Finally, a spot of nice weather coincided with me having enough time to squeeze in an outdoor run!! I'm sooooo excited! It was about 51F (11C) during my early evening run today. I forgot how much I enjoyed running outside. It is so much nicer than the treadmill. That is extra-true because lately, I haven't found anything very good on the TV while on the treadmill. The other nice thing about today's run was that there was very little wind. Here on the plains, the wind is probably the number one factor whether it's an easy run or not. I definitely felt my decrease in mileage I've had lately, but I got through around 31 minutes without much trouble at all. In fact, I could have done more, but I could tell my knees where slightly week. Actually, the one, if I may borrow a term from the Brits on the C25K forums, was a tad niggly. So, I decided not to push my luck and stop. I don't need to aggravate that again!
Running outside is so freeing and refreshing. There is so much to look at and I always have my path wander around aimlessly. I don't plan it out in advance, so it's always a surprise!
My heart rate showed my resting lately. I had a max rate of 187bpm and an average of 169bpm. Not great, but I was so excited about running outside that I barely noticed it.
Welcome back, runner's high!
Friday, March 6, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
No knee pain??!?!?!
Wow. Yesterday's workout kind of surprised me. I had forgotten that, although the rep count goes down to 10 for most exercises, the sets go from two to three! I still upped the weights for most of the exercises. I held steady on the weights for the step-ups. Even with the squats and step-ups and running warm-up, I don't feel anything funny in my knee. I'm hopeful!
My warm-up was a mile of 5.0-5.5-6.0 mph on the treadmill plus a total of 0.4 miles for walking. Since I'm not feeling my knee problem, I'm going to increase the distance next time. I'm looking forward to the weather improving so I can comfortably and safely run outside!! Spring is just around the corner!
My warm-up was a mile of 5.0-5.5-6.0 mph on the treadmill plus a total of 0.4 miles for walking. Since I'm not feeling my knee problem, I'm going to increase the distance next time. I'm looking forward to the weather improving so I can comfortably and safely run outside!! Spring is just around the corner!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
A couple more workouts down!
I forgot to blog my last workout which I think was Wednesday. I did 20 minutes of intervals on the elliptical then did Stage 1 Workout A4 of the New Rules of Lifting for Women then finished up with the Precor stretch trainer. After that workout I didn't feel any knee pain.
Thursday I took my daughter to parent/child swimming lessons. I try to run around in the water as much as possible, so it's actually a bit of a workout for me, too.
Today, I went and did 20 minute intervals on the Precor AMT 100i, which is some cross between an elliptical and a stair stepper. You can vary your stride length. I'm not sure what to think about that. It was fine on my knee, though. I felt like I was getting resistance training along with the aerobic side of things. After completing that, I went and did Stage 1 Workout B4 of NRoLfW. I felt a bit self conscious because there were some guys who could life me along with my weighted barbell there, but I had on a Podrunner podcast and focused on that instead of my self-consciousness! Before loading up my barbell for the deadlift, I had to unload the barbell that someone had left loaded. Annoying, but not only that, it had a lot of weight on it! It even had 45# weights on. Then I go an put my wimpy total of 35# on the 45# bar. Oh, well. I never claimed to be able to lift a lot! After the first set of deadlifts, I could already feel my lower back muscles rebelling. So, I expect tomorrow and the next day to be pretty sore! The overhead presses will probably make themselves known again, but they did go a bit better. I'm using 15# dumbells for those.
I was able to up the weights on the deadlift, lat pulldown, and swissball crunch today. That's good. Especially since I'm not lifting three times a week like I would like.
If I ever doubted that weightlifting could get my heartrate up, I don't now. I often hit 175bpm with rests being around 135bpm-145bpm. So, I definitely get some cardiovascular conditioning in when doing heavy weights. I think previously, I did see this, but not as much. I don't think I was pushing myself quite as much. This book tries to use large muscle groups, so you are working a lot of muscles as once.
