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!!
Showing posts with label Terrier. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Terrier. Show all posts
Friday, September 30, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
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 :)
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, 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!
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
Friday, February 4, 2011
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
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