10 Miler Training: Week 12 and 13

Week 12:

I had planned on doing yoga on Monday, but that just didn't happen. Oh well.

Tuesday, February 25th:
I did a pretty difficult interval run on the treadmill. I basically did the same as what I did 2 weeks ago, but instead of 12x 400m intervals with 200m jog, I did 6x 800m intervals with 200m jog. The 800m intervals were done at the same speed as the original 400m intervals, which was my 10k pace (6.6mph). I did the jogs super slow, at 5.0mph. This is not a speed I would ever be comfortable with on its own, but it was a good recovery jog.

Joey advised that I skip KBs this week, since they basically wrecked me last week. He said that once I'm done with my training, I can get back into that, but right now it's too much on my body.

The one day off on Wednesday turned into two days off, since I wasn't feeling well on Thursday. Thursday's run was just an "easy run," so I felt a little better skipping it than I would if it were one of the speed runs. I decided that I would stick with the "cut down" run on Friday, and that if I felt up to it, would fit in a few miles Saturday morning. The weather is supposed to be beautiful, so if I have the energy, why not?

Friday, February 28th:
Like I mentioned, this is a "cut down" run. That basically means negative splits the whole way through. Joey advised that I start out with my typical warmup, and then each mile, increase the pace by 0.2. Then end with a cooldown mile at my starting pace. This is how you're actually supposed to run a race, but it's hard to mentally push yourself to go faster as your body is getting tired.

I started with a 1/2 mile warmup at 5.6mph. I took a couple minutes to stretch out and loosen up, then I did another mile at 5.6. From there, I increased 0.2mph every mile until I ended with the 5th mile at 6.4. I did a cooldown 1/2 mile at 5.6mph, for a total of 6 miles.

Saturday, March 1st:
A run did not happen today. I had to be in lab for most of the day. I first came in around 8:15, for just a little while. Then I had to be back in at 1:30, and was there the rest of the day. I took the time in between to do a lot of well needed relaxing. I also met Joey out at Old Navy and Bed Bath and Beyond to get new jeans and sparkly nail polish.

Sunday, March 2nd:
I did not time my run very well on Sunday. I was supposed to do 8 miles. Since there was a snow storm predicted for Sunday night/Monday morning, I figured this would be my last chance for a while to run outside. It also started off as a beautiful day. When I woke up, I was just starving. I decided that I had plenty of time, I would just start off the day with breakfast and coffee and run a few hours after that. A few hours turned into most of the day. Joey called me a little before 2, warning me that the nice weather was leaving. I got up and got ready to go, picked out an 8 mile route, opened the door and...saw that it was pouring. I was so pissed. I didn't know how long the rain would last, and didn't want to risk getting my phone soaked, so I headed to the gym.

For the first couple miles, I felt good. I didn't start out feeling as tight as I have been, which was nice. I decided to switch up the pace every mile, just by a little. I did mile 1 at 5.6, mile 2 at 5.7, mile 3 at 5.8, and mile 4 at 5.7. I was halfway through mile 4 (I believe at 5.6 again) when things became less fun. I wasn't really hurting, so I'm not sure what the problem was. I think I may have just gotten really bored? Especially thinking about the fact that I wasn't even halfway through the run. I told myself I could walk for a few minutes once I hit 4 miles, and I feel like that 4th mile was the longest one. After walking for a few minutes, I started up again. I had just hit 4.5 miles, when I realized I needed to use the bathroom. The women's bathroom was undescribably nasty, so I had to lock myself inside the men's bathroom. Which, btw, didn't have any toilet paper. And then, I had some bathroom issues myself. I felt really sick after that, and decided to call it a day. I was frustrated, pissed off at my landlords because of the bathroom situation, and feeling sick.

Week Total:
Tuesday: 5.5 miles (treadmill)
Friday: 6.0 miles (treadmill)
Sunday: 4.5 miles (treadmill)
Weekly Total: 16 miles

Week 13:

Monday, March 3rd:
After a disappointing end to the previous week, I tried to make things up this week. Monday ended up being a snow day, and after hanging around the house most of the day, Joey suggested that we go to the gym for a bit. He mostly wanted to go so he could use the hot tub, but I decided to make up for some of my missing miles. I ran 3 miles on the indoor track, and even managed negative splits! I ran mile 1 in 10:31, mile 2 in 10:13, and mile 3 in 9:25. From there, I decided to try the assisted pullup machine again. I did 3 sets of 10 at 100 lbs assistance, and did some wall sits in between the sets. Next time I'll try to do them with 90 lbs assistance.

Tuesday, March 4th:
I was planning on doing my intervals on Tuesday, but I got home late, and I knew we had to run some errands after dinner. Joey told me that I should switch Tuesday and Wednesday, which meant doing a light strength workout on Tuesday. That's when he surprised me with a kettle bell! He bought me one for my birthday, and couldn't wait to give it to me :) So I carried my brand new 25 lb kettle bell down to the gym, and did a short workout there.

First, I did a 10-2 KB ladder. Then I did 30 pushups (6 sets of 5). I ended with a lot of crunches, which really made my abs sore!

Wednesday, March 5th:
Today is my birthday! I had to come in early for lab meeting, but the rest of the day was pretty nice. The lab celebrated my birthday with apple pie and ice cream (I specifically mentioned at the last lab birthday celebration that I didn't like birthday cake, and they listened!), and then headed home. There, I did the run I was supposed to do on Tuesday. It was hard! This was my "alternating tempo" run, which alternated my 10k pace with a little over my goal pace.

Thursday, March 6th:
I had a pretty nice run today. It was just a 5 mile easy run, which really takes off the pressure. I can go as slow as I need to, since that is what I'm supposed to be doing. One thing I've noticed with all of this running, is that my slow pace is getting slower and slower. I think that my legs are just more fatigued going into each run than they used to be, and it takes longer to get them loose and happy. I ordered calf compression sleeves, and I can't wait until they get here! They're so sore post-runs.

For this run, I started out super slow at 5.5 mph, and then increased the pace each mile. Yay negative splits!

