Beautiful clouds

I really didn't want to get up. I almost fell asleep getting ready to go.  I dilly dallied way too much.  BUT I still got out for a run.  I had been talking about how my favorite temperature to run in is about 55F.  Well, it was 56F this morning, so I just had to take advantage of it.  I was treated with a beautiful dawn.  There was a large group of striated clouds right were the sun was coming up.  The effect was red and blue stripes across the sky.  Beautiful!

I ended up at 2.13 miles at an average 10:48 pace.  Not bad for not having run in ages.

4 bunnies

Final stretch before the 10k

I had planned 2.5 miles today and 3 on Thursday, but I was feeling so good today, I did the 3 miles today.  I think it might be better to ease up on Thursday, anyway, since my 10k is on Saturday.  Also, the 2.5 miles might be on a treadmill, so I'd rather not go far on that.

It was a beautiful day for a run.  Mid-fifties, medium wind.

I increased my cadence to the next notch and used a 163bpm Podrunner podcast called Tiger by the Tail.  I love when this happens.  As I was starting my last stretch up a long incline, the mood intensified.  It felt like it sped up, but it didn't.  I did, though!

1 bunny

Slight change of plans...

Today was a chilly but otherwise good day for a run.  It was 41F when I got outside, so I was dressed pretty warmly.  By the end of the run, it was still only 45F, but the sun was up, so I felt too warm.  I wore cold weather running pants and a long sleeved running shirt.  I also started with gloves, but those came off after a few miles.  I just stuffed them under my iFitness belt and all was well.

My original goal was 8 miles for today.  Mother nature delayed me a little more than I had wanted to, so I changed my goal to 1:30.  It turns out, if it not were for a special encounter, I would have finished 8 miles before the 1:30 mark.

I was running down an asphalt path that has a very steep hill.  It's not very long, but steep.  So, I was just concentrating on getting up the hill, not looking to the top.  At the top, there is a sharp curve that goes around some brush.  When I got around the curve, about 20 feet in front of me, frozen and staring at me, was a young-ish whitetail buck.  After a second or so, he turned down the path and started running away.  So, I started up running again behind him.  Then he veered to the right and over a wire fence.  I took a few more steps and turned around.  In the field where he probably came from was a doe, staring intently at me.  Then, I looked over to where the buck had gone and noticed he had two little ones with him.  I was far enough away, but the doe wasn't taking any chances.  She very cautiously moved bit by bit toward her family.  Eventually, she too jumped the fence and the family was reunited and they headed off across the field.  It was breathtaking.  There are often deer and deer tracks in this area, but I've never encountered them so closely!  It was amazing and invigorating!

That actually did pick me up some.  I was starting to drag and was wondering if I would make my goal.  But seeing those deer gave me a second wind.  On the street that the path leads to, I ran right by a dead racoon.  Not quite as exciting as the live deer! Ha!

It turns out that in those 1:30, I ran 7.73 miles.  Considering I stopped for about 4 minutes to watch the deer, I don't think that is that bad.  I used 160 and 159bpm podcasts today.

Tomorrow will definitely be a day to rest.  In addition to the run today, I spent around 7 hours at an amusement park with family and friends.  Of course that included a lot of walking and even some running after kids!

1 bunny
4 deer

Cooler and windy

Autumn is definitely on its way in.  Today was 53F and pretty windy.  I did get out for my 3 mile run that had been postponed from yesterday thanks to rain and being the day after my last run.  I could do back-to-back 3 mile runs, but I don't need to.  I could tell the cooler temps + the wind together were getting close to sparking some asthma.  I guess I have to get used to the cooling weather.  At least I didn't get all the way to wheezing.

I thought I was going really slow, but I ended up at 10:44min/mile at an average hear rate of 161.  Actually maybe a bit high, since it looks like at my fastest points, the HRM was losing contact.  I guess I'm not meant to run 9min/mile!

