Failed workout

I got to the gym today and just didn't feel right.  I was slow getting set up and then when I went to get into position for a deadlift, I felt something in my knee.  This was something new and not good.  Not pain, but not good.  That combined with annoying stuff on the TV that I couldn't turn off or change the channel on led me to just leave after only about 10-15 minutes.  I'll try again another day.  This is the first time I've ever left a workout after getting to the gym, so I'm not going to beat myself up over it.  Better to leave and not injure myself.

Check

Although it took me a while to talk myself into getting out of bed today, the plan did it's motivational work and I got in my 2 miles.  I even saw another runner.  She passed by my house as I was leaving.  Also, the bunny count is back!  I did count 3 bunnies on a run a week or two ago and forgot to report.  I'm sure if anyone reads this they are so disappointed in me for missing that!  (What good is my blog without a bunny count?!?!)

My heart rate monitor didn't read right.  It started around 50bpm and I can assure you if I'm standing up, there is no way my heart rate is that low.  It must have not had good contact.  I averaged 12:00/mile, which is fine since the plan says 12:30.

Bunny count - 3 (really hard to see in the dark!)

Speeding up

I thought I was going way too slow today during my lifting session.  But, it ended up taking 1:09, which is about right.  It was tough, of course, but I did increase the weights a bit.  I'm not sure if that will happen next time, though!  The strangest thing is that with all the squat troubles I have, the first set of 20 back squats were the easiest out of all 80.  Overall, not bad.  I tweaked something in my right leg.  It's somewhat on the side, kind of between the quad and hip.  Not sure what that is.  I thought it might be the IT band, so I foam rolled, but I couldn't seem to fire it up with the roller.  I'll stretch a little, too.  I'll be sitting on my bum the whole day at work, so it'll get some rest.


Fat Loss III B2

Front squat - 4x10@55#

Underhand lat pulldown - 4x10@92#

Step-up - 4x10@20#each hand

Dumbbell push press - 4x10@25# each hand

Squat - 2x20@55#


Wide-grip lat pulldown - 2x20@75#

Step-up - 2x20@20# each hand

Dumbbell shoulder press - 2x20@20# each hand


Swiss ball crunch - 2x10@25# behind head

6 mile run

I tried to talk myself out of running today.  It was really windy, which is annoying to run in.  But, being where I am, the wind is something I have to deal with.  There is a reason this state is about second in the nation with wind power production.  I managed to hit my goal pace, on average.  The plan says 12:30/mile and I averaged 12:13/mile.  There were a few times when I looked at my FR305 and realized I had slowed down, so I picked it up again.  Thanks to the wind, I decided to run mostly on a path that runs by a creek.  It is sheltered, so I don't get hit by the wind so hard.  Overall, not a bad run.  My max run distance will stay at 6 miles for another week.

My first tempo run

Today was 1 mile slow run, 3 miles rather fast for me(~10:50/mile) then another slow mile.  I felt like going really fast at the start, but made myself slow down.  Then, I found the fast part hard to do.  The wind didn't help.  The weather info says 7-8mph winds, but I know there were times when it was much higher than that.  My heart rate got up around 180bpm and stayed there.  A little faster than I like long term.  Not my best run ever, but I can check it off now.  I'm about a third of the way through the 20k training plan., although I kind of skipped the first two runs.

My biceps

Today was another day with a crazy amount of deadlifts.  Scary going in, but very satisfying when I'm done.  I didn't warm up with deadlifts this time, so only 80 of them :)  I actually increased several of my weights.  That surprised me, especially the DB bench presses.  This workout is a grip killer.  By the end of the hanging leg raises, my hands are sore and red.

When I got to the gym, one person was there, upstairs, making a lot of really loud noise.  I figured he was using the punching bags, but it was louder than I had heard before.  I got a little spooked and actually went back to my car.  As I was about to drive away, he came downstairs to the weight room.  Didn't look scary, so I turned off the car and went back in.  I'm glad I did, because I had a great workout!  I think it was louder because the bags are on the floor right above the entryway.  Maybe he was kickboxing or something like that to make it loud.

I just wanted to post a pic today.  I'm flexing!  No biceps curls or triceps kickbacks.

And now for the workout...

