Tuesday, September 28, 2010

A Long Overdue Update!!!

Hey there - I know its been a few weeks since I've updated, so I figured I'd post an update of my workout adventures! I ran my 5K and my leg held up beautifully! It was truly an amazing experience! I hit the time I wanted to (around 35 mins) and ran it with my grandpa - which was incredible! After that, my ankle started to bug me a little bit so I took a week off from running. A week after my 5K, the hubby and I did a 5K walk (and sometimes jog since we wanted a better workout) to support ALS - which was another amazing experience. After the ALS walk, my ankle was a little sore again - which means that I still need to rest it before I jump back into running.

SO - with that, I have planned my next fitness adventures!! I am going to begin training for my first endurance race! Woot!! In Mid-October, after my 1 year anniversary, I am going to begin a 26 week running program to build endurance and speed and cut excess body fat. I am waiting until this time for a few reasons, I don't want any nutrition restrictions for our anniversary & I want sufficient time to allow my ankle and knee to get stronger after their injuries.

I have also picked up a book specifically designed for nutrition for endurance athletes - which is going to be amazing! I have started eating at maintenance as of yesterday and plan on sticking with that through my training program (as per the book) so I am eating 1900 calories a day! EEK that's a lot! haha! It should definitely be awesome once my body adapts to it! I wanted to adapt to eating to that now so that the jump in calories didn't impact me when I started my new running program.

So now I am going to enjoy a few weeks of downtime, maybe throw in the occasional workout - but main focus is to get nutrition in line now - so that I don't need to worry about it later. Photo blog will be updated regularly with my 1900 goals in hopes that I can start eating "by eye" and not have to count everything I eat.

Anyways - that's about it for now. I probably won't be updating much until I start the new plan, since I'm not working out a whole lot. But if I do - I'll post it!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Today's Run

So today's run was a tough one. I think that today was a culmination of weeks worth of bottled up stress & fatigue. I haven't been sleeping well this week, but that was partially my fault - Monday night got hit with insomnia, Tuesday was America's Got Talent and I didn't get to bed until after 10 and last night I fell into a good book and didn't get to bed until 10. For a normal person, this wouldn't be late at all - but I have to be at work by 6am and the alarm goes off at 4am. 3 nights in a row of less than 6 hours of sleep doesn't do good things for me.

Being a hypothyroid, I'm naturally tired almost all the time and the lack of sleep didn't help much - so I've been drinking more caffeine and energy drinks than I usually do to get through the past few days, which means I haven't had as much water as I probably should. Work has been a little stressful which hasn't helped matters either. Tonight, we have friends coming over for the football game so I have been rationing out my calories so that I can eat the yummy turkey burgers that the hubby is grilling tonight - meaning I didn't have as much calorie fuel as I normally have for my runs.

Oh - and the air conditioning went out at the gym today - so I was running in a nasty hot room with no air circulation!

All of this stuff added up to a fun run on the treadmill today. I found that I was struggling more than normal and my knees were bugging me more than usual. I've got the left one wrapped and iced it earlier to prevent any possible swelling, and I can't afford to injure it prior to my race - so I'm going to take it easy for the next 2 days.

Anyways - now that I've ranted enough about my crappy afternoon - here's my run today. I didn't do bad at all, considering the circumstances - still made a quick time and am averaging an 11 min mile for the whole run. Hopefully a few days of rest and relaxation will make for a better run on Sunday

Warm Up: 5 mins brisk walk
Run for 3.1 miles (between 5.3 and 6.5 miles per hour) in 33 mins 37 seconds
Cool Down: 7 mins of walking to lower heart rate and slow stretching after

Total Workout time: 49 mins
Total Calories Burned: 500
Total Distance Covered (with warm up and cool down): 3.74 miles
Average Heart Rate: 79%
Max Heart Rate: 94%

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Yay for Running

So I had another awesome workout today. I had planned to run my 5K today on a treadmill at work after my shift - but by the time the day was over, I just wanted to bolt out of there. So instead I opted for an outdoor run....in the desert....during the heat of the day....in 90+ degree weather...instead of air conditioned, climate controlled treadmill. Ya - I must be crazy!

I chose to run laps in my neighborhood - I have a 1 mile loop and ran that 3 times plus the extra 0.10 of a mile. Due to the heat, it wiped me out really fast and I had to stop and walk 4 times - my HRM wouldn't fall below 90% unless I stopped and walked. But each walk was only around 30 seconds, so I'm still happy. Time was a little longer than I wanted it to be, but I am attributing that to the heat as well.

I need to keep conditioning myself for outdoor running as my first race is coming up in a few weeks, so I think I'm going to have to start running at different times of the day. I don't particularly want to get up at 4am and run outside, but its definitely cooler than 4 in the afternoon. I am also contemplating starting to run every other day - instead of only 3 days a week, so I have an opportunity to get a few more workouts in before my race - but I'll have to see how I feel

Anyways, here's today's run - I don't know the max/avg speed and all those other fun facts. I used my IPOD and left my phone at home so I didn't have CardioTrainer running.

Warm Up: 5 mins brisk walk and dynamic stretching
Run 5K in 37 mins 11 seconds around my neighborhood
Cool Down: probably 5 mins walking to lower heart rate - whatever the length of "I will not bow" by Breaking Benjamin - the song was over when I got home and then stretching

Total Workout Time: 51 minutes
Total Calories Burned: 580 (considering I burned 60+ more calories than last run but had a longer time, this is definitely heat induced!)
Average Heart Rate: 83% - ya considering max is 85%, I whooped my butt today!
Max Heart Rate: 94%

Now that that's over, I am going to take it easy, rehydrate and get ready for clients later tonight! Fun Fun Fun!

Monday, September 6, 2010

Yesterday's Run

So had another awesome run yesterday. I decided to run a different course than I normally do - which turned out to be interesting. There's a MASSIVE hill that looks harmless enough when one is driving it, but running it is a pain! I ended up having to walk up it, and my heart rate was STILL over 90%! Eek! Maybe I'll find another route to run for a while

Anyways, even with my walking, I still got in a good time - 36 mins 20 seconds and my first mile was under 10 minutes! I was stoked!

Nutrition has been off all weekend - but I'm not too worried about it. I'm viewing it as a refeed weekend and nutrition will be back on point tomorrow. Trying to think of the next strength training challenge for me to do since MTC is over. A SparkFriend recommended something interesting, that I may have to start in the next few days - it will definitely be a challenge! We'll have to see how it goes!

Warm Up - 5 minutes
Run 5K around neighborhood 36 mins 20 seconds
Cool Down - 10 mins walking and stretching

Total Time: 46 mins
Total Calories Burned: 525
Total Distance (not including warm up) 3.62 miles
Max Speed: 8.4 MPH
Avg Speed: 4.7 MPH (this is due to the walking I had to do)
Total Climb 158 yards

Friday, September 3, 2010

Yesterday's Run

So I had an awesome run yesterday - managed another 5K on the treadmill without stopping! Woot!

Warm Up - 5 min walk
Run - 5K in 33 mins 35 seconds (averaged 5.5 MPH and got faster for the last quarter mile - finished running 6.5 MPH)
Cool Down - 7 min walk and cool down

Total Distance Ran: 3.76 miles (including warm up and cool down)
Total Calories Burned: 500
Total Workout Time: 49 minutes

I also got in a 3 mile walk with a client yesterday that was awesome - didn't wear my HRM though, so don't know my burn on that one! Today is a rest day and I need to figure out what to do now that MTC is over :-D