One week until my 10k!  I ordered a shirt with my half marathon number on it.  I hope it won't be too cold to wear it.  Maybe I could wear it over another shirt if it's too cold.  But, this way I won't have to pin on my number and risk tearing it off by accident (this was an issue for my 20k).  Also, I'll have a personalized run shirt!

1 bunny

Nice fast-ish run!

It wasn't raining today, yay!  Although, I did feel a few drops.  It was so humid and hazy, I think they kind of materialized out of the air not too far above me.

I felt like I was taking it pretty fast, but that felt good.  My average heart rate was 162 over 2.5 miles running section. Funny, I also ran to a 162bpm Podrunner podcast!

I averaged 10:21min/mile.  Not too shabby for me!

Scared away by lightning

I knew the storms were moving this way, but looking at the radar, it looked like I had some time before the rain got here.  I did.  However, lightning can strike many miles in front of the storm.  I still figured I had time, so I got ready and headed out.  I didn't even make it to the next house when  I saw lightning in the sky in front of me.  I took that as a warning and headed back inside.  I'm sure it wasn't close, but I had been hearing rumbles.  It's not worth it.

So, I headed to the basement to do Stage 6A5-2, the last A workout.  Not my favorite.  I'm not a huge AMRAP fan.  But, it's short and I knew it would be.

Stage 6A5-2

Warm-up - not much of anything

Negative Chin-up - 20s, 17s, 16s (17.5# on back)

Underhand-grip Lat Pulldown - 4@115# (0/1/4 timing)

Barbell Split Squat - 2x10 @60#

Push-up - 14, 10 (on floor, using DB for hand grip)

Lightning in the distance

Tonight was a perfect evening for a run. It was cool, but not cold, not too humid, a decent breeze to keep me for getting too sweaty, and off in the distance, a thunderstorm was providing fireworks. I checked before I left and it looked like the storm was north of us and moving to the east. So, I didn't have to worry about getting rained on.

I put on some running shorts and a sleeveless running top AND for the first time, a reflective vest. I felt pretty silly in the vest, but it probably isn't a bad idea to use at night.

I decided to start with the intervals from my weightlifting program. So, I jogged for five minutes then started intervals of 1 minute hard running and 2 minutes jogging. I did that for 4 hard intervals then jogged until minute 20, when my knee started feeling funny. I felt it behind the knee, so I walked for a minute and then jogged home for 3.5 more minutes.

I averaged out at something like 10.7 minutes per mile for a total of 2.2 miles. Not horrible, I guess.

Three Miles Then Last Stage 1 Workout!

Yesterday, I got up early to work out, but it was 31F (~ -0.5C) so I did a 45 minute yoga tape instead. But, I ended up working from home and wanted to meet someone after work, so I mapped how far away that would be on gmap-pedometer.com and noticed that depending on how I went it would be 2.5-3 miles to get there. Bingo! Much nicer weather than in the wee hours of the morning. AND I got to see some sunshine. I chose the 3 mile route and finished in 34 minutes. Considering the few pretty decent hills on the route and my reduction in mileage lately, I thought that worked pretty well. I didn't go all out, but my heart rate did get up to 185bpm up one hill. It was that type of hill where I just stop thinking about making any kind of real progress and focus on keeping the feet going. I could have walked that fast! But, eventually, the road evened out and I was up! That is one of those hills that challenges drivers in the winter. Sometimes four wheel drive trucks even have a problem.

My husband encouraged me to go ahead and sign up for the 5k run on the 25th. So, I can't back out now! I need to send off the entry form so I can save $5.

After the run, I felt good. Although, I do notice a bit of oddness with my knee. That is kind of scary. I'm going to see if I can locate a good brace for running. I don't know what else to do.

This morning, I did one more repeat of Stage 1 workout B of New Rules of Lifting for Women. I warmed up with 50 calories on the elliptical. LOL, I think it took about 5 minutes or so, but I used the calorie count as my goal. I guess I was in a weird mood.

