In search of the 5k PR (week 7 training)

The quest for the sub-24 5k continues...


Last week's plan / actual:

• Monday plan: strength circuit + 4 mile run or 50 min bike + stretching
  Actual: 60 minutes on stationary bike (Grr... PFing foot!) + 2 circuits of the Fitness Blender 100 rep workout (which equates to 50 reps of each exercise) and I stretched.


• Tuesday: 6 x 800 meter intervals
  Actual: 1 mile warmup + 6 x 640 meters (stupid 1/5th mile track!) at 7:30 pace with 1 lap (320 meter) rest interval... The wheels were falling off by my 5th and 6th intervals (slowed to 7:48 pace. Blergh.) so maybe I'm glad the track is short?


• Wednesday: yoga
  Actual: 25 minute Yoga For Runners from YogaDownload.com + 4 mile walk



• Thursday: 5 mile tempo run + core / I postponed my run to meet up with the Helen Back run group for a nighttime 3-miler through downtown Pensacola. Read: I didn't run 5 miles and I didn't run tempo, but it was good to see my running buddies. Oh... and that nagging crunchy feeling is back with a vengence in my right arch.


• Friday: rest day
  Actual: REST


• Saturday: 8 mile run
  Actual: Thunder. Lightning. And foot pain... The last time I felt this pain, I tried to keep going and as a result, I tore my calf muscle. The wheels that fell off during my run on Tuesday stayed off. All weekend... Zero running. Sometimes recovery is more important than mileage.


• Sunday: anything goes
  Actual: 4 mile walk

This week's plan:
It's time to test my training with another 5k. So this week's plan is to rest - both to get ready for the race and give my aching foot a break.

• Monday: strength circuit + 60 minute bike ride + stretching
• Tuesday: 4 mile run
• Wednesday: yoga
• Thursday: 3 mile run
• Friday: rest day
• Saturday: RACE DAY!!!
• Sunday: recovery

Are you working today or do you have a long weekend?

In search of the 5k PR (week 4 training)

*sigh* Despite my best efforts at Saturday morning's Double Bridge Run, the quest for the sub-24 5k continues...

Starting line of the Double Bridge 5k in Gulf Breeze, FL

Last week's plan / actual:

• Monday: strength circuit + run or bike / 30 day shred + 45 minutes on stationary bike


• Tuesday: 3 mile run / 3 mile run (felt like a 6 mile slog. How is it 80% humidity in January?)


• Wednesday: yoga + foam-rolling / 20 minute power yoga (My foam roller is gathering dust...)


• Thursday: 3 mile easy run / 3.1 mile run


• Friday: rest day / ... and I rested.


• Saturday: 5k RACE DAY! / 25:05. Not a PR, but fast enough for an age group award, and a good baseline race to help me fine tune my training plan


• Sunday: recovery day / long, leisurely walk on the beach

This week's plan:

• Monday: strength circuit + 5 mile run
• Tuesday: hill repeats
• Wednesday: yoga
• Thursday: 5-6 mile easy run + core work
• Friday: rest day
• Saturday: 8 mile run
• Sunday: fun day - any workout

How often do you incorporate strength training into your workouts?

In search of the 5k PR (week 3 training)

The quest for the sub-24 5k continues...


Last week's plan / actual:

• Monday: strength circuit + 5 mile tempo run / 5 mile tempo run (1 mile warmup at 9:00 pace, 2.5 miles at 7:45 pace, 1.5 mile cool down)


• Tuesday: reverse ladder intervals (1600, 1200, 800, 400) / Pilates core work + ladder intervals.
  I decided to try a new track. The track distance: 1/5 mile (321.8 meters... not 400). Doh! My intervals distances were a bit off, but the workout was a success. Each interval is followed by a one lap recovery interval:
• 1 mile warmup
• 5 laps (1600 mtrs) at 8:06 pace
• 4 laps (1287 mtrs) at 8:14 pace. Oops. Not exactly steady.
• 3 laps (965 mtrs) at 8:00 pace. Better!
• 1 lap (321.8 mtrs) at... wait for it... 6:48 pace!!! With this much gas left in the tank, I should've/could've done the other laps a bit faster. Live and learn...


• Wednesday: yoga + foam rolling / 40 minute yoga workout (but sort of skipped the foam roller)


• Thursday: 4-5 mile easy run / 2.5 miles. Um... yeah... I spent the day working, running errands, cleaning the house, and preparing for a dinner party. I ran for 22 minutes between errands and then whipped eggwhites by hand to bake a cake. (That has to count toward some calorie burn, right?)



