morning (and I didn't even stay awake for the final figure skating pairs - the gold medalists).
Prior to working out I would wake a couple of times during the night and have a lot of trouble falling back to sleep. Sometimes it would take an hour or more before I finally fell back to sleep - and the worst times were when I would finally drift off about 30 minutes before the alarm went off. Felt horrible and always felt like I should have just gotten up instead of going back to sleep. I do not have any of these issues when I workout - I fall asleep almost immediately when I roll over and if I wake up during the night I fall back to sleep right away. THIS is worth every mile I run. If I never lose another pound or gain some of my weight back, I will still always make working out a priority because I never want to get back into that crazy sleep cycle again - its miserable.
Workout: 20:00 cross, lower body + back + tris
I only did 8 minutes of cross training on the eliptical this morning. I overslept and got to the gym later than I like to, so I cut out the cross and just did the weights. I finished lifting earlier than usual and the eliptical next to C was open so I finished out her workout with her.
I didn't feel great about it, but I'm okay. I have very high expectations for myself and while I don't get worked up about not losing a certain amount of weight or running at a certain speed, I do expect that I won't miss workouts. I don't think that is an unreasonable expectation and I get ticked at myself when I miss workouts. I'm glad I got at least the 8 minutes in, but even that seems like a waste.
Eating was good yesterday. I ate lots of vegetables throughout the day - zucchini, cauliflower, green peppers, red peppers, grape tomatoes, frozen mixed veggies. Its always a good thing to have that stuff so easily accessible and with my Plant First thinking I grab a plate of them before I eat lunch and have some with my dinner. I LOVE salads, but I despise making them - unless its a huge salad for many people to enjoy at dinner - so having a salad every night is not going to happen - unless I eat at Corner Bakery every single night:) I could make a big bowl of salad on Sunday, but I don't think it would be good for the whole week. As long as I have these veggies available as my appetizers I think I'm good. I may revisit the salad idea though.
I also drank a lot of water. I lost count, but I know it was up near 9 or 10 16oz glasses. And the scale showed the difference this morning.
One thing that I love about working out is that I sleep so well. Unless one of the girls is crying or the dumb dog flips his water dish, or we have a weird, out of the ordinary earthquake, I don't wake up during the night. I probably don't get as much sleep as I should - usually 6 1/2 - 7 hours. I try to be in bed around 10 and lights out by 10:15. The olympics severely alters that though, which is why I over-snoozed this morning (and I didn't even stay awake for the final figure skating pairs - the gold medalists).
Prior to working out I would wake a couple of times during the night and have a lot of trouble falling back to sleep. Sometimes it would take an hour or more before I finally fell back to sleep - and the worst times were when I would finally drift off about 30 minutes before the alarm went off. Felt horrible and always felt like I should have just gotten up instead of going back to sleep. I do not have any of these issues when I workout - I fall asleep almost immediately when I roll over and if I wake up during the night I fall back to sleep right away. THIS is worth every mile I run. If I never lose another pound or gain some of my weight back, I will still always make working out a priority because I never want to get back into that crazy sleep cycle again - its miserable.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Monday February 15, 2010
Weight: 126.4
Workout: 4 miles + 10 minutes cross training
Resting Heart Rate (rhr before getting out of bed): 65
This week we increase our M/W runs to 4 miles each. After running 5 1/2 last Saturday I wasn't hesitant about the 4 this morning at all. These are good workouts and exactly what I needed. I love it!
I ran the entire distance without a break. This is HUGE! My heart rate was up at 174bpm at the end, so its coming down bit by bit. I started running at 5.8, increased to 5.9 and finally to 6.0 for more than half of the distance. I ran the 4 miles in 41:06 which ends up being 10:17 miles. Good! I'm getting better. I feel really confident after this morning.
Afterward I did 10 minutes on the eliptical next to C. Those 10 minutes go so fast when you're chatting:) And I was pouring sweat... seems like noone else in the gym sweats and then I sweat enough for everyone else. Whatever.
I've never fluctuated this much with my weight before. I'm usually up on Mondays because of water retention. I had good intentions of counteracting this over the weekend, but ultimately I drank about 32 oz of water yesterday at 8pm and that was it. I had not had a drop of water all day and made myself drink that. Today I need to get going on the water. I've had 5-16oz glasses already, but I would like to have 12 of those by the end of the day. I would guess that my actual weight is around 124. I would still like to lose some more (maybe 5-10), but not badly enough to work too hard at it. I'm pretty comfortable here. I think as the mileage increases I will lose a little more. I'm not too concerned.