Saturday, March 8th:
This began my giant weekend of running. I slept in, so I didn't actually leave for my run until close to 10. My plan was to do 6ish easy miles, with zero focus on the pace. I knew that Sunday's run would be a doozy, and didn't want to wreck my legs by pushing the pace too much. (Note - that was my plan 2 weeks ago, and I ended up going way too fast. I also was really hurting after Sunday's run, so this time I decided to stick to my plan.) Joey came up with a route for me, including a side path he showed me last weekend. The path worked out really well - it was nice and quiet, and gave me some extra miles. It was a bit muddy from the melting snow, but not enough to make my pretty shoes too dirty haha.

When I got home from being out all day, I had a package waiting for me! I ordered calf sleeves from amazon, and I was so excited they came in. My calves have been dying lately, and I was really hoping they would be a magic fix. So far, I can't tell if they're completely fixing things, but it feels nice to have them on. 

Sunday, March 9th: 

I can't even begin to tell you how much I did NOT want to do this run. Joey can definitely attest to the whining I did Saturday night, basically saying over and over "but I don't WANNA!!!" My other 11 mile run was so painful 2 weeks ago. I also had to work in the time change, since I wanted to get plenty of sleep, but still wanted to not be out on the run super late. I think part of the problem last time was that I didn't even start until 11:30, meaning it was 1:30 when I got back, and well after 2 by the time I was showered and could eat. I planned this time to leave by 10:30, which would still feel like 9:30 to me. Surprisingly, I made it in time! 

The route that Joey came up for me wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It included the giant hill down by the river, but in reverse. I also had a stop built in once I hit the transit station at just under 7 miles - I went in there for a few minutes to use the bathroom, eat some GU, and drink some water. I ended up going slow, but not horribly slow. I also felt okay the rest of the day, which was not the case last time! In the end, I made it through, I'm just glad that this is the longest I'll have to run for at least the next few weeks! 

Week Total:
Monday: 3.0 miles (indoor track)
Wednesday: 6.5 miles (treadmill)
Thursday: 5.0 miles (treadmill)
Saturday: 6.09 miles (outside)
Sunday: 11.16 miles (outside)
Weekly Total: 31.75 miles (new weekly record!)

10 Miler Training: Week 2

Week 2 of my 10 miler training (12/16-12/22) went pretty well! I had a cold at the beginning of the week, and didn't start my running week until Wednesday. I still managed to fit in 19 miles from Wed-Sun.

On Wed 12/18, I managed to start my run early enough to get it all done in daylight. Joey came up with a new run for me to do, and I enjoyed this route.

Splits:
0.50 - 5:08 (10:16)
1.01 - 10:15 (10:09, 10:01) last mile in 10:09
1.51 - 15:09 (10:02, 9:48)
2.01 - 20:29 (10:11, 10:40) last mile in 10:14
2.50 - 25:37 (10:15, 10:29)
3.00 - 30:50 (10:17, 10:26) last mile in 10:27
3.50 - 36:12 (10:21, 10:44)
4.00 - 41:16 (10:19, 10:08) last mile in 10:26
4.50 - 46:07 (10:15, 9:42)
5.01 - 51:22 (10:15, 10:18) last mile in 10:00

On Wed 12/19, I got stuck at work too late to do an entire run outside. Instead, I ran to the gym, did 4 miles on the treadmill there, and then ran back. The path to the gym was pretty well lit, so I didn't run into any problems there.

My run to the gym:

I did the 4 miles in 42:00, an average of 10:30min/mile.

My run back from the gym, clearly I was feeling pretty good:

I took Friday off from running, and then went to my second group run on Sat 12/21. I wasn't nearly as nervous this time. It was a shorter run, only 5 miles, and the weather was beautiful. I used Joey's Garmin again, and it worked out really well. This time I talked to a couple of people the whole time, so I had a much slower pace. We missed one of the turns in our route, so our run was a bit too short. We decided to do an extra lap on the track to make it up, and I still felt pretty good then, and kept going.

  

Finally, on Sunday I ran 3 easy miles on the treadmill. I did my usual 2 miles at 5.7, then 0.5 at 5.8, 0.25 at 5.9, 0.25 at 6.0 for a total of 31 minutes.

Week 2:
Wednesday: 5 miles (outside)
Thursday: 5.5 miles (outside + treadmill)
Saturday: 5.5 miles (outside)
Sunday: 3 miles (treadmill)
Weekly Total: 19 miles

10 Miler Training: 7 mile group run

I did my first group run, as part of the Charlottesville 10 Miler Training Program! I got myself really anxious about the run - I was nervous about the weather (it snowed before and after the run, but not during), being able to run 7 miles (the last big runs I did were 6 miles on Thanksgiving and 8 miles at the beginning of November), and running with other people. It ended up being totally fine. I went around the same pace that I would have done myself, so I wasn't pushed too fast or slowed down. It was nice having something scheduled, and it forced me to just get it over with. It also held me accountable, since I knew that if I stopped to walk, the people around me would see, and it would take me forever to get back to the track where we met to start. Next week is only a 5 mile run, which I'm much more comfortable with.

The really cool part, was that Joey let me borrow the Garmin Forerunner 210 watch I just got him for Hanukkah. It gives you so much information about your run! I got him the watch that has a heart rate monitor, so you have that data as well. You can see your heart rate plotted out over time or miles, so you can see how that is affected by hills or your pace. The really nice thing is that you can upload your files and view everything online, and that those files are compatible with running programs like Runkeeper. I just uploaded the file to runkeeper.com and it filled in all of the information. The only weird thing was that my average pace was slightly different, but that's okay.

Here's all of the information you get from your run. First, you get a summary of your run. You get some overall details about your timing, elevation, and heart rate, the graphs of which are shown on the right. I think it's interesting that you have multiple times listed. I'm assuming the time versus moving time, is when I had slowed down to a stop before pressing pause on the watch. I'm also assuming that elapsed time includes the time when I had the watch paused, so I can see how long I was stopped at lights, etc.

 

You get a really nice map, much cleaner than the maps I get using Runkeeper. You can see the loops I made around the track before we got out on the road. You can also tell when I crossed the street. On the right, you can see that it gives you the weather forecast during the run. That part is really nice when you want to compare runs, and see if there are reasons why you didn't do as well. 

   

You know I love getting information about my splits. Well this was like hitting the jackpot! Joey already set it so each lap was 1/2 mile, which is what I've been using as well for my splits. The information that was cut off on the right side is just about my heart rate.

