March Challenge: Speed, speed, SPEED!

I liked the principles behind January's cross training challenge - full-body fitness, a simple routine, and NO EQUIPMENT. February's fitness challenge followed a similar concept.

But now it's time to shake things up.

My runs are getting longer and smoother, so my next goal is to pick up the pace.

March's focus will be SPEED.

Each week I need one speed workout (track, intervals, fartlek, or hill repeats)


Stay tuned...

For more posts in this series see Fitter in 15.

Training for two: week 26

Here are the workout details from week 26...
The good. The bad. The track... and a huge break from baby-book reading.

Friday: 3 mile walk + prenatal yoga video

Brick sidewalks in downtown Annapolis, MD

Saturday: stroll around Annapolis
(Not exactly exercise, but not exactly slouching either... Just ignore the supersized ice cream and bucket of crustaceans I ate...)

Sunday: REST

Monday: 3 mile walk

Tuesday: 3 mile walk + prenatal yoga video + strength training

Wednesday: 2 mile walk + prenatal yoga video + TRACK WORKOUT!

400 warm up (walk) + 400m run + 4 x 200m with equal rest intervals + 400m cool down (walk) = 1.75 miles

Last week I was worried about whether or not it was time to quit running for the rest of this pregnancy.
This week I re-discovered the track.
The soft surface is easier on my joints. I can run 200 meters and then walk a lap. No matter how slow I go, I don't have to worry about being left in the dust by my running buddies - they're never more than a few hundred yards away! And restrooms are always within sight!

Thursday: 3 mile walk + prenatal yoga


THE TALLY:
14 miles walked  + 1.75 mile track workout + 4 prenatal yoga sessions + 1 strength training session


WHAT I LOVED READING THIS WEEK:

It's time for another break from baby-book reading. In fact, I've been in need of some grand adventure reading, so I picked up two non-fiction / memoir books:

• Becoming Odyssa: Epic Adventures on the Appalachian Trail by Jennifer Pharr Davis (holder of the women's record for fastest thru-hike on the Appalachian Trail)
• Pretty Woman Spitting: An American's Travels in China by Leanna Adams

Both books were quite different but shared the theme: dive-in-and-do-something-scary. They also both rang true, as both authors admit to moments of happiness, anger, frustration, fear, and disgust on their journeys.

(That both books cost less, on Kindle, than a grande mocha at Starbucks didn't hurt, either...)


Davis' book is one of the better thru-hike books I've read (maybe better... nay definitely better than Cheryl Strayed's Wild). Davis doesn't sugar coat the rough patches of trail, nor does she hide her enthusiasm on the good days. She also doesn't document every step taken on every rainy day. The book is a brilliant balance between trail memoir, coming-of-age story, and action/adventure tale. The book is frank and (frankly) funny at the same time that it's inspiring.

On the other hand, it took me awhile to get wrapped up in Adams' book about her year of teaching English in China. Early on Adams admits to a level of culture shock that I found off-putting. (In the first few pages, I found myself wondering "Really, did you know anything about China before you got on the airplane?") But within a few chapters, those early pages seem like a jet-lag induced bout of crankiness. Adams is refreshingly open to immersing herself in a new culture while also acknowledging her own cultural bias and the difficulties she faces trying to fit in. As someone who has moved around quite often in my own life, I empathize wholeheartedly.



Public Service Message from Captain Obvious: These posts are not intended to be a set of week-by-week pregnancy workout guidelines. Every woman needs to do what's right for her and her baby, with a doctor's guidance, of course. I'd just like to keep y'all up to date on how things are going in my little world.

Victory laps (pregnant lady returns to the track)

Alt. title: The track is a pregnant girl's best friend

Last week I was worried about whether or not it was time to quit running for the rest of this pregnancy.

This week I re-discovered the track.

Let's be clear right from the start: I am not talking about sprint-til-you-hurl workouts.

But for fitness, and making me still "feel like a runner" (even though I now mostly waddle), the track can't be beat.

After this week's success, I really am sorry I gave up the track completely when I first saw that little plus sign on the home pregnancy test.

I somehow forgot that you don't have to go FAST just to go to the track (even though I've given that same advice to many MANY other runners over the years...).

The track has benefits that I wish I remembered sooner:

• The soft surface is easier on my joints.
• I can run 200 meters and then walk a lap without feeling like a wuss.
• No matter how slow I go, I don't have to worry about being left in the dust by my running buddies - they're never more than a few hundred yards away!
• Restrooms are always within sight!

It is also thoroughly amusing to see my pace times. In January and February I was running laps in the 6-7 minute pace range.