Last week was so crazy with the afternoon schedule, I need to get back into a good eating routine this week. I also sampled a few too many of my valentine's treats over the weekend while I was making them:) Today I will concentrate on vegetables first before anything else.
Workout: 4 miles + 10 minutes cross training
Resting Heart Rate (rhr before getting out of bed): 65
This week we increase our M/W runs to 4 miles each. After running 5 1/2 last Saturday I wasn't hesitant about the 4 this morning at all. These are good workouts and exactly what I needed. I love it!
I ran the entire distance without a break. This is HUGE! My heart rate was up at 174bpm at the end, so its coming down bit by bit. I started running at 5.8, increased to 5.9 and finally to 6.0 for more than half of the distance. I ran the 4 miles in 41:06 which ends up being 10:17 miles. Good! I'm getting better. I feel really confident after this morning.
Afterward I did 10 minutes on the eliptical next to C. Those 10 minutes go so fast when you're chatting:) And I was pouring sweat... seems like noone else in the gym sweats and then I sweat enough for everyone else. Whatever.
I've never fluctuated this much with my weight before. I'm usually up on Mondays because of water retention. I had good intentions of counteracting this over the weekend, but ultimately I drank about 32 oz of water yesterday at 8pm and that was it. I had not had a drop of water all day and made myself drink that. Today I need to get going on the water. I've had 5-16oz glasses already, but I would like to have 12 of those by the end of the day. I would guess that my actual weight is around 124. I would still like to lose some more (maybe 5-10), but not badly enough to work too hard at it. I'm pretty comfortable here. I think as the mileage increases I will lose a little more. I'm not too concerned.
Last week was so crazy with the afternoon schedule, I need to get back into a good eating routine this week. I also sampled a few too many of my valentine's treats over the weekend while I was making them:) Today I will concentrate on vegetables first before anything else.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Saturday February 13, 2010
Weight: 124.6
Workout: 5.5 miles
This week's long run... 5.5 miles. As I was approaching mile 5 I thought about the fact that I'm going to have to run 13. Five miles was very difficult this morning. How in the world will I do 13? For that matter - how did I do 10 less than a year ago with no problems at all? What a difference taking some significant time off makes in endurance and fitness. Ugh. Hopefully I recover some of that before the race in May:)
I reminded myself, though, that it is one day on the training calendar at a time. I don't have to run 13 miles right now or even tomorrow. TODAY I have to run 5.5 miles and then I'm done. And I can do it.
The run went well. Heart rate was up near 180 for most of the time. I hope to see that decrease over time. It simply is too tough to run at that high of a heart rate. I'm not pushing myself too hard - it would be this high at a slower pace, too. Who am I kidding? I always push myself too hard. However, the heartrate thing is always an issue regardless of my pace.
Pace was between 5.6 - 5.8 miles per hour. I ran 5.5 miles in 57:45, which works out to a 10:30 mile. Not too bad, but I'd like to get that closer to 10:00 miles. When I was running outside last year I was running 10:20 miles and 10:00 miles on the treadmill. I'd like to be back there. It will come in time. I stopped twice to catch my breath - at 2.5 miles and 3.5 miles. I consider that a successful run. Much better than last Saturday when I couldn't get through one song without stopping to rest (for all 12 songs that I ran through).
Today I'm going to focus on drinking lots of water and getting the filter changed in the humidifier. I know I'm retaining water - when I wake up in the morning I can't move my wedding ring, which is a clear indication for me. In addition, I drank 16 oz of water right before I went to bed last night and hardly peed when I woke up this morning. Something needs to be done about my hydration level today. I'm going to work on that.
Workout: 5.5 miles
This week's long run... 5.5 miles. As I was approaching mile 5 I thought about the fact that I'm going to have to run 13. Five miles was very difficult this morning. How in the world will I do 13? For that matter - how did I do 10 less than a year ago with no problems at all? What a difference taking some significant time off makes in endurance and fitness. Ugh. Hopefully I recover some of that before the race in May:)
I reminded myself, though, that it is one day on the training calendar at a time. I don't have to run 13 miles right now or even tomorrow. TODAY I have to run 5.5 miles and then I'm done. And I can do it.
The run went well. Heart rate was up near 180 for most of the time. I hope to see that decrease over time. It simply is too tough to run at that high of a heart rate. I'm not pushing myself too hard - it would be this high at a slower pace, too. Who am I kidding? I always push myself too hard. However, the heartrate thing is always an issue regardless of my pace.