This is what Runkeeper told me after I uploaded the Gpx file:

You can see that the distance, duration and average pace are all just slightly different, but definitely close enough for me. I would say that my average pace was somewhere between the 10:03 and 10:08 that the Garmin gave me.

Overall, this was pretty darn cool. Maybe Joey will let me use it again :) Or I'll have to buy myself one! The heart rate monitor I was thinking about getting is $70 - it's the polar bluetooth equipped one, that does not come with a watch. You use apps on your phone to sync with it. For $170, I got Joey both the gps watch and the heart rate monitor. Since I'm much more interested in information about my running than my heart rate, it might make sense to get the watch. I'll have to keep thinking about it. Since I bought it for Joey a week ago, the price went up $35.

Also, I successfully completed my first week of 10 Miler Training!

Week 1:
Tuesday: 4 miles (treadmill)
Thursday: 4 miles (outside)
Saturday: 7 miles (outside)
Weekly Total: 15 miles



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

Recap of 8k race

8k training: 8 mile run in Charlottesville

7 mile run in Wilmington

KB Workout - 2 Sets

Well, my week off from strength training is over. I got right back into the swing of things (haha, get it?) with a difficult KB workout. I warmed up with the power drills, then did a century-style workout. I started out with 3 lunge laps instead of 3 burpee laps, and enjoyed it much more. The indoor track at the gym is 10.5 laps for 1 mile. I did 20 walking lunges on one of the straightaways, then ran the rest of the lap. I started up again with the lunges, and repeated this for 3 laps total. Then I took a 1 minute break, and went straight into the century exercises. I wanted to go three times through, so it took me more than the 20 minutes suggested. The 3 laps took me just under 5 minutes, and then the three times through took me just about 22 minutes. I did the entire thing with a 25lb KB, with the exception of the windmills, which I did without weight. I normally would have used 10 or 15lb KBs for the windmills, but forgot to bring them out with me. Once I finished, I ran a few more laps around the track, and did just a few abs exercises. I think I ran a total of 6 laps = 0.57 miles

HRM Results:
Duration: 0:55:25
Calories Burned: 529
Average Heart Rate: 151 (78.2%)
Max Heart Rate: 171 (88.6%)
Time in Zone (65-85%): 0:47:02

I'm pretty darn sore. It's going to be tough, getting used to running 4x/week, while also doing strength workouts. My right hip/quad is really sore - I'm not sure if it's something new, or if it's also IT band related. I also tweaked something in my back, right around my left shoulder blade. It's wrapping around my left ribs a bit, which is where I had some cramping during my run on Sunday. Basically, I need to do a lot of stretching. I might try for the hot tub tomorrow night.

Also, since I'm doing 4 runs/week as well as 2-3 strength workouts/week, I'm going to be adjusting my workouts. I'm moving Tuesday's run to Wednesday, which I will do in combination with a strength workout. That leaves Tuesday off this week. I'm going out of town on Friday, so I'll also have Friday off. Next week might be completely different, based on my schedule. Here's hoping I can make it work, with few or no injuries!

8k training: 3 and 7 mile runs

I ran 7 miles this morning!! Now first, I'm sure some of you are wondering why in the world I would run 7 miles while training for a race that is only 5 miles. I'm following an abbreviated training plan for a sub 60 minute 10k, and it includes a lot of longer runs to help with endurance. I'm giving it a try, to see if I actually can run longer distances. Now I can officially say that I can run 7 miles!

I think a lot of running is mental for me. Obviously I've been working hard to get in better shape, and that plays a very necessary role. But believing that I can run further is hard for me to do, and I have a lot of nerves prior to long runs. This weekend has been incredibly warm, which also makes it difficult for me. I have a very small window of weather I like to run in (~45-65 F), and this weekend has been way above that window.

Yesterday (Saturday), I did a 3 mile run outside. I left around 9:40, and by the time I got back it was close to 80 degrees. I just got so overheated and felt so exhausted, that it took me a while to recover. I was really nervous thinking about the 7 mile run I needed to do the next day, and knew there was no way I could complete the run in that same weather. I got up a lot earlier, so I could avoid as much of the heat as I could. I started on the run at 8:30, and finished at just about the time I started the run on Saturday. A lot of the long run was shaded, which obviously helped.

For the 3 mile run, I did the same loop I've been doing pretty frequently. I was afraid that the corner area would be really crowded because there was a home football game, but apparently everyone was closer to the stadium. I only gave a few dirty looks to people in my way haha.

Splits: (average pace, pace in last 1/2 mile)
0.5 mile 5:05 (10:10)
1.0 miles 9:49 (9:49, 9:28) last mile 9:49
1.5 miles 14:48 (9:52, 9:58)
2.0 miles 19:43 (9:52, 9:50) last mile 9:54
2.5 miles 24:40 (9:52, 9:54)
3.0 miles 29:34 (9:51, 9:48) last mile 9:51

I didn't wear my heart rate monitor - I was just trying to go at an easy pace so I wasn't too concerned with what the results said. Plus I knew the number of calories burned wasn't going to be anything all that exciting!

Now for the 7 mile run! Joey helped me plot out a run that would avoid lots of pedestrians. I've gotten to the point where having to run zigzags around people is worse than hills. I don't know if that says something about my endurance, or about my complete lack of patience and hatred of undergrads here...

I started out at Riverview park this time, and ran the entire length of the path along the river, went up the giant hill to get back onto the road, and then continued back toward the downtown mall. I circled around on Preston, and at that point basically did the run I did last week, and ended back at the river for a small loop.

My legs hurt a lot at the beginning. I eventually got into a rhythm, and made it up the giant hill. Around 3 miles in, my stomach started to hurt a lot. I think it was partly nerves, partly just getting up earlier than I would have liked. It was really unsettled, and I started getting side cramps as well. It took close to a mile before the unsettled feeling passed, and a bit longer until the cramps went away. I took advantage of a really long light to stop for a couple minutes, and try to get everything to pass. Once I got back onto Preston, I felt much better. I knew exactly what was coming, and it was mostly flat/downhill.