I was able to twice up the weights on the deadlifts to 55lb plus the 45 lb bar. One nice thing about the bar in the gym is that the surface is smoothed where your legs are. The knurling that helps you hold the bar is stopped there so you don't scrape up your shins doing deadlifts. I think I held good form for the lifts.

I tried upping the shoulder press weights, but a five pound jump from 20# to 25# was just too much. I got through 6 of 8 reps before I had to drop back down.

I finally got the Swiss ball situps to kind of show a little challenge. I held a 35# bar weight above my head. It was extra challenging because where I was doing the exercise had a surprisingly slippery floor. So, I had to stabilize and keep myself from slipping.

Lunges still weren't easy and I was on the verge of muscle failure. The other guy in the weight room was also keeping a log and did some lunges. I don't often see people with logs or lunges. I think some people think lunges aren't masculine enough or something. All I know is they kick my butt and I don't think I'm alone in that.

Now onto the AMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible) workouts. I think I'll pick weights from a few weeks in, rather than what I started with. We'll see.

Pathetic pushups

Today, I started off by running my measly mile in about 10:30 on the treadmill at 1% incline. I'm not sure why my time went up a bit. I guess I accidentally started off a little slow. Monday, when doing yoga, I felt a little bit of the odd feeling in my knee. But, today on the treadmill, I didn't notice anything. That's good! The temperature when I run should be starting to get above freezing pretty soon, so hopefully some outdoor runs are in my future.

Weights went well. I did 1A8 of NRoLfW. This should be my last day of stage one, workout A. I might add on another time or two, though. I'm definitely noticing some progression. I'm still upping the weights pretty much every time. I've been trying to increase the weights for at least the third set. If that third set is still not hitting my max, I make a note to increase the weights next time.

Squats went better today. I don't think I was having as many problems with lifting my upper and lower body separately. I am still doing them from a full squat. I had to pause a lot during my first couple sets. I would get a little dizzy when I stood up. My heart rate gets decently high, too, up into the 150s, maybe even to the 160s, but since my wrist is behind my shoulders, I can't actually see my watch. The odd thing is that they go better as I went through the sets. I'm not sure why. Maybe warming up by doing some non-weighted sets would be a good idea! I always thought it would wear me out. By the way, I mention warming up with non-weighted sets rather than reduced-weight sets, because I'm only using 10# on the 45# bar. 10# worth of weight on a 45# Olympic bar looks really funny. But, that's where I am and it's going to stay like that until my ability increases!

My push-ups are rather pathetic when I try to do them by the book. If I let me elbows out when I lower, I can do lots of push-ups on a low setting on the Smith machine. But, if I try to do them with my elbows in, I hit an angle where I just can't support myself. It's kind of like the point on my squats just around or below horizontal, where the muscle just doesn't want to fire. (That's why I started doing them from a full squat. Moving through that point seems to work ok.) So, I wonder if there is a way to move through this weak point with push-ups. It seems like I would fall flat on my nose. I wonder what different muscles are being used between the two styles. It would seem like the elbows-in version would focus more on triceps and the elbows-out style might recruit more biceps? Hmmm....

The Swiss ball jackknives were hard again. It seems that 10-12 are about the sweet spot. Doing 15 is hard!! But, my form was a lot better this time. I kept my toes more pointed rather than flexing my feet. That way is more challenging to stay balanced on the ball.

Step-ups went better. I still get my heart rate up pretty high with these. I use a weight bench, so the step is pretty high. I have to pause to get my heart rate down between legs. I think at one point, I got up to 174bpm. But, I guess this is a rather dynamic exercise.

Faster mile, better deadlifts

Today, I ran my measly mile in 10:22. Not horrible, but not great. I used a 1% incline and ran at 5.5mph with some 6.2mph intervals. This weekend, we are supposed to get hit by a big snowstorm, so I likely won't be running outside, unfortunately. Maybe I'll get lucky and I'll find a break in the weather. Luckily, this weather has to be on the way out and spring will arrive. I hope to add two or three days of running a week to alternate with my lifting days.