After the weights, I decided to give the treadmill a try again. I'm kind of feeling my knee afterwards, now, so I'm wondering if that was a bad idea. I told myself to just get on and do a mile as fast as I could. This was after over an hour of working out already. So, I hopped on and set the treadmill at 6.5mph. WAY fast for me. It wasn't long before I had to start dropping the speed. I wanted to not have my heart rate go much over 180bpm. I kept dropping it until I found that 5.2mph kept my heart rate right at 180bpm. I didn't think I'd make it to a mile, so I changed my goal to 10 minutes total. I kept looking at the time, swearing it was counting up rather than down. (It starts at 60 minutes when you begin.) When I neared 10 minutes and hadn't died yet, I decided to run without looking at the time and attempt to finish off the mile. The next time I looked down, I was at 0.96 miles, so of course I finished the mile. I did it in 11:15. Not great, but I was pre-worn out and the initial kick did not help things. I'm hoping that didn't do my knee in. I think I'll ice it tonight.
Had another post-lifting scoup of whey protein in some Fage fat-free plain Greek yogurt. I reallllly like that. But then, the Fage yogurt tastes so decadent anyway. The only problem is it is sooo rich feeling, and I really needed water. The yogurt doesn't wet your mouth.
It seems that my gym got its water problems straightened out. The water used to be horrible, but this time, I either was so thirsty I didn't care, or they finally have city water. It tastes good and isn't tinted now! Yippee! One bottle of water wasn't enough for me today, so I risked the yucky water and was pleasantly surprized.
Well, off to finish with a stretch and some ice on the knee. Keep moving!
Thursday I took my daughter to parent/child swimming lessons. I try to run around in the water as much as possible, so it's actually a bit of a workout for me, too.
Today, I went and did 20 minute intervals on the Precor AMT 100i, which is some cross between an elliptical and a stair stepper. You can vary your stride length. I'm not sure what to think about that. It was fine on my knee, though. I felt like I was getting resistance training along with the aerobic side of things. After completing that, I went and did Stage 1 Workout B4 of NRoLfW. I felt a bit self conscious because there were some guys who could life me along with my weighted barbell there, but I had on a Podrunner podcast and focused on that instead of my self-consciousness! Before loading up my barbell for the deadlift, I had to unload the barbell that someone had left loaded. Annoying, but not only that, it had a lot of weight on it! It even had 45# weights on. Then I go an put my wimpy total of 35# on the 45# bar. Oh, well. I never claimed to be able to lift a lot! After the first set of deadlifts, I could already feel my lower back muscles rebelling. So, I expect tomorrow and the next day to be pretty sore! The overhead presses will probably make themselves known again, but they did go a bit better. I'm using 15# dumbells for those.
I was able to up the weights on the deadlift, lat pulldown, and swissball crunch today. That's good. Especially since I'm not lifting three times a week like I would like.
If I ever doubted that weightlifting could get my heartrate up, I don't now. I often hit 175bpm with rests being around 135bpm-145bpm. So, I definitely get some cardiovascular conditioning in when doing heavy weights. I think previously, I did see this, but not as much. I don't think I was pushing myself quite as much. This book tries to use large muscle groups, so you are working a lot of muscles as once.
After the weights, I decided to give the treadmill a try again. I'm kind of feeling my knee afterwards, now, so I'm wondering if that was a bad idea. I told myself to just get on and do a mile as fast as I could. This was after over an hour of working out already. So, I hopped on and set the treadmill at 6.5mph. WAY fast for me. It wasn't long before I had to start dropping the speed. I wanted to not have my heart rate go much over 180bpm. I kept dropping it until I found that 5.2mph kept my heart rate right at 180bpm. I didn't think I'd make it to a mile, so I changed my goal to 10 minutes total. I kept looking at the time, swearing it was counting up rather than down. (It starts at 60 minutes when you begin.) When I neared 10 minutes and hadn't died yet, I decided to run without looking at the time and attempt to finish off the mile. The next time I looked down, I was at 0.96 miles, so of course I finished the mile. I did it in 11:15. Not great, but I was pre-worn out and the initial kick did not help things. I'm hoping that didn't do my knee in. I think I'll ice it tonight.
Had another post-lifting scoup of whey protein in some Fage fat-free plain Greek yogurt. I reallllly like that. But then, the Fage yogurt tastes so decadent anyway. The only problem is it is sooo rich feeling, and I really needed water. The yogurt doesn't wet your mouth.