Splits: (average pace, pace in last 1/2 mile)
0.5 5:13 (10:26)
1.0 10:32 (10:32, 10:38) last mile 10:32
1.5 15:28 (10:19, 9:52)
2.0 20:32 (10:16, 10:08) last mile 10:00
2.5 25:58 (10:23, 10:52)
3.0 31:17 (10:26, 10:38) last mile 10:45
3.5 36:38 (10:28, 10:38)
4.0 42:16 (10:34, 11:06) last mile 10:59
4.5 47:34 (10:34, 10:36)
5.0 52:40 (10:32, 10:12) last mile 10:24
5.5 58:03 (10:33, 10:46)
6.0 1:03:09 (10:32, 10:12) last mile 10:29
6.5 1:08:11 (10:29, 10:04)
7.0 1:13:00 (10:26, 9:38) last mile 9:51

Heart Rate Monitor Results:
Duration: 01:15:15
Calories Burned: 845
Average Heart Rate: 166 (86.0 % max)
Maximum Heart Rate: 182 (94.3% max)
Time in Zone (65-85%): 0:30:28

The surprising thing is that this is my "best" heart rate monitor result. It's the lowest average heart rate that I've had on a long run, which means that it wasn't quite as strenuous for me. I had a really strong finish, showing that I still had some energy at the end. I think that if it wasn't for some stomach issues in mile 4, I could have gone a decent bit faster in the second half.

Overall, I'm really happy with my run. With the exception of a few stops at lights (that equaled 2.25 minutes), I ran 7 miles straight. And even with some stomach problems halfway through, I had an average pace that was exactly the same as the average pace for my 6 mile run. I just need to repeat 7 miles next weekend, and if that goes well, try 8 miles!

8k training: 3 mile and 5 mile runs

I've gone on two runs since my last workout post. It's still strange not doing any strength workouts this week. I was really tempted to jump on one of the machines after my run today, but reminded myself that I'm supposed to be giving myself a break. It's a good thing though, since I've done a lot of running this week.

On Tuesday, I ran 3 miles on the treadmill. I was supposed to do 3 miles slow, followed by 4 sets of 20 seconds fast and 2 minutes slow. I decided that I just didn't feel like doing the 4 sets at the end, and just did 3 miles. To make up for it a bit, I went faster at the end, finishing the 3 miles in 30:20.

Heart Rate Monitor Results:
Duration: 0:31:26
Calories Burned: 342
Average Heart Rate: 163 (84.5% max)
Max Heart Rate: 179 (92.7% max)
Time in Zone (65-85%): 0:16:46

Today, I had a new kind of run planned. I've mostly been doing set distances, with a few that were followed by some of those short speed intervals. This workout was mostly intervals, but a lot more of them. I was a little apprehensive, but I actually really enjoyed it. If I repeat this kind of run, I might push up the pace in the fast sections a bit.

After I finished running, I walked for 5 minutes at 4.0mph. 

Then I did some abs:

50 standard crunches (legs up)

50 curl-up crunches (legs down)

50 Russian twists (no weight)

30 V-ups

60 sec forearm plank

Heart Rate Monitor Results: (run only)
Duration: 0:51:42
Calories Burned: 590
Average Heart Rate: 167 (86.5% max)
Max Heart Rate: 183 (94.8% max)
Time in Zone (65-85%): 0:14:34

8k Training: 6 mile run

I ran 6 miles! This is something I have done only once before, and that was the 10k race I did last spring. For the race, I had Joey running by my side the entire time. I was a bit nervous about this run, partially because of the distance, and a little bit because of the bad feelings left from the run the day before. I decided to just make it an easy run - to go at a nice pace, and to stop if I really needed it. I looked at the map for a long time before leaving, to make sure I knew what to do (part of it was a new route for me), and then headed out. I got an early start than the day before, but it was actually warmer outside since the sun was out. 

All in all, the run was pretty good. I stayed at a really consistent pace the first 4 miles, and then slowed down for a pretty big hill in mile 5. I had some shin/knee pain in the beginning, but it subsided once I got to the middle of the run. My feet definitely hurt a lot - I think that for longer runs, my feet get sweaty and start slipping around in my shoes. This forces my toes to slam into the front of my shoe, and the ends of my toes get lots of blisters. At the very end of the run, my left knee started hurting a whole lot. I'm used to pain in the outside of my knee, from tight IT bands, but this was on the inside part of the knee. I pushed through it anyway (which Joey told me was insane, since I could have injured myself), and it stopped hurting after I finished the run and started walking. 

I'm mostly just really proud of myself for doing it! Since I went at a slightly slower pace than the 10k race I did, this was my longest run in terms of time spent running. Next weekend I'm supposed to do 7 miles! I told Joey he'll have to help me find a less hilly route to do. Once I accomplish 7 and 8 miles runs, I might think about doing the Charlottesville 10 miler. It's a distance I never thought I could possibly do, but now I'm starting to think it may be possible.

Splits: (average pace, pace in last 1/2 mile)
0.50: 5:07 (10:14)
1.00: 10:19 (10:19, 10:24) last mile 10:19
1.50: 15:20 (10:13, 10:02)
2.00: 20:31 (10:15, 10:22) last mile 10:12
2.50: 25:37 (10:15, 10:12)
3.00: 30:46 (10:15, 10:18) last mile 10:15
3.50: 35:57 (10:16, 10:22)
4.00: 41:09 (10:17, 10:24) last mile 10:23
4.50: 46:25 (10:19, 10:32)
5.00: 52:02 (10:24, 11:14) last mile 10:53
5.50: 57:17 (10:25, 10:30)
6.00: 1:02:43 (10:27, 10:52) last mile 10:41

Heart Rate Monitor Results:
Duration: 1:05:49
Calories Burned: 780
Average Heart Rate: 171 (88.6% max)
Maximum Heart Rate: 185 (95.9% max)
Time in Zone (65-85%): 0:15:56

8k Training: 3 mile run + speed intervals

I had an interesting run on Saturday. I stayed up way later than I should have Friday night, which means that I slept in on Saturday, and woke up starving. I knew there was no way I could go running while that hungry, so I ate breakfast and had coffee. Several hours later, once everything had settled, I decided to go for that run. I thought it was going to be pretty warm outside, and since I had missed my window of cool weather first thing in the morning, I decided to go running in just a sports bra - sans shirt. I spent a lot of time in front of the mirror before I left the house, trying to think about whether I was comfortable with it or not. The only time I did it before was for a quick 1.5 mile jog, and late afternoon, when it was really hot out. I eventually decided to just go for it, mostly because I convinced myself that I looked good.