Pace was between 5.6 - 5.8 miles per hour. I ran 5.5 miles in 57:45, which works out to a 10:30 mile. Not too bad, but I'd like to get that closer to 10:00 miles. When I was running outside last year I was running 10:20 miles and 10:00 miles on the treadmill. I'd like to be back there. It will come in time. I stopped twice to catch my breath - at 2.5 miles and 3.5 miles. I consider that a successful run. Much better than last Saturday when I couldn't get through one song without stopping to rest (for all 12 songs that I ran through).
Today I'm going to focus on drinking lots of water and getting the filter changed in the humidifier. I know I'm retaining water - when I wake up in the morning I can't move my wedding ring, which is a clear indication for me. In addition, I drank 16 oz of water right before I went to bed last night and hardly peed when I woke up this morning. Something needs to be done about my hydration level today. I'm going to work on that.
Friday, February 12, 2010
February 12, 2010
Weight: 124.6
Workout: 20:00 cross + weight training
Friday always feels so easy. Almost too easy sometimes. I welcome it because Thursday is horrific, but when I'm back in the locker room I always feel a little let down.
I did 20 minutes on the eliptical - very easy going pace. Then leg press, shoulders, chest, biceps, abductors and adductors. I was early enough this morning that I got everything in. I should throw abs in at some point, but I hate them more than I hate circuits.
The girls got some candy in the mail yesterday from Nana. While I don't crave sugar or candy, the last 12 hours have proved to be difficult. Actually, the last 2 hours have proved to be incredibly difficult. I want nothing more than to have a miniature dark chocolate hershey's bar with my coffee. I'm resisting, but barely.
Yesterday was a bit rough because I was gone all afternoon and did not have lunch. Same with Wednesday. And it will be the same today. When I finally ate something yesterday evening I had some GI distress... not sure why this continues to be an issue as of the last 6-9 months. Tums and I are now BFFs.
Workout: 20:00 cross + weight training
Friday always feels so easy. Almost too easy sometimes. I welcome it because Thursday is horrific, but when I'm back in the locker room I always feel a little let down.
I did 20 minutes on the eliptical - very easy going pace. Then leg press, shoulders, chest, biceps, abductors and adductors. I was early enough this morning that I got everything in. I should throw abs in at some point, but I hate them more than I hate circuits.
The girls got some candy in the mail yesterday from Nana. While I don't crave sugar or candy, the last 12 hours have proved to be difficult. Actually, the last 2 hours have proved to be incredibly difficult. I want nothing more than to have a miniature dark chocolate hershey's bar with my coffee. I'm resisting, but barely.
Yesterday was a bit rough because I was gone all afternoon and did not have lunch. Same with Wednesday. And it will be the same today. When I finally ate something yesterday evening I had some GI distress... not sure why this continues to be an issue as of the last 6-9 months. Tums and I are now BFFs.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
February 11, 2010
Weight: 124.8
I feel like a chicken running around with my head cut off this week. And it isn't looking better until next week. Hence no post yesterday and the late post today.
Thursdays are circuit day. I.HATE.THURSDAY. Hate it. Hate.it. Despise it. Dread it. Hate it.
It is by far the worst, most horrible, hardest workout of the week. I never want Wednesday evenings to end... because then I'll have to wake up on Thursday and do the dreaded circuits.
Today I started with the bike - 12:00. Had my heart rate up to 135 bpm on the bike. I don't push it a whole lot on the bike. I consider it slightly better than a warm up.
Moved on to 12:00 on the stairmill. I would like to curse the person who created the stairmill. It is the worst. horrible. wretched. And at 12 minutes, the intervals lasted 48 seconds each. Thats a long fricken time when I'm working so hard that my forearms are sweating. Really? Forearms? Yes. And dripping. I think if it weren't for the stairmill, I may not hate circuits as much. I really despise the stairmill and would rather cut my arm off with a butter knife than do it for much longer than that.
Next up was hill intervals on the treadmill for 13:00. I ran the entire 13 minutes without a break at 5.8 mph. I think the top hill was around 4 or 5% incline for over a minute. That one was tough, but it was the last minute so I couldn't allow myself to stop. Heartrate was up around 178 bpm on the treadmill.
Finally I ended with the eliptical for 13:00. I consider this circuit to be slightly more than a cool down. I certainly don't slow my pace down to a cool down level, but I'm not hitting it as hard as I do the stairmill and the treadmill.
If I wanted a higher level circuit workout I should consider not reading magazines while doing the bike and the eliptical. I may consider that for next week.