During the run, my HRM freaked out and popped up to something like 213bpm. I know that wasn't right. It went back down to 163bpm, which was in line what I was feeling. Both the treadmill and my wristband registered the heart rate, so it must have been my transmitter that was having issues. If this equipment poops out, I might consider going overboard with one of the Garmins. I've proven that I'll actually consistently use the HRM over a long period of time, so it wouldn't be a huge leap to think I would actually use an even fancier toy. Although, I don't use my Polar F6 "Own Zone" calculated heart rate ranges. If I did, I would be over it all the time! I think it wants be to max out at something like 150bpm, which just isn't reasonable for me. Maybe I should set my own limits and have it try to keep me below something like 175bpm. Otherwise, I love my Polar F6.

Today was 1B7 of NRoLfW. I increased my weights on every set. That was a good feeling, but I was definitely pushing my limits on some of them. I tried to pay close attention to my form on the deadlifts. Looking straight ahead and squatting deeper than before seemed to help.

During the second set of lunges, I picked the wrong set of weights (20# dumbbells rather than 15# dumbbells) and my body told me. On a couple of the reps, I was at the point of muscle failure. (This isn't necessarily as bad as it sounds.) When I finished the set, I looked at my notes and realized my mistake. At least that tells me I'm picking the right weights! I normally don't want to train to failure, but rather somewhat close to it. For the 3rd set, I went back to 15# dumbbells and that set went as good or better than the first! For the previous workout I had used 12# dumbbells, although the rep count was 10 for that workout rather than 8 this time.

I'm still not feeling the burn for the Swiss ball crunches. This time I used a 25# or 30# dumbbell held over my head to increase the intensity. The reps increased from 12 to 15, but that still wasn't enough. I think I get more ab work out of the prone jackknives, which also use the Swiss ball.

My hips feel well worked today. It's a good feeling, not an alarming one. I wonder if the deeper squatting is helping that? I just hope it means my hips are getting stronger. That would be a good thing.

I've started looking at 5k races coming up. There is one in a couple weeks. I don't think I'm going to participate in that one. I'd have to drive about an hour to get to it. There is one on the 25th of April that I'm seriously considering. They even have a 200m fun run for kids. I think my son would enjoy that. So, the question becomes, will I be ready for a 5k in three weeks?? I'll have to look into that. The positive about that one is that I know the route and I know it's pretty flat. I ran a 4k race there last year before I finished C25K.

Swimming

Due to bad weather and my sore knee, I skipped a few workouts. Last night, I stayed in the town where I work to avoid traveling in the blowing snow in the morning. So, this morning I got up and swam instead of my usual workout. There were a few things I noticed. I used my HRM and noticed since you swim in a prone position, my heart rate isn't as high until I stand up. In general, I didn't get my heart rate up very high, since I found that kicking in the water hurt my knee. It hurt a lot more than running and lifting due to the lateral motion. So, instead of swimming the whole time, I walked back and forth in the water and also did some laps just swimming with my arms. Not the most intense workout, but it was a nice change-up. I hope to get back to normal workouts soon, though.

I really need to focus on my eating. I've been doing very poorly lately. I really need to drink a lot more water, especially.

Another good run after a break for sledding

I wanted to run on Thursday, but we went sledding instead. More fun, but not as good of a workout!

Today I managed 4 miles. I ran the first 3miles at 5.5 mph (with the exception of the first couple minutes at 5.2-5.3mph) then I ran another mile mostly at 5.0, but I kicked it up for the last little bit. I couldn't find anything particularly interesting on the TV, so I put in a 157bpm Podrunner called Native Son. The first minute or so it was hard to find the beat, but then it got better. A nice set of tribal beats. I "read" CNN on closed captioning while listening to the music. That was a nice combination. Unfortunately, around a half of a mile from my finish, my mp3 player ran out of juice. So, I plugged my phones into the treadmill. Not near as nice listening to people in suits yap. The reading of the captions takes more of my attention, which was nice.