I was planning on doing a 3 mile loop, and then going into the gym to do the speed intervals on the treadmill. The loop took me toward downtown, then back down Main St to go past the Corner. When I got outside, I realized it was cooler than I initially thought. The sky was overcast, and without the sun beating down, it actually felt a bit cool. I thought that was perfect, since I always prefer running weather on the cooler side. When I was in the downtown area, I got some slightly funny looks by some older people. I thought that was mostly because they were confused as to why I was wearing just a sports bra when it wasn't hot out. I think that non-runners don't realize how overheated you can become while running, and that once you get started, it feels 15-20 degrees warmer.

It was once I got to the Corner, that things went downhill (only metaphorically, since I was actually running uphill). It was extremely crowded, meaning I had to weave in and out of crowds of people. The good thing about the cool weather was that I wasn't quite as sweaty as usual - otherwise I probably would have been spraying the rude people who refused to move with sweat. Unfortunately, not only were the undergrads roaming around the Corner rude in their refusal to allow any space for people to pass, but they were extremely judgmental. I'm sure some of it was in my head, since I was already a bit self conscious, but it started with looks. Most of the girls I passed looked me up and down, and then made a face once they got to my exposed stomach. It was when I passed a group of frat (I'm assuming) guys, when I just about lost it. There were 3 or 4 guys walking towards me, and one of them pointed at me, laughed, and then said "cough FATTIE cough" and looked at his friends like he expected a reward. He had clearly been incredibly clever.

I turned up my music to avoid hearing anything else like that, and just kept going. I got to the gym and pounded out my speed intervals, and once I was done there, everything really hit me. At first I was stinking mad. How dare those stupid beer-guzzling frat boys and bitchy herd mentality girls judge me in any way? They probably can't do half of what I do physically. But then the shame set in. I started to feel bad about myself, and wondered if maybe I did look fat, if I was ridiculous to go out not completely covered up. I felt humiliated that I was targeted, and that I made myself a target.

Now, a few days later, I'm not upset about it anymore. I'm still a bit angry, but not nearly as much. I'd like to say - screw them, I'll run in a sports bra if I want to! But I don't know if I'm that brave. Thankfully, since the weather is cooling down (except for this week - high of 80 almost every day???), I will be wearing a shirt out of necessity on my runs. Maybe next spring, by the time it gets warm again, I'll feel good enough about myself that I'll run without a shirt. Maybe by then, I won't care what people say/think.

Splits: (average pace, pace in last 1/2 mile)
0.50 miles: 4:55 (9:50)
1.00 miles: 9:42 (9:42, 9:34)
1.50 miles: 14:35 (9:43, 9:46)
2.00 miles: 19:16 (9:38, 9:22)
2.50 miles: 24:17 (9:43, 10:02)
3.00 miles: 28:54 (9:38, 9:14)

I did 3 sets of 0:20 at 7.8mph with rests of 2:00 at 5.8mph in between.

Heart Rate Monitor Results:
Duration: 0:39:59
Calories Burned: 473
Average Heart Rate: 170 (88.1% max)
Maximum Heart Rate: 187 (96.9% max)
Time in Zone (65-85%): 0:10:41

Spartacus-Style Workout (Focus on Core)

Remember how I said that I was incredibly sore from Wednesday's workout? I was still really sore on Friday. Thankfully, I got less sore throughout the day. Thursday I definitely got more sore throughout the day. I put together a sparty workout that would mostly avoid all of my sore areas. In order to do that, I had to do a lot of abs/core exercises. This made it an easier sparty than usual, which was a welcome change.

One thing - I had originally included stability ball hamstring curls, but Joey told me to get rid of those if I wanted to be able to walk the next day! My butt and legs were already too sore to handle that. I switched them out for the inbred cousins. If you aren't crazy sore going into this workout, then by all means, do the hamstring curls. They're a fun exercise, and the stability ball is already being used.

Heart Rate Monitor Results:
Duration: 0:32:23
Calories Burned: 228
Average Heart Rate: 127 (65.8% max)
Maximum Heart Rate: 164 (85.0% max)
Time in Zone (65-85%): 0:20:53

8k Training: 4 mile easy run

Like the title suggests, I was supposed to run 4 miles yesterday. I couldn't do it until after work, and I think you all know how I feel about running in weather warmer than 60 F. I decided to do half outside, and half on the treadmill. I planned a small loop that was 2.33 miles total, and was exactly 2 miles at the beginning of a hill. I figured if I was tired, I could just walk back the rest of the way, and do 2 miles on the treadmill. If I was feeling good, I could run the whole way back, and then do a bit less on the treadmill. I forgot to start runkeeper until I had been going for 1/4 mile, so I'm glad that I already knew exactly how long the route was, and where the 2 mile marker was. I ended up doing the whole 2.33 miles. I felt a bit funny walking into the gym already covered in sweat, but oh well.

I don't know if the running helped with my sore muscle recovery at all. Sometimes it's really helpful to get my legs going. My body was (and still is) just so sore that it's hard to tell. This is probably the most sore I've been since I started working out regularly. I'm glad I pushed myself to go out on my run. This is the most consistently I've followed the training plan since I started. Maybe that's why I'm so sore - my muscles were already sore going into Wednesday's workout due to all of the extra running.

I did the 2.33 miles outside in just over 24 minutes, and then did the remaining 1.67 miles inside in just over 17 minutes. Not bad for my "easy run."

Heart Rate Monitor Results:
Note - I think that the first part wasn't recording - I happened to look down at my watch at one point and it said it was trying to connect. For that reason, I'm showing the outside and inside parts separately as well as combined.

Duration: 0:24:37, 0:17:01 = 41:38
Calories Burned: 248, 194 = 442
Average Heart Rate: 167, 168 = 167
Max Heart Rate: 182, 179 = 182
Time in Zone: 0:05:52, 0:02:23 = 0:08:15

Postponed KB Workout

Last night I had a really hard KB workout. I was making up for taking Monday off, and did KB on Wednesday instead of the normal Monday. I don't know if the workout itself was really difficult, or if my body was just dead, but I was exhausted! The first set took me FOREVER, and then I barely had any energy left for the second set.

