So the marathon is rapidly approaching--just 1 week and 3 days to go. The thing is---I am soooo nervous.
Never before have I been this nervous leading up to race day but, I guess never before have I set such high expectations for myself. My goal this year is to do the race in 3:50--that would be a 12 minute PR from last year, which is HUGE. Really, I'd like to do it in 3:48, but I think that may be a little unrealistic. A 3:50 marathon would be an average 8:46 pace and a 3:48 would be an 8:41. *sigh*
So, let's talk about training, my race history, and whether I can do this. At the very beginning of marathon training I did a half marathon in San Francisco in 1:50. I was, by no means rested for this race--the Saturday before I did my first triathlon. I followed up the tri with a 4 mile run and bootcamp the following day, speedwork that Tuesday, bootcamp that Wednesday + a run, an easy run Thursday and hills that Friday. I then hopped on a plane to San Fran and ran the race that Sunday. All that to say, I'm thinking maybe I could have had a better time than 1:50--1:48 perhaps. Plug that 1:48 into running times race calculator
http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=6765
and it says I can do the marathon in 3:49. I'm going to hang my hat on that. I also was a very dedicated trainee this season. While I did not make all the Tuesday practices, I made up the speedwork the days that I missed (except when I was suffering from post-race soreness) and did all of the tempo runs and hill workouts. I also did all of my long runs just the way Spencer prescribed. There were about 3 long runs where I did between 6-9 miles at race pace (8:35-8:45) and was able to finish them strong. After both my 20 and 21 miler I felt just fine, like I could have kept going for sure. I went to bootcamp every week and even cross trained with swimming once a week. So, I should be prepared right?
Well, for some reason, despite spending that whole last paragraph convincing myself and hopefully you that I can do this, I'm still very nervous. What if I go out to fast? What if I go out too slow and can't make up the time? What if there's a terrible rainstorm, or it's super hot out that day? So many variables. So much to be nervous about.
So, instead of being nervous, I'm going to focus on what I can do to make this goal work. Starting today, I'm getting 8 hours of sleep, every single night, if not more, until race day. Also, starting tomorrow (after my office pizza party), I'm going to eat very clean--no cake, french fries, etc. All the bad stuff that makes me feel bloated and crappy is out. For the taper, I'm going to follow Spencer's rules to the letter. No extra running. No extra swimming. No bootcamp. Just rest and easy runs. Oh, and no alcohol. It's going to be a boring week.
So, in case you're wondering how my training has been going, since really that is the purpose of this blog, here's a bit of an update. This week actually started pretty poorly. Saturday and Sunday passed by and I didn't get my 16 miler in. On Sunday night I was seriously freaking out about it but still couldn't motivate myself to do it. Finally, on Monday AFTER A FULL DAY OF WORK, I hit the streets and did it. What a relief! I managed to get all 16 miles at a very respectable 9:30 pace with no water and just one gu. Tuesday, I decided to chill...after all I didn't get finished with my long run until 9pm. On Wednesday, I had another struggle of a day. Instead of getting up and doing my 6 miler in the morning, I woke up a tad hungover and flaked on my running buddy. I then, instead of going to run immediately after work, decided it would be a better idea to go get a burrito from Dos Toros (which btw, is DELICIOUS). Finally, I got home around 8:30pm and watched Biggest Loser, waiting for my burrito to digest. By 11pm, I felt good to run and then ran a cool 6 miles at what my garmin calls an 8:41 average pace but 8:13 average moving pace. Normally, I wouldn't bother including this "average moving pace," but it is important in this case because I had to stop at A LOT of corners waiting for lights. I couldnt run in the park because it was so late and so had to deal with other pedestrians and traffic---LAME. I managed to keep my heart rate at an average 164 for that run, which I think is pretty good. Finally, today I did an easy 4 mile recover run on the treadmill during lunch. I didn't want to get stuck doing another run after work b/c I have terrier in the morning and want to be rested.
So, what's on tap for the next week of tapering. Tomorrow we have a fartlek. We throw some speed into what would otherwise be an easiest run. Runners world is always a good resource for learning about this stuff:
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-263--12081-0,00.html
On Sunday, I'm going to be down in DC with my friend Consuelo who is doing her first marathon. YAY!!! I'm going to do the last 10 miles with her, and this will be my final long run before the marathon. Then next week, I have 3 super easy runs. One on Tuesday with Spencer (as a side note, as much as i whine about getting up early to go to speedwork, I'm going to seriously miss Friday practices with Spencer. I've actually grown to like the hills and tempo workouts. So freaking odd right!) and then a 30 min run Wed and 20 min run Thursday. I don't even know if I know how to run for just 20 minutes!
Well, that's of my chatting for now. Hopefully I can put all of this nervous energy into something productive!
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
Sleepwalking to Swim Class
Yesterday was a holiday when you work for the federal government, but not for many others. Columbus Day, to be exact. So, you'd think that I would have taken the opportunity to sleep in, maybe grab a late brunch, and run some errands. Well, I got to the brunch and errands part, but no sleeping in for me--I was off to my 7am swim class at 6am.
Every time I get up to go to swim class and take the 2/3 train down to 14th street, walk up the stairs, across a long tunnel, down some stairs and back up some stairs, get on the F train to Delancey Street and then walk about 10 minutes before I arrive at the grossest pool I've ever swum in, I wonder, why am I so crazy?!! Yesterday, I think because it was supposed to be a day off AND I had a ton of Sangria the night before, I literally felt like I was sleepwalking to class. I nodded off on both trains and then when I arrived 10 min early, sat on a bench for like 8 minutes before changing into my suit. But as usual, it was worth it.
Our coach started class by laying on top of a table and showing us what our body position should be like while we are in the pool. Abs in, chin tucked in, chest pressed down. He then made us practice on benches and tables--whatever was available. Felt kinda funny to practice swim positioning and a hard table. Then he showed us that we should be kicking with our legs straight, from the hip, knees not bent. At that point, I knew it was going to be a tough class for me. I SUCK at kicking. You'd think it'd be my strength because I do have strong legs, but my form is terrible. After we practiced on our hard surfaces, we hopped in the pool and got started on drills.
For the first drill, we were supposed to keep our chins tucked in, neck long, abs in. I could handle this one. For the next drill, we were supposed to keep our arms by our sides and just kick, coming up for air when necessary. This, as I anticipated, was very difficult for me. After the first few times across the pool, instructor John told me that I need to keep my legs straighter. I tried that. Still pretty slow going across the pool. Next he pointed out that I need to kick from the hip, as opposed from the knee. I tried again but really don't know that my kick got any better. Later he told us that when we reach with our right arm, we are supposed to be kicking with our right foot and had us do a drill to practice it. Again, failure. I pretty much gave up on getting that drill right--Some things I'm just not coordinated enough for. (For example, please refer to my post on climbing the wall at WFBC)
We pretty much did continuous drills for the remainder of class with little time to stop and rest. I ended up pretty tired from all the swimming! I was also a little irritated that the water is not the cleanest and is a bit cloudy so it's difficult to see the line at the bottom of the pool. I'm terrible at swimming straight so I hit the lane divider SO MANY TIMES. Grrr! It really messes up your rhythm.
After class I chatted with the instructor re: missing classes around the marathon. I planned to skip class the Monday before the race and then the Monday after the race. However, my swim instructor thinks I should go the Monday before. He says I won't be swimming particularly hard and so it will keep my legs good and loose. I haven't decided yet whether I agree. Also, for the week after, I discussed going to his Tuesday evening swim class in Brooklyn. (Oh yes, I now plan to venture to Brooklyn for swim class) He thinks an easy swim Tuesday evening post marathon will help with recovery. Again...I'm going to take this under advisement.
Every time I get up to go to swim class and take the 2/3 train down to 14th street, walk up the stairs, across a long tunnel, down some stairs and back up some stairs, get on the F train to Delancey Street and then walk about 10 minutes before I arrive at the grossest pool I've ever swum in, I wonder, why am I so crazy?!! Yesterday, I think because it was supposed to be a day off AND I had a ton of Sangria the night before, I literally felt like I was sleepwalking to class. I nodded off on both trains and then when I arrived 10 min early, sat on a bench for like 8 minutes before changing into my suit. But as usual, it was worth it.
Our coach started class by laying on top of a table and showing us what our body position should be like while we are in the pool. Abs in, chin tucked in, chest pressed down. He then made us practice on benches and tables--whatever was available. Felt kinda funny to practice swim positioning and a hard table. Then he showed us that we should be kicking with our legs straight, from the hip, knees not bent. At that point, I knew it was going to be a tough class for me. I SUCK at kicking. You'd think it'd be my strength because I do have strong legs, but my form is terrible. After we practiced on our hard surfaces, we hopped in the pool and got started on drills.
For the first drill, we were supposed to keep our chins tucked in, neck long, abs in. I could handle this one. For the next drill, we were supposed to keep our arms by our sides and just kick, coming up for air when necessary. This, as I anticipated, was very difficult for me. After the first few times across the pool, instructor John told me that I need to keep my legs straighter. I tried that. Still pretty slow going across the pool. Next he pointed out that I need to kick from the hip, as opposed from the knee. I tried again but really don't know that my kick got any better. Later he told us that when we reach with our right arm, we are supposed to be kicking with our right foot and had us do a drill to practice it. Again, failure. I pretty much gave up on getting that drill right--Some things I'm just not coordinated enough for. (For example, please refer to my post on climbing the wall at WFBC)
We pretty much did continuous drills for the remainder of class with little time to stop and rest. I ended up pretty tired from all the swimming! I was also a little irritated that the water is not the cleanest and is a bit cloudy so it's difficult to see the line at the bottom of the pool. I'm terrible at swimming straight so I hit the lane divider SO MANY TIMES. Grrr! It really messes up your rhythm.
After class I chatted with the instructor re: missing classes around the marathon. I planned to skip class the Monday before the race and then the Monday after the race. However, my swim instructor thinks I should go the Monday before. He says I won't be swimming particularly hard and so it will keep my legs good and loose. I haven't decided yet whether I agree. Also, for the week after, I discussed going to his Tuesday evening swim class in Brooklyn. (Oh yes, I now plan to venture to Brooklyn for swim class) He thinks an easy swim Tuesday evening post marathon will help with recovery. Again...I'm going to take this under advisement.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Staten Island Half Marathon +6
Today was the Staten Island Half marathon. I planned to get there early to pick up my number and run 6 miles before the race started. Unfortunately, I hit sleep on my alarm 4 times to many. So, I finally left my apartment around 6:35 hoping to maybe make it on the 7am ferry but definitely making the 7:30. No such luck on either. The 2/3 trains were running local and so it took FOREVER to get downtown and then there were so many people in the ferry terminal that the 7:30 ferry was full before I could board. So, I ended up on the 8am ferry and didn't end up starting the race till about 8:50am! (the race started at 8:30!)
So, off I went. It was unseasonably warm--lovely for hanging out and lounging in the park but not so lovely for a 19 mile run. My plan was to go out at about a 9:30 pace then speed up after mile 5 and do the last 8 miles at around race pace. Spencer told us to do 7 miles at race pace but last year he had us do 10 on this same run so I figured 8 would be okay. Then for the last 6 miles I'd take it super easy and just finish up as strong as possible considering the weather.
By mile 3 I was sweating profusely. I tend to sweat more than normal people--ask my fellow warriors. So I was concerned about getting dehydrated. Then, I also did my run today sans heart rate monitor b/c it's on the fritz. So I was also concerned that I was going to go out too hard and not be able to finish strong. But, I pretty much stuck to the plan. here are my splits:
1: 9:26
2: 9:13
3: 9:31
4: 9:30
5: 8:55
6: 8:32
7: 8:37
8: 8:58
9: 8:28
10: 8:33
11: 8:44
12: 8:36
13: 8:26
14: 9:36
15: 9:37
16: 9:51
17: 10:04
18: 9:29
19: 9:38
I felt pretty good about the pacing. Mile 8 was really tough b/c of a long steep uphill so I didn't quite hold the pace there but I made up for it on some of the other race pace miles. As you can see, after i crossed the finish line of the race, I slowed down considerably--at my slowest I did a 10:04 mile. I'm not sure why that mile was so slow, except that at this point it was after 11am and approaching 80 degrees and there wasn't very much gatorade left on the course. (I doubled back onto the course for my last 6 miles which invited comments from folks on the street that I was going the wrong way and then when I turned around one guy yelled not to cheat...I yelled back, actually i finished 30 minutes ago!!)
The race made me feel pretty confident about my ability to race the NYC marathon well. I felt strong during the race pace miles despite the heat and felt like i could have kept up that pace for a while. Just one last week of heavy mileage and then it's time to taper!!!
As a side note I also had 2 good workouts on Thursday and Friday. Thursday was a solo 5.5 miler and Friday we did repeats on the 59th street bridge. Felt super strong on both :)
So, off I went. It was unseasonably warm--lovely for hanging out and lounging in the park but not so lovely for a 19 mile run. My plan was to go out at about a 9:30 pace then speed up after mile 5 and do the last 8 miles at around race pace. Spencer told us to do 7 miles at race pace but last year he had us do 10 on this same run so I figured 8 would be okay. Then for the last 6 miles I'd take it super easy and just finish up as strong as possible considering the weather.
By mile 3 I was sweating profusely. I tend to sweat more than normal people--ask my fellow warriors. So I was concerned about getting dehydrated. Then, I also did my run today sans heart rate monitor b/c it's on the fritz. So I was also concerned that I was going to go out too hard and not be able to finish strong. But, I pretty much stuck to the plan. here are my splits:
1: 9:26
2: 9:13
3: 9:31
4: 9:30
5: 8:55
6: 8:32
7: 8:37
8: 8:58
9: 8:28
10: 8:33
11: 8:44
12: 8:36
13: 8:26
14: 9:36
15: 9:37
16: 9:51
17: 10:04
18: 9:29
19: 9:38
I felt pretty good about the pacing. Mile 8 was really tough b/c of a long steep uphill so I didn't quite hold the pace there but I made up for it on some of the other race pace miles. As you can see, after i crossed the finish line of the race, I slowed down considerably--at my slowest I did a 10:04 mile. I'm not sure why that mile was so slow, except that at this point it was after 11am and approaching 80 degrees and there wasn't very much gatorade left on the course. (I doubled back onto the course for my last 6 miles which invited comments from folks on the street that I was going the wrong way and then when I turned around one guy yelled not to cheat...I yelled back, actually i finished 30 minutes ago!!)
The race made me feel pretty confident about my ability to race the NYC marathon well. I felt strong during the race pace miles despite the heat and felt like i could have kept up that pace for a while. Just one last week of heavy mileage and then it's time to taper!!!
As a side note I also had 2 good workouts on Thursday and Friday. Thursday was a solo 5.5 miler and Friday we did repeats on the 59th street bridge. Felt super strong on both :)
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
On my workout grind...
Since I last blogged I've gotten some great workouts in and I've been feeling pretty awesome. Here's a quick rundown:
Sunday 20 miler
Monday swim class
Tuesday 6x800 m repeats + core work
Wednesday 4.5 mile run + Warrior Fitness Bootcamp
Let's start with the 20 miler. Last week when I had to run 18 miles alone, I seriously dreaded it then struggled through it and wished I had some running company. This week, for 20 I actually really enjoyed the solo run. It started a little rocky though. I walked out of the door and IMMEDIATELY it started pouring. Meanwhile, it had been lovely out all day but I had procrastinated from hitting the streets. Luckily it only lasted the first couple miles. Then, I had to stop at a portapotty at mile 3!!! Between that and the rain I was pretty irritated. But then, post portapotty it all came together. A nice easy smooth 20 mile run, which took me down through battery park city, across the brooklyn bridge and then home in about 3:10. The whole time I was running I was thinking...hmm, I should blog about this, and this, and this... But now it's Wednesday and I've blogged about none of it. Whoops! Maybe next time.
Swim class
I was pretty concerned that finishing up my run at 8:30pm on Sunday might make my Monday morning swim pretty difficult but for some reason, I felt great. Must have been the 3 advil I took right before bed. We continued practicing our breathing and rotation and the instructor ACTUALLY COMPLIMENTED ME! I was elated. Apparently, I'm good at not taking my whole face out of the water when I'm swimming. I'm hoping if we continue moving along slowly, I will improve and learn and keep getting compliments.
The other wonderful thing about swimming class was that afterwards I felt amazing! No soreness from the run at all. I'm truly convinced that swimming is the best cross training there is for running.