Afterward, I did a full round of weights. I realized I was not doing much targeting for my shoulders, so next time I'm going to add a set or two. It already takes a decent amount of time to get through my standard set of lifts, so I don't want to add any more than is necessary. I am seeing some results from the lifting. I don't want to be a body builder, but strength training is so good for you, especially for women to protect from osteoporosis. I make sure I focus some on my back, too. I see too many people with back problems. NOT FUN. Also, I'm afraid I'm more likely to develop back problems due to my scoliosis.

It was/is -3F (-19.4C) with stong winds making the windchill around -25F (-31.7C). Brr! There is absolutely no way I'd be running outside in this. I may sound like a broken record, but I am so glad I joined a gym and gave in to the treadmill for the winter. It'll be nice to run outside again, though.

Glad I joined a gym!

The weather lately has definitely justified my decision to join a gym this winter. The temperatures have been in the single digits to negative (Fahrenheit) and with the 30+mph winds, the windchills have been very negative, in the minus twenties Fahrenheit. Brrrr!!! There is absolutely no way I'd be running outside right now. In fact, it would be very dangerous.

But, even with the noise making weird sounds on the building, the gym is warm and inviting in this weather. I made it 4 miles last night then did a full round of weights.

It wasn't one of those "wow" run days. So, I added some walking breaks like this:
0.15 miles walking warm up (3.5mph-4.5mph)
1.5 miles running (5.2mph-5.3mph)
0.1 miles walking (~4.5mph)
1.5 miles running (5.0mph - 5.2mph)
0.1 miles walking (~4.5mph)
1.0 miles running (5.0mph - 5.2mph)
cool down walking
all at 1% incline.

I didn't stretch after the run, and I think I can tell today. Of course, the feeling could also be from the combination of the long (for me) run combined with the weighted lunges I did afterward. My knees don't hurt today, but they have a feeling that tells me "Don't mess with me!" So, I won't. A day of rest should take care of things.

Nasty muscle spasm and Indian summer

Friday, I went and joined a fitness center so I have a place to run inside when it gets cold out. I know I can run outside in the cold, but I don't want the cold weather to end up as an excuse for not getting out to run. I haven't yet used the membership for two reasons:
1) the Indian summer we've been having
2) this nasty muscle spasm in my back.

The day I signed up for the gym was a beautiful day. My car was in the shop, so I rode my bike to the gym instead of driving. Instead of working out at the gym, I chose to get another outdoor run in. Wow. Since we've already had cold weather this fall, including freezing temperatures and below, we're in an official Indian summer. I love this part of autumn. It's not lasting long, though. Later this week, the temperature will be dropping and it will be freezing over night again. Just in time for my trip to Sacramento!

I've been running for time rather than distance lately, 30 minutes this time. I tried taking it slower, but it was hard. I think I used a 145bpm mix. It was hard at first not to walk. But, I stuck it out and still got plenty of workout. I didn't have my HRM on, but I'm sure I still had a heart rate higher than I should be at. I'm not sure what to do about that. I want to train at a lower heart rate so that I can improve, but that's just so annoying.

Saturday morning, a nasty pain in my upper back woke me from my sleep. I tried shifting position to get rid of it, but it wouldn't go away. I took some ibuprofen, and was eventually able to get some more sleep. The muscle pain stayed with me some all day and gave me problems Saturday night. During the day Sunday, it got worse and early Monday, I was almost in tears from the pain. So, I made an appointment to see the doctor (actually physician's assistant since my doc was out). My pain was being caused by a muscle spasm that was making a portion of my back cramp up. It took me forever to find someone available on short notice on a Monday, but I managed to book a 30 minute massage appointment that evening. I was a bit miffed because I didn't think the masseuse gave the problem muscle enough attention and focused too much on my lower back. However, this morning the spasm seems to be totally gone. I don't know if the massage did it or if it would have gone away on it's own. But, at least I got a massage out of the deal!

I wanted to hang low while the back pain was happening, but now that it seems like it is gone, I'm going to get back on a steady workout schedule.