Lemon olive oil cake

• Friday: rest day / ... and I rested!



Late afternoon at Pensacola Beach



• Saturday: 9 miles 6 miles + core workout / 6.4 miles + I planked and Russian-twisted my way through a core workout.
  About that plan change... I signed up for a race next weekend!
  Running 9 miles seemed like a poor choice the weekend before my first 5k of the season. I re-calculated accordingly.


• Sunday: fun workout / Long, touristy walk around Fairhope, Alabama (postcard to follow)



Flowers on every street corner in Fairhope, AL

This week's plan:

• Monday: strength circuit + 3 mile run (or 45 min on the stationary bike)
• Tuesday: 3 mile run
• Wednesday: yoga + foam-rolling
• Thursday: 3 mile easy run
• Friday: rest day
• Saturday: 5k RACE DAY!
• Sunday: recovery day

How often do you tinker with your training plan?

Are you a cook? A baker? A kitchen-avoider?

In search of the 5k PR (week 2 training update)

The quest for the sub-24 5k continues...


Last week's plan / actual:

Paid my respects to Mr. Lincoln*

• Monday: strength circuit + 3 mile run / core and upper body workout + 3.2 mile run
• Tuesday: hill repeats / 1.5 mile warmup + 5 hill repeats at 7:45 pace
• Wednesday: yoga / 25 min yoga podcast
• Thursday: 4-5 mile easy run / 5.2 mile run
• Friday: rest day / Is an air-travel day really restful?
• Saturday: 6 miles / 6 mile run through Rock Creek Park and along the Mall in DC
• Sunday: fun workout / beach walk + hike at Fort Pickens area of the Gulf Islands National Seashore

I accomplished all of my workout goals for the week AND visited two national parks. (Not bad, eh?)

Last week I was sore and struggling by Wednesday. This week I skipped lower body strength exercises on Monday to leave my legs fresh for hill repeats on Tuesday.

It worked.

I needed my Friday rest day, but I wasn't so worn out that walking up stairs seemed like a chore...

For the record: Rock Creek Park might be my new favorite place to run...


This week's plan:

• Monday: strength circuit + 5 mile tempo run
• Tuesday: reverse ladder intervals (1600, 1200, 800, 400)
• Wednesday: yoga + stretching + foam-rolling
• Thursday: 4-5 mile easy run
• Friday: rest day
• Saturday: 9 miles + core workout
• Sunday: fun workout -- anything goes

What's your favorite national park?
How are you progressing on your own 2013 goals?

*Yes, you might recognize that photo of Lincoln from an earlier trip I took to DC.
With a mere 24 hours in the city, I decided to really RUN on Saturday morning, rather than pause to play photo-journalist. I took only one picture on the run, this rather grainy, out-of-focus-and-overexposed shot from the entrance to Rock Creek Park near Connecticut Ave NW:

Entrance to Rock Creek Park at Connecticut Ave NW

The photo hardly does justice to the beauty of dawn breaking over the city...

...but sometimes just being there is more important than stopping to take a picture.

In search of the 5k PR (week 1 training report)

The quest for the sub-24 5k continues...


Last week's plan / actual:

• Monday: strength circuit + stationary bike / strength circuit + stationary bike
• Tuesday: speedwork intervals / 1 mile warm-up + 6 x 1:45 min. @ 7:00 pace with 1 min R.I.*
• Wednesday: yoga / 30 minutes of Dave Farmar's yoga podcast
• Thursday: 3-5 mile easy run + strength circuit / slacker day: 2.5 mile run, after dark, cut short as the skies opened up... more on that below.
• Friday: rest day (maybe a long, leisurely walk) / REST!
• Saturday: 8 miles / 80 minute run...
• Sunday: fun workout -- anything goes / Hike (*cough* leisurely stroll and photo-taking expedition) at Garcon Point nature trail (thanks to a trail review from Florida Hikes)

Saw palmetto, swamp grasses, and piney woods at Garcon Point

To be honest, the yoga workout I did on Wednesday was not the wisest choice for a recovery day. Farmar's yoga is muscle-building-hold-the-pose-for-3-minutes-til-you-shake yoga. Between strength training, speedwork, and ass-kicking yoga, by Wednesday night both my quads and arms were sore. Like maybe-I-should-take-a-rest-day sore.

I skipped strength training on Thursday.

