October Workouts

Here is another recap of all of the workouts I've done in the past month. Since it does appear that I'm getting back into a regular schedule, I'll try to do these more often. Then I can avoid giant posts like this! If you aren't interested at all in my running and workouts, then feel free to skip this post. Food posts will be coming soon :)

As a general recap of the month, I really got back into running. Like I mentioned in a previous post, I decided toward the end of September that I just wasn't ready to train for the Richmond Half Marathon on November 15th. My base mileage was way too low to start increasing the miles steadily. Once I got over the initial disappointment, I found this to be pretty freeing. I could go out and run if and when I felt like it, and I could do a lot more activities without having to worry about how that would affect my run the next day. The funny thing, is that without having to follow a rigid training schedule, I actually ended up running a lot more than I had in previous months.

Wed Oct 1:
I did a 3.25 mile run, which ended right near the gym at my apartment complex, so I popped into do some exercises there. I used Runkeeper to track my run.

Negative splits always make me happy :)

Thurs Oct 2:
I did another 3.25 mile run, using a slightly different route than the one the previous day. This time I tracked my run using Joey's Garmin watch. I called it a day after the run, and didn't do anything else.

Mon Oct 6:

I finally did a KB workout! I modified an old workout, to something that would be more manageable with my "weakened" state haha.

Tues Oct 7:

Here, I'm going to talk about my running "road rage." I get super angry whenever people hog the sidewalk. Being right on a college campus, this happens a whole lot. For some reason, undergrads find that it's necessary to walk 3 people in a row, making it impossible for anyone to get past them. Usually, when you're walking toward them and they can see you, they won't really move out of the way. If you're lucky, the person closest to you (who is completely on the wrong side of the sidewalk) will kind of tilt their body, so you'll probably end up brushing into them unless you go onto the road. I've started lifting up my arms/elbows, almost like I'm trying to adjust my ponytail, when I see people walking toward me who refuse to move. It's amazing how the threat of an elbow to the face makes them move out of the way. (I'm obviously not going to smack someone in the face, I just need to SELL that I will haha) However, the people walking in the same direction as I'm running are the worst. Even when I yell out from behind, either saying excuse me, or coming through, they completely ignore me. Sometimes it's difficult going around just one person, especially when they do something that I call "drunk walking." Basically zigzagging all over the place so it's impossible for me to easily go around them. I refuse to have to step out into the road, especially when there's no shoulder, just so people can walk three across. Anyway, I get really irritated when this happens, and during this run, it happened a whole lot. The only good thing was that this rage fueled me to go longer than I had planned, and to be speedier throughout. To those of you who were in my way - you know who you are...
I used Runkeeper to track my run - mostly because I wanted to just go out and have an easy run, and didn't want a visible reminder of my pace throughout. I ended up going fast anyway...
Also, it started raining about 1 mile into the run.

Thurs Oct 9:
We were in Harrisburg, PA Wed Oct 8 through Sat Oct 11. Thursday morning was one of the only times we knew would have some extra time, so we both did a run. It was actually a really nice run. The weather was pretty good (a bit chilly, but not bad), it was beautiful running along the river, and it was really flat. I went a lot faster than my usual pace, because it was so flat compared to running in Charlottesville. I felt pretty great :)
I used Runkeeper to track my run.

Mon Oct 13:
After taking the rest of the weekend off, I decided to go on a run on Monday. I normally do strength workouts on MWF (usually not all of those...) and run TuTh. This just flipped around Monday and Tuesday, but it worked out pretty well for my Tuesday workout with a friend (below). This time I used the Garmin watch. I went faster than originally planned. It definitely didn't feel easy or comfortable, but still felt good in the end. I was glad to see that I could hold that pace, even when I wasn't on a super flat course.

Tues Oct 14:
Like I said, my days got mixed around a bit, so I did my strength workout on Tuesday instead of Monday. I did it with a friend, and we modified one of my old workouts so it was a different format. I had some good results with a workout last month, where I did AMRAP in 8 minutes for each of 3 circuits. This time, there were 5 exercises in each circuit instead of 4, so we got through each circuit 4 times in the 8 minutes. We jogged a few laps around the indoor track (10.5 laps = 1 mile) between each circuit.