6x800s
Ugh! So I normally like interval training...when done outside,in the morning, with my team, with Spencer encouraging me to keep going. Now, on the other hand, doing the exact same intervals on the treadmill in the evening after work is TERRIBLE. I truly do not understand how people manage to work out at night. I had no energy at all and strugged to do the 800s at a 7 min/mile pace. I got through 6 though ranging in pace from 7 min/mile- 7:16 min/mile, which I guess isn't too shabby. The cleaning lady said she was tired from just watching me do them. LOL. I honestly felt like i was going to die the whole time...I almost wonder if the treadmill was calibrated correctly!! I did some thorough stretching afterwards as well as some core work. Spencer would have been proud (if I hadn't slept through practice that morning)
4.5 mile run and WFBC
Again, I was concerned this morning b/c I did a hard workout last night and had another hard workout this morning. I took the run super easy though, which was nice. I ran into Claire and one of the fast guys from Terrier in the park before I headed down 5th avenue to get to class. And, of course, class was amazing as usual. Strangely, it was the best WFBC class I've had in a while. I didn't feel exhausted from marathon training and actually had some speed in my legs. It Got over the walls just fine. (Not the rope though...I will get there one day) It was nice to not feel like a slacker for a change.
So, it got me thinking, what was so different that gave me so much more energy. I came up with a few things. I slept in yesterday (got 10 hours of sleep...amazing!) and have been doing a MUCH better job of stretching and foam rolling which I think helping my recovery. Also, on Sunday after my long run, I had a protein shake immediately. Before I started my run, I had a slice of bread to fuel my workout. Finally, I've just been eating MUCH better. For a while, I was eating and drinking all of the wrong things. Fried things, cake, ice cream, wine--very little fruits/veggies. The thing about marathon training is to an extent you can eat a LOT and not gain weight BUT, you feel so much better if you fuel up with healthy nutritious stuff. Unfortunately, b/c I changed so many thing at once, I'm not sure where the change came from but I do know I felt lighter and fitter and great. I am gonna have to keep this up leading into the race :)
So all and all a great 4 days. Let's hope I can keep this up! :)
Sunday 20 miler
Monday swim class
Tuesday 6x800 m repeats + core work
Wednesday 4.5 mile run + Warrior Fitness Bootcamp
Let's start with the 20 miler. Last week when I had to run 18 miles alone, I seriously dreaded it then struggled through it and wished I had some running company. This week, for 20 I actually really enjoyed the solo run. It started a little rocky though. I walked out of the door and IMMEDIATELY it started pouring. Meanwhile, it had been lovely out all day but I had procrastinated from hitting the streets. Luckily it only lasted the first couple miles. Then, I had to stop at a portapotty at mile 3!!! Between that and the rain I was pretty irritated. But then, post portapotty it all came together. A nice easy smooth 20 mile run, which took me down through battery park city, across the brooklyn bridge and then home in about 3:10. The whole time I was running I was thinking...hmm, I should blog about this, and this, and this... But now it's Wednesday and I've blogged about none of it. Whoops! Maybe next time.
Swim class
I was pretty concerned that finishing up my run at 8:30pm on Sunday might make my Monday morning swim pretty difficult but for some reason, I felt great. Must have been the 3 advil I took right before bed. We continued practicing our breathing and rotation and the instructor ACTUALLY COMPLIMENTED ME! I was elated. Apparently, I'm good at not taking my whole face out of the water when I'm swimming. I'm hoping if we continue moving along slowly, I will improve and learn and keep getting compliments.
The other wonderful thing about swimming class was that afterwards I felt amazing! No soreness from the run at all. I'm truly convinced that swimming is the best cross training there is for running.
6x800s
Ugh! So I normally like interval training...when done outside,in the morning, with my team, with Spencer encouraging me to keep going. Now, on the other hand, doing the exact same intervals on the treadmill in the evening after work is TERRIBLE. I truly do not understand how people manage to work out at night. I had no energy at all and strugged to do the 800s at a 7 min/mile pace. I got through 6 though ranging in pace from 7 min/mile- 7:16 min/mile, which I guess isn't too shabby. The cleaning lady said she was tired from just watching me do them. LOL. I honestly felt like i was going to die the whole time...I almost wonder if the treadmill was calibrated correctly!! I did some thorough stretching afterwards as well as some core work. Spencer would have been proud (if I hadn't slept through practice that morning)
4.5 mile run and WFBC
Again, I was concerned this morning b/c I did a hard workout last night and had another hard workout this morning. I took the run super easy though, which was nice. I ran into Claire and one of the fast guys from Terrier in the park before I headed down 5th avenue to get to class. And, of course, class was amazing as usual. Strangely, it was the best WFBC class I've had in a while. I didn't feel exhausted from marathon training and actually had some speed in my legs. It Got over the walls just fine. (Not the rope though...I will get there one day) It was nice to not feel like a slacker for a change.
So, it got me thinking, what was so different that gave me so much more energy. I came up with a few things. I slept in yesterday (got 10 hours of sleep...amazing!) and have been doing a MUCH better job of stretching and foam rolling which I think helping my recovery. Also, on Sunday after my long run, I had a protein shake immediately. Before I started my run, I had a slice of bread to fuel my workout. Finally, I've just been eating MUCH better. For a while, I was eating and drinking all of the wrong things. Fried things, cake, ice cream, wine--very little fruits/veggies. The thing about marathon training is to an extent you can eat a LOT and not gain weight BUT, you feel so much better if you fuel up with healthy nutritious stuff. Unfortunately, b/c I changed so many thing at once, I'm not sure where the change came from but I do know I felt lighter and fitter and great. I am gonna have to keep this up leading into the race :)
So all and all a great 4 days. Let's hope I can keep this up! :)
Friday, September 30, 2011
Miracles Do Happen
Today was our biweekly tempo run. Per usual, I had been dreading this run all week, especially after getting killed at WFBC on Wednesday. I woke up with super sore hamstrings, quads and abs (Ruben really did a number on me this week) and hit snooze until about 5:50am. Oops! Finally, I got myself together and hopped in a cab (I know...I should not be dropping dollars on cabs but sometimes it's just necessary for those 15 extra minutes) at 6am and made it down near our meeting place at 59th street and the west side path around 6:10. I jogged over the 2 blocks from where the cab left me to the west side instead of the 1 mile I had initially planned to warm up.
I caught the tail end of group stretching and then Spencer let us know that we would be doing 8 miles at tempo pace or what he and running magazines like to call a "comfortably hard" pace. 8 miles is a loooong time to maintain a "comfortably hard" pace, especially when I mostly feel the hard part. Spencer also advised us to take the first mile a bit slower and that it should be our slowest mile. I, along with many others in the group tend to have a problem with overrunning the first mile despite Spencer stressing that we not every single week.
So here's the miracle you've been waiting for, "I DIDN'T HATE IT!!!" Now, please don't be confused, this was no easy run. While felt like I could have kept going at the end, which I suppose is the hallmark of comfortably hard, I certainly did not want to and I definitely wanted to slow down the whole time. At the same time, I felt pretty strong being able to hold an 8 min/mile pace give or take a few seconds for the whole 8 miles. And, unlike the last time I did a tempo run, I didn't have a middle mile where I felt like I was absolutely going to die--my times were generally pretty consistent. Here are my splits:
Mile 1: 8:07
(I was a good little runner and followed Spencer's advice, plus he's been riding his bike to the mile markers and calling out our times for us, so I knew he'd know if I overran the first mile)
Mile 2: 7:58
Mile 3: 7:56
Mile 4: 8:04
Mile 5: 8:03
Mile 6: 7:59
Mile 7: 8:01
Mile 8: 7:39 (for .97 miles allegedly so the pace was 7:55 min/mile)
For those of you not familiar with tempo runs, here are some interesting articles that describe this particular brand of running torture.
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-267--11909-1-1-2,00.html
http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=5615&PageNum=1
So now, we have just one more tempo run before we taper. The marathon is approaching so quickly...just 5 more weeks to go from Sunday!!
I caught the tail end of group stretching and then Spencer let us know that we would be doing 8 miles at tempo pace or what he and running magazines like to call a "comfortably hard" pace. 8 miles is a loooong time to maintain a "comfortably hard" pace, especially when I mostly feel the hard part. Spencer also advised us to take the first mile a bit slower and that it should be our slowest mile. I, along with many others in the group tend to have a problem with overrunning the first mile despite Spencer stressing that we not every single week.
So here's the miracle you've been waiting for, "I DIDN'T HATE IT!!!" Now, please don't be confused, this was no easy run. While felt like I could have kept going at the end, which I suppose is the hallmark of comfortably hard, I certainly did not want to and I definitely wanted to slow down the whole time. At the same time, I felt pretty strong being able to hold an 8 min/mile pace give or take a few seconds for the whole 8 miles. And, unlike the last time I did a tempo run, I didn't have a middle mile where I felt like I was absolutely going to die--my times were generally pretty consistent. Here are my splits:
Mile 1: 8:07
(I was a good little runner and followed Spencer's advice, plus he's been riding his bike to the mile markers and calling out our times for us, so I knew he'd know if I overran the first mile)
Mile 2: 7:58
Mile 3: 7:56
Mile 4: 8:04
Mile 5: 8:03
Mile 6: 7:59
Mile 7: 8:01
Mile 8: 7:39 (for .97 miles allegedly so the pace was 7:55 min/mile)
For those of you not familiar with tempo runs, here are some interesting articles that describe this particular brand of running torture.
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-267--11909-1-1-2,00.html
http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=5615&PageNum=1
So now, we have just one more tempo run before we taper. The marathon is approaching so quickly...just 5 more weeks to go from Sunday!!
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
OUCH!!!! but damn I love WFBC
So I had really planned not to go to bootcamp this week. I have a 6 miler, 10 miler (8 miles tempo), and 20 miler for the next 3 days. But, the thought of not going to boot camp for 2 weeks was so sad to me, that I decided ehhh, I'll rearrange my workouts, suck it up and do the thing I love. So I did. I ran 4 miles down to class and then spent some quality time getting tortured.
So I arrived like a minute late, and Alex denied me water and gatorade because apparently, I need to get up earlier and get there on time. Now, you would think I'd get some points for running down to class and doing more than the class has done by the time I arrive. Not with these crazy marines. No sir--despite the fact that if I just took the subway down I would have arrived on time, I deserved punishment for putting in my extra 4 miles. *sigh*
Today Ruben was teaching class and he, per usual showed no mercy on me for having super sore legs. We started by running laps around the room (no freaking jumping jacks even) then up to 12. When we returned, Ruben had bars for us to run around with and then back up the stairs with. He gave me a gray bar, which is one of the heavier ones though I have no idea how much it weighs--enough that it's no fun carrying it up any stairs or running around the room with it. There was hopping around the track on one leg after that. More laps, more stairs, and finally some jumping jacks. I thought I was in the clear.
Nope, now it was time for the ab set from hell. Crunches, jack knives, leg lifts, hold the legs 6 inches off the ground, repeat. repeat. repeat. OUCH!
More laps, more stairs then finally water. By this time I was sooo thirsty. After all, I starting running over an hour before and it was crazy humid out! After our very brief water break, I was in Ruben's group for the smaller group workout. On deck--squats with a kettlebell (75 of them I believe), deadlifts with the kettlebell, more laps. Repeat. Throw in some skullcrushers. Repeat entire circuit. More laps. More OUCH!
Finally we finished up our sets and went back to do our planks and standard warrior call outs at the end of class. As usual, I was soaked from head to toe like I had jumped in the shower with my clothes on. Oh no, that's just sweat. Clearly, I'm super sexy sweaty during WFBC.
So, could Ruben have picked a worse day to wage war on my legs? Not likely. My mileage over the next few days is the highest it's been so far this season. Do I regret choosing to go to boot camp? NOT A CHANCE!! Only sad part is I have to wait a whole week to see my 6:30am warriors and Ruben and Alex again!!
So I arrived like a minute late, and Alex denied me water and gatorade because apparently, I need to get up earlier and get there on time. Now, you would think I'd get some points for running down to class and doing more than the class has done by the time I arrive. Not with these crazy marines. No sir--despite the fact that if I just took the subway down I would have arrived on time, I deserved punishment for putting in my extra 4 miles. *sigh*
Today Ruben was teaching class and he, per usual showed no mercy on me for having super sore legs. We started by running laps around the room (no freaking jumping jacks even) then up to 12. When we returned, Ruben had bars for us to run around with and then back up the stairs with. He gave me a gray bar, which is one of the heavier ones though I have no idea how much it weighs--enough that it's no fun carrying it up any stairs or running around the room with it. There was hopping around the track on one leg after that. More laps, more stairs, and finally some jumping jacks. I thought I was in the clear.
Nope, now it was time for the ab set from hell. Crunches, jack knives, leg lifts, hold the legs 6 inches off the ground, repeat. repeat. repeat. OUCH!
More laps, more stairs then finally water. By this time I was sooo thirsty. After all, I starting running over an hour before and it was crazy humid out! After our very brief water break, I was in Ruben's group for the smaller group workout. On deck--squats with a kettlebell (75 of them I believe), deadlifts with the kettlebell, more laps. Repeat. Throw in some skullcrushers. Repeat entire circuit. More laps. More OUCH!
Finally we finished up our sets and went back to do our planks and standard warrior call outs at the end of class. As usual, I was soaked from head to toe like I had jumped in the shower with my clothes on. Oh no, that's just sweat. Clearly, I'm super sexy sweaty during WFBC.
So, could Ruben have picked a worse day to wage war on my legs? Not likely. My mileage over the next few days is the highest it's been so far this season. Do I regret choosing to go to boot camp? NOT A CHANCE!! Only sad part is I have to wait a whole week to see my 6:30am warriors and Ruben and Alex again!!
The Mile
From the time I started marathon training this year, I've been dreading Tuesday's workout. Mile repeats. The thing about mile repeats is that you feel like you need to run hard because you're doing intervals but it's one freaking LONG interval.
After our usual warm up we headed to the S to begin our torture. Run 1 mile, followed by a 2.5 min recovery jog. Spencer told us to not go too hard b/c our more important workout of the week is our tempo run on Friday. I was feeling pretty tired for the workout--I really need to work on getting more sleep. Here are my mile splits.
7:20
7:16
7:29
7:34
7:49
I know what you're thinking--her times sure did slip down over the course of the workout. Let me tell you, I was STRUGGLING on that last mile and wanted to stop and walk the whole time. That was a hallmark of my training last year. On the last intervals, I would almost always quit part-way through. The worst part about that is that according to what I read in Runners World and other running magazines, those last intervals are the ones that really count and make you stronger and faster. So, despite the fact that my last mile was 29 seconds/mile slower than my first mile, I'm going to go ahead and be happy that I just kept on running.
On a related note, Spencer always tells us we should jog through the 2.5 minute recovery. I'm pretty good about this but I've noticed, most people don't! I wonder how much of a difference it all makes. I tend to dance to the beat of my own drum (is that the right saying?) when it comes to team training. Whereas some folks run in a group or in pairs keeping up with each others pace, I tend to just do all the intervals at my own pace, whether I'm ahead or behind of my team members. I dunno, that just works for me.
In all Tuesday, I ended up running almost 8 miles. 5.69 miles of intervals+ jogging in between, .8 miles of warmup (from CPW to the meeting spot and from where we do our warm up to the S...so it doesn't include the strides and other stuff actually in the warm up) and 1.29 slooooooow miles to get home. I can feel pretty good about that :)
After our usual warm up we headed to the S to begin our torture. Run 1 mile, followed by a 2.5 min recovery jog. Spencer told us to not go too hard b/c our more important workout of the week is our tempo run on Friday. I was feeling pretty tired for the workout--I really need to work on getting more sleep. Here are my mile splits.
7:20
7:16
7:29
7:34
7:49
I know what you're thinking--her times sure did slip down over the course of the workout. Let me tell you, I was STRUGGLING on that last mile and wanted to stop and walk the whole time. That was a hallmark of my training last year. On the last intervals, I would almost always quit part-way through. The worst part about that is that according to what I read in Runners World and other running magazines, those last intervals are the ones that really count and make you stronger and faster. So, despite the fact that my last mile was 29 seconds/mile slower than my first mile, I'm going to go ahead and be happy that I just kept on running.