It seems that my gym got its water problems straightened out. The water used to be horrible, but this time, I either was so thirsty I didn't care, or they finally have city water. It tastes good and isn't tinted now! Yippee! One bottle of water wasn't enough for me today, so I risked the yucky water and was pleasantly surprized.
Well, off to finish with a stretch and some ice on the knee. Keep moving!
Friday, February 13, 2009
Still here... waiting
My knee started acting up again after my last workout, so I took another week off. I really need to do something, though. Not working out is driving me crazy. It helps keep me sane with the lack of sunlight this time of year.
I'm thinking next time I go, I might try using the elliptical rather than the treadmill. Maybe the treadmill is aggravating my knee? We had a couple days of warm weather this past week. I wish my knee had felt ok so I could have run outside. Now it's freezing again. After the melt-off, the sidewalks and streets are surely dangerous again with hidden patches of ice.
Right now, I'm fighting off a cold. It's not bad enough that it would keep me from working out, though.
I'm thinking next time I go, I might try using the elliptical rather than the treadmill. Maybe the treadmill is aggravating my knee? We had a couple days of warm weather this past week. I wish my knee had felt ok so I could have run outside. Now it's freezing again. After the melt-off, the sidewalks and streets are surely dangerous again with hidden patches of ice.
Right now, I'm fighting off a cold. It's not bad enough that it would keep me from working out, though.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
In for some more soreness, I assume
Today I ran 1.5 miles before completing Stage 1 Workout B3 of the New Rules of Lifting for Women. The run went fine. I was starting to feel something in my bad knee, so I stopped at 1.5 miles. I didn't have time to run farther, anyway.
The lifting went fine. Lifting the bar for the deadlifts is giving me sore spots on my hands. I really need to get some lifting gloves. I don't care to get rough callouses on my hands from weight lifting!
I definitely maxed out my weight in the overhead presses. Those last couple reps were marginal and at my physical limit.
Today, I tried out my new cell phone as an mp3 player. It's an LG Rhythm. It worked very nicely. I used an arm band to hold it. The ear phone cord was slightly annoying while running, though. This phone has a microSD slot. I bought an 8GB card for it. Last night, I loaded about 900MB of Podrunner podcasts on it... a drop in the bucket! Nice. Although my other mp3 player is nice and small, the thing I like about using my cell phone is that it has a larger display. It's easier to select the podcast I want.
After my workout, I tried (for the second time) a scoop of protein powder in some Fage fat-free plain yogurt. Not bad at all! I have Optimum Nutrition vanilla ice cream whey powder. I saw some powders at the store that don't have artificial sweeteners. I think I'll try one of those when I finish off this tub. I just don't care as much for the taste of artificial sweeteners. So far, the yogurt is my favorite way of eating this stuff. I tried it in oatmeal and it curdled! Yuck! It makes milk taste funny and smoothies are ok, but take time. Then I have to wash the blender, which is a bit of a pain.
The lifting went fine. Lifting the bar for the deadlifts is giving me sore spots on my hands. I really need to get some lifting gloves. I don't care to get rough callouses on my hands from weight lifting!
I definitely maxed out my weight in the overhead presses. Those last couple reps were marginal and at my physical limit.
Today, I tried out my new cell phone as an mp3 player. It's an LG Rhythm. It worked very nicely. I used an arm band to hold it. The ear phone cord was slightly annoying while running, though. This phone has a microSD slot. I bought an 8GB card for it. Last night, I loaded about 900MB of Podrunner podcasts on it... a drop in the bucket! Nice. Although my other mp3 player is nice and small, the thing I like about using my cell phone is that it has a larger display. It's easier to select the podcast I want.
After my workout, I tried (for the second time) a scoop of protein powder in some Fage fat-free plain yogurt. Not bad at all! I have Optimum Nutrition vanilla ice cream whey powder. I saw some powders at the store that don't have artificial sweeteners. I think I'll try one of those when I finish off this tub. I just don't care as much for the taste of artificial sweeteners. So far, the yogurt is my favorite way of eating this stuff. I tried it in oatmeal and it curdled! Yuck! It makes milk taste funny and smoothies are ok, but take time. Then I have to wash the blender, which is a bit of a pain.
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