Fat Loss III A2

Deadlift - 4x10@140#

Push-up - 4x10 (mostly regular instead of explosive, but I did try to push up a bit faster)

Bulgarian split squat - 4x10@15# each hand (10 reps each leg)

Two-point dumbbell row - 4x10@35#

Deficit deadlift - 1x20@100#, 1x20@110#

Dumbbell bench press - 2x20@25# each hand (very surprised I managed all 40 reps at this weight)

Walking lunge with side bend - 1x20@15# each hand, 1x20@20# each hand

Cable seated row - 2x20@71#

Hanging leg raise - 2x10

Different run timing

I was up too late last night to get my scheduled 2 mile run in in the morning.  So, I did it after work.  I was making brown rice for supper, which takes a while to cook, so I set it cooking and as I was about to leave, hubby came home with the kids.  I ran anyway.  I was anxious to get back home, I ran faster than usual.  I ended up averaging a little less than 10 minutes per mile.  Not bad for me!  I got back quickly and got supper going.  Since it was day time, I got to run on the unlit path.  Nice!

80 squats!?!

I'm not sure what's worse 80 deadlifts plus 80 Bulgarian split squats, or 80 squats plus 160 step-ups.  I worked the squats mostly in mini-sets of 5 with pauses between.  That was the only way to keep myself semi-sane.  I managed to keep relatively good form on most of them.  I did one good morning out of the hole on the last rep in a set.  Not bad, I guess.  I wasn't using a crazy amount of weight, though.  It took 1:13 to burn 588 calories.


Fat Loss III B1
Front squat - 4x10@55#

Underhand lat pulldown - 1x10@87#, 3x10@92#

Step-up - 2x10@15# each hand, 2x10@20# each hand

Dumbbell push press - 4x10@25# each hand

Squat - 2x20@55#

Wide-grip lat pulldown - 2x20@75#

Step-up - 2x20@20# each hand (yes, this in addition to step-ups above)

Dumbbell shoulder press - 2x20@20# each hand

Swiss-ball crunch - 2x10@25# behind head (2secs up, pause, 2secs down)

5 miles and a splash

Yesterday we were out of town with good friends with plans to go to an indoor water park.  Since I knew my 20k training plan called for a 5 mile run on the weekend, I warned my friends that I would be running and anybody who wanted to could join me.  Luckily, I had a taker and my friend joined my for my long (slow) run.  We meandered around the nearby neighborhoods.  Even though it was 20F out, it was sunny and beautiful.

Later in the day, we took our families to the park and had a great time.  The kids were exhausted by the time we got back in the car to head home.  They slept for 12 hours and we still had to wake them up this morning!

My own workout creation

I wanted to lift today, but I didn't want to do Fat Loss III workout B1 quite yet, since I don't want to be sore this weekend.  So, I put together my own short workout.

I had been wanting to work on squats.  I thought about what someone said about single leg squats.  I hate single leg squats because I can't get any depth on them.  But, I thought for sure there is some way to get depth with time.  Enter YouTube.  Of course, I quickly found a good solution on YouTube.  I learned I could do single leg box squats.  That is where I squat down until my bottom touches a box.  In my case, it was a step with eight risers.  You could start by sitting down every time, but after a couple reps doing that, I found I could just barely touch it and head back up.  The height had me almost to parallel, but not quite.  Although, I bet a lot of people would erroneously think it was parallel.

My workout
I used one minute rests.  Definitely wasn't up to New Rules level, but that was the point!  It took me about 37 minutes including foam rolling at the end.

Jump rope - 3 min

Single leg box squats - body weight to step with eight risers 2x10 each leg

Push-ups - 2x10 used 8# dumbbells for my hands

Planks - 1 min forearms on step with 8 risers and shins on physio ball, 1 min forearms on floor and shins on physio ball

Single-leg Romanian deadlifts - 2x10ea leg@70# using barbell

Dumbbell bench press - 2x10@25#ea hand

Sick is no fun

Monday, I woke up aching.  I thought it was all because of my lifting Saturday.  I was still sore from Saturday, even more so than on Sunday.  But, I was also sick.  Ugg.  Today I was sick, too, but recovered a decent amount.  My fever had mostly cleared, and I was able to eat some, so I decided to try my scheduled 2 mile run.  It went fine.  I can still tell I'm not 100%, but I'll survive.  The run was rather cool and the wind kept blowing down my hoodie.  You'd think a hoodie jacket specifically made for running would stay up, but such is not the case.  I'm going to have to sew in some elastic or a drawstring, I think.  I'm not sure I'm going to have the energy to lift in the morning like I wanted to.  We'll see!

Back outside!!