Thurs Oct 16:
This was a really nice day, absolutely beautiful weather. Joey was leading frisbee practice, so my plan was to go on a run starting and ending at the field. I was a little nervous that it would actually feel too warm, and I would get overheated, but it ended up feeling great. The only bad part was that I got a stitch in my side toward the very end, but that didn't end up affecting things too much.
I used Runkeeper to track my run.

Basically negative splits :) The side stitch probably affected the pace for the last little bit

Tues Oct 21:
For this run and the next one, I had to be into lab super early. I basically had to get there around 7, do maybe 10-15 minutes of work, and then I had a 5 hour break. I've done this experiment a lot, and I know that by the end of the day, I'm pretty tired. And unless I have an additional experiment to do in that 5 hour break, I don't do anything productive. Even more annoying is that the buses don't start running until 7:30, so I have to walk in. I decided that I would run into lab (almost a mile), which would get me there much faster, do the 10-15 minutes of work, and then continue on my run. This worked out really well, with the exception of it being really dark during that first bit! I didn't have to be in quite as early on Thursday, so the first part wasn't as dark then. I felt like I was really flying in that first mile, but really wasn't going as fast as I thought. Then I thought I was super slow in the second part, but wasn't as slow as I thought. I guess it all evened out...
I used Joey's Garmin watch to track my run.

Thurs Oct 23:
Unlike Tuesday's run, when I felt like I was going really fast in that first mile, I really was! The rest of the run was much hillier, and I was proud that I kept my pace going up the hills. I used Runkeeper to track my run.

Sun Oct 26:
This was such a beautiful day, and I was looking forward to going out on a run. I planned a 5 mile run, which was probably already a bit ambitious considering what I had been doing lately (a lot of 3-4 mile runs). Once I got to about 4.5 miles, I thought I could do a little more. I basically did the last mile (mile 6) in honor of a good friend, who is having leg issues and isn't allowed to run, even though she really wants to. I used Joey's Garmin watch to track my run.

Mon Oct 27:

I got back into doing workouts with my friend, and this time we did a KB workout together. After our workout, I did the first of my workouts geared toward being able to do an unassisted pull-up!

Wed Oct 29:

I did another strength workout at the AFC, this time mostly built around my pull-up exercises. This is going to be a workout that I don't necessarily recommend you repeat, since as Joey put it, I did "ALL of the pull-up exercises." I was so sore after this. I just got so excited about wanting to do a pull-up that I overdid it a bit. Now I know better for next time!
In this case, purple = an exercise specifically for the pull-up workout, and blue = a leg/ab exercise so I wouldn't completely kill my arms
I ended this workout by walking home from the gym - 1.6 miles - while carrying lots of stuff! My arms were dying!

Thursday, Oct 30:

I ended up doing another 6 mile run that was mostly unplanned! I plotted out something that was ~5.5 miles, and knew that I would be walking ~0.15 of it (super steep hill that is 100% unnecessary to run). Toward the end, I decided that I wanted to make it 6 miles, but didn't have the energy to think about what I would need to do for that to happen. This meant I just ran up and down my street a few times until the watch told me I had gone 6.00 miles! The funny thing is that I ended up doing almost exactly the same average pace as my previous 6 mile run - this run was exactly 24 seconds faster overall.

Friday, Oct 31:

This was a weird day. I planned to do my workout at the AFC, so I packed my clothes and brought them with me to work. While I'm trying to focus on pull-up exercises, I want to go to the AFC as often as I can, since that is the only place (I know of) that has an assisted pull-up machine. It ended up being a blah day, and I really didn't want to stay through the end. I also accumulated a lot of different things I needed to take home with me, and didn't want a repeat of Wednesday, having to carry it all home. I decided that I would take the bus home early, and then I could drive over to the gym. There was so much traffic! I always forget that Friday afternoons are the worst, and this was even worse because of Halloween. They have trick or treating on the Lawn, so everyone brings their little kids there. It took at least 15 minutes to get home on the bus (probably more like 20-25), and I knew that I didn't want to get stuck in that traffic driving. I had already done a long run the day before, and I was planning on doing some kind of run over the weekend, so I didn't think about running there. I also planned on doing a sparty-style workout, which usually has a lot of cardio. Joey suggested that I run to and from the gym (which I knew was 1.6 miles from my walk home the other night), and that I modify the workout so it was "sparty-lite." This way I could avoid traffic, and still do what I had planned. This worked out pretty well, with the exception of way too many people walking around (see running road rage above), but I just had to deal with it. We modified the workout so I wouldn't be doing anything for time, since I didn't need the extra cardio.