On a related note, Spencer always tells us we should jog through the 2.5 minute recovery. I'm pretty good about this but I've noticed, most people don't! I wonder how much of a difference it all makes. I tend to dance to the beat of my own drum (is that the right saying?) when it comes to team training. Whereas some folks run in a group or in pairs keeping up with each others pace, I tend to just do all the intervals at my own pace, whether I'm ahead or behind of my team members. I dunno, that just works for me.
In all Tuesday, I ended up running almost 8 miles. 5.69 miles of intervals+ jogging in between, .8 miles of warmup (from CPW to the meeting spot and from where we do our warm up to the S...so it doesn't include the strides and other stuff actually in the warm up) and 1.29 slooooooow miles to get home. I can feel pretty good about that :)
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Long Lonely (Inner Strength Building) 18 (17.5) Miler
On Saturday, I needed to run 18 miles before getting on an 11am bus to Washington, D.C. I was pretty bummed about it because a) it meant I was going to have do the 18 miler the day after a hill workout and at the end of a week of pretty heavy mileage and b) I was going to have to do it ALL BY MYSELF! So, needless to say I was dreading it. Despite the fact that I trained for my first and second marathons almost all by myself, over the last two seasons I've gotten spoiled and have been spending most of the longer runs chatting it up with friends.
Anyway, I still got up Saturday morning determined to knock out my 18 miler with the 7 middle miles at around race pace, which I think should be between 8:35-8:45 min/miles (I'm aiming high!). I planned to run down the West Side Highway 9 miles and turn around, picking up the pace after mile 6. All went pretty well (except a pit stop at a portapotty around mile 5.5) until after my race pace miles. I was SERIOUSLY depleted and was doubtful about whether I was going to complete the full 18. It was also super swampy out and so I was sweating like a beast. My socks (which btw are sweat wicking socks) were SOPPING wet and with every step I took, I could feel them swishing. This didn't make me particularly happy considering I had just gotten a pedicure the evening before. Here a link to the run.
9.24 Lonely 17.5 Miler by kelila83 at Garmin Connect - Details
Basically my non-race pace miles I averaged between 9:16 and 10:25, and my race pace miles averaged between 8:31 and 8:43. As you can see, I seriously BONKED for the last few miles. I only ended up doing 17.5--partially b/c I was so tired, and partially b/c I needed to get back home to pack for my 11am bus. I thought my heavy legs and sluggishness was a result of a week of training and no break before the long run, but after talking to my friend Consuelo who is also marathon training, I realized it was more likely the result of not drinking any gatorade, not eating anything b4 I started running, and only using a few shot bloks and no gu during the run. I'm going to have to do better with my nutrition going forward b/c feeling like you have literally nothing left in you is no fun at all.
All in all though, I am pretty pleased with the run. Holding between an 8:31- 8:43 pace for 7 miles after already running 6 miles and then doing another 4.5 was pretty legit. Also, considering the fatigue on my legs and lack of any nutrition, I think it's pretty respectable. In 2 weeks, I have a 19 miler which I think 9 miles of which will have to be at race pace so that will be a good test of what I can accomplish on race day.
Heavy training ahead!! On deck for this week:
Swim monday. 5x 1 mile repeats Tuesday (+ warmup and an easy 2 miles between getting to practice and getting home), 7 miler Wednesday + bootcamp, 4 miler Thursday, 8 mile tempo Friday, and 20 miler Saturday. Lots to blog about for sure :)
Anyway, I still got up Saturday morning determined to knock out my 18 miler with the 7 middle miles at around race pace, which I think should be between 8:35-8:45 min/miles (I'm aiming high!). I planned to run down the West Side Highway 9 miles and turn around, picking up the pace after mile 6. All went pretty well (except a pit stop at a portapotty around mile 5.5) until after my race pace miles. I was SERIOUSLY depleted and was doubtful about whether I was going to complete the full 18. It was also super swampy out and so I was sweating like a beast. My socks (which btw are sweat wicking socks) were SOPPING wet and with every step I took, I could feel them swishing. This didn't make me particularly happy considering I had just gotten a pedicure the evening before. Here a link to the run.
9.24 Lonely 17.5 Miler by kelila83 at Garmin Connect - Details
Basically my non-race pace miles I averaged between 9:16 and 10:25, and my race pace miles averaged between 8:31 and 8:43. As you can see, I seriously BONKED for the last few miles. I only ended up doing 17.5--partially b/c I was so tired, and partially b/c I needed to get back home to pack for my 11am bus. I thought my heavy legs and sluggishness was a result of a week of training and no break before the long run, but after talking to my friend Consuelo who is also marathon training, I realized it was more likely the result of not drinking any gatorade, not eating anything b4 I started running, and only using a few shot bloks and no gu during the run. I'm going to have to do better with my nutrition going forward b/c feeling like you have literally nothing left in you is no fun at all.
All in all though, I am pretty pleased with the run. Holding between an 8:31- 8:43 pace for 7 miles after already running 6 miles and then doing another 4.5 was pretty legit. Also, considering the fatigue on my legs and lack of any nutrition, I think it's pretty respectable. In 2 weeks, I have a 19 miler which I think 9 miles of which will have to be at race pace so that will be a good test of what I can accomplish on race day.
Heavy training ahead!! On deck for this week:
Swim monday. 5x 1 mile repeats Tuesday (+ warmup and an easy 2 miles between getting to practice and getting home), 7 miler Wednesday + bootcamp, 4 miler Thursday, 8 mile tempo Friday, and 20 miler Saturday. Lots to blog about for sure :)
Friday, September 23, 2011
Garmin Logs Don't Lie
Today was our usual Friday Terrier marathon practice. I woke up feeling surprisingly rested considering that I went to bed at 1:30am having eaten half a bag of popcorn for dinner, and only slept till 5:30 am. I arrived to practice mid-warmup, per usual. In theory I suppose I could get up earlier and attempt to take the 5:41 am bus instead of the 5:51 am bus but it's pretty doubtful that will ever happen. The only workout I can manage to get to ontime 60% of the time is WFBC and that's ONLY because I hate carrying water jugs up the stairs and having everyone else pay for my inability to get out of bed.
Anyway, I got started doing skips, lateral shuffles, backward skips and some other drills with the team. Then we did our strides and Spencer told us we were doing the hill up to the exit at 72nd street, which resulted in an audible groan from the group and with folks asking where that hill is.
I remembered that particular hill quite well actually. Last year it was the first hill we did repeats on at the beginning of the marathon program. At that time I was probably 10-15 lbs heavier than I am now and way slower! In fact, when we got to the hill I couldn't even believe how short and not steep it was. Spencer assigned the intermediate group 40 minutes--the first 20 at 85% and the second at 90%. Surprisingly, I felt awesome and strong for pretty much the whole time--which is a big deal given how much I HATE hills. Here's my garmin log entry from today.
TT Hill Workout 9/23/11 by kelila83 at Garmin Connect - Details
For those of you who don't feel like clicking the link, basically for the first 20 minutes, I ran up the hill between an 8:12-8:30 pace and then coasted down at a 9:30-10 pace. For the second 20 minutes, I ran up the hill at between a 7:14- 8:03 pace and coasted down at a 9:30-10 pace. In total I averaged a 9:07 pace for the workout.
Now, what makes this super impressive is looking at my same workout on that hill from 2010.
TT Hill Workout 7/30/10 by kelila83 at Garmin Connect - Details
Granted, this was the first hill workout I had ever done in life. Unfortunately, I hadn't figured out at that point that I should hit the lap button when I got to the top and bottom of the hills to keep track of my up vs downhill splits. But, that time I did 30 min and my average pace was 10:09 and my FASTEST pace for the entire workout was 7:51. What a change!!
Today's workout (and my post-workout evaluation) definitely inspired me to keep working hard!
Anyway, I got started doing skips, lateral shuffles, backward skips and some other drills with the team. Then we did our strides and Spencer told us we were doing the hill up to the exit at 72nd street, which resulted in an audible groan from the group and with folks asking where that hill is.
I remembered that particular hill quite well actually. Last year it was the first hill we did repeats on at the beginning of the marathon program. At that time I was probably 10-15 lbs heavier than I am now and way slower! In fact, when we got to the hill I couldn't even believe how short and not steep it was. Spencer assigned the intermediate group 40 minutes--the first 20 at 85% and the second at 90%. Surprisingly, I felt awesome and strong for pretty much the whole time--which is a big deal given how much I HATE hills. Here's my garmin log entry from today.
TT Hill Workout 9/23/11 by kelila83 at Garmin Connect - Details
For those of you who don't feel like clicking the link, basically for the first 20 minutes, I ran up the hill between an 8:12-8:30 pace and then coasted down at a 9:30-10 pace. For the second 20 minutes, I ran up the hill at between a 7:14- 8:03 pace and coasted down at a 9:30-10 pace. In total I averaged a 9:07 pace for the workout.
Now, what makes this super impressive is looking at my same workout on that hill from 2010.
TT Hill Workout 7/30/10 by kelila83 at Garmin Connect - Details
Granted, this was the first hill workout I had ever done in life. Unfortunately, I hadn't figured out at that point that I should hit the lap button when I got to the top and bottom of the hills to keep track of my up vs downhill splits. But, that time I did 30 min and my average pace was 10:09 and my FASTEST pace for the entire workout was 7:51. What a change!!
Today's workout (and my post-workout evaluation) definitely inspired me to keep working hard!
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Dreadmill and Foam Rolling
This evening it was raining and I didn't feel like getting soaked so I opted for the treadmill at my office gym, or the dreadmill, as I so very affectionately call it (I borrowed this nickname from another fitness blogger). What's funny is that until 2007 when I became a "runner," I could not run outside at all and only could run on the dreadmill. Now, I HATE it! I seriously cannot understand how it takes what seems like forever to get through each .1 of a mile. But, I pulled together every ounce of marathon dedication and did a SUPER easy 4 miles (9:40 pace).
In addition to the dreadmill, I also spent some time foam rolling and stretching--both not favorites of mine. Now, despite all the miles I've been putting in, I've been a delinquent stretcher/foam roller, and my body is paying the price. For example, for the last week or so, after a run or bootcamp, sometimes when I walk I get random pain spasms in my hips. I got a massage on Monday b/c I thought it would alleviate this problem---no such luck. So today I sucked up and lived through the terrible terrible pain of foam rolling my quads, it bands and hips. OUCH!!!! Hurts more than any runs I've done. But, I figure if I want to actually make it to the NYC Marathon, I better stop ignoring Spencer's constant reminders to stretch/foam roll.
In addition to the dreadmill, I also spent some time foam rolling and stretching--both not favorites of mine. Now, despite all the miles I've been putting in, I've been a delinquent stretcher/foam roller, and my body is paying the price. For example, for the last week or so, after a run or bootcamp, sometimes when I walk I get random pain spasms in my hips. I got a massage on Monday b/c I thought it would alleviate this problem---no such luck. So today I sucked up and lived through the terrible terrible pain of foam rolling my quads, it bands and hips. OUCH!!!! Hurts more than any runs I've done. But, I figure if I want to actually make it to the NYC Marathon, I better stop ignoring Spencer's constant reminders to stretch/foam roll.
Flat on my Back
Because of marathon training, I've basically limited myself to attending WFBC once a week on Wednesdays. It makes me pretty sad because it is probably my favorite workout ever and because I feel like I'm losing my boot camp fitness (which is MUCH different than running fitness) a bit more each week. Also, when I am there, my legs and whole body are soooo fatigued from the heavy mileage. All that to say, today I ended up flat on my back.
So, I was doing what is my feeble attempt at the WFBC obstacle course. I think I must have a mental block against doing that course b/c it is one thing that I pretty much suck at. (that and I don't really practice it, and avoid it to the extent that I can)
Attempt 1: feet on wall. feet slip.
Attempt 2: feet a little further up wall. feet slip.
Attempt 3: Casually walk around wall and try to move on with class. Thwarted by Alex. Return to wall.
Attempt 4: feet up wall, hands slip. Fall from wall, land flat on back to the shocked and concerned faces of my fellow bootcampers, Alex, and Ruben. Laugh hysterically. Move on to stairs.
Exhibit A: The wall. Now, imagine me, lying on the floor at the foot of the wall.
So, needless to say, today I was no superstar. As with my wall attempts, my performance for the rest of class also seriously sucked. Too tired to run fast. Legs hurt too much to do jack knives. Legs hurt during bear crawls. But at the same time, I can't quit going to class b/c I love it. For example, I told myself that next week I will skip class in lieu of the 7 miler I'm supposed to run that morning and considering that I also will be running 10 miles on that Friday and 20 miles on that Saturday. I have since decided that I will run the 7 miles in the morning as scheduled and then attend the evening WFBC class. I'm a serious junkie.
Later today I have an easy 4 miler planned. I'm thinking since I will just run over the Brooklyn bridge from work, do another mile or so in Brooklyn and then head back. We will see how that all goes.
So, I was doing what is my feeble attempt at the WFBC obstacle course. I think I must have a mental block against doing that course b/c it is one thing that I pretty much suck at. (that and I don't really practice it, and avoid it to the extent that I can)
Attempt 1: feet on wall. feet slip.
Attempt 2: feet a little further up wall. feet slip.
Attempt 3: Casually walk around wall and try to move on with class. Thwarted by Alex. Return to wall.
Attempt 4: feet up wall, hands slip. Fall from wall, land flat on back to the shocked and concerned faces of my fellow bootcampers, Alex, and Ruben. Laugh hysterically. Move on to stairs.
Exhibit A: The wall. Now, imagine me, lying on the floor at the foot of the wall.
So, needless to say, today I was no superstar. As with my wall attempts, my performance for the rest of class also seriously sucked. Too tired to run fast. Legs hurt too much to do jack knives. Legs hurt during bear crawls. But at the same time, I can't quit going to class b/c I love it. For example, I told myself that next week I will skip class in lieu of the 7 miler I'm supposed to run that morning and considering that I also will be running 10 miles on that Friday and 20 miles on that Saturday. I have since decided that I will run the 7 miles in the morning as scheduled and then attend the evening WFBC class. I'm a serious junkie.
Later today I have an easy 4 miler planned. I'm thinking since I will just run over the Brooklyn bridge from work, do another mile or so in Brooklyn and then head back. We will see how that all goes.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Does this blog still exist?
While I certainly haven't been blogging (apparently my last post was in June!), I've certainly been training. But, I'm back on the blogging wagon now so here goes--Thanks Katie for your inspiration.
Since I last blogged, I did my first triathlon--the NYRR Sprint Tri!! It seems a little late to blog about it now, but I will say that it was AMAZING and I cannot wait to do my next one! I also got a sick new bike. So, I'm ready for the next step in triathlon-ing for sure. See below for some triathlon photos and my neat new bike!
On that note, today I had my first Jackrabbit swim class. I love Terrier and the coaches but all of their sessions are at night and I just can't make them consistently. So, for about $200, I'm trying this 12 week Jackrabbit program. The class meets in a kinda of janky pool down on the lower east side, right by the projects. The water is wayyy too warm for my liking, and the facilities are a little gross. But the coach seems pretty great.
After doing some warmup/stretching outside of the pool (kinda felt weird...never did that before), we got in and did some warmup laps. Then we progressed to several drills. One important thing we worked on was not taking your head out of the water too much when you breathe. Basically, the coach stressed that we keep one eye/half of our mouth in the water. After a few laps of practicing that, I felt like my stroke was smoother. I think I really disrupt the flow of my swimming by lifting my head out of the water too high. We did some rotation drills and other stuff but I can't remember it all right now...
Although I just started this swimming class, my main focus right now is the New York City Marathon. With just 7 weeks left of training, we're really kicking it into high gear. I'm doing Spencer's program again this year b/c I feel like it really prepared me last year--although I really miss my friends Amanda and Erica, who did the program with me last year.
Well, that's all for now. I'm going to do my absolute best to post at least 3 days a week. I'm running 5 days (one day with bootcamp) and swimming 1 day so I have PLENTY to post about.
Till the next time.
Since I last blogged, I did my first triathlon--the NYRR Sprint Tri!! It seems a little late to blog about it now, but I will say that it was AMAZING and I cannot wait to do my next one! I also got a sick new bike. So, I'm ready for the next step in triathlon-ing for sure. See below for some triathlon photos and my neat new bike!
On that note, today I had my first Jackrabbit swim class. I love Terrier and the coaches but all of their sessions are at night and I just can't make them consistently. So, for about $200, I'm trying this 12 week Jackrabbit program. The class meets in a kinda of janky pool down on the lower east side, right by the projects. The water is wayyy too warm for my liking, and the facilities are a little gross. But the coach seems pretty great.