I also cut my run short on Thursday, but that was an accident. When I went out to run at dusk, the day had been misty, but there was no rain. I had no reason to believe it would rain. Two miles into my run, I felt a plop on my head. Then another. Then the sky opened up...

The drenching downpour actually felt wonderfully refreshing, and had there been daylight, I would've kept going. (Or so I keep telling myself...)

Unfortunately, it was dark.

Running at night is one thing. Running at night in a downpour is a level of invisible-to-drivers that seems reckless at best. I want to run a fast 5k, not get run over by a fast car while training for a 5k.

Overall, success (except Thursday). Given how fatigued my muscles were, Friday rest day couldn't come soon enough! I need to rethink that plan for the coming week...


This week's plan:

• Monday: strength circuit + 3 mile run
• Tuesday: hill repeats (5 x quarter mile hill)
• Wednesday: gentle yoga + strength circuit OR Farmar yoga podcast
• Thursday: 4-5 mile easy run
• Friday: rest day
• Saturday: 6 miles
• Sunday: fun workout -- anything goes

What are your race goals this year?

*Converting interval workout jargon to English: 6 x 1:45 min. @ 7:00 pace with 1 min R.I. means "run for 1 minute and 45 seconds at a 7 minute/mile pace. Rest (walk or easy run) for one minute. Repeat this process six times."

Need for speed (in search of the elusive PR)

After much soul-searching, this year I am seriously considering have one, and only one, running goal:

break the 24 minute barrier in the 5k.

I may run a half marathon for fun. I may sign up for a trail race to break up my training. But the only thing I really care about this year is breaking my PR (and maybe taking 1st in an AG).

There is only one way to accomplish that goal: speedwork.

With that in mind, I've set up a training calendar that focuses on shorter distances, weekly speedwork, and strength training. While injured last year, I spent several weeks sidelined from running, but I went back to lifting weights three days per week. Oddly, at the end of that time my endurance was gone, but my shorter-distance pace was in decent shape.

And, let's face it, if my race reports are any indication, I am not the world's best half marathon runner. I do, however, love the rush of a 5k.

In the pursuit of my 5k goal, I'm going to document my training and racing attempts.

This week's plan:

• Monday: strength circuit + stationary bike
• Tuesday: speedwork intervals (6 x 400 with 1 minute rest intervals)
• Wednesday: yoga
• Thursday: 3-5 mile easy run + strength circuit
• Friday: rest day (maybe a long, leisurely walk)
• Saturday: 8 miles
• Sunday: fun workout -- anything goes

What are your thoughts on speedwork and interval training? Love it? Hate it? Never tried it?

Down to the wire

Alt title: Crunch month

My October entry into the New 2 U Cross Training Challenge is the latest of my entries to date. (Thank goodness for 31 day months.)

My only goal going into this month was "stay on dry land," because my last three entries into the challenge were all aquatic.

Little did I know that being airborne 3 weeks out of 4 would also complicate this month's challenge. (Anyone know of good exercises to practice in seat 13B of an MD-88?)

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't have changed my schedule for the world. Attending a conference and running my way through Williamsburg, VA was pretty awesome. But my schedule was tight enough that I had a hard time fitting in basic workouts, much less getting creative. 2 mile run around the block on my lunch break? Check! Research, find, drive to, and participate in a Zumba class? ...Not gonna happen.

But with only 7 days left in the month, I realized that I couldn't let a little schedule squeeze derail my Challenge! So I did what any good blogger would do...

I asked Twitterverse and Facebookland...

... and I got several excellent recommendations:

• Kia (@Keyalus) recommended BodyRock.TV
• Jim (@jmacpcola) recommended a circuit of 4 x 25 each: pushups, crunches, lunges as fast as possible
• Hubby suggested tennis (maybe prompted by a birthday present he received from our family?)
• Lori CS suggested I just suck it up wake up earlier

So, what workout did I crunch into the end of the month?

While Lori's suggestion is a clever one, I'm not the kind of person who can skimp on sleep. I envy those who can, but I start stumbling for words when I'm sleep deprived -- not a good situation for a teaching-heavy and conference-heavy month.

So Kia and Jim won.

On Monday I did Jim's circuit of 4 x 25 push ups, crunches, and lunges. I breezed through the lunges (and yes, one lunge = one on each leg). I figured the crunches would be easiest, but I felt those because I did 'em right after the pushups (and good pushup form engages the core). But the pushups... nearly killed me!

Ok... ok. I'm being dramatic like Jim Cantore on a sunny day. But... I've never in my life done 100 push ups in one workout.