I don't feel the need to put up maps for the run - I averaged about 16 minutes for each portion, so just about a 10 minute pace each way.

Monthly Totals:

Running: 43.9 miles
Strength workouts: 4
KB workouts: 2
Yoga: 0

I am very proud of these totals! I did almost twice the number of miles that I did in September (23.5), without even following a training plan. I was saying to Joey the other day that it's almost like I'm doing a training plan, with the way I've been naturally increasing the number of miles. I think I'm doing it just as a challenge to myself. Part of me wants to start training for a race, but part of me thinks that it might take the fun out of it. I think for now, I'm just going to continue doing what feels good, and take it from there. I'm running the Richmond 8k in 2 weeks, and probably the 10k in Wilmington over Thanksgiving. I'm not training at all for either of those - I just know that based on the runs I've been doing, I am prepared to do those distances. The times won't be great, but I'm (mostly) okay with that.

I really want to be able to keep up with my strength workouts. I think that they will improve my running, and make me feel better about my overall fitness. Most important, I want to be able to do a pull-up!! This would be such a huge accomplishment for me, and I think that with some hard work, it's possible.

Obviously the one thing that I'm missing is yoga - that's a big fat zero. I really need to try out some videos - anybody have any recommendations? Only free ones please :)
I love going to Ann's yoga classes, but since I don't have a multi-class pass for the AFC right now, it seems a little expensive. It's $7/class, which can really add up. If I find enough classes that I think I'll go to, I might get the 5 class pass for $25. My problem is that I always end up with leftover passes that I don't use. We have a 4 month period of time to use the passes, when I think that they should stay valid for an entire year. I think I always got 10 passes in the past, so hopefully if I get the 5 class pass, I'll manage to use those up!

Adjusting my plans (and why it's okay to do that)

Right around the time of the Women's 4 Miler, I decided that I wanted to train for a half marathon. I knew that my best bet would be the one in Richmond in November. I found a beginner training plan, and saw that I had just enough time to get through all of the weeks of training. I told myself that I would only do this if I did it right - no pushing myself once I started to really hurt, no speed work AT ALL, and just try to enjoy myself. The first few runs went pretty well. I had a great 4 mile run about a week after the race, and that made me feel like I could really do this. The next run was not so good (5 miles on 9/14). I ran with a friend, and was embarrassed by how slow we went, and how painful that still felt (not actual pain, but just not fun). I did two runs that week, that felt much better, so I just attributed the bad long run to something else. Unfortunately, my next long run (supposed to be 6 miles, on 9/20) was just bad. I cut the run short, and at that moment, decided that I was going to stop training for a half marathon. But you know what? I was completely okay with that decision. I told Joey when I got back from the run, "I'm not upset about it, but there's no way I'm running a half marathon in 2 months." I just wasn't in the right place to start training.

At first I was confused as to why I was having such difficulty keeping up with the plan, but then I remembered that I was basically starting with zero endurance. I hadn't been running regularly, and I think that's really important when you're starting a training plan for a distance race. When I started training for the 10 miler last spring, Joey gave me 4 weeks to get used to running several times a week. At that point, I had also been running regularly. I logged about 60 miles in October, about 50 miles in November, and about 60 miles in December. I started the pre-training plan in the second week of December, so I clearly had a lot of endurance already. This time around, I had practically nothing logged for the months of April, May, June and July, and August had a paltry 20 miles. That is not the proper base level of running required for initiating any kind of distance training plan.

Now that I have changed my plans, I don't feel disappointed at all. I almost feel like I freed myself from a very restrictive schedule. I don't have to run because a piece of paper is telling me, and I've already gone out on two runs since then (and am planning on doing a third one today). Even better, I've had the time to do exercise other than just running - I've gone on two long hikes, a bunch of smaller hikes, went rock climbing (!!), and have done a lot of different strength workouts. I can do these things, and not worry that it's going to make me too sore to do my planned running.

So for now, I'm going to just keep having fun with my activities. I'm going to try to run 2-3 days/week, just because I really do enjoy it, and this is the perfect running weather. If I keep up with running throughout the winter, maybe I'll train for a long race in the spring.