After doing some warmup/stretching outside of the pool (kinda felt weird...never did that before), we got in and did some warmup laps. Then we progressed to several drills. One important thing we worked on was not taking your head out of the water too much when you breathe. Basically, the coach stressed that we keep one eye/half of our mouth in the water. After a few laps of practicing that, I felt like my stroke was smoother. I think I really disrupt the flow of my swimming by lifting my head out of the water too high. We did some rotation drills and other stuff but I can't remember it all right now...
Although I just started this swimming class, my main focus right now is the New York City Marathon. With just 7 weeks left of training, we're really kicking it into high gear. I'm doing Spencer's program again this year b/c I feel like it really prepared me last year--although I really miss my friends Amanda and Erica, who did the program with me last year.
Well, that's all for now. I'm going to do my absolute best to post at least 3 days a week. I'm running 5 days (one day with bootcamp) and swimming 1 day so I have PLENTY to post about.
Till the next time.
Friday, June 24, 2011
My blogging fell by the wayside
Since I last blogged I've done a lot--started a new job, started swimming more frequently, signed up for the NY City Triathlon. I was on a seriously good roll for exercise but I recently fell off the wagon. Don't get me wrong--it's not like I've been sitting on my butt doing nothing all day every day but I think I've only worked out about 4/7 days for the last 2 weeks. My alarm has been going off in the morning and I just CANNOT drag myself out of bed.
Time to recommit.
I need to be working out 6 days a week, with 2 sessions on Tuesdays for the next 6 weeks to prepare. Specifically, I need to up my swimming. I know the NYC Tri swim is a bit of a joke because of the strong current down the Hudson but considering that I can barely go back and forth across the pool consistently for long periods of time, it's still a lot for me. *sigh*
So, on deck for the next few days...Gonna try to get to Warrior Fitness tonight. Hopefully my judge leaves early so I can skip out early enough to make it to class. Tomorrow--5 mile race and bike ride. I need to get out on my bike this weekend. Sunday, 12 miler. Monday-3 mile run & WFBC, maybe a swim at night and Tuesday speedwork and then a swim at night. Hopefully blogging this all will inspire me to actually get it all in.
Workout mojo, where have you gone?
Time to recommit.
I need to be working out 6 days a week, with 2 sessions on Tuesdays for the next 6 weeks to prepare. Specifically, I need to up my swimming. I know the NYC Tri swim is a bit of a joke because of the strong current down the Hudson but considering that I can barely go back and forth across the pool consistently for long periods of time, it's still a lot for me. *sigh*
So, on deck for the next few days...Gonna try to get to Warrior Fitness tonight. Hopefully my judge leaves early so I can skip out early enough to make it to class. Tomorrow--5 mile race and bike ride. I need to get out on my bike this weekend. Sunday, 12 miler. Monday-3 mile run & WFBC, maybe a swim at night and Tuesday speedwork and then a swim at night. Hopefully blogging this all will inspire me to actually get it all in.
Workout mojo, where have you gone?
Monday, April 4, 2011
To tri or not to tri...
Since I last blogged I ran the DC half marathon, but have otherwise been pretty lax in my training. After the race on Saturday, March 26, I took 3 days off and then just got in WFBC, an easy 4 miler on the treadmill Thursday(complete with music and Law and Order on tv) and then a 10 miler on Saturday. I had planned to go for a tempo run on Friday but I woke up and my garmin was broken...so that pretty much broke my spirits so I just stayed in bed. Also, to be perfectly honest, I probably needed the rest b/c my body was still broken from WFBC on Wednesday.
So, I'm supposed to be getting ready to do my first indoor triathlon this coming Saturday but my heart is just not in it. So, I'm thinking it is probably best just to pass on this one. I just haven't been getting my swims in. Swimming is definitely my weakest sport and I wanted to do some lessons with my friend Erin even before I started training, and between both of our schedules, it just never happened. The biking and running I know I could do, but I just don't want to jump into this tri thing when I'm not ready. Instead, I've set my sights on the NYRR sprint triathlon in Queens in July. It gives me a few months to get myself better at swimming and now, to get ready for the outdoor bike.
So, in the meantime now that I'm all recovered from my half marathons, I'm ready to step up my training a bit. I've decided to keep 2 days a week of WFBC (because, I'm obsessed and love it too much not to go at least that much), do Tuesday terrier practice, and a long run on the weekend. I'm also going to try to race some shorter races once or twice a month. I think I should also try to throw some spin in there and once it gets warm get some rides on my bike. I also purchased a bikram package that I need to use...gotta fit that in somewhere. Maybe I will go tonight...
Today, I did WFBC consistent with this plan. I really cant even express how much I love it. I'm constantly challenged by the stair running, obstacle course, bear crawls and basically everything they throw at me. It never gets old. What does get old though, is me sucking at the obstacle course :( I'm hoping some consistency will help me out with this. Today Alanna joined me for my Monday butt kicking. She bought a 3 pack and plans to come with me Wednesday too. :-D
That's all I've got for now...will do a better job with the updates going forward.
So, I'm supposed to be getting ready to do my first indoor triathlon this coming Saturday but my heart is just not in it. So, I'm thinking it is probably best just to pass on this one. I just haven't been getting my swims in. Swimming is definitely my weakest sport and I wanted to do some lessons with my friend Erin even before I started training, and between both of our schedules, it just never happened. The biking and running I know I could do, but I just don't want to jump into this tri thing when I'm not ready. Instead, I've set my sights on the NYRR sprint triathlon in Queens in July. It gives me a few months to get myself better at swimming and now, to get ready for the outdoor bike.
So, in the meantime now that I'm all recovered from my half marathons, I'm ready to step up my training a bit. I've decided to keep 2 days a week of WFBC (because, I'm obsessed and love it too much not to go at least that much), do Tuesday terrier practice, and a long run on the weekend. I'm also going to try to race some shorter races once or twice a month. I think I should also try to throw some spin in there and once it gets warm get some rides on my bike. I also purchased a bikram package that I need to use...gotta fit that in somewhere. Maybe I will go tonight...
Today, I did WFBC consistent with this plan. I really cant even express how much I love it. I'm constantly challenged by the stair running, obstacle course, bear crawls and basically everything they throw at me. It never gets old. What does get old though, is me sucking at the obstacle course :( I'm hoping some consistency will help me out with this. Today Alanna joined me for my Monday butt kicking. She bought a 3 pack and plans to come with me Wednesday too. :-D
That's all I've got for now...will do a better job with the updates going forward.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Too Fast, Too Soon....As Usual. The NYC Half
Today was the New York City Half Marathon. I had big plans of running a good race even though I haven't been focused on my running as much as I should be. I planned to aim for a 1:45 but would have been happy with a 1:48 or really anything under a 1:50. I started strong with an 8:15 min/mile, then did an 8:05 and 8:06. Then came harlem hill. I took it a bit easier on that and averaged an 8:23. At that point, I thought to myself, this is a little hard but I just have to get out of central park and then I'll be home free. FALSE.
I got through the 8 mile point at which point you exit the park onto 7th ave. I then thought it was time to kick into gear, with 5 miles to go. Unfortunately, I didn't have any gears left. I did an 8:03 and then it's unclear what my pace was because the gps on my watch doesnt work in times square and it was acting all crazy. When I got to mile 10, I felt terrible but still tried to push. All I had left was 9 min miles so I did 3 and finished the race feeling pretty defeated.
I ended up finishing in a disappointing 1:52:34, 8:36 pace--a few seconds slower than my race in DC exactly a year ago. During that race, I went out way too fast, faster even than today, but perhaps it was comparable given that in Central Park I was working against some tough hills. The only time I've ever paced correctly was the NYC Marathon last fall when Spencer sent me splits to follow. Apparently I need that kind of guidance all of the time. I also just need to get faster. I've been running since 2007 and ran my first 1/2 in 1:55 averaging a 8:47 pace. 3 marathons, multiple half marathons, and countless other races and I haven't even improved by 15 seconds per mile. Sometimes I wonder why I keep running.
3.20 NYC Half Marathon by kelila83 at Garmin Connect - Details
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Dark, Cold, Rainy and.... Awesome
I mentioned in my last post that I've been trying to take it easy this week to prepare for the 1/2 marathon on Sunday and that it has been incredibly boring. Enter Justinia, stage west coast. Justinia or "Stin" as I've grown to call her inspired me to run back in 2007 when I was a summer associate at my law firm. While I had always been a fitness enthusiast, running really wasn't my thing except to drop unwanted pounds in a hurry. Unfortunately, Stin moved to San Francisco last year and left me short one running buddy and lots of inspiration.
Lucky for me though, she makes frequent visits to NYC. Yesterday, she got in for work and we made plans to run this morning. I almost canceled--literally, I sent the text saying we should go another day b/c it was forecasted to be miserably rainy. But Wednesday was her only available morning for a run so I agreed to meet her at 6:45am at the entrance to the park near me.
So, I wake up this morning, look outside and not only was it raining, it was pouring, super wet out and still dark because of the daylight savings change on Sunday. Ugh!! I was seriously dreading this run. Nonetheless, I got ready and headed out the door. When I got to our meeting spot, I complained that it was miserable and my feet were wet. Stin even agreed--she's not used to the cold yucky NYC rain anymore. But we went on our way just the same.
About 10 minutes in, while catching up on each others lives I realized I was having an awesome time and the rain wasn't even bothering me anymore! We were moving along at a good pace despite constant conversation (well slow for Stin, since she's a speed demon, turned trail runner, turned ultramarathoner) We head up the west side to 102nd street, crossed the transverse to the east side and then headed to the bottom of the park and back up the west side. We parted ways at 72nd street, when she headed back to her hotel which was in midtown east.
Stin is one of my favorite running buddies and still my inspiration for running. When I first started in summer '07, I couldn't even make it up harlem hill and she stopped and walked with me and was patient and didn't even seem to mind that it was probably messing up her run. I'm still totally sad she moved to SF but she seems to like it out there, so that's good enough for me. As long as she keeps visiting, and running with me when she does!!
Rainy run with Stin by kelila83 at Garmin Connect - Details
Lucky for me though, she makes frequent visits to NYC. Yesterday, she got in for work and we made plans to run this morning. I almost canceled--literally, I sent the text saying we should go another day b/c it was forecasted to be miserably rainy. But Wednesday was her only available morning for a run so I agreed to meet her at 6:45am at the entrance to the park near me.
So, I wake up this morning, look outside and not only was it raining, it was pouring, super wet out and still dark because of the daylight savings change on Sunday. Ugh!! I was seriously dreading this run. Nonetheless, I got ready and headed out the door. When I got to our meeting spot, I complained that it was miserable and my feet were wet. Stin even agreed--she's not used to the cold yucky NYC rain anymore. But we went on our way just the same.
About 10 minutes in, while catching up on each others lives I realized I was having an awesome time and the rain wasn't even bothering me anymore! We were moving along at a good pace despite constant conversation (well slow for Stin, since she's a speed demon, turned trail runner, turned ultramarathoner) We head up the west side to 102nd street, crossed the transverse to the east side and then headed to the bottom of the park and back up the west side. We parted ways at 72nd street, when she headed back to her hotel which was in midtown east.
Stin is one of my favorite running buddies and still my inspiration for running. When I first started in summer '07, I couldn't even make it up harlem hill and she stopped and walked with me and was patient and didn't even seem to mind that it was probably messing up her run. I'm still totally sad she moved to SF but she seems to like it out there, so that's good enough for me. As long as she keeps visiting, and running with me when she does!!
Rainy run with Stin by kelila83 at Garmin Connect - Details
Monday, March 14, 2011
The Taper
A 1/2 marathon is by no means anything approaching the difficulty of a marathon but I'm still cutting down on my workouts this week so that I can have the best race possible. That means no bootcamp and no brick. BORING!!!
This morning I planned to get up and go for a nice easy run in the park by myself. On any other Monday I'd be off to WFBC so that Alex and Ruben could torture me in that extra special way that makes me hate to love them, or love to hate them...unclear. Turns out, I have plenty of motivation to get up at 5:50am to get to bootcamp but NO MOTIVATION to go on an easy run in the park by myself. I snoozed till 8:30am at which time I seriously had to hustle to make it to work on time. FAIL!
So when I got home from work at 10pm I had to change into my gym clothes and go to the gym. Oh yes, the god awful dreadmill. I did 2.5 easy 9-9:30 min/miles then did the last mile at an 8:35 pace. At that point, Equinox was closing so I had to vacate the premises so the folks there didn't give me those evil "I want to leave so can you please get out of here" stares. Being the recipient of those stares is no fun---I used to give those very stares when I worked at the gym in college.
Anyway, pretty boring workout really. As excited as I am for the half marathon, I look forward getting back into bootcamp next week.
This morning I planned to get up and go for a nice easy run in the park by myself. On any other Monday I'd be off to WFBC so that Alex and Ruben could torture me in that extra special way that makes me hate to love them, or love to hate them...unclear. Turns out, I have plenty of motivation to get up at 5:50am to get to bootcamp but NO MOTIVATION to go on an easy run in the park by myself. I snoozed till 8:30am at which time I seriously had to hustle to make it to work on time. FAIL!
So when I got home from work at 10pm I had to change into my gym clothes and go to the gym. Oh yes, the god awful dreadmill. I did 2.5 easy 9-9:30 min/miles then did the last mile at an 8:35 pace. At that point, Equinox was closing so I had to vacate the premises so the folks there didn't give me those evil "I want to leave so can you please get out of here" stares. Being the recipient of those stares is no fun---I used to give those very stares when I worked at the gym in college.
Anyway, pretty boring workout really. As excited as I am for the half marathon, I look forward getting back into bootcamp next week.
Monday, March 7, 2011
MONKEYBARS!!!!
I've been going to Warrior Fitness Bootcamp for about 6 weeks now and I am definitely feeling and seeing some improvements both in my body and performance. Today was a big day for me though. I worked super late and didn't get into bed until 3am so I was worried about my energy levels--I even slept the extra 15 minutes and took a cab down to class. I needed not worry though because today was my best WFBC class ever. I felt pretty quick on our laps and kept up with Evan, who is probably one of the speediest in the 6:30am class. Then on our 2 minute situp trial I busted out with 95 situps. At that point I was feeling pretty amazing.
So, finally we get to the obstacle course. I dig deep and jump on the first monkeybars and get halfway through them! So, I got across maybe 10 bars that get higher and higher up as they go along. Ruben gave me a hard time for not getting through all of them, but I was ecstatic. Then, when I got to the high wall, I scaled it all by myself and got over and then did it again the second time. Apparently if you work hard and stay consistent, you see improvements!! Now, time to set new goals. I definitely want to get through that 2nd half of the monkeybars in the next 3 weeks. I say 3 because next week is a WFBC-free week in preparation for the half marathon on March 20. Then, I'm going to tackle climbing that old-school gym rope up to the ceiling.
On another note, last week was yet another week of running albeit with some technical difficulties. My heart rate sensor is broken and doesn't work with my watch :( On Wednesday, I ran with Alanna and ipod didnt work. Nonetheless I've been working hard and waiting to see results. Here's a recap:
Tuesday Terrier Tri spin and 3 mile run
Wednesday 5.5 mile easy run with Alanna
3/2 5.5 Miler with Alanna by kelila83 at Garmin Connect - Details
Friday 6 mile tempo run with Terrier Tri and 1 mile (total) warmup and cooldown
3.4 6 mile tempo with Terrier by kelila83 at Garmin Connect - Details
Saturday 14.5 mile long run with Amanda
March 5 14.5 miler by kelila83 at Garmin Connect - Details
Just 2 more weeks till the half! Gotta stay consistent from here till March 20 (except for maybe a mini taper) and hopefully I will kick some ass on this race.
So, finally we get to the obstacle course. I dig deep and jump on the first monkeybars and get halfway through them! So, I got across maybe 10 bars that get higher and higher up as they go along. Ruben gave me a hard time for not getting through all of them, but I was ecstatic. Then, when I got to the high wall, I scaled it all by myself and got over and then did it again the second time. Apparently if you work hard and stay consistent, you see improvements!! Now, time to set new goals. I definitely want to get through that 2nd half of the monkeybars in the next 3 weeks. I say 3 because next week is a WFBC-free week in preparation for the half marathon on March 20. Then, I'm going to tackle climbing that old-school gym rope up to the ceiling.