The verdict: 100 push ups = new PR for me! (And I'm bloody sore now!)
Pros: What I loved about this workout was the simplicity. I can do this circuit in any hotel room. In any time crunch. Heck, I could probably find a way to do crunches at the airport.
Cons: Um. None. Thanks, Jim!

As for BodyRock.tv...
I'll admit that I was a skeptic.

I skimmed through videos and found that many focus their cinematography on sweat dripping down the instructors silicone cleavage. All I could think was:

"What is Kia getting me into???"

I almost turned the videos off, but in the spirit of "out of my comfort zone," I persevered with a workout that I would have dismissed otherwise.

The verdict: Loved it! I fit 12 minutes of high intensity intervals in before a morning class, worked up a sweat... and... I'm gonna' be sore tomorrow.
Pros: Most of the workouts are brief and can be completed with minimal equipment in a living room or hotel room. The interval timer on screen was also a nice touch.
Cons: Um... The cleavage shots were a little excessive, and if it hadn't been for Kia's recommendation, I would've ignored these workouts forever. Also, the exercises were a somewhat complicated, and there was precious little instruction about proper form. These workout videos are not intended for newbies.

Next month... tennis!
(We'll see how long it takes me to break the racket or hit someone 3 courts over with my serve...)

How do you balance competing priorities?
Any suggestions for an aspiring (but completely uncoordinated) tennis player?

Review of Ripped in 30

Over the past four weeks, while sidelined from running, I completed Jillian Michaels' Ripped in 30.

For the record: Something irks me about the titles of Jillian Michaels' workout videos. I don't want to rip or shred anything! I have spent my entire runner life trying not to tear or pull a muscle! I know... I know... she talks about proper form and injury prevention during the videos, but the titles are so... frantic.

But the workouts are good, so I look past the sensational titles. Honestly, I think being a Ripped in 30 graduate became a good (temporary) replacement for my 5k and half marathon goals while I was not able to run. After all, I'm not a "slacker runner" if I'm doing high intensity interval workouts for a few weeks, right?

Here's what I liked, and what I didn't like...

The Good:

I cannot speak highly enough of the 3, 2, 1 system: 3 minutes of multiple-muscle strength exercises, 2 minutes of high intensity cardio, 1 minute of core.

Even with a less-than-30-minute workout, I would be drenched in sweat and noodle-armed by the end.

The strength exercises are intense, and just when you think you can't do one more rep, you switch to another exercise.

I also appreciate the brevity of the workout. I can crank out a session before my morning classes on busy days.

The Bad:

There were a few exercises that raised my eyebrows.

Full sit-ups and leg lifts are notoriously bad for your back. I often found myself modifying the core work to include equally-tough, but less controversial moves (planks, hollow-man, crunches).

While we're talking about modifications, I am a fan of JM's plyometric cardio exercises, but with nagging plantar fasciitis, I had to modify some of those to lower-impact options for this go-around. Fortunately JM provides several low-impact cardio moves over the course of the 4 weeks. Whenever a jumping routine would come up, I'd either substitute another of her lower-impact options, or I'd add a set of squats or static lunges.

Also I really enjoyed weeks 1 and 4, but week 2 was a workout that I simply "got through" rather than a workout that I "liked."

The Results:

I should have Hubby write this section... I think he has noticed more change in my muscle definition than I have. He keeps poking my biceps and calling them guns.

From my perspective, I had to stop stepping on a scale while doing Ripped in 30 because my weight was going up, not down, even though my clothes were fitting better. (Another reason to kill the bathroom scale!)

The Verdict:

The program was highly effective for me, and I am sure I'll go through the circuits again.

What's your favorite at-home workout? Least favorite?
What's your take on the "Ripped," "Shredded," and "Insanity" naming phenomenon?

June's cross training challenge

It's the end of June, which means that by now I should have checked another month off of my New 2 U Cross Training Challenge list.

In May, I was down to the wire, squeaking a skipping drill in on the last day of the month. This month I planned better, but held off on posting.

To be honest, I was hoping to have something more exciting to report than another review of Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred.


But Ms. Michaels is compelling.

Without Kim's challenge motivating me to try new things, I would have thought all the JM hype was just that: hype.

Back in February, for Kim's challenge, I tried two cardio kickboxing videos. One was (quite honestly) awful. The other video was by Jillian Michaels. That comparison was my first indication that JM's workout videos might be better than average.

So, after months of reading 30 Day Shred hype, I decided to take the plunge and try one of the workouts. I started with Level 1. (What? No, I did not pay for the video series. I streamed it from Youtube like every cheap frugal blogger should.)