In case anyone cared, here is the training plan I had started following (I think it would actually be a good one, if you had already been running regularly), and below is what I did in the month of September. My total mileage was 23.5 miles.

Monday Sept 8:
Like I said above, this was a really enjoyable run. I planned on maybe stopping after ~3 miles and walking the rest, but I was still feeling good and decided to push through those last hills. I was still feeling good when I got back to where I started, so I went past there, until I hit 4 miles.

Separate note - Garmin Connect changed its format, so my screen shots look completely different - not sure how I feel about that...

Friday Sept 12:
Started push-up challenge: I started doing 25 pushups every single day. I started with sets of 5, and each week started adding an additional pushup to each set. I'm up to 8-10 at a time now, and it's amazing how much easier they are to do now!

Sunday Sept 14:
I ran 5 miles with a friend, and we went REALLY slow. We stopped to walk a few times on steep downhills, so she wouldn't hurt her legs (she's had some stress fractures in her shins, and needs to be careful). I used the Garmin watch, but it's hard to tell my exact pace because I accidentally started late, and we walked a few times.

Mon Sept 15:
This was a pretty fun workout. It was nice and compact, so it didn't take too long to complete, yet I still felt like I got a full workout. I made up 3 circuits, each with 4 exercises. I mostly had 10 reps for each exercise. For each circuit, you go through your 4 exercises as many times as you can in 8 minutes. I managed to get through each set 5 times in the allotted time. For this reason, the reps are pretty low.

Most of the exercises are done without needing any equipment. I got a medium set of DBs (10 lbs) to use for the triceps extensions, overhead reach, and woodchops. I got a KB for the swings, although you could use a DB for that if you didn't have access to KBs. If you have a medicine ball, that could be used for the overhead reach and woodchops.

All of the exercises can be found on FitSugar's website, if you have any questions.

Tues Sept 16:
I don't remember a lot about this particular run, but it seemed to have gone just fine! It's a pretty simple loop, and the weather was sunny and warm. I needed to do a minimum of 7 miles over the course of two runs, so my goal was to get at least 3.5 done that day.

Wed Sept 17:
Here, I wanted to do a kettlebell workout that wouldn't totally wreck me, since I hadn't done KBs in a while. This one worked pretty well, and didn't take forever to complete.

Fri Sept 19:
I planned this run out so I could do it by the river - the flattest area in town! I don't know why, but it takes forever to drive there. It's just over 2 miles from my house (I know this because I've run there a few times), but somehow takes at least 10 minutes each way to drive. This was a run where I felt pretty good, but kept being surprised by how slow I was going, when I checked my pace on the watch. I kept the pace the entire time though, and tried to speed up a little bit at the end.

Sat Sept 20:
Here's the run that made me change my mind about the half marathon. Granted, the weather was a lot warmer than I thought it would be, and the sun beating down on me really wore me out. I was fine the first couple miles, and then things went downhill (not literally) once I hit the big hill in mile 2. I still pushed through, and made it to 3.41 miles before I decided that I just absolutely needed to walk. I walked for about a minute, felt a little better, and decided that I should make the best of the rest of my run. I really didn't want to walk the 2 miles home, so I walked 1 minute and ran 2 minutes for the rest. I changed the route so it would be 5 miles instead of the 6 I planned.

Sun Sept 21:
We've been talking about going on a long hike for months, and we finally did it! We drove out to Old Rag (about 1 hour from Charlottesville), and did the legendary hike. It's one of the most popular hikes in the Shenandoah area, both because of the epic views, and the difficult terrain. There are a lot of rock scrambles, which were so much fun! It's a steep uphill climb to the top, for the first 4 miles or so. Then you have 2 miles of downhill on the trail, and the last 3 miles downhill are on a fire road, which is paved part of the way. This is the second time we've done this hike, and last time I needed Joey's help for some of the scrambles. This time I did it completely on my own!

I love how weird the pace graph looks - most of those spikes in the end of the first half are for the rock scrambles

Recovering from all of my running/hiking

Wed Sept 24:
Ran 2 miles on the treadmill - 21:02
Bodyweight exercises - I don't really remember what I did, but some combination of lunges, sit-ups, push-ups, etc

Fri Sept 26:
I went rock climbing for the first time ever! I had a combination of a really great time, and a really scary time. I'm pretty sure that I was scared every second, especially during my first climb, but it was so exhilarating that it was still a great experience! I felt so accomplished when I reached the top. Coming back down however was TERRIFYING. I was so scared during that first one. I felt a little better during the second one, but it definitely wasn't my favorite part.