I had been planning on getting through the 2nd set three times, but I was too tired for that. I went two times through, and then did the 10 and 5 reps exercises a 3rd time through, for a total of 230 reps. I did the 20 American Swings the first time through, but was barely able to do that. I switched it to regular Swings for the second time through.

I am crazy sore already today. My butt muscles are aching because of the high pulls, my lower back hurts from everything basically, and my upper back and arms are dead because of 80 freakin pushups.

I took off the heart rate monitor once I finished KB - before I got to abs.

HRM Results:
Duration: 1:20:31
Calories Burned: 735
Average Heart Rate: 146 (75.6% max)
Max Heart Rate: 169 (87.6% max)
Time in Zone (65-85%): 1:12:50

KB + Yoga Flexible Strength

I did another combination of kettle bells and yoga flexible strength last week. I end up being at the gym for a really long time (~5:15-8), but it's so worth it. My muscles were sore for days!

I did a really hard KB workout. I stole some stuff from Joey's site, per the usual, but didn't realize how hard the first set was going to be! I originally planned on doing 3 sets, but once I got through the first one, I knew that was definitely not going to happen.

Heart Rate Monitor:
Duration: 0:54:55
Calories Burned: 468
Average Heart Rate: 158 (81.9% max)
Max Heart Rate: 178 (92.2% max)
Time in Zone (65-85%): 0:37:39

I had about 10-15 minutes to rest before starting yoga. I changed clothes, which really helped. The class was really good!

Heart Rate Monitor:
Duration: 1:00:14
Calories Burned: 289
Average Heart Rate: 108 (56.0% max)
Max Heart Rate: 132 (68.4% max)
Time in Zone (65-85%): 0:02:22

8k Training: 3 mile easy run + 4x speed intervals

After a couple weeks of only doing weekend runs, I'm trying to get back to regular running. I was telling Joey, that there's no way I'll be able to increase the mileage each weekend if I'm not doing anything during the week to help!

Last night I did my running on the treadmill. I did 3 miles at 5.7mph (10:31 pace), then kicked it up for 4 sets of speed intervals. For each, I did 20 seconds at 7.7mph (the treadmill will let you increase the speed by up to 2mph if you hold it down - it takes a lot longer to do any more than that), followed by a 2 min recovery at 5.7mph. For the last one, I did 1 min+ at 7.7mph, and then slowed down to a walk. In the running, I did 3.85 miles total in 39:50. In the total time I was on the treadmill, I did 4.25 miles in 46:16.

I've been having some troubles with my IT band - I'm not sure if I've mentioned that here or not. A few months ago I noticed some knee pain, and now it's pretty regularly inflamed. On Monday, I was supposed to do a strength workout, but Joey and I both played hooky. We came home early, and curled up on the couch watching a movie (Sergeant Bilko) until he had to go to a meeting at 8. I think we both needed the day off (Friday and Sunday were technically off days, but 5.5 hours in the car isn't great for your legs either).

During the run last night, I could really feel the tightness in my knee and outer shin. I'm going to start trying to really work on my IT band with stretching and rolling. We have both "the stick" as well as a mini foam roller, and I've been using those to help loosen it up. If I can't work this out on my own in the next week or so, I'm going to look into some kind of knee brace or compression tights. Up until the last week or so, the pain had only been post-running. Now that it's giving me some troubles while running, I really want to fix this sooner rather than later.

Heart Rate Monitor Results:
Duration: 0:41:18
Calories Burned: 444
Average Heart Rate: 162 (83.9% max)
Max Heart Rate: 181 (93.8% max)
Time in Zone (65-85% max): 0:21:05

5 Mile Run in Bethany Beach

I went to the beach this past weekend! My parents recently bought a beach house in Bethany Beach, Delaware, and this was my first time getting to see it. We used to spend a week or two at the Delaware beaches every summer when I was growing up, first going to Fenwick Island, then switching to Bethany as I got older. I hadn't been in years, and was really looking forward to it.

I knew I would have to do a long run while I was there, and thought that this would be a nice opportunity to increase my pace a bit. I could take advantage of the completely flat terrain. We got in early Friday night, and met my family in Rehoboth to go to Dogfish Head (Joey was so excited!!). We got up Saturday morning to do our long runs (mine was 5 miles, Joey's was 10).

We both had a hard time with our run. Joey ended up doing 11.5 miles instead of 10, but had a hard time keeping up his pace. I started to get tired almost immediately, and didn't go any faster than I did in my last (very hilly) 5 mile run in Charlottesville. I ran from the beach house right to the beach, did a few loops on the (very tiny) boardwalk, and then ran back. Once I got closer to the beach, the sun was just beating down on me, and wore me out. I kept up a good pace in the first two miles, but then just got progressively slower and slower. I'm glad I still pushed through to at least finish the run.

Once I got back, I felt a lot better. I had done my exercise for the weekend and could completely enjoy myself!

Splits: (overall pace, pace in last 1/4 mile)
0.25 2:23 (9:32, 9:32)
0.50 4:46 (9:32, 9:32)
0.75 7:15 (9:40, 9:56)
1.00 9:28 (9:28, 8:52) last mile 9:28
1.25 11:58 (9:34, 10:00)
1.50 14:17 (9:31, 9:16)
1.75 16:48 (9:36, 10:04)
2.00 19:12 (9:36, 9:36) last mile 9:44
2.25 21:48 (9:41, 10:24)
2.50 24:20 (9:44, 10:08)
2.75 26:59 (9:49, 10:36)
3.00 29:32 (9:51, 10:12) last mile 10:20
3.25 32:09 (9:54, 10:28)
3.50 34:43 (9:55, 10:16)
3.75 37:20 (9:57, 10:28)
4.00 40:00 (10:00, 10:40) last mile 10:28
4.25 42:25 (9:59, 9:40)
4.50 44:58 (10:00, 10:12)
4.75 47:21 (9:58, 9:32)
5.00 49:59 (10:00, 10:32) last mile 9:59
5.01 50:03 (9:59)

HRM Results:
Duration: 0:51:14
Calories Burned: 675
Average Heart Rate: 180 (93.3% max)
Max Heart Rate: 188 (97.4% max)
Time in Zone (65-85%): 0:01:59

You can see from the HRM results that I was working harder than I was in my last 5 mile run. Or at least that I had a harder time running. Like I said, miles 1 and 2 were at a good pace, but miles 3 and 4 definitely slowed down. I kept them pretty steady though, and didn't really slow down much throughout them. I'm still proud of myself for doing the run!

