10 Miler Training: Week 7

Vacation is definitely over. No more running along the beach in sunny California, and no more skipping training days. That was pretty difficult this week, since the snow we got (not very much, but it stayed cold so it never melted) forced me to do all of my running inside. Maybe I'm being a baby, but the idea of running outside when some of the sidewalks are still icy just makes me scared. I'd be nervous the entire time, worrying that at any moment I would lose my footing and have an extremely un-graceful crash down.

Monday, January 20th
I got off to a strong start with a strength workout. I did two workouts that I found on FitSugar, and they were HARD!
I warmed up with a half mile jog around the indoor track - I think I did 6 times around the track in just over 5 minutes.
I went three times through on this one: Melt Fat, Build Muscle - Dumbbell Blast
The first time through, I was a bit ambitious with the weights I used. I started out using 10lb weights for Plank & Rotate, Squat Curl & Press, Lying Chest Fly, Lying Overhead Reach, Reverse Lunge & Press, and Plank & Straight-Arm Kickback. For the next two times through, I switched to 5lb weights for both Plank circuits. I used 5lb weights for Single-Leg Scarecrow, and a 15lb weight for Seated Russian Twist and Weighted Squat.
I also had to go on the low end with the number of reps. I ended up doing 10 reps/side for almost all of the exercises, and only was able to do 15 for Lying Chest Fly, Lying Overhead Reach, Seated Russian Twist, and Weighted Squat. Basically, the exercises where you move both sides at once.
Unless it is an exercise you have done before, I wouldn't recommend doing the planks with a weight in each hand. I strained some muscles in my hand while trying to grip the weight and stay stabilized at the same time.
Once I finished that circuit, I went twice through this: Fire Up Your Core - Circuit Workout
Again, I had to go on the low end with the number of reps. I did 10 reps/side for almost all of them, and managed 15 reps for Good Mornings and Side Lunges.

Tuesday, January 21st
I did a treadmill run, that was 1 mile warmup, 3 miles at goal pace, then 4x 2 minutes at 5k pace with 90 second rests, followed by a 1 mile cooldown.
I did my warmup and cooldown at 5.7mph. I averaged 6.1mph for my 3 miles at goal pace. Then I averaged 6.9mph for my 2 minutes at 5k pace. For the 90 second rests, I walked at 2.5mph.
I ended up doing 5.92 miles in 58:34, at an average overall pace of 9:54/mile.

Wednesday, January 22nd
I did my first KB workout since before I left for vacation, and I did it with Joey (which means it was really hard).
Set 1, we did 3.5 times through. In the last set (the 0.5), we did 5 of each exercise instead of 10.
10 Swings
10 Walkout Planks
10 High Pulls
10 Goblet Squats
10 Pushups
10 American Swings
10 Split Squat
10 Scarecrow (KB version)
10 Triceps

Set 2, we did century style, which is AMAP in 20 minutes.
20 Swings
15 Squat Catch
5 Bent Over Row (per arm)
5 American Swings
5 Tactical Lunges (per leg)
5 Clean & Press (per arm)
15 Figure 8 w/ Stop
10 Crunch & Press
5 V-Ups

Then, since we obviously hadn't done enough already, we did 2 Tabata sets and a 2 minute situp challenge. For Tabata, we did 2 exercises in each set. Set 1 was stability ball squats and plank. Set 2 was squat + medicine ball toss and burnout calf jumps with raised arms. For my 2 minute situp challenge, I got 56, which I think is my all-time high!

Thursday, January 23rd
I did my run this time on the indoor track, since all of the treadmills were taken. I did 4 miles, and then 4x ~20 second strides. My legs were incredibly sore from the previous workouts, so I started out really slow. I did mile 1 in 11:17, mile 2 in 10:48, mile 3 in 10:37, and mile 4 in 10:26. Yay negative splits! The 4 miles were completed in 43:09, average pace of 10:47/mile. For the strides, I sprinted at almost full speed for half a lap, then jogged between 1/2 and 1 lap. It's hard to get the exact pace of the strides, but I think they were about 6:28/mile pace, about a quarter mile in total for all 4. They were a little less than 20 seconds long, but I figured it was good enough. In total, I did 4.48 miles in 47:36, average overall pace of 10:38/mile.

Saturday, January 25th
I so enjoyed my day off on Friday! My legs really needed it. The run on Thursday was pretty helpful in loosening up my legs, but the complete rest was what they really needed. I went into lab for most of the day, then went to the gym after I finished up there. I did yet another treadmill run - 5 miles total. I was supposed to do the typical 1 mile warmup and 1 mile cooldown, sandwiched around 3 miles at marathon or marathon + 30 sec pace. If I figure out that pace, it's technically slower than my warmup/cooldown pace. I decided to just do what felt good, which meant 1 mile warmup at 5.7mph, then an average of 5.9mph for the 3 miles, and ending with 5.7mph for my cooldown. Moving the pace around each mile helped stave off treadmill boredom. I did a total of 5 miles in 51:33, average pace of 10:19/mile.
I also listened to music for the first time in a long time, since I've been listening to audio books lately. I realized that listening to books helps me zone out, and kind of forget (as much as I can) that I'm running, while listening to music helps pump me up and move faster. I might start listening to music again for speed workouts, but keep the audio books for long slow runs.