To explain a little, we went to New Mexico for Joey's cousin's wedding. She and her fiance are really active, and both like climbing a lot. She in particular is really good at it. We knew that the day before the wedding, they were taking us to an area where there was some hiking/climbing, but I didn't know what to expect. I had never climbed anything before, not even a climbing wall at a gym. I had told Joey that if they were really organizing beginner climbs, then I would do that, but if they were kind of doing their own thing, that I wouldn't want to hold them back. I was surprised when I saw that they brought all kinds of equipment, and were prepared to belay for everyone to give it a try. I was so nervous to try it out, but after seeing everyone else go up (and not die), I decided I would try. I figured that I could stop at any point and come back down. They had set up leads for two climbs in the same area, and one of them looked a lot easier, although it was taller. I figured that would be the best bet for me, and handed off my camera to Joey so he could document it. The first part was the hardest, but after that, it really just felt like one move at a time, and I didn't get the feeling that I was going up up up. Until I looked down, once I was at the top. That was kind of a mistake. Coming back down, it took a while until I trusted that the ropes would hold me. The funny part was at the very bottom - Joey's cousin is a TINY person, and she had stopped paying attention once I was near the bottom. I was still a few inches off the ground, and she was between me and the rocks. I didn't have any way to catch my balance, and basically almost smashed her into the rocks. Thankfully I didn't actually hurt her!

After we finished with that climb (and Joey did both of those), we went over to another set of rocks, where his aunt and uncle had put in some leads. His mom was climbing her way up! We both did that climb, and then Joey did a 4th one after that. This second climb for me was less scary, since I knew what to expect. It also wasn't nearly as tall. The beginning and end portions were much easier than the one I had just done, but the middle portion was horrible. Instead of the rocks going straight up, they started curving out toward you, so you started feeling like you were hanging backward. I was stuck there for a while, but eventually was able to get past it and reach the top again!

Finally, we did a little hiking around the top of the rocks, before heading back into town for the rehearsal dinner.

We stopped to look at the caldera before we made it to the rock climbing area

Joey and his mom, clasping hands at the top (they hiked there), while our new friend Elissa was climbing her way up

Getting strapped in by Joey's cousin. Look how tiny she is!

Trying to find my next foot hold

These are some pictures that Elissa took for me

Making my way to the top! In the picture on the right, Joey hiked back to the top so he could take pictures from above. 

 

I got to the top! I look so relieved. Then I had to come down, and it's a good thing you can't see my expression there

Then it was Joey's turn! Yes, that tiny little thing was going to belay Joey. 

Take a look at his crazy calf muscles on the right

Joey made it to the top and made it look so easy!

 

On his way back down. And I guess his cousin needed a little extra help - her fiance is holding her down, in the picture on the right!

Joey scaled the next climb, making even the tricky middle part look easy

Pretty great butt shot...

And on the right, I'm getting ready to start working on that middle section

Yeah, I was stuck there for a while...

Some pretty epic shots! I finally made it to the top, and on the right, I'm heading back down

I thought this was funny - Joey's mom is climbing, in a harness, and got stuck right around where I did. Joey hiked up and around, and is basically in the same place that she is, but without a harness. He was trying to help her out.

This was such a pretty area

On top of the world!!

Sat Sept 27:
The morning before the wedding, we went on a short hike in town, along a really cool canyon. I was amazed by how pretty it was, especially since we started the hike basically across the street from our hotel!

Don't fall over the edge!

This cactus was growing out of a rock!

View from our hotel - ignoring the construction, it was pretty amazing

After we got back from the hike, we showered and got ready for the wedding. We took a ski lift to the top, where they said their vows, and then we had to walk back down. It was a long walk - about 45 minutes! There were some steep sections with loose rocks, making it pretty slippery. We were pretty hungry by the time we got back down...

On our way back down

Sun Sept 28:
Finally, we went on a hike in Albuquerque with a friend. We extended our trip so we had a full day in Albuquerque, and I'm really glad we did. The hike was pretty steep, but worth it! And then we feasted once we got back :)