5 mile run in Charlottesville

While it doesn't seem like it, I actually still have been training for my race in November.

On September 10th, I did a training run of 3 miles + 3 sets of 0:20 fast and 2:00 slow. I ended up doing 3.85 miles in 38 minutes.

HRM Results:
Duration: 0:47:01
Calories Burned: 512
Average Heart Rate: 163 (84.4% max)
Max Heart Rate: 180 (93.3% max)
Time in Zone (65-85%): 0:15:04

From now on, I'm going to try to use the HRM only during actual running, ie, turn it off before I start to cool down in the end. I want to be able to compare results from similar runs, so I can see if I'm getting in better shape (which would equal a lower heart rate).

On September 15, I had a fantastic 5 mile run. The weather was absolutely beautiful. I was supposed to do 5 miles, slow, and that is what I did. I just went at a pace that felt good. I felt like I had been running the same route over and over again, so I did a slightly different one. I knew it would be pretty hilly, but was surprised when Runkeeper told me I set a new record for elevation climb. That made me feel even better about my overall pace.

Splits: (overall pace, pace of last 1/4 mile)

0.25 2:39 (10:36, 10:36)

0.50 5:07 (10:14, 9:52)
0.75 7:23 (9:51, 9:04)
1.00 9:42 (9:42, 9:16) last mile 9:42
1.25 12:16 (9:49, 10:16)
1.50 14:49 (9:53, 10:12)
1.75 17:27 (9:58, 10:32)
2.00 19:53 (9:57, 9:44) last mile 10:11
2.25 22:24 (9:57, 10:04)
2.50 24:49 (9:56, 9:40)
2.75 27:24 (9:58, 10:20)
3.00 29:55 (9:58, 10:04) last mile 10:01
3.25 32:26 (9:59, 10:04)
3.50 34:50 (9:57, 9:36)
3.75 37:26 (9:59, 10:24)
4.00 40:02 (10:00, 10:24) last mile 10:07
4.25 42:35 (10:01, 10:12)
4.50 45:12 (10:03, 10:28)
4.75 47:47 (10:04, 10:20)
5.00 50:00 (10:00, 8:52) last mile 9:58
5.01 50:03 (9:59)

HRM Results: 
Duration: 0:50:39
Calories Burned: 619
Average Heart Rate: 174 (90.2% max)
Max Heart Rate: 185 (95.9% max)
Time in Zone (65-85%): 0:05:02

My overall pace didn't change that much throughout. My first mile was the fastest, but it did include some downhill. The second mile was the slowest, but it was almost completely uphill. All in all, everything made sense. I think mile 5 is what I should be most proud of, since it was mostly uphill, but was my second fastest mile. 

HABIT + Sparty

I am so far behind on posts. I will say that I warned everyone! What's funny is that I'm about 2 weeks behind on exercise posts, and about a month behind on recipe posts! I guess it's because for workouts, I have all of the data easily on hand to put up. For recipes, I have some pictures on Joey's camera, I need him to write up a few things for some (since he did most of the cooking)...excuses excuses, I know.

So, here is my doubleheader from September 13th. I did HABIT at the AFC, followed by two rounds of sparty with friends.

I felt like I wasn't pushing myself as hard during HABIT as the last time I did it - I felt really tired during it. My HRM results were still pretty good though.

HABIT HRM Results:
Duration: 1:01:59
Calories Burned: 550
Average Heart Rate: 144 (74.6% max)
Max Heart Rate: 174 (90.1% max)
Time in Zone (65-85%): 0:39:04

This is what we did for sparty:

Since there were 4 of us, I had to organize things a bit differently. I'm used to doing it by myself, or with just Joey. Then it's easy to go through the order, 1 through 10. With 4 of us, I had to organize it so there were really two sets of 5 things, and 5 separate stations to do them. We first went through 1-5, then 6-10. For example, if someone started at Squat Jumps, they then did Ab Extenders, DB Chest Fly, Leg Lifts, followed by IBC, before going to the second set of 5 stations.

While it took a bit of time to think it through, I think it worked out pretty well in the end.

Sparty HRM Results:
I forgot to start the HRM again for the first set of sparty, so this is just from the second set
Duration: 0:16:35
Calories burned: 148
Average Heart Rate: 145 (75.1% max)
Max Heart Rate: 168 (87.0% max)
Time in Zone (65-85%): 0:13:34

4+ mile run in Charlottesville

The weather this morning was perfect for a run. I was pretty tired last night, and just passed out around midnight. I slept until a little past 8 (yay no alarm) and decided to take advantage of getting up early, and go for the run then. It was only going to keep getting warmer outside. The temperature was just below 60 when I left, and it felt really nice in the shade. I wore my new Cville Women's 4 Miler shirt, and my favorite shorts from Old Navy, and took off on a route I've done many times before. The past few times I've done the route, I've made it shorter by cutting out the part on the downtown mall, or by turning onto Grady from Rugby. I wanted to make it a full 4 miles, and in order to do this, the loop was closer to 4.5 miles. I figured I could walk the last part if I needed to. My legs were really tired during the uphills, but once I started going back downhill I got into a nice groove, and kept going even once I heard the 4 mile notification. Overall it felt really good. I went at a pretty easy pace, and pushed it a little toward the end at the last little hill. The only problem is thinking about future runs on this training plan - it's hard to imagine doing more than 6 miles at the pace I was going, even though I was taking it pretty easy. Hopefully by the time I get there (I think in 3 weeks), I'll be more ready for it. I'll also have to think about easing back on my pace - it feels like I'm going pretty slow, but I'm sure I can be going even slower than that.

Heart Rate Monitor:
Duration: 0:47:48
Calories Burned: 560
Average Heart Rate: 170 (88.1% of max)
Max Heart Rate: 182 (94.3% of max)
Time in Zone (65-85%): 0:10:10

Mixing It Up - Strength/Cardio Friday

I normally do a sparty-style workout every Friday. Of course I haven't done one in a few weeks - what with the race last weekend, and having a friend in town the weekend before. I actually didn't even do it the week before that, since we left to go to West Virginia for the weekend. Anyway, now that I've made myself look like a lazy bum, this is what I did yesterday.