On another note, last week was yet another week of running albeit with some technical difficulties. My heart rate sensor is broken and doesn't work with my watch :( On Wednesday, I ran with Alanna and ipod didnt work. Nonetheless I've been working hard and waiting to see results. Here's a recap:
Tuesday Terrier Tri spin and 3 mile run
Wednesday 5.5 mile easy run with Alanna
3/2 5.5 Miler with Alanna by kelila83 at Garmin Connect - Details
Friday 6 mile tempo run with Terrier Tri and 1 mile (total) warmup and cooldown
3.4 6 mile tempo with Terrier by kelila83 at Garmin Connect - Details
Saturday 14.5 mile long run with Amanda
March 5 14.5 miler by kelila83 at Garmin Connect - Details
Just 2 more weeks till the half! Gotta stay consistent from here till March 20 (except for maybe a mini taper) and hopefully I will kick some ass on this race.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Could Easy Swimming be a Remedy for Soreness?
On this past Sunday I went to my first indoor triathlon swim practice. I was a little concerned because I also did a 14 mile run that morning. We warmed up with a 200 (8 laps) and then did 6 laps of kicking with the board. Kicking with the board was pretty difficult because my legs were definitely sore from the run. We did a number of drills during which I was reminded how terrible I am at swimming. We did catch up freestyle with the board, catch up freestyle without a board, some drills focused on kicking, drills on breathing and a bunch of other stuff for an hour. Finally, at the end of practice we did a 25 for time. It took me 28 seconds. Ugh. How am I ever going to be a good enough swimmer for this triathlon?
On Monday, I woke up for WFBC and didn't have my usual post-long run soreness. I haven't figured out whether this is because of the swim on Sunday night or because I took Saturday off. Either way, I was ready and able to redeem myself from the week prior. Specifically, on some of the 4 lap drills I was able to lead the pack and really show some speed. As a result of my improved performance, I was upgraded back to the faster group. I will not be letting the downgrade happen again--I was not pleased last Wednesday! Another plus of Monday's WFBC session--I got about half way through the monkeybars. I'm seeing some definite progress here. I think my aim will be to get through the monkey bars by early April. I still struggle with getting up the high wall. Today Chelsea, one my fellow warriors, stood behind me and gave me a tiny push up and over. The push and encouragement was just what I needed. I would like to be able to do that wall completely on my own by early April as well. I wonder though, once I can get through the whole course, what will my new goals be?
On Monday, I woke up for WFBC and didn't have my usual post-long run soreness. I haven't figured out whether this is because of the swim on Sunday night or because I took Saturday off. Either way, I was ready and able to redeem myself from the week prior. Specifically, on some of the 4 lap drills I was able to lead the pack and really show some speed. As a result of my improved performance, I was upgraded back to the faster group. I will not be letting the downgrade happen again--I was not pleased last Wednesday! Another plus of Monday's WFBC session--I got about half way through the monkeybars. I'm seeing some definite progress here. I think my aim will be to get through the monkey bars by early April. I still struggle with getting up the high wall. Today Chelsea, one my fellow warriors, stood behind me and gave me a tiny push up and over. The push and encouragement was just what I needed. I would like to be able to do that wall completely on my own by early April as well. I wonder though, once I can get through the whole course, what will my new goals be?
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Taking it easy, harlem hill and running with friends
In preparation for the NYC half marathon coming up on March 20, I've been trying to get some more runs in. I've gotten pretty wrapped up in my bootcamp and triathlon training and haven't been logging quite as many miles as I should. So, my last few workouts have been runs.
On Thursday 2/24, I did a nice easy 4 miler. Alanna and I met around 7:15 and ran down to 72nd street on the West Side and then back up the east side. Around 86th street I left Alanna and headed up to 102nd street and then back home. Nothing too exciting or crazy. As Spencer says, in order to recover you just need to take it nice and easy.
2/24 Easy 4 Miler with Alanna by kelila83 at Garmin Connect - Details
On Friday 2/25, I woke up looked outside and it was pouring rain. I had told Spencer that I was going to go to the hill workout but I considered reneging on that given that he was in sunny Miami and wouldn't know if I didn't go. I sucked it up though and headed out. I really hate hill workouts. I showed up at the meeting spot and the marathon group was already leaving to head up north. Uh oh! I crossed my fingers that it wouldn't be the dreaded Harlem Hill. The ridiculously hardcore folks who actually made it out Friday are wayyy faster than I am so I ran behind them and hoped I wouldn't lose them before we arrived at our destination. About 1/2 way from the top of the park, our other coach Kevin came and joined me. He broke the news that, indeed Harlem Hill was the workout today. *sigh* So, Harlem Hill in the pouring rain. It really doesn't get worse than that. Surprisingly, the 40 min workout went pretty quickly. I think the rain distracted me from the hill climbing and the hill climbing distracted me from the rain. Once I was done, I felt pretty awesome about myself so I decided it was all worth it after all. And, by the time I added up all the miles to/from Harlem Hill and up and down Harlem Hill, I got almost 8 miles in Friday morning!
Run to Harlem HIill 2/25 by kelila83 at Garmin Connect - Details
Harlem Hill Repeats 2/25 by kelila83 at Garmin Connect - Details
Run Home from Harlem Hill 2/25 by kelila83 at Garmin Connect - Details
On Sunday 2/27, I had my weekly long run--14 miles this week. Consuelo was in town so Alanna, Consuelo, and I all met to run together. They were only doing 6 miles in the park, so I decided to do my first 6 with them at a nice easy pace and then do the remaining 8 on my own. One thing that was irritating was that my heart rate monitor wasn't working. I wonder if it has something to do with the Garmin update I downloaded last week. I love running easy and actually keeping my heart rate at the level Spencer advises so it was disappointing that I didn't actually have my heart rate recorded for this run. For the last of the 6 miles (6 of my 14), Consuelo and I seriously picked up the pace. I knew she had some speed in her so I figured I'd try to bring it out. At W90th street, I said goodbye to my running friends and set off for another hour+ of running on my own. To my surprise, just a half mile down the road I ran into Rachel Swartz, another of my colleagues from Weil. She noticed that I had lost my running buddies and turned around and ran with me for the next 4 or so miles. Rachel is training for a 10 miler in 6 weeks. She wants to do it in at an 8 min/mile pace. I have the same lofty goal for my 1/2 but I'm pretty sure I have no chance of doing it quite that fast. It was good to have some company for miles 6.5-11 and it inspired me to not be so lazy and to run closer to a 9 min/mile pace. Once Rachel left, I finished up my run by heading towards home and doing a lap of the reservoir.
14 Miler with Alanna/Consuelo/Rachel by kelila83 at Garmin Connect - Details
Let's see if I can keep up this running volume for the next few weeks!!
On Thursday 2/24, I did a nice easy 4 miler. Alanna and I met around 7:15 and ran down to 72nd street on the West Side and then back up the east side. Around 86th street I left Alanna and headed up to 102nd street and then back home. Nothing too exciting or crazy. As Spencer says, in order to recover you just need to take it nice and easy.
2/24 Easy 4 Miler with Alanna by kelila83 at Garmin Connect - Details
On Friday 2/25, I woke up looked outside and it was pouring rain. I had told Spencer that I was going to go to the hill workout but I considered reneging on that given that he was in sunny Miami and wouldn't know if I didn't go. I sucked it up though and headed out. I really hate hill workouts. I showed up at the meeting spot and the marathon group was already leaving to head up north. Uh oh! I crossed my fingers that it wouldn't be the dreaded Harlem Hill. The ridiculously hardcore folks who actually made it out Friday are wayyy faster than I am so I ran behind them and hoped I wouldn't lose them before we arrived at our destination. About 1/2 way from the top of the park, our other coach Kevin came and joined me. He broke the news that, indeed Harlem Hill was the workout today. *sigh* So, Harlem Hill in the pouring rain. It really doesn't get worse than that. Surprisingly, the 40 min workout went pretty quickly. I think the rain distracted me from the hill climbing and the hill climbing distracted me from the rain. Once I was done, I felt pretty awesome about myself so I decided it was all worth it after all. And, by the time I added up all the miles to/from Harlem Hill and up and down Harlem Hill, I got almost 8 miles in Friday morning!
Run to Harlem HIill 2/25 by kelila83 at Garmin Connect - Details
Harlem Hill Repeats 2/25 by kelila83 at Garmin Connect - Details
Run Home from Harlem Hill 2/25 by kelila83 at Garmin Connect - Details
On Sunday 2/27, I had my weekly long run--14 miles this week. Consuelo was in town so Alanna, Consuelo, and I all met to run together. They were only doing 6 miles in the park, so I decided to do my first 6 with them at a nice easy pace and then do the remaining 8 on my own. One thing that was irritating was that my heart rate monitor wasn't working. I wonder if it has something to do with the Garmin update I downloaded last week. I love running easy and actually keeping my heart rate at the level Spencer advises so it was disappointing that I didn't actually have my heart rate recorded for this run. For the last of the 6 miles (6 of my 14), Consuelo and I seriously picked up the pace. I knew she had some speed in her so I figured I'd try to bring it out. At W90th street, I said goodbye to my running friends and set off for another hour+ of running on my own. To my surprise, just a half mile down the road I ran into Rachel Swartz, another of my colleagues from Weil. She noticed that I had lost my running buddies and turned around and ran with me for the next 4 or so miles. Rachel is training for a 10 miler in 6 weeks. She wants to do it in at an 8 min/mile pace. I have the same lofty goal for my 1/2 but I'm pretty sure I have no chance of doing it quite that fast. It was good to have some company for miles 6.5-11 and it inspired me to not be so lazy and to run closer to a 9 min/mile pace. Once Rachel left, I finished up my run by heading towards home and doing a lap of the reservoir.
14 Miler with Alanna/Consuelo/Rachel by kelila83 at Garmin Connect - Details
Let's see if I can keep up this running volume for the next few weeks!!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Do you run in Central Park?
This morning I hopped on the subway at 6am to head to WFBC. I was pretty much half asleep still because I just haven't been getting enough shuteye. For example, yesterday I watched Dexter and went to bed around midnight even though I was supposed to get up at 5:45am. Anyway, I figured I'd close my eyes until I got to 34th street and faced the torture that would be sleep deprived WFBC.
Instead, I was pleasantly surprised by a lady sitting next to me on the subway who asked, "Do you run in Central Park?" Apparently she recognized me. There are definitely some people who I see ALL the time in the park and have come to expect to see on my runs. Once we realized we were fellow Central Park runners, we launched into a conversation about how awful this winter has been for running, how on Monday, even though it wasn't that cold, the wind made it literally painful to run--I returned home from my 13 miler with my hurting sinuses, a bit of a cough and persistent sneezing--and each of our marathon histories and just how much we love running. One of the many things I love about running is the camaraderie between runners. During both the super coldest of months and the hottest, the hardcore runners who grin and bear it to get their runs in always will give each other nods of encouragement and recognition. When I was in both Hawaii and Japan last October, runners said hello even we spoke different languages. When you're on a hard run, it makes it just a little easier when you receive encouragement from your fellow runners.
That brings me to a recap of my running/other activities recently. On Saturday I did Billy's SWAT class. We did a number of timed circuits. I was paired up with Sarah Klein who kicks ass and helped me set the time to beat on one of the circuits---50 box jumps, followed by 30 squat to shoulder press, 30 pushups, and 30 mountain climbers; then 50 box jumps followed by 20 of each of those exercises, and then 10. Another challenge circuit we did was 3 1/4 mile sprints each followed by 50 reverse crunches. I was kinda disappointed by my time on that one--only managed to do it in 8:52. I figure I shouldn't feel too bad considering I had done a tempo run the day before and my legs were pretty shot. Once class was over though, I still put my fatigued legs to work with a little spin.
On Sunday, I had big workout plans. 13 mile run in the morning. Terrier tri swim practice in the evening. Instead, I went to brunch and took the day off. It was totally worth it.
On Monday I did a nice easy 13 miles in Central Park. My 13 miler felt wayyyy better than any of my long runs over the last few weeks even though I did it all alone. I'm not sure whether I'm getting stronger or my body was just happy to have a day of rest on Sunday.
On Tuesday, I had my 2nd Terrier Tri cycling class. For the first time ever, I managed to get my heart rate over 170 during a spin class. We did two drills that got my heart rate way up. The first was that we would spin at 90 rpm and then bump it up to 110 for a period of time. The 2nd was that we did a 4 minute seated climb at 60 rpm and then added more resistance and did a standing 4 minute climb keeping that cadence. After a short recovery, we repeated this 2nd drill. It was no joke. I also managed to convince myself to jump on the treadmill and do an easy 3 mile run after cycling. I kept it nice and easy and to my surprise, it wasn't actually that bad. By the time I was finished though, my clothes looked like I had jumped into the swimming pool.
Finally, today I went to my WFBC. I got in trouble a few times for standing up during laps of bear crawls around the room. Gosh, I really hate bear crawls. Unfortunately, when you "get in trouble" it just means you end up doing more bear crawls so next time around I'm gonna just get it over with the first time. I was also put in the "slower" group today. This was pretty disheartening---I think I just wasn't giving it my all and I was a bit fatigued from Monday's long run and Tuesday's brick. The plan is to work harder next Monday when I head back, but to be honest, since it's the day after my 14 miler I have little faith in how hard I can actually work.
All and all, I'm pretty proud of my last few exercise sessions though!
5 day Exercise Recap:
Saturday 75 min SWAT class and 20 min spin
Monday 13 mile run @ 9:20 min/mile pace Untitled by kelila83 at Garmin Connect - Details
Tuesday 1 hr Terrier Tri spin followed by 3 mile run @10 min/mile pace
Wednesday 1 hr WFBC
Instead, I was pleasantly surprised by a lady sitting next to me on the subway who asked, "Do you run in Central Park?" Apparently she recognized me. There are definitely some people who I see ALL the time in the park and have come to expect to see on my runs. Once we realized we were fellow Central Park runners, we launched into a conversation about how awful this winter has been for running, how on Monday, even though it wasn't that cold, the wind made it literally painful to run--I returned home from my 13 miler with my hurting sinuses, a bit of a cough and persistent sneezing--and each of our marathon histories and just how much we love running. One of the many things I love about running is the camaraderie between runners. During both the super coldest of months and the hottest, the hardcore runners who grin and bear it to get their runs in always will give each other nods of encouragement and recognition. When I was in both Hawaii and Japan last October, runners said hello even we spoke different languages. When you're on a hard run, it makes it just a little easier when you receive encouragement from your fellow runners.
That brings me to a recap of my running/other activities recently. On Saturday I did Billy's SWAT class. We did a number of timed circuits. I was paired up with Sarah Klein who kicks ass and helped me set the time to beat on one of the circuits---50 box jumps, followed by 30 squat to shoulder press, 30 pushups, and 30 mountain climbers; then 50 box jumps followed by 20 of each of those exercises, and then 10. Another challenge circuit we did was 3 1/4 mile sprints each followed by 50 reverse crunches. I was kinda disappointed by my time on that one--only managed to do it in 8:52. I figure I shouldn't feel too bad considering I had done a tempo run the day before and my legs were pretty shot. Once class was over though, I still put my fatigued legs to work with a little spin.
On Sunday, I had big workout plans. 13 mile run in the morning. Terrier tri swim practice in the evening. Instead, I went to brunch and took the day off. It was totally worth it.
On Monday I did a nice easy 13 miles in Central Park. My 13 miler felt wayyyy better than any of my long runs over the last few weeks even though I did it all alone. I'm not sure whether I'm getting stronger or my body was just happy to have a day of rest on Sunday.
On Tuesday, I had my 2nd Terrier Tri cycling class. For the first time ever, I managed to get my heart rate over 170 during a spin class. We did two drills that got my heart rate way up. The first was that we would spin at 90 rpm and then bump it up to 110 for a period of time. The 2nd was that we did a 4 minute seated climb at 60 rpm and then added more resistance and did a standing 4 minute climb keeping that cadence. After a short recovery, we repeated this 2nd drill. It was no joke. I also managed to convince myself to jump on the treadmill and do an easy 3 mile run after cycling. I kept it nice and easy and to my surprise, it wasn't actually that bad. By the time I was finished though, my clothes looked like I had jumped into the swimming pool.