The verdict: This 20-minute workout packs quite a punch! (No cardio kickboxing pun intended...)

Michaels begins with a dynamic stretching warmup, and then rotates through a series of strength, cardio, and core exercises, moving quickly from one to the next. The exercises are basic (e.g. push ups, squat with overhead press, jumping jacks) but the combination, timing, and number of repetitions left me sweating and sore.

Quite frankly, I was shocked at how sore I was. While I might not be the slimmest reed in the pond, I lift weights three times a week. My guns... ahem... show. If you told me, beforehand, that a 20 minute exercise video would leave me noodle-armed and aching for two days, I'd have challenged you to an arm wrestling contest.

But sore I was.

Maybe I over-estimated the weight I should be using, not knowing how many reps we'd be doing? Either way, the workout kicked my butt.

I am not going to go through the entire 30 day series - running is still priority #1 - but I will re-do Level 1 when I need to mix up my lifting routine, and I'll be checking out Level 2 and Level 3 in the near future.

For a list of other cross training I've tried since January, scroll to the bottom of this post.

What cross training would you recommend I try in coming months?

Lunk head?

When I first saw the Planet Fitness segment on the Daily Show this week, I thought "this has to be a joke. There can't really be a gym that sets off a siren if someone grunts while lifting weights." That's just obnoxious. Who would pay to work out in a gym that sets off alarms for infractions?

Watch for yourself:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The Plight of Muscled Americans
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog The Daily Show on Facebook

I kept thinking that it all must be some big Daily Show joke. If such a gym existed, it wouldn't also claim to be a "judgement free zone." Right? That would be... absurd.

If setting off a "Lunk™ Alarm" isn't passing judgement, what is?

Um...
Apparently it's true. Quoted directly from the Planet Fitness website:

As the most innovative health club brand in the United States, Planet Fitness is known for a lot of things – our absurdly low prices, our Lunk™ Alarm, and most of all perhaps, for our Judgement Free Zone® philosophy, which means members can relax, get in shape, and have fun without being subjected to the hard-core, look-at-me attitude that exists in too many gyms.

Wow.

Just wow.

Have any of you been to a Planet Fitness, or any other gym with bizarre rules and regulations? Is there something I'm missing that helps this all make sense?

Yoga for free (seriously)

Thanks to Girl in the Pink, I just tried a free yoga podcast from Dave Farmar.

I've been practicing yoga for years... with more or less regularity. I am a firm believer that yoga makes my running better. (My IT band issues went away when I added low lunge and pigeon pose to my routine!) But I tend to be a practice-at-home girl, because, really, how many of us can afford to go several times a week at $10-20 per class?

Do you practice yoga regularly?

For most of this year I was lucky enough to have a free class available to me once a week. (Score!) But the teacher moved out of town in June, so I have been in a bit of a yoga slump. I tried other teachers, but haven't yet found one that "fits."

That is... until GITP posted about the podcasts.

There are a couple of wonderful things about Dave's yoga "classes"

1. They're 100 percent free.
   
2. There are dozens of classes of 60, 75, or 90 minutes each that are labeled beginner, intermediate, and "all levels," so you have a wide range of options.
   
3. You can download to iTunes OR stream live (follow the liberated syndication link).
   
4. There are no gimmicks. No place to enter your email address and get bombarded with spam. I heard no ads. I am not getting paid to rave about the podcasts. As best I can tell, Dave is just one really generous yoga instructor.
   
5. Did I mention FREE?
   

To try the yoga downloads yourself, visit: http://www.davefarmar.com/podcasts.php

If you try, stop back and let me know what you thought!

Short attention span workout

Maybe I have a short attention span because I watched too much Sesame Street as a child? Or maybe it's the daily digital technology overload?

Regardless of the reason, I get bored with stationary workouts. Quickly. To keep motivated, I gravitate toward interval training whenever I am parked on a stationary bike or dreadmill.

So a few weeks ago I convinced Hubby to join me in an in-home interval workout session:

3 x 10 minute sprints on the stationary bike, followed by 10 minutes of weight lifting and core work.

Every 10 minutes we trade off between the bike and weights. We each complete half an hour of cardio plus half an hour of strength training. All without leaving the living room. All without getting bored. This is quickly becoming my favorite non-running workout.

So today I have two questions:
How do you keep from getting bored at the gym?
and
What is your favorite cross-training or interval workout?


Photo courtesy of: The Library of Virginia