I saw something on Fit Sugar about a workout that paired strength and cardio, which looked to be of similar difficulty as a Spartacus workout, and actually used some of the same exercises. I asked Joey his opinion, since he will tell me truthfully if he thinks something I find online is hard enough or not, and he said that it sounded pretty hard. It says to go through 3-4 times for a 45 minute workout. Let's just say that I got through 2x in 45 minutes. If you're able to go more quickly than I did, well by all means, do 3-4 times through! I listed the weights that I used, so feel free to adjust.

I ended the workout with just a couple of core exercises, and then called it a day. I got a late start because I didn't get home until after 5:30, and then was helping Joey make peach jam (!!!). I got back to the apartment around 8, and by the time I showered and was ready to think about dinner, it was already 8:30. I unfortunately didn't have any leftovers, or any creativity, so dinner was some harvest grain medley, topped with steamed veggies and two veggie burgers.

Heart Monitor:
Duration: 0:50:00
Calories Burned: 466
Average Heart Rate: 148 (76.7% max)
Max Heart Rate: 174 (90.2% max)
Time in Zone (65-85%): 0:40:52

Kettle bells + Yoga

I spent almost 3 hours at the gym last night! I went a little crazy and bought a ton of passes for the AFC drop-in classes, so now I need to use them all up! Thankfully, the semester just started, and the new schedule has a lot of interesting classes that I want to try out. I saw that my favorite yoga instructor was teaching a new class in addition to her regular "Yoga Flow," called "Yoga Flexible Strength." It was described as:

This class actively combines strength and flexibility into a dynamic workout. The sequence of movements is designed to counter-balance the stresses of sedentary life and promote the practical application of strength and flexibility throughout one’s daily activities. This class will incorporate new moves, musical artists and styles each week to keep you coming back more.

I was intrigued to see how the class would be different from the fast-paced Yoga Flow. It started at 6:45, so I got to the gym a little after 5 to do two KB sets first. I wanted to allow plenty of time in between so I could stretch and cool down. I didn't want to make the mistake of coming straight from another workout to yoga - starting out sweaty and tired in yoga isn't fun. I know that it's supposed to stretch your muscles, and some people like it as a cool down, but I hate when my hands are sweaty and start slipping everywhere. I'm also self conscious about being red faced and sweaty when everyone else is just calmly in down dog.

As soon as I got to the gym, I staked out a spot on one of the corners of the track, and grabbed the KBs I was using (20 and 25 lbs). I don't know if I've mentioned this already, but I'll say it again - there are too many people at the gym! It's like everyone comes back after the summer and realizes that after 3 months of drinking beer by the pool, they need to start working out again. In a month, most of them will be gone, but for right now it's just way too many people. What really gets me is that the girls seem to travel in packs.

After grabbing a spot, I went to the assisted pullup machine. It's been a while since I've done any of those. Thanks to my tags on the blog, I can see that the last time I used the machine was July 1st, and I did some Joey-assisted pullups on July 3rd. Back in July, I did 2 at 60lbs assistance, then 3 and 4 at 70lbs assistance, and immediately following the 4 I did an additional 6 at 90lbs assistance. Since it's obviously been a while, I decided to see where things were first. I set it at 90lbs assistance and pretty easily did 10. I rested for 1-2 minutes, then set the assistance to 80lbs and completed 5. I probably could have done more, but I wanted to save some energy for the 3rd set. I then moved to 70lbs assistance, and did 2. I was pretty pleased with what I did - I definitely won't be starting from scratch. I'm hoping that if I keep it up, I'll be able to do a real pullup (or several) within 3 months.

The KB workout was HARD - I used the 25lb KB for almost every exercise, which was only the second time I've used it. Because of this, I went through it pretty slowly. I only switched to the 20lb KB for the Grand Ribbon and Triple Crush in the second set. I actually used the cards for the workout, although I altered the workout from the second card. It was supposed to be lightning rounds, where you do as many as you can of each section in 3 minutes. I started out doing that, but just couldn't keep up with the pace to do a significant amount in 3 minutes. I decided to just go twice through each section, without timing, and then to do the entire thing two times.

I was left with a good amount of time to stretch and cool down. I actually had too much time - when I went downstairs to where the class is held, I realized that there was a class still going. Now I know that the room will be occupied until 6:30 (or later - it definitely went late last night), so there isn't a point in getting down there before then. Once I got in, I set up my mat and towel toward the front so could see both the instructor and the mirror. The class was pretty great. For the first 2/3, I felt really good, like things were challenging, but still doable. I realized how much I missed the class, and how everything we did stretched out my muscles in ways I can't do on my own. Toward the end of the class, everything just felt tired. My arms didn't want to hold me up anymore. Thankfully, at that point it was just fun stuff left - arm balances and shavasana. You would think that my tired arms would make arm balances impossible, but I actually was able to do them! I think because it's more of creating a solid connection between your arms and legs, and just trusting that your wrists can hold you, that it doesn't require a lot of arm strength actually. I remember when I first started, I thought there's no way my arms can hold up my entire body weight. It definitely made me happy that I was able to do it, and on both sides! I'm not sure the exact name of this arm balance, I think it was similar to a side crane.

By the time I got home, chatted Joey's ear off about the gym, and then showered, it was 8:30. Time for dinner! I reheated some of the tikka masala from last week (recipe to come soon), had it over quinoa with roasted shrimp, and some rosemary garlic bread (recipe also coming) on the side. Joey apparently had been very productive while I was working up a sweat. He went to Sam's Club, made granola, baked the bread, made himself braised pork, cooked 5 breakfast sandwiches for each of us, using egg whites he bought at Sam's Club... Best boyfriend ever. Make that best person ever!

Heart Rate Monitor: (KB/yoga)
Duration: 0:55:39/1:06:33
Calories Burned: 484/293
Average Heart Rate: 143 (74.1% of max)/104 (53.9% of max)
Max Heart Rate: 166 (86.0% of max)/134 (69.4% of max)
Time in Zone (65-85%): 0:46:35/0:01:33