Finally, today I went to my WFBC. I got in trouble a few times for standing up during laps of bear crawls around the room. Gosh, I really hate bear crawls. Unfortunately, when you "get in trouble" it just means you end up doing more bear crawls so next time around I'm gonna just get it over with the first time. I was also put in the "slower" group today. This was pretty disheartening---I think I just wasn't giving it my all and I was a bit fatigued from Monday's long run and Tuesday's brick. The plan is to work harder next Monday when I head back, but to be honest, since it's the day after my 14 miler I have little faith in how hard I can actually work.
All and all, I'm pretty proud of my last few exercise sessions though!
5 day Exercise Recap:
Saturday 75 min SWAT class and 20 min spin
Monday 13 mile run @ 9:20 min/mile pace Untitled by kelila83 at Garmin Connect - Details
Tuesday 1 hr Terrier Tri spin followed by 3 mile run @10 min/mile pace
Wednesday 1 hr WFBC
Friday, February 18, 2011
October Flashback--tempo run and shorts!
Man, I really hate winter--it has been a rough one. Good thing that it felt like Spring today (48 degrees when we started and a high of 66 degrees today) and I got to run in shorts for the first time since who knows...probably October around the time I last did a tempo run! Maybe it was the Spring like weather, or maybe all of the hard work from the last few weeks is beginning to pay off but today's run was no less than awesome.
I met the team at the Equinox at Columbus Circle at 6am, which apparently is the new meeting spot. Wish I had known that 2 weeks prior. Oh well! Before we got started, I dropped into the Equinox to pick up my guest pass for the beginner triathlon program. Turns out that my guest pass works at any Equinox at any time for the next 8 weeks. AMAZING! I can't even express how psyched I am about this. Equinox really is a beautiful gym and NYSC pales in comparison...except that it's almost $100 cheaper.
We got warmed up for the tempo by running easy over to the West Side path from Columbus Circle. Once we arrived, Spencer told us that the advanced group would do 7 miles and the intermediate group would be doing 6. Basically, from where we started at 59th street, 6 miles was down to Charles Street and back to the start. *sigh* I honestly didn't know if I had 6 tempo miles in me.
I know, I started this post by saying it was an amazing run. But don't be fooled, I still hated almost every minute of it, like every single other tempo run I have ever done in my life. According to Spencer, you should be comfortably uncomfortable for the duration of the tempo run and at about 85% max heart rate. I don't know about other people but 85% max heart rate for a long period of time is just plain uncomfortable for me. There is just nothing comfortable about it.
I started off feeling great. Mile 1 flew by and when I finished I realized that I had definitely over run it at a 7:51 pace. Who did I think I was?! I slowed down a bit and ran the next 2 miles at an 8:06 and then 8:03 pace. At that point, I was feeling really awful and had to give my self a pep talk just about every minute. First I said, okay, you will do 4 full miles. You can do that. And, if you do 4 miles averaging an 8 min pace, that's pretty respectable. Then, after I hit the 4 mile marker I told myself I could definitely do 5. I mean, what's one more mile. I definitely felt better than I did during the last 3 miles of the marathon, so I could definitely get through 5. Finally, once I got past the 5 mile mark, I convinced myself that I just couldn't stop. After all, I might be the last runner and the team would be waiting at the end for me. With all of that coaching of myself, I somehow made it through all 6, averaging an 8:10 pace for the whole run.
There is one part I HATE about the west side tempo runs. Because it's an out and back, the super fast guys (which is like EVERYONE because this marathon training group is like the super elite crew that leaves me in their dust) always end up passing me along the way. Today, I was actually quite happy to make it to the turn around point before the fast guys starting passing me on the way back. Basically I was happy I could run 3 miles faster than they could run 4. Oh, the little things.
Today I learned that I need to go out slower so I have more left in me for the end. My first mile was wayyyy too fast and then miles 4-6 were all between an 8:14 and 8:24 pace. I have this problem all the time--especially in races. I'm hoping to correct it when I run the NYC Half in a few weeks. But that said, I was very pleased with the run. I took a look at my old garmin times and I did this tempo 6 seconds faster per mile I did my last tempo for the marathon. Considering I've only really been running consistently for about a month and I haven't been particularly focused on running, that made me pretty happy. Also, since it's only February and I'm thinking of doing a half in mid March, late March, May and July, I figure by the time marathon training rolls around I HAVE to get significantly faster. For 2011, I'd really like to shave 10 minutes off last year's time.
I met the team at the Equinox at Columbus Circle at 6am, which apparently is the new meeting spot. Wish I had known that 2 weeks prior. Oh well! Before we got started, I dropped into the Equinox to pick up my guest pass for the beginner triathlon program. Turns out that my guest pass works at any Equinox at any time for the next 8 weeks. AMAZING! I can't even express how psyched I am about this. Equinox really is a beautiful gym and NYSC pales in comparison...except that it's almost $100 cheaper.
We got warmed up for the tempo by running easy over to the West Side path from Columbus Circle. Once we arrived, Spencer told us that the advanced group would do 7 miles and the intermediate group would be doing 6. Basically, from where we started at 59th street, 6 miles was down to Charles Street and back to the start. *sigh* I honestly didn't know if I had 6 tempo miles in me.
I know, I started this post by saying it was an amazing run. But don't be fooled, I still hated almost every minute of it, like every single other tempo run I have ever done in my life. According to Spencer, you should be comfortably uncomfortable for the duration of the tempo run and at about 85% max heart rate. I don't know about other people but 85% max heart rate for a long period of time is just plain uncomfortable for me. There is just nothing comfortable about it.
I started off feeling great. Mile 1 flew by and when I finished I realized that I had definitely over run it at a 7:51 pace. Who did I think I was?! I slowed down a bit and ran the next 2 miles at an 8:06 and then 8:03 pace. At that point, I was feeling really awful and had to give my self a pep talk just about every minute. First I said, okay, you will do 4 full miles. You can do that. And, if you do 4 miles averaging an 8 min pace, that's pretty respectable. Then, after I hit the 4 mile marker I told myself I could definitely do 5. I mean, what's one more mile. I definitely felt better than I did during the last 3 miles of the marathon, so I could definitely get through 5. Finally, once I got past the 5 mile mark, I convinced myself that I just couldn't stop. After all, I might be the last runner and the team would be waiting at the end for me. With all of that coaching of myself, I somehow made it through all 6, averaging an 8:10 pace for the whole run.
There is one part I HATE about the west side tempo runs. Because it's an out and back, the super fast guys (which is like EVERYONE because this marathon training group is like the super elite crew that leaves me in their dust) always end up passing me along the way. Today, I was actually quite happy to make it to the turn around point before the fast guys starting passing me on the way back. Basically I was happy I could run 3 miles faster than they could run 4. Oh, the little things.
Today I learned that I need to go out slower so I have more left in me for the end. My first mile was wayyyy too fast and then miles 4-6 were all between an 8:14 and 8:24 pace. I have this problem all the time--especially in races. I'm hoping to correct it when I run the NYC Half in a few weeks. But that said, I was very pleased with the run. I took a look at my old garmin times and I did this tempo 6 seconds faster per mile I did my last tempo for the marathon. Considering I've only really been running consistently for about a month and I haven't been particularly focused on running, that made me pretty happy. Also, since it's only February and I'm thinking of doing a half in mid March, late March, May and July, I figure by the time marathon training rolls around I HAVE to get significantly faster. For 2011, I'd really like to shave 10 minutes off last year's time.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Falling off the Blogging Wagon but driving the Workout Wagon
So, I'm still new to this blogging thing and I fell off the wagon. Rest assured though, I've been getting my workouts in. Here's what I've been up to over the last 5 days.
Saturday: Billy/Kyla's S.W.A.T. + spin
Apparently the initials of SWAT stand for something but I don't know what that is. I will get back to you next week with that information. Class was pretty awesome Saturday. I really enjoyed some of the circuits and drills we did. One circuit including doing 500 meters (I think) on the rower, and then a series of jump squats, situps, jumping lunges, and regular lunges. Another circuit had 30 squats, 30 stepups on the box, 30 jumping jacks with 7.5 lbs weights and then each of those exercises 20 times, and then 10 times. I actually think I'm missing something from that circuit but I can't remember. Other fun included jumping pullups, backwards bunny hops and sprints across the room, and of course, Billy's favorite--pushups. I was still pretty sick that day though so overexertion caused me some chest pain and coughing but I think I sweated out some of my germs. :) I also did 20 minutes of spin and some stretching once I was done with Billy's class.
Sunday: 11 mile run
The NYC Half is rapidly approaching and I honestly don't feel at all ready. Sunday, Amanda joined/helped inspire me to get another long run in. This week I did 11. The last 2 or 3 miles were dreadful. I've been cutting my calories pretty low and working out 6-7 days a week so I'm thinking maybe that has something to do with how hard it's been. Now for the route, I did my 2 miles down to meet Amanda at Columbus Circle then we ran clockwise around the Central Park loop up to 102nd street, crossed over to the East Side, headed back down to 72nd street, back to the West side, then up to 102 and East again, back down to 72nd and across to the entrance to the park at CPW and 72nd. At that point, I hopped on the M10 bus and headed home.
Monday: WFBC
The usual amazingness! Post long run though, man this class feels almost impossible! My favorite part of class today was this one circuit we did--20 Squat thrusts, 20 pushups-- where you take your hands off the ground at the bottom and then push back up, 20 of something else I can't remember, 5 laps around the room and the run up the stairs and come back and do the circuit again except doing 25 of everything. Then 30. I know, sounds like torture, but amazing.
Tuesday: First Brick, or actually just Spinning
I'm doing the Terrier Tri Beginner Triathlon program which started Tuesday. Our first session was at the Columbus Circle Equinox (which always makes me smile). Unfortunately it was rather unpleasant for me b/c I was a bit hungover. So, things I learned on Tuesday morning: 1) Spinning hungover, on an empty stomach when you had wine for dinner the night before may end poorly; 2) I need spin shoes 3) I need a foot pod for my Garmin 4)This whole "Brick" thing is going to be harder than I anticipated. I had planned to do an easy 3 mile run after our hour long spin class but well, it didn't happen. I was too tired and nauseous to do anything but go get an egg and cheese sandwich. I will try again next week.
Wednesday: Not WFBC but, instead a 6 miler, part of which with Alanna
I skipped WFBC today so I could get a nice easy run in. Nice easy runs have been somewhat MIA in my workout schedule but I need to add them back in to get ready for the NYC Half. I'm really finding that's it difficult to get all the runs in I need but get to do all of the fun other stuff--read bootcamp and boxing and do my triathlon training. Today, I met Alanna t 7:15 or so and did a part of the Central Park loop. Once we parted ways, I two laps of the top loop b/c I really haven't been getting any hills in. Ugh, Harlem Hill is terrible!! Check out my heart rate spike over the top of the hill here:
Untitled by kelila83 at Garmin Connect - Details
All in all, it's been a good week of workouts. I'm taking tomorrow off so I can get a good rested 6 mile tempo run in on Friday. I haven't been able to do a good fast tempo run in a while, so here's hoping the rest helps!
Saturday: Billy/Kyla's S.W.A.T. + spin
Apparently the initials of SWAT stand for something but I don't know what that is. I will get back to you next week with that information. Class was pretty awesome Saturday. I really enjoyed some of the circuits and drills we did. One circuit including doing 500 meters (I think) on the rower, and then a series of jump squats, situps, jumping lunges, and regular lunges. Another circuit had 30 squats, 30 stepups on the box, 30 jumping jacks with 7.5 lbs weights and then each of those exercises 20 times, and then 10 times. I actually think I'm missing something from that circuit but I can't remember. Other fun included jumping pullups, backwards bunny hops and sprints across the room, and of course, Billy's favorite--pushups. I was still pretty sick that day though so overexertion caused me some chest pain and coughing but I think I sweated out some of my germs. :) I also did 20 minutes of spin and some stretching once I was done with Billy's class.
Sunday: 11 mile run
The NYC Half is rapidly approaching and I honestly don't feel at all ready. Sunday, Amanda joined/helped inspire me to get another long run in. This week I did 11. The last 2 or 3 miles were dreadful. I've been cutting my calories pretty low and working out 6-7 days a week so I'm thinking maybe that has something to do with how hard it's been. Now for the route, I did my 2 miles down to meet Amanda at Columbus Circle then we ran clockwise around the Central Park loop up to 102nd street, crossed over to the East Side, headed back down to 72nd street, back to the West side, then up to 102 and East again, back down to 72nd and across to the entrance to the park at CPW and 72nd. At that point, I hopped on the M10 bus and headed home.
Monday: WFBC
The usual amazingness! Post long run though, man this class feels almost impossible! My favorite part of class today was this one circuit we did--20 Squat thrusts, 20 pushups-- where you take your hands off the ground at the bottom and then push back up, 20 of something else I can't remember, 5 laps around the room and the run up the stairs and come back and do the circuit again except doing 25 of everything. Then 30. I know, sounds like torture, but amazing.
Tuesday: First Brick, or actually just Spinning
I'm doing the Terrier Tri Beginner Triathlon program which started Tuesday. Our first session was at the Columbus Circle Equinox (which always makes me smile). Unfortunately it was rather unpleasant for me b/c I was a bit hungover. So, things I learned on Tuesday morning: 1) Spinning hungover, on an empty stomach when you had wine for dinner the night before may end poorly; 2) I need spin shoes 3) I need a foot pod for my Garmin 4)This whole "Brick" thing is going to be harder than I anticipated. I had planned to do an easy 3 mile run after our hour long spin class but well, it didn't happen. I was too tired and nauseous to do anything but go get an egg and cheese sandwich. I will try again next week.
Wednesday: Not WFBC but, instead a 6 miler, part of which with Alanna
I skipped WFBC today so I could get a nice easy run in. Nice easy runs have been somewhat MIA in my workout schedule but I need to add them back in to get ready for the NYC Half. I'm really finding that's it difficult to get all the runs in I need but get to do all of the fun other stuff--read bootcamp and boxing and do my triathlon training. Today, I met Alanna t 7:15 or so and did a part of the Central Park loop. Once we parted ways, I two laps of the top loop b/c I really haven't been getting any hills in. Ugh, Harlem Hill is terrible!! Check out my heart rate spike over the top of the hill here:
Untitled by kelila83 at Garmin Connect - Details
All in all, it's been a good week of workouts. I'm taking tomorrow off so I can get a good rested 6 mile tempo run in on Friday. I haven't been able to do a good fast tempo run in a while, so here's hoping the rest helps!
Friday, February 11, 2011
So that's why they say not to work out with a chest cold
Unfortunately, as a birthday gift this year it seems I received a pretty bad chest cold. I woke up on Thursday morning feeling super congested. Also, when I coughed it was really painful. So, I decided to skip working out on Thursday (which was much needed...my last day off was 10 days before that) and resume with a terrier hill workout on Friday.
No such luck! After tossing and turning all night Thursday because of my coughing, I woke up at 5:30am, saw that it was about 16 degrees and decided a hard workout in the cold was the last thing I needed to recover from my cold. Instead, I got up at 8:00am and headed to the gym with big plans of doing a tempo run on the treadmill.
I started by warming up for .5 miles at between a 9-10 min pace. My chest hurt a little bit, but it wasn't completely unbearable so I started to increase the speed towards an 8 min/mile. That's when my body fought back. I had almost stabbing pains in my chest after less than a .25 mile at an 8:00 min/mile. I took a quick walk break and thought, hmm perhaps I just did too much too fast and could see how I did at an 8:30 pace. FAIL! More chest pain. At this point, I knew I needed to at least get some cardio in, so I moved over to a spin bike.
I did 23 minutes on the spin bike. I didn't go particularly fast and only covered about 8 miles. It hurt even when I stood on the spin bike and tried to increase the resistance or my cadence too much. For good measure (and b/c I'll be doing bricks as soon as next week---no reason not to practice), I jumped back on the treadmill for another mile. This time I took it nice and easy. 9:30 pace the whole way.
Despite not doing exactly what I intended at the gym this morning, I felt pretty good about my workout. Considering that a lot of people would have used my cold as an excellent reason not to work out (which maybe I should have, according to most websites google directed me to) the fact that I got in 40 minutes of cardio is more than enough for me.
Total Workout Today:
Running 17 minutes
Spin 23 minutes
No such luck! After tossing and turning all night Thursday because of my coughing, I woke up at 5:30am, saw that it was about 16 degrees and decided a hard workout in the cold was the last thing I needed to recover from my cold. Instead, I got up at 8:00am and headed to the gym with big plans of doing a tempo run on the treadmill.