Sunday, January 26th
This run was kind of painful. I had been planning on doing it outside, despite the icy sidewalks, but then it snowed again Saturday night. It didn't snow much, but it definitely didn't help the situation. Joey suggested that I do the run inside, just for my own peace of mind. He said that I could split it up between the treadmill and the track so it wouldn't be as mind numbingly awful. I did 2 miles on a treadmill, alternating between 5.7 and 5.8mph every quarter mile. I didn't like that treadmill, so I went upstairs to see if any of the better ones were open. None were, so I did 2 miles on the indoor track - mile 1 in 10:16, mile 2 in 9:49. Then I saw that a treadmill had opened up, so I scooted over there and did 3 miles on the treadmill, again alternating between 5.7 and 5.8 mph, every quarter or half mile. I did the last mile on the indoor track, in 9:52. This was a grand total of 8 miles in 1:22:08, average pace of 10:16/mile.
One funny thing - when I first started out, the slow pace felt really hard for some reason. Then I looked down at the treadmill display and saw that it was set at a 3% incline - no wonder it felt hard! The nice thing was that lowering the incline made it feel like I was running downhill for a minute...

I also have to mention that Joey has been incredibly supportive and helpful with all of my extra workouts, as well as my insane workload right now in lab. On Saturday, I got back from the gym around 6, after leaving around 10 for work, and found that he had done all of our errands, made a batch of homemade english muffins (I still need to post that recipe...) plus did a huge amount of cleaning. On Sunday, he brought me my breakfast/lunch supplies to lab, so I wouldn't have to take the time to get them prepped before leaving for the gym in the morning. He made me a delicious egg sandwich, and prepped all of my food. He even brought me lotion so I could keep my hands moisturized throughout the day (they've been incredibly dry lately).

Week 7:
Monday: 0.5 miles (indoor track)
Tuesday: 5.92 miles (treadmill)
Thursday: 4.48 miles (indoor track)
Saturday: 5 miles (treadmill)
Sunday: 8 miles (treadmill + indoor track)
Weekly Total: 23.4 miles

Two Kettle Bell Workouts

I'm super behind on posts, so I'm going to do a two in one post about the last two kettle bell workouts I did. One was last Monday (12/2) and one was last night (12/11). Both of them were pretty killer. The one last week was particularly hard because I was just starting up again after taking 3 weeks off from strength workouts. Last night's was really hard because I did it with Joey, and he somehow gets me to do more than I planned, without pressuring me at all.

12/2 KB Workout:
I brought out both 20lb and 25lb KBs, since I wasn't sure what I would be able to handle. I actually managed to do almost everything with the 25lb KB, and only used the 20 for Clean & Press and American Swings. I was very sore after, all the way through to Thursday!

12/11 KB Workout:
Again, I brought out a 20lb KB and a 25lb KB. I know that certain exercises are too difficult with the 25lb weight, especially toward the end of a workout when my arms are tired. I used the 20lb weight for crunch and press, chest press, and the last time through for the clean and press. I had to run back inside the gym to get a lighter weight for the get ups and windmills. I actually got a giant bruise from the clean and presses! For some reason, I don't bruise much when I smack into something hard, but I do when I have repeated contact with something. Last summer, when going to water plants at Joey's old house, I kept walking into his side view mirror. After a week or two, I had a deep purple bruise on my hip, even though it never really hurt each individual time I walked into it. Last night, I kept hitting my right bicep, while the weight was in the rack position, and before I was even finished with the workout, it was already turning colors.
Also, like I mentioned above, Joey gets me to work harder just by working hard himself. I had planned on going through the first set 3 times, and then he started on a 4th set. I was like well I can't just sit here while he works, so I did a 4th time through as well. I hadn't really planned on doing tabatas, but was roped into that. And lastly, once I held his feet down for his 2 minute sit-up challenge (I'm not quite heavy enough to hold him down, so I had to hold a medicine ball plus really push down with my legs - ouch that hurt my calves and hamstrings), I decided I wanted a go as well. I got 54, which I think is my personal best.

After we were done with the workout, we came home to shower and eat, and then went over to a friend's place. We were celebrating her successful PhD defense on Monday! Yay Kerstin! It was really nice seeing friends, and we ended up celebrating an engagement as well!

One side note - I can track which posts are being viewed, and where the viewer came across the site. Usually, people enter the site through Pinterest. Sometimes, google searches lead someone to my site. A lot of the searches are pretty generic, but I've seen a few funny ones in the past few weeks.
Here are a couple of my favorites:
"Tabata eating"
"8k training for fat people"

I'm not sure if someone was looking for a tabata-style eating competition, or if they wanted to know what foods would be okay to eat while doing a tabata workout, and how you should time eating before/after. I kind of hope it was the first one, since that's more entertaining. Although I don't think my blog would have helped them with that.

As for the second, I think that wasn't the best way to search. There are plenty of "fit but fat" people as well as "skinny fat" people. For "fit but fat," this is someone who by standard measures would be considered overweight, but is in great shape. They may just have a large frame with a lot of muscle, or they might carry some extra weight in their midsection while still having strong arms, legs and a solid core. For "skinny fat," this is someone who is very thin, but has no muscle mass. They may even look strong, since a lack of body fat will put any muscle closer to the surface. But in this case, they don't have any functional muscles. So while it was a funny grouping of search terms, I hope that nobody thinks that just because they are "fat," that they can't do a basic 8k training plan. If I can start from nothing and get to the point where I can run 7 and 8 miles, then so can you! Whether you are "skinny fat," "fit fat," or anywhere between, you can do anything I put on this blog, as long as you try!

If you liked this post, check out the posts below!

Killer KB Workout

8k training: 5 mile run + 2 sets of KB

KB Workout - 2 Sets