I'm always so glad to have it over. So happy to be in the locker room drinking a glass of water and hopping in the shower. It feels like a huge accomplishment, even though I have no ability to measure my performance. I guess my measure of success is how much it sucked. And every Thursday it sucks. A lot.
Fridays are 20:00 of lighter cross training with upper body + leg press, abductors & adductors. Its a much lighter day and a welcome reprieve after the treachery of Thursday.
I feel like a chicken running around with my head cut off this week. And it isn't looking better until next week. Hence no post yesterday and the late post today.
Thursdays are circuit day. I.HATE.THURSDAY. Hate it. Hate.it. Despise it. Dread it. Hate it.
It is by far the worst, most horrible, hardest workout of the week. I never want Wednesday evenings to end... because then I'll have to wake up on Thursday and do the dreaded circuits.
Today I started with the bike - 12:00. Had my heart rate up to 135 bpm on the bike. I don't push it a whole lot on the bike. I consider it slightly better than a warm up.
Moved on to 12:00 on the stairmill. I would like to curse the person who created the stairmill. It is the worst. horrible. wretched. And at 12 minutes, the intervals lasted 48 seconds each. Thats a long fricken time when I'm working so hard that my forearms are sweating. Really? Forearms? Yes. And dripping. I think if it weren't for the stairmill, I may not hate circuits as much. I really despise the stairmill and would rather cut my arm off with a butter knife than do it for much longer than that.
Next up was hill intervals on the treadmill for 13:00. I ran the entire 13 minutes without a break at 5.8 mph. I think the top hill was around 4 or 5% incline for over a minute. That one was tough, but it was the last minute so I couldn't allow myself to stop. Heartrate was up around 178 bpm on the treadmill.
Finally I ended with the eliptical for 13:00. I consider this circuit to be slightly more than a cool down. I certainly don't slow my pace down to a cool down level, but I'm not hitting it as hard as I do the stairmill and the treadmill.
If I wanted a higher level circuit workout I should consider not reading magazines while doing the bike and the eliptical. I may consider that for next week.
I'm always so glad to have it over. So happy to be in the locker room drinking a glass of water and hopping in the shower. It feels like a huge accomplishment, even though I have no ability to measure my performance. I guess my measure of success is how much it sucked. And every Thursday it sucks. A lot.
Fridays are 20:00 of lighter cross training with upper body + leg press, abductors & adductors. Its a much lighter day and a welcome reprieve after the treachery of Thursday.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
February 9, 2010
Weight: 123.6
Workout: 20:00 eliptical + glutes, hams, quads, lat pull down, rows (skipped calves & tris due to time)
Workout today was 20 minutes of cross training and some weight training. One thing I really like about our training plan is that I only have to worry about what I need to do today. It would be pretty easy to get overwhelmed at the thought of running 13 miles, however, having it all laid out in front of us allows us to look at it and see that this is the path that we're taking to get to 13 miles. If we accomplish this workout today, we're one workout closer to our goal. I never think about how I'm going to run 13 miles on May 8th. It will happen - if I follow the plan.
When I initially put the plan together, I decided to do lighter weights with higher reps. I hated it:) So I'm doing decent weights for legs with 3 sets of 10 reps each. I am doing heavier weights for back and arms with 3 sets of 10 reps each. I don't want to blast my legs if I'm running 3 days a week, but I want to feel that I'm doing something. Arms and back on the other hand, I work harder because I want more tone there.
Eating and water were good yesterday. I'm not dieting at all. My goal is to always think plant first and add lots of vegetables and a good amount of fruit to my day and increase my fiber. I've got some peppers, cauliflower, carrots, and zucchini in the fridge to eat with hummus. I also have a bowl of frozen mixed vegetables in the afternoon. I'm trying to make dinners that are more focused on vegetables rather than meat - and if I'm using meat I use lean meat: roasted turkey, venison, chicken. I only make two dinners each week, so this has not been difficult - I make soup on Fridays and some kind of meal on Tuesday. Dave is not home for dinner on the other nights, so the girls get kid food and I have a bowl of tomato soup with something to go with it. Tonight I'm making smoked turkey stew using the leftover smoked turkey that I made last week. The girls won't touch soup, so we'll see how this goes over - they usually end up eating A LOT of bread:)
I feel good and I feel confident about all of this. One thing that I'm really happy about is that I lost my holiday weight without doing nazi weight watchers (or weight watchers at all) and without eating lean cuisines every night for dinner. In the past 7 years I felt like that was the only way I could lose weight and I always felt discouraged - its not the healthiest of eating paths for me (lean cuisines = much sodium and crap). I've proved to myself that I can do this without doing that. That's huge for me.