I started by warming up for .5 miles at between a 9-10 min pace. My chest hurt a little bit, but it wasn't completely unbearable so I started to increase the speed towards an 8 min/mile. That's when my body fought back. I had almost stabbing pains in my chest after less than a .25 mile at an 8:00 min/mile. I took a quick walk break and thought, hmm perhaps I just did too much too fast and could see how I did at an 8:30 pace. FAIL! More chest pain. At this point, I knew I needed to at least get some cardio in, so I moved over to a spin bike.
I did 23 minutes on the spin bike. I didn't go particularly fast and only covered about 8 miles. It hurt even when I stood on the spin bike and tried to increase the resistance or my cadence too much. For good measure (and b/c I'll be doing bricks as soon as next week---no reason not to practice), I jumped back on the treadmill for another mile. This time I took it nice and easy. 9:30 pace the whole way.
Despite not doing exactly what I intended at the gym this morning, I felt pretty good about my workout. Considering that a lot of people would have used my cold as an excellent reason not to work out (which maybe I should have, according to most websites google directed me to) the fact that I got in 40 minutes of cardio is more than enough for me.
Total Workout Today:
Running 17 minutes
Spin 23 minutes
Birthday Bootcamp
On Wednesday, I turned 28 and I of course could think of no better way to start my day than with WFBC. It was yet another great class. We did a number of 1 minute drills in which we counted how many of each exercise we could do. I can only recall numbers for the following exercises.
Squat thrusts- 34
Pushups- 39 (I was a punk and did the girl ones)
Jack knives- 42
Squat jumps - 40
I really wish I could remember more. During class today I was thinking that I need a notepad to take down all the stuff we do during bootcamp but then I realized we don't even stop for water so obviously there'd be no time for note taking.
What was great about Wednesday's class (besides the fact that it was my special day), was that I finally felt a lot stronger in class. This was my 6th class and really I've been wondering if it's going to get any easier, and apparently it is! Don't get me wrong... I think it will be hard FOREVER but I will be glad when it doesn't hurt quite so much to walk or raise my arms the following day.
Total Workout Today:
Bootcamp 60 minutes
Squat thrusts- 34
Pushups- 39 (I was a punk and did the girl ones)
Jack knives- 42
Squat jumps - 40
I really wish I could remember more. During class today I was thinking that I need a notepad to take down all the stuff we do during bootcamp but then I realized we don't even stop for water so obviously there'd be no time for note taking.
What was great about Wednesday's class (besides the fact that it was my special day), was that I finally felt a lot stronger in class. This was my 6th class and really I've been wondering if it's going to get any easier, and apparently it is! Don't get me wrong... I think it will be hard FOREVER but I will be glad when it doesn't hurt quite so much to walk or raise my arms the following day.
Total Workout Today:
Bootcamp 60 minutes
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Does Terrier Practice= Precipitation?
So, I joined Terrier Tri at the beginning of January with high hopes of attending all of their Tuesday and even some of their Friday marathon/1/2 marathon workouts. So far, it's been a losing game. I went to the first Tuesday practice and thereafter, it seems like every Tuesday or Friday I try to go, I wake up, look outside and there's a blizzard or something. Today, we just got rain (heavy at times) but it wasn't quite so cold so I pretended to be hardcore and went out in it. It was pretty unpleasant at first, but eventually it only bothered me a little bit--mostly when I wanted to change the display on my garmin but the raindrops were throwing off the ultra sensitive touch bezel.
SUPER SHOCKING SPECIAL BONUS today! Despite the rain, Amanda came to her first Terrier practice since I harassed her to join the team. She basically told me she wasn't coming in the rain, so I was pretty stoked and also surprised when she made it. I think she just wanted to be featured in my blog again.
So one of the many things I like about Terrier is that we do a really good warmup before we start our workout. This includes high knees, butt kicks, lateral shuffles, karaokes, walking quad stretches, this stretch where you walk and grab your knee in front of your chest (I'm sure it has a name but I don't know it), and then we finish up with strides. Every once in a while, Spencer will throw something else into the mix, I think just to make sure we are awake. I realized this morning that this warmup is pretty effective, because by the time we were done with it, I wasn't nearly as tight as I was when I showed up.
Once we got done with our warmup, we ran down to the "S", which is where we start our speedwork. When we got there, Spencer told us we had 5-7 800s (depending on whether we are beginner/intermediate/advanced) with a 2 minute recovery between each one. I dreaded it and apparently so did everyone else because there was an audible groan among the very small group that was legit enough to come out in the rain. Spencer kinda got a kick out of it though.
I tried to keep up with Amanda for the first 2 800s but had to fall behind because I felt like I might have just died out there in that pitch black, rainy park. Apparently, the warmup loosened me up but didn't undo the shock to my system of the last 2 weeks of WFBC on top of my usual workouts. So clearly, I only did 5 800s--the beginner workout. Guess I can't be superwoman every day. Spencer tells me I shouldn't go to bootcamp the day before speedwork because I need to rest up for our hard workout. The problem is that I'm so obsessed with bootcamp and HATE skipping it. I'm really not sure what to do about this conflict.
So after getting done with speedwork and chatting with Amanda and Spencer for a bit, I ran the 1.5 miles home and almost immediately it stopped raining. Sooooo frustrating. I guess I will just cross my fingers that Friday's skies are clearer for our hill workout.
One last thing. I really need to kick the terrible habit I have of wasting the fact that I get up at 5:30am for Terrier. Today, like many other days, instead of getting ready for work after practice, I showered and went back to bed, only to arrive at work at 9:30am. What a waste!
Total Workout Today:
6 miles
SUPER SHOCKING SPECIAL BONUS today! Despite the rain, Amanda came to her first Terrier practice since I harassed her to join the team. She basically told me she wasn't coming in the rain, so I was pretty stoked and also surprised when she made it. I think she just wanted to be featured in my blog again.
So one of the many things I like about Terrier is that we do a really good warmup before we start our workout. This includes high knees, butt kicks, lateral shuffles, karaokes, walking quad stretches, this stretch where you walk and grab your knee in front of your chest (I'm sure it has a name but I don't know it), and then we finish up with strides. Every once in a while, Spencer will throw something else into the mix, I think just to make sure we are awake. I realized this morning that this warmup is pretty effective, because by the time we were done with it, I wasn't nearly as tight as I was when I showed up.
Once we got done with our warmup, we ran down to the "S", which is where we start our speedwork. When we got there, Spencer told us we had 5-7 800s (depending on whether we are beginner/intermediate/advanced) with a 2 minute recovery between each one. I dreaded it and apparently so did everyone else because there was an audible groan among the very small group that was legit enough to come out in the rain. Spencer kinda got a kick out of it though.
I tried to keep up with Amanda for the first 2 800s but had to fall behind because I felt like I might have just died out there in that pitch black, rainy park. Apparently, the warmup loosened me up but didn't undo the shock to my system of the last 2 weeks of WFBC on top of my usual workouts. So clearly, I only did 5 800s--the beginner workout. Guess I can't be superwoman every day. Spencer tells me I shouldn't go to bootcamp the day before speedwork because I need to rest up for our hard workout. The problem is that I'm so obsessed with bootcamp and HATE skipping it. I'm really not sure what to do about this conflict.
So after getting done with speedwork and chatting with Amanda and Spencer for a bit, I ran the 1.5 miles home and almost immediately it stopped raining. Sooooo frustrating. I guess I will just cross my fingers that Friday's skies are clearer for our hill workout.
One last thing. I really need to kick the terrible habit I have of wasting the fact that I get up at 5:30am for Terrier. Today, like many other days, instead of getting ready for work after practice, I showered and went back to bed, only to arrive at work at 9:30am. What a waste!
Total Workout Today:
6 miles
Monday, February 7, 2011
Oh...that's just weakness leaving the body
Despite my better judgment (i.e. the wish to sleep in and not torture my muscles for yet another day), I got up and went to Warrior Fitness Boot Camp this morning. I actually packed my things up the night before and got up early enough to take the subway down instead of wasting money on cab fare, like I have for the last couple times. I'm hoping to make this a habit.
Having now bought a class package, I have my official WFBC t-shirt and no longer feel like a newbie in the class. We did our usual warmup--a few laps of jogging, lateral shuffling and then some stretching. Then we did a bunch of other stuff , the order of which honestly has escaped my memory at this point. It included many flights of stairs, pushups, backwards bear crawls, lunges, jumping jacks, 160 crunches, jackknives, flutter kicks, and bicycles plus some laps around the place for good measure.
Remember those arm circles you did in high school or even junior high school gym class. Well, those made an appearance in class today. I don't really remember them being that difficult. But, I guess I also don't remember doing hundreds of them, and definitely never after lots of pushups and bear crawls. Alex (one of our instructors) told us we would be doing 40 circles but only after he started counting did I realize what that meant. He counts 1-2-3 and that counts as 1 circle. That makes 120. Eek! Also, if anyone dropped their arms we got more circles added and well, people dropped their arms. Oh, and after the circles, we had to hold our arms out for 20 seconds. Then pushups. Then get up and do the circles in reverse. My arms were literally convulsing by the last set but I refused to let them fall. I was not going to be the cause of extra arm circles. I mean, nobody likes that girl.
I got just a little bit better at the obstacle course today. I got across about 3 monkey bars (I know...doesn't seem that impressive, but let me tell you, I was excited) and got over the tallest wall once. I'm hoping I progressively get better and can get through the whole thing.
Finally at the end of class we partnered up for some exercises. First we did 2 sets of 40 leg throws--basically one person lays face up with their hands around their partner's ankles lifts up their legs and their partner throws them back down. As an added perk, we had to open and close our legs at the bottom. Next, one partner did 25 squat thrusts, while the other ran laps around the room. We did this twice as well. Finally, one partner did 25 squat thrusts while the other did wall sit. At this point, my quads just could not take it anymore. Alex saw me fidgeting and looking seriously pained and says to me, "STAY DOWN THERE, THAT'S JUST WEAKNESS LEAVING THE BODY!" Ummmm, or it's excruciating pain that I've inflicted on myself by coming to this crazy establishment.
Just another awesome day at WFBC. Good news is, after class, my muscles actually felt LESS sore. We'll see how I feel when I wake up for speedwork tomorrow...
Today's Workout:
60 minutes Boot Camp
Having now bought a class package, I have my official WFBC t-shirt and no longer feel like a newbie in the class. We did our usual warmup--a few laps of jogging, lateral shuffling and then some stretching. Then we did a bunch of other stuff , the order of which honestly has escaped my memory at this point. It included many flights of stairs, pushups, backwards bear crawls, lunges, jumping jacks, 160 crunches, jackknives, flutter kicks, and bicycles plus some laps around the place for good measure.
Remember those arm circles you did in high school or even junior high school gym class. Well, those made an appearance in class today. I don't really remember them being that difficult. But, I guess I also don't remember doing hundreds of them, and definitely never after lots of pushups and bear crawls. Alex (one of our instructors) told us we would be doing 40 circles but only after he started counting did I realize what that meant. He counts 1-2-3 and that counts as 1 circle. That makes 120. Eek! Also, if anyone dropped their arms we got more circles added and well, people dropped their arms. Oh, and after the circles, we had to hold our arms out for 20 seconds. Then pushups. Then get up and do the circles in reverse. My arms were literally convulsing by the last set but I refused to let them fall. I was not going to be the cause of extra arm circles. I mean, nobody likes that girl.
I got just a little bit better at the obstacle course today. I got across about 3 monkey bars (I know...doesn't seem that impressive, but let me tell you, I was excited) and got over the tallest wall once. I'm hoping I progressively get better and can get through the whole thing.
Finally at the end of class we partnered up for some exercises. First we did 2 sets of 40 leg throws--basically one person lays face up with their hands around their partner's ankles lifts up their legs and their partner throws them back down. As an added perk, we had to open and close our legs at the bottom. Next, one partner did 25 squat thrusts, while the other ran laps around the room. We did this twice as well. Finally, one partner did 25 squat thrusts while the other did wall sit. At this point, my quads just could not take it anymore. Alex saw me fidgeting and looking seriously pained and says to me, "STAY DOWN THERE, THAT'S JUST WEAKNESS LEAVING THE BODY!" Ummmm, or it's excruciating pain that I've inflicted on myself by coming to this crazy establishment.
Just another awesome day at WFBC. Good news is, after class, my muscles actually felt LESS sore. We'll see how I feel when I wake up for speedwork tomorrow...
Today's Workout:
60 minutes Boot Camp
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Dear Amanda, thanks for the 10 miles.
Today, as I anticipated, I was incredibly sore from the last 6 days of exercise but I have the NYC Half coming up and I needed to get a long run in. Amanda and I agreed to meet to do 10 or so miles today. We were both pretty excited because finally it was a little bit warmer.
I got started around 1:45pm and ran from my apartment down to meet her at Columbus Circle. As soon as I started, I wanted to stop but I knew at the very least I had to get down to meet Amanda so she wouldn't be standing there waiting for me. Once I did make it down there, we headed into Central Park headed counterclockwise.
At cat hill around 79th street, it became apparent to me that I couldn't stay in the park for the whole run. My legs were screaming, my heart rate was elevated, and I wanted to go home--I just didn't think I could take the hills. So I suggested that we head up to 102nd street then cross to the West Side and down the West Side highway path. Thankfully she agreed (because otherwise I may have just gone home) and we made our way West.
From then on, I basically told my self I was going to stop at when I completed the next mile, but somehow when I finished each mile, I convinced myself that I should just keep going. I was so lucky that Amanda was there, because I for sure would have quit even before we got out of the park. Finally, we made it down to 14th street which was 10 miles for me. Amanda kept on running home and I hopped in a cab back to my apartment completely depleted.
Today's run made me question my decision to do quite so many hard workouts. It was supposed to be an easy long run but, I was so tired and sore that what would normally be an easy pace (9:20min/mile) kept my heart rate at an average of 171. I considered skipping Warrior Fitness Boot Camp tomorrow but I have no self control and am going to go anyway. However, I will take Friday off completely so hopefully I can be a bit more rested up for next week's 11 miler.
Total Workout Today:
10 miles @ an average 9:21 min/mile pace
1:33 of running
Untitled by kelila83 at Garmin Connect - Details
I got started around 1:45pm and ran from my apartment down to meet her at Columbus Circle. As soon as I started, I wanted to stop but I knew at the very least I had to get down to meet Amanda so she wouldn't be standing there waiting for me. Once I did make it down there, we headed into Central Park headed counterclockwise.
At cat hill around 79th street, it became apparent to me that I couldn't stay in the park for the whole run. My legs were screaming, my heart rate was elevated, and I wanted to go home--I just didn't think I could take the hills. So I suggested that we head up to 102nd street then cross to the West Side and down the West Side highway path. Thankfully she agreed (because otherwise I may have just gone home) and we made our way West.
From then on, I basically told my self I was going to stop at when I completed the next mile, but somehow when I finished each mile, I convinced myself that I should just keep going. I was so lucky that Amanda was there, because I for sure would have quit even before we got out of the park. Finally, we made it down to 14th street which was 10 miles for me. Amanda kept on running home and I hopped in a cab back to my apartment completely depleted.
Today's run made me question my decision to do quite so many hard workouts. It was supposed to be an easy long run but, I was so tired and sore that what would normally be an easy pace (9:20min/mile) kept my heart rate at an average of 171. I considered skipping Warrior Fitness Boot Camp tomorrow but I have no self control and am going to go anyway. However, I will take Friday off completely so hopefully I can be a bit more rested up for next week's 11 miler.
Total Workout Today:
10 miles @ an average 9:21 min/mile pace
1:33 of running
Untitled by kelila83 at Garmin Connect - Details
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Billy and Battlewounds
Billy, a trainer at NYSC, runs one of my favorite classes ever--an outdoor conditioning class in Central Park during the spring/summer. So naturally, when Billy told me about doing an intense indoor invite only class at NYSC 86th Street, I couldn't say no...even though it takes place on the day that I planned to take off. As a result of taking on this new class my schedule is now as follows:
Monday/Wednesday: Warrior Fitness Boot Camp
Tuesday: Speedwork with Terrier
Thursday: Easy run with Alanna/Terrier Swim Practice
Friday: Terrier run (hills or tempo)
Saturday: Boot Camp with Billy/spin
Sunday: Long run/swim
So yeah, that's ridiculous. But not quite as ridiculous as (a) today's class and (b) how sore I know my entire upper body is going to feel tomorrow when I wake up.