After a few treadmill runs, I was back outside today!  It was 40F and beautiful.  Well, ok, it was overcast and muddy, but just the fact that I could run outside made it beautiful.  I ran a total of 4 miles.  What was wonderful is that my son joined my on his bike for the first 2.5 miles.  I basked in the birds (including a redwing blackbird and a cardinal!) but I could have done without the saturated dog poo and yucky melting snow.  But, that comes with the end of winter.  It's a necessary evil, I guess.

My average speed was 12:13 min/mile.  My SmartCoach running plan from Runner's World told me to run a 12:38 pace, so I was right on.  I'm still sore from yesterday, especially my glutes, but not too bad.  I can walk without waddling.  Also, no lower back pain, so the 90 deadlifts must have been ok!

A puke-worthy workout

Although I didn't actually puke today, I had some close calls!  I'm glad I didn't eat before I went to the gym, because that might have pushed me over the edge.

Today was the first of the Fat Loss III A workout from New Rules of Lifting.  It lived up to it's notoriety.  I made sure I went on Saturday so I could spend extra time at the gym if needed. It was needed.  All together, I spent 1:20 there, which included a 3 minute warm-up on the stair machine.  I think next time, I'm going to drop the weights a bit because I had to take more breaks than was called for.

I figured out that if you add up every rep, I deadlifted a total of 10,250 pounds!  My heart rate averaged 147bpm over that 1:20.  SportsTracks says I burned 648 calories.  Sounds about right!

Now, off to foam roll and stretch!

FL3A1

Warm-up - 3 min on stair machine, DLs - 5@95#, 5@115#

Deadlift - 4x10@135#

Push-up - 4x10

Bulgarian split squat - 1x10@20#each hand, 3x10@15#each hand

Two-pt dumbbell row (one arm at a time) - 1x10@30#, 3x10@35#

Deficit deadlift (not from a box, since my plates were already smaller) - 2x20@95#

Dumbbell bench press - 1x(6@25#ea, 14@20#ea), 1x20@20#ea

Walking lunge with side bend - 2x20@20#ea

Cable seated row - 2x20@71#

Hanging leg raise - 2x10

Another rainy day...

... another day on the treadmill.

It seemed that nothing went right.  But, I did get my 3 miles in.

I decided to do an interval setting to more closely mimic hills outside.  The interval setting on the treadmill lets you set the speed for the intervals, which is nice.  It might let you set the incline, too, but I left that alone at 0% and 3%.  I set the 0% for 5.3 mph and the 3% at 5 mph.

After half a mile running, I accidentally reset the treadmill, so I had to start it up again (and writing this, I realized I ended up off 0.05mile... oh well).  Then, after 1.75 miles, nature called, even though she called before I went to the gym.

I did at least get to watch a funny episode of Monk on the treadmill.  That kept me distracted enough.

Treadmill changeup

For my 2 mile run today, I decided to do something other than run a straight 1% incline.  I set the treadmill to a random program.  It ended up to be more of a tall hill than random.  It did make things more interesting, though.  It started out flat, which is odd since I'm used to 1%.  But then it popped up to 3% and eventually got to 6.5% about half way through the run.  I ran at that incline for a while, but had to reduce speed and eventually knocked the incline down some before the treadmill was ready.
Interestingly enough, the treadmill said I burned 301 calories and SportsTracks says 305.  My HR maxed out at about 180bpm.  I was pouring sweat!

I think I'll try a program again.  Maybe intervals.

I've been thinking about doing outside morning runs again.  However, this morning it was raining.  34F rain is not my idea of an enjoyable run.

Yoga Today

I did the Knee Therapy video from Yoga Today again today.  Not much to say about that.  I'm still not sure how effective it is.  Also, I'm not sure it was that great of an idea to get up early for that, since I'm still very tired.

**YAWN**

Long run outside

Today was my scheduled 3 mile "long run" from my 20k training plan.  Since we were visiting my parents, I told hubby, he had to go with me.  I got us up around 6:20 and hubby was not excited about getting up.  I told him I would call him lazy-butt if he didn't get up and go with me.  Luckily, that worked!  It was about 33F and overcast.  It turned out to be a nice 3.7 mile jog.  It's crazy hill here, though.

Still on track!

Ouch...

Today I finished Fat Loss II from New Rules!!  That is so cool.  I started in December (well, the first workout was in Dec and the second on Jan 8!), so the 12 workouts took me a while, but there were the holidays and sickness to slow me down.  Otherwise, I've been fairly decent at keeping with it.