Workout: 20:00 eliptical + glutes, hams, quads, lat pull down, rows (skipped calves & tris due to time)
Workout today was 20 minutes of cross training and some weight training. One thing I really like about our training plan is that I only have to worry about what I need to do today. It would be pretty easy to get overwhelmed at the thought of running 13 miles, however, having it all laid out in front of us allows us to look at it and see that this is the path that we're taking to get to 13 miles. If we accomplish this workout today, we're one workout closer to our goal. I never think about how I'm going to run 13 miles on May 8th. It will happen - if I follow the plan.
When I initially put the plan together, I decided to do lighter weights with higher reps. I hated it:) So I'm doing decent weights for legs with 3 sets of 10 reps each. I am doing heavier weights for back and arms with 3 sets of 10 reps each. I don't want to blast my legs if I'm running 3 days a week, but I want to feel that I'm doing something. Arms and back on the other hand, I work harder because I want more tone there.
Eating and water were good yesterday. I'm not dieting at all. My goal is to always think plant first and add lots of vegetables and a good amount of fruit to my day and increase my fiber. I've got some peppers, cauliflower, carrots, and zucchini in the fridge to eat with hummus. I also have a bowl of frozen mixed vegetables in the afternoon. I'm trying to make dinners that are more focused on vegetables rather than meat - and if I'm using meat I use lean meat: roasted turkey, venison, chicken. I only make two dinners each week, so this has not been difficult - I make soup on Fridays and some kind of meal on Tuesday. Dave is not home for dinner on the other nights, so the girls get kid food and I have a bowl of tomato soup with something to go with it. Tonight I'm making smoked turkey stew using the leftover smoked turkey that I made last week. The girls won't touch soup, so we'll see how this goes over - they usually end up eating A LOT of bread:)
I feel good and I feel confident about all of this. One thing that I'm really happy about is that I lost my holiday weight without doing nazi weight watchers (or weight watchers at all) and without eating lean cuisines every night for dinner. In the past 7 years I felt like that was the only way I could lose weight and I always felt discouraged - its not the healthiest of eating paths for me (lean cuisines = much sodium and crap). I've proved to myself that I can do this without doing that. That's huge for me.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
As a brief catch-up... Cornbread and I are signed on for a half-marathon in Indianapolis on May 8th. We are training. I made a training schedule that began on January 4th, so we're a little over a month into it. We run 3 days/week with a long run on Saturdays, circuit train on Thursdays (which totally sucks), cross train and weight train on T/F.
Weight: 126.0
Workout: 3.5 miles
Ran on the treadmill this morning. It wasn't quite as bad as Saturday's run, but I think part of it had to do with the fact that I was running in front of people - who probably weren't paying any attention to me - and didn't want to be the sucker on the treadmill who has to stop every couple of minutes because she can't handle it. I wanted to stop several times but forced myself to get through. I think I stopped twice.
I had been running really, really well up until the end of last week. I was running my miles continuously without any breaks and was feeling very confident about it. And then I donated blood on Wednesday and have sucked since then. My heart rate prior to Wednesday was between 160-170, after Wednesday it has been 180-190. I HAVE to assume that donating blood is affecting this, there really is no other logical explanation for the difference in heart rate. BUT I have no information to support my theory.
So this morning was alright. I struggled to get involved in my music, which leads to me expending a lot more energy... I have to step to the beat of the music right now, otherwise I'm laboring - physically and mentally. It all has to gel. As I go through the training and build up my mileage and endurance, this will change (slightly), but right now I have to have the exact right music to run well.
Weight has been up slightly. I had gotten as low as 123.4 last Thursday, which would bring me back to my pre-holiday weight. Everyday it has gone up 1/2-1 pound, which indicates to me that it is water retention. I haven't been eating poorly either, so I'm not concerned. I'll hammer the water this week and see where I get.
With blood donation, Lifesource does a cholesterol test. Mine was a non-fasting test because I forgot that they did that. I checked my results on Thursday and was astonished to find that it was down to 197! I have never seen my cholesterol below 204. The first time I ever had it tested - fasting - it was 288. I was 22. It has never been that high again, but it has always hovered around 210-237. I'm excited - this is validation that the eating changes I have made are helping and are benefiting my body in ways that I can't feel. Also gives me encouragement to continue.
"Plant first" will continue to be my thought before choosing what to eat.
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