On to the fun that was class. We warmed up by doing lateral shuffles and karaokes and some pushup drills in a circle. Then, Billy decided we'd do pushups in a circle until someone gave up and stopped. Basically, one person does a pushup and holds pushup position and then the person to their right does one, and on and on around the circle. I think we got to 27. By then my arms were already killing me but there was more fun to come. At that point we did a number of timed exercises including squat thrusts for a minute (I did 37 which I was pretty pleased with) and squat jumps.
Then, Billy split us up into three groups and we split up and did different circuits. My group was incredibly hardcore and we started by pulling this sled across the room by a thick rope. Let's not forget to mention that the sled was loaded up with 100 lbs of weight. No joke at all. Next up, we had box jumps and pushups. In our group of 3, 2 of us did 20 box jumps while the other did pushups. Once the "counter" (the designated box jumper) was done with her 20, we rotated. I think we each ended up doing about 160 box jumps in total. Then we were on this crazy upper body circuit, which is the reason my arms are going to be SCREAMING tomorrow morning when I wake up. It went like this: 12 pushups (I know...clearly Billy likes to torture us with pushups), 6 bench presses, 12 pushups, 6 bench presses, 12 pushups, 50 punches with the bands, 12 pushups, 6 bench presses, and 12 pushups, 50 punches with the bands, 12 pushups. I don't even want to count the number of pushups I did in total today.
Finally, we did one more RIDICULOUS thing. Billy stacked up 7 risers under a step and made us jump up on it 5 times. Once all 3 of us had done it 5 times, we added another set of risers. We got up to 12 risers, which, let me tell you is pretty freaking high and needs to be stabilized by a non-jumper holding down the step. When I was performing my non-jumper stabilizing duty, however, Jamie, one of the girls in my group jumped up onto the step but managed to scratch my face in the process. It's not too bad but I'm counting it as battlewound nonetheless. (see below for a photo of my scratch taken later in the day after I had showered and put on some makeup...for the record, it looks much worse in person) After all the jumping, our time was up for using the space so Billy couldn't torture us anymore.
I then decided that for good measur
e I should do 20 minutes on the spin bike b/c hey, I didn't have brunch plans for another hour.
Total Exercise Today:
1:15 min of Billy's bootcamp
20 min spin
Monday/Wednesday: Warrior Fitness Boot Camp
Tuesday: Speedwork with Terrier
Thursday: Easy run with Alanna/Terrier Swim Practice
Friday: Terrier run (hills or tempo)
Saturday: Boot Camp with Billy/spin
Sunday: Long run/swim
So yeah, that's ridiculous. But not quite as ridiculous as (a) today's class and (b) how sore I know my entire upper body is going to feel tomorrow when I wake up.
On to the fun that was class. We warmed up by doing lateral shuffles and karaokes and some pushup drills in a circle. Then, Billy decided we'd do pushups in a circle until someone gave up and stopped. Basically, one person does a pushup and holds pushup position and then the person to their right does one, and on and on around the circle. I think we got to 27. By then my arms were already killing me but there was more fun to come. At that point we did a number of timed exercises including squat thrusts for a minute (I did 37 which I was pretty pleased with) and squat jumps.
Then, Billy split us up into three groups and we split up and did different circuits. My group was incredibly hardcore and we started by pulling this sled across the room by a thick rope. Let's not forget to mention that the sled was loaded up with 100 lbs of weight. No joke at all. Next up, we had box jumps and pushups. In our group of 3, 2 of us did 20 box jumps while the other did pushups. Once the "counter" (the designated box jumper) was done with her 20, we rotated. I think we each ended up doing about 160 box jumps in total. Then we were on this crazy upper body circuit, which is the reason my arms are going to be SCREAMING tomorrow morning when I wake up. It went like this: 12 pushups (I know...clearly Billy likes to torture us with pushups), 6 bench presses, 12 pushups, 6 bench presses, 12 pushups, 50 punches with the bands, 12 pushups, 6 bench presses, and 12 pushups, 50 punches with the bands, 12 pushups. I don't even want to count the number of pushups I did in total today.
Finally, we did one more RIDICULOUS thing. Billy stacked up 7 risers under a step and made us jump up on it 5 times. Once all 3 of us had done it 5 times, we added another set of risers. We got up to 12 risers, which, let me tell you is pretty freaking high and needs to be stabilized by a non-jumper holding down the step. When I was performing my non-jumper stabilizing duty, however, Jamie, one of the girls in my group jumped up onto the step but managed to scratch my face in the process. It's not too bad but I'm counting it as battlewound nonetheless. (see below for a photo of my scratch taken later in the day after I had showered and put on some makeup...for the record, it looks much worse in person) After all the jumping, our time was up for using the space so Billy couldn't torture us anymore.
I then decided that for good measur
e I should do 20 minutes on the spin bike b/c hey, I didn't have brunch plans for another hour.Total Exercise Today:
1:15 min of Billy's bootcamp
20 min spin
Friday, February 4, 2011
Remember when I did 8 mile tempo runs
Apparently my body does not.
Today I meant to meet the terrier group (yes, I am zero for three on terrier instruction this week) for a tempo run. I am sorta trying to follow the 1/2 marathon program that they are doing to get myself prepared for the NYC 1/2 in March. I thought they were meeting at 23rd and the West Side path but apparently I was wrong and I was standing out there alone at 6am. Nonetheless, I decided I'd do a tempo run on my own. My schedule called for me to do 5 miles. I only got through 2 miles at an 8:20 pace before I stopped. Tragic. 3 weeks out from the marathon, I did 8 miles at about that same pace.
After walking for about 2 minutes, I started up running again. I did 3 more miles--2 @ about a 9:20 and then the last one at 8:30. It was incredibly not easy and really kinda sad. Spencer (our terrier tri running coach) says that I will see the work I did last Fall sometime this season and that I need to be patient. Based on today's run, I'm not really convinced, but I guess I'll take his word for it.
On another note, it was ridiculously cold this morning. 16 degrees with a windchill of 9 or thereabouts. But, it turns out that if you dress warmly enough, you really don't feel it. Today, despite running on the West Side, where the wind off the river basically assaults you, I felt no colder than any other winter day. However, I had on 2 pairs of pants, 3 shirts (one lined with fleece), a fleece headband, and big funny looking gloves with hand warmers inside. Running creates a lot of laundry...
Today's Workout:
5 miles (44 minutes)
Today I meant to meet the terrier group (yes, I am zero for three on terrier instruction this week) for a tempo run. I am sorta trying to follow the 1/2 marathon program that they are doing to get myself prepared for the NYC 1/2 in March. I thought they were meeting at 23rd and the West Side path but apparently I was wrong and I was standing out there alone at 6am. Nonetheless, I decided I'd do a tempo run on my own. My schedule called for me to do 5 miles. I only got through 2 miles at an 8:20 pace before I stopped. Tragic. 3 weeks out from the marathon, I did 8 miles at about that same pace.
After walking for about 2 minutes, I started up running again. I did 3 more miles--2 @ about a 9:20 and then the last one at 8:30. It was incredibly not easy and really kinda sad. Spencer (our terrier tri running coach) says that I will see the work I did last Fall sometime this season and that I need to be patient. Based on today's run, I'm not really convinced, but I guess I'll take his word for it.
On another note, it was ridiculously cold this morning. 16 degrees with a windchill of 9 or thereabouts. But, it turns out that if you dress warmly enough, you really don't feel it. Today, despite running on the West Side, where the wind off the river basically assaults you, I felt no colder than any other winter day. However, I had on 2 pairs of pants, 3 shirts (one lined with fleece), a fleece headband, and big funny looking gloves with hand warmers inside. Running creates a lot of laundry...
Today's Workout:
5 miles (44 minutes)
Instructor-less swimming
So, this is the thing. I'm a terrible swimmer. I don't kick from the hip. I don't rotate my body. And I'm not good at the breathing. Yet still, apparently I think I can be a triathlete.
To remedy this, I started going to terrier tri's beginner swim class. It meets on Thursdays at 8pm at the Equinox at 63rd and Lex. I'm not a member of Equinox so I really enjoy the treat of getting to use their fancy facility, complete with kiehl's products. Generally, one of the new terrier tri coaches spends an hour making us do drills focusing on all the things I do wrong, i.e. everything. I think I will keep going to this even when my official 8 week indoor tri training program starts on 2/15 because let's be honest, I need all the practice I can get.
But yesterday, I arrived at class and there was no instructor. Elyse had mentioned she might not be coming and that someone else would. Unfortunately, there was no someone else. This wouldn't be so terrible if I was a decent swimmer and could just swim laps but well, I can't. 4 laps and I'm exhausted. I think the tri starts with 30. Crap, I'm screwed.
Add to that the fact that I didn't run yesterday morning either. So, I did 2 laps and rested. And then another 2 laps. And another. Until I couldn't take it anymore and went to meet my friend for Mexican food. I guess I will try again next week.
Today's Workout:
maybe 20 minutes of swimming...but probably not that much
To remedy this, I started going to terrier tri's beginner swim class. It meets on Thursdays at 8pm at the Equinox at 63rd and Lex. I'm not a member of Equinox so I really enjoy the treat of getting to use their fancy facility, complete with kiehl's products. Generally, one of the new terrier tri coaches spends an hour making us do drills focusing on all the things I do wrong, i.e. everything. I think I will keep going to this even when my official 8 week indoor tri training program starts on 2/15 because let's be honest, I need all the practice I can get.
But yesterday, I arrived at class and there was no instructor. Elyse had mentioned she might not be coming and that someone else would. Unfortunately, there was no someone else. This wouldn't be so terrible if I was a decent swimmer and could just swim laps but well, I can't. 4 laps and I'm exhausted. I think the tri starts with 30. Crap, I'm screwed.
Add to that the fact that I didn't run yesterday morning either. So, I did 2 laps and rested. And then another 2 laps. And another. Until I couldn't take it anymore and went to meet my friend for Mexican food. I guess I will try again next week.
Today's Workout:
maybe 20 minutes of swimming...but probably not that much
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Are you a warrior?
Last week I started going to warrior fitness bootcamp thanks to my friend Shannon and a deal on Gilt City. Today, I finished my 3 class trial and bit the bullet and bought 20 more classes because let's face it, I'm just a fitness junkie that way.
I was late for class today--it starts at 6:30am but because of the icy conditions my cab was moving super slowly and I didn't get there until 6:35. No worries though--55 minutes of bootcamp is plenty. We started class by running the stairs. The gym is on 3 and we ran up to 12 and back. Then I think we did about 50 or so jumping jacks and did some running drills. It turns out sprinting laps around the studio is pretty hard when you do speedwork the day before. The fun continued with series of pushups, squat thrusts, backwards bear crawls around the room, more running, more stairs, crunches and other fun. Then on to the obstacle course.
The obstacle course is really hard for me because let's face it, my upper body strength is lacking. Not to mention my legs were pretty much feeling like jello at this point. The hardest thing for me now is the monkey bars which I really have no hope of crossing at this point. The tallest wall is near impossible for me to scale as well. Oh, and then there is climbing the rope--can't really do that either.
Once we got done with the obstacle course, we teamed up to do 100 partner sit ups with a medicine ball. I honestly wanted to stop after 50 but when you're working with a partner, you have no choice but to keep going. Then, we did a circuit with weights. We each got a body bar or dumbells and did a consecutive ladder (25,20, 15,10, 5) of bicep curls, shoulder presses, and skull crushers, i.e. 25 of each, then 20 of each and so on. Finally we put the weights away, flipped over and did plank until class was over.
I really love warrior fitness bootcamp. We do a lot of the moves that I used to do in kickboxing classes before I started working in 2008 and found it impossible to get to class consistently. I decided to do classes on Monday and Wednesday of each week at least till my 20 pack of classes runs out. I will reevaluate then. For now, I'm a warrior.
Exercise Today:
55 minutes Warrior Fitness Bootcamp
I was late for class today--it starts at 6:30am but because of the icy conditions my cab was moving super slowly and I didn't get there until 6:35. No worries though--55 minutes of bootcamp is plenty. We started class by running the stairs. The gym is on 3 and we ran up to 12 and back. Then I think we did about 50 or so jumping jacks and did some running drills. It turns out sprinting laps around the studio is pretty hard when you do speedwork the day before. The fun continued with series of pushups, squat thrusts, backwards bear crawls around the room, more running, more stairs, crunches and other fun. Then on to the obstacle course.
The obstacle course is really hard for me because let's face it, my upper body strength is lacking. Not to mention my legs were pretty much feeling like jello at this point. The hardest thing for me now is the monkey bars which I really have no hope of crossing at this point. The tallest wall is near impossible for me to scale as well. Oh, and then there is climbing the rope--can't really do that either.
Once we got done with the obstacle course, we teamed up to do 100 partner sit ups with a medicine ball. I honestly wanted to stop after 50 but when you're working with a partner, you have no choice but to keep going. Then, we did a circuit with weights. We each got a body bar or dumbells and did a consecutive ladder (25,20, 15,10, 5) of bicep curls, shoulder presses, and skull crushers, i.e. 25 of each, then 20 of each and so on. Finally we put the weights away, flipped over and did plank until class was over.
I really love warrior fitness bootcamp. We do a lot of the moves that I used to do in kickboxing classes before I started working in 2008 and found it impossible to get to class consistently. I decided to do classes on Monday and Wednesday of each week at least till my 20 pack of classes runs out. I will reevaluate then. For now, I'm a warrior.
Exercise Today:
55 minutes Warrior Fitness Bootcamp
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Day 1 of Blogging
After reading tons of fitness blogs and loving them, I decided to start one of my own. For one, I'm pretty sure all of my friends are sick and tired of me raving about my workouts so, this gives me a place to share them. I began running back in 2007 thanks to my friend Stin and my firm track club. That November, I did my first half marathon and then the following November I ran the NY marathon and I've basically been a running junkie ever since. I did the Philly marathon in 2009 and then the NY marathon again in 2010. NY is an awesome race--I'm signed up to do it again this year. As a result of training with the terrier tri team running coach Spencer for NY 2010, somehow I got roped into signing up for the team and allegedly training for my first tri. So here I am, from a runner (loosely speaking) to a triathlete.
I'm not really much of a triathlete because I didn't really learn to a bike until Summer 2010 and I just am learning to swim this year, so it should be an interesting transition. I'm also a bit addicted to other gym activities like kickboxing, spinning and boot camp so that gets in the way of training for the 3 sports.
Today I was supposed to go to Terrier Practice at 6am but I literally put on all my running clothes, went outside, noted the "wintry mix" falling from the sky and turned around and went back inside and back to sleep. 2 hours later, I woke up and did the Terrier workout on the treadmill. 6x400 meters with a 400 meter active recovery and 4x200meters with 200 meters active recovery. I did the first 4 400 meter intervals at 8.5 and then the last 2 at 8.6 and 8.7. Then I did the 4 x 200 meter intervals at 8.7, 8.8, 8.9, and 9.0. I warmed up and cooled down for .5 miles each which ended up making the workout approximately 5 miles.
It's weird because sometimes I feel like I can push myself way harder on the treadmill because my body has to keep up with the conveyor belt unless I actually stop the mill. But on the other hand, I've heard that the mill pushes you a long a bit.
Total Workout today:
Running: 5 miles (45 minutes)
I'm not really much of a triathlete because I didn't really learn to a bike until Summer 2010 and I just am learning to swim this year, so it should be an interesting transition. I'm also a bit addicted to other gym activities like kickboxing, spinning and boot camp so that gets in the way of training for the 3 sports.
Today I was supposed to go to Terrier Practice at 6am but I literally put on all my running clothes, went outside, noted the "wintry mix" falling from the sky and turned around and went back inside and back to sleep. 2 hours later, I woke up and did the Terrier workout on the treadmill. 6x400 meters with a 400 meter active recovery and 4x200meters with 200 meters active recovery. I did the first 4 400 meter intervals at 8.5 and then the last 2 at 8.6 and 8.7. Then I did the 4 x 200 meter intervals at 8.7, 8.8, 8.9, and 9.0. I warmed up and cooled down for .5 miles each which ended up making the workout approximately 5 miles.
It's weird because sometimes I feel like I can push myself way harder on the treadmill because my body has to keep up with the conveyor belt unless I actually stop the mill. But on the other hand, I've heard that the mill pushes you a long a bit.
Total Workout today:
Running: 5 miles (45 minutes)
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