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! :)

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!!

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.

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?

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

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!

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

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

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