I managed to increase a few of my weights.  I pushed it pretty hard and I think I'm going to feel it.  I hope I can still make my Sunday long run.  After the first set of BSS+OHP, I noticed my right hip flexor hurting.  When I got home, I foam rolled and it seemed more like my quad.  Either way, something is sore there.  I kept going, but I'll keep a close eye on that.

Fore whatever reason, my heart rate didn't get as high as it usually does.  Maybe that was because I wasn't hitting the rests very well. I was resting longer than 30 seconds more often that I would like.

FL2A6

Warm up - deadlifts 5@45#, 4@90#, 4@115#

Snatch-grip deadlift - 2x8@140#, 1x8@145#  (wow!)

T-push-up - 3x8 on dbs for wrists

Bulgarian split squat with overhead press - 3x8each leg@15#each hand (hip flexor/quad soreness after first set)

Underhand-grip lat pulldown - 1x8@100#, 1x(4@100#, 4@92#), 1x8@100# (surprised and excited that I could finish the last set all at 100#)

Romanian deadlift+bent-over row - 3x8@75#

Lower-body Russian twist - 3x8

check another one off

I knocked out another 2 mile run from my 20k schedule.  I'm finding the draw of a schedule to be very helpful in getting myself out of bed in the morning.  My schedule is pretty tight if I want to only increase my weekly distance by about 10% per week and make the 20k in June.  The plan also includes a low mileage week in the middle.

I'm hoping to sweet talk DH into joining me on my scheduled 3 mile run this weekend.  We'll be at my parents' place, so for once, we'll have someone to watch the kiddos.  I hope the weather is good.

Today, I watched MTV while I ran.  Early in the morning I guess they assume their target clientele  is asleep (probably true) because, get this, they actually play music!  Wow.

200th Post!

Today is extra-special.  I finished the A workouts of Fat Loss 2 from New Rules of Lifting AND it's my 200th blog post!  Yippee!

Today's workout was tough.  My heart rate doesn't get as high as with the B workouts, possibly because I can't lift enough on the squats, but I think I sweat more with the A workouts.  I wonder why that is!?!  Strange.  I did still average 141 bpm and got up to 170 bpm.  Plenty of work!

These past few workouts, I've tried eating a banana and drinking a bit of milk.  I don't think I like it.  It weighs in my stomach and I can taste the smell on my breath the whole workout.  It makes me feel like more than just smell is going to come up.

FL2A6

Front squat - 3x8@60#

Somewhat wide-grip cable seated row - 3x8@89#

Supine hip extension with single leg curl - 3each leg x8

Barbell push press - 3x8@65#

Dynamic Lunge - 3x8@65# (some with bar on back, some with bar front)

Upper-body Russian twist - 1x8@20#db, 2x8@25#db (bracing legs in power rack helped a lot!)

Hard run

Being so sore from yesterday's lifting, I was starting to talk myself out of getting up early today.  But, I remembered my training schedule and got up.  I knew it wouldn't be a fantastic run, but it was still harder than I thought it would be.  It didn't help that nature called after a quarter mile.  At least I was on the treadmill and not out in the neighborhood. In the end, I got in the two miles and can check the run off on my schedule.

Wiped out

Yesterday, we spent 3-4 hours skiing.  That evening, I was surprisingly tired.  I didn't notice it as much there because it's not very intense when you have the short slopes that we have available here.  But, we were able to go down so many times, it still added up!  They are closing the skiing for the season in two weeks, so I'm not sure we'll be able to go again.

This morning I completed Fat Loss 2B5 from New Rules of Lifting.  I am WIPED OUT.  Good wiped out, though!  I feel wonderful as usual. I'm only about 10 pounds away from deadlifting my body weight.  If I were going for a one rep max, or something low rep, I think I'd be able to reach my body weight and more.  From this calculator and the other estimations it lists, I should be able to 1RM 160-175#.  I weigh about 150#, so I bet I could do it!

I love how this workout has not one, not two, but three exercises named after former eastern bloc countries!

FL2A5

Warm up - DL 5@45#, 4@90#, 4@115#

Snatch-grip deadlift - 3x8@140#

T-push-up - 3x8 (using dumbbells for my hands, not lifting them)

Bulgarian split squat with overhead press - 3x8ea@12#ea

Negative chins - 3x3 (count of ~15)

Romanian deadlift/bent-over row - 3x8@70#

Lower-body Russian twist - 3x8