Last night?

Wait for it...

10 minute mile pace for 200 meter repeats!

I'm not upset about the slow-down. Just amused.

It's been fascinating to track my physiological changes as baby grows.

I've put on twenty pounds of baby weight so far. My ligaments are looser. My calves cramp at horribly inconvenient times. (Hello painful 3am wakeup calls!) If I stand straight, I can't see my toes. And while walking is comfortable, standing still for long periods of time makes my feet ache.

So... I can't possibly expect to still be hitting pace targets.

And I'm not trying to.

It's just nice to be out there run/waddling with the running community and getting in a decent workout.

Weekly roundup: Friday potluck

Welcome to another weekly roundup: the Friday potluck!

Today I'm serving up sports scuttlebutt and booze news, topped off with recommended reading and a quote of the week.

The anti-superhero?

If Alysia Montaño's post-race interview made her my new running hero, Nick Symmonds' interview did just the opposite. Symmonds used his Olympic Trials fame to score a date with Paris Hilton

Image source

(Seriously, Nick, all that fame and all that speed, and you used it for evil?)


Grunts be gone!

The Women's Tennis Association is implementing a grunt-o-meter at tournaments.

Image source

I can't think of another sport that takes its cues from Planet Fitness...

(Sooo many other potential punch-lines! So little time!)


Can't wait 'til happy hour?

Just thinking about a drink can help you relax!

(Try explaining that one to the officer... Sir! I didn't have anything to drink, I was just thinking about drinking!)

Source: humorgasms.com via Serena on Pinterest

On the other side of the relaxation spectrum, just thinking about the price tags on the world's most expensive beers has given me a headache. (Can you imagine the bar tab for a couple of those babies?)

And just because the beers are expensive, doesn't mean you'd want to drink 'em... The world's second most expensive beer is 55 percent alcohol by volume (which is about 10 times higher than the average neighborhood brew) and costs a whopping $765 per bottle... and... (wait for it!)

...those bottles are made of taxidermied animal bodies! Beer served in a dead rodent!

Image source

Seriously. Who would spend money on that???


Recommended reading:

This week's recommendation isn't a book, it's a concept.

Kathryn at Pavement Runner started a program she's calling Pave it Forward. Kathryn's plan is to give away a book that she has read, usually on endurance training, and the recipient agrees to write a review and send the book on to another lucky reader.

I like this idea so much, I might have to imitate her. (Sincerest form of flattery, no?)


Quote of the week:

This week's quote was so good, I had to repeat it.

“The flower is.. to me, means strength with femininity. I think that a lot of people say things like 'you run like a girl.' That doesn't mean that you have to run soft or you have to run dainty. It means that you're strong. We are the givers of life."
Alysia Montaño (after winning the women's 800 meter race to qualify for the 2012 US Olympic team)"

Happy Friday, friends!

Run like a girl (the real Alysia Montaño quote)

The US Olympic Trials have captivated the attention of more than one American. (I can say that with certainty because Hubby + me = 2, which is definitely more than 1.)

In my case, the Trials have given me a new hero in the running world: Alysia Montaño.

In about 45 seconds of post-race interview, after winning the women's 800 to qualify for the 2012 US Olympic team, Montaño summed up everything that "you run like a girl" really means.

Image source

“The flower is.. to me, means strength with femininity. I think that a lot of people say things like 'you run like a girl.' That doesn't mean that you have to run soft or you have to run dainty. It means that you're strong. We are the givers of life."
Alysia Montaño (after winning the women's 800 meter race to qualify for the 2012 US Olympic team)

(For the record, most news agencies have botched the quote. I spent time today transcribing it from the post-race interview video.)

Skipping the cross training challenge

Again, I have left the new-to-you cross training challenge to the very last day of the month.

Maybe I should call this the "feels-like-a-deadline workout challenge?"

Don't get me wrong, being nudged to try new things has been wonderful.

But I was home a whopping 12 days out of 31 this month. On those precious few at-home days, all I wanted was the comfort of routine. The last thing on my mind was looking up a Zumba class or downloading a new workout video.

So what new fitness routine did I attempt this month?

Well, let's just say I skipped it.



I warmed up with a 1.5 mile run, then did 3 repeats of "schoolyard skipping" plus strides and 2 repeats of "high skipping" with strides. I also tried out the foot shuffle, which is much harder than it looks!

The 5 repeats took less than 15 minutes, but this is a high intensity workout. I was drenched in sweat. (Disclaimer: The 80 degree morning may be partly to blame for my sweatiness.)

The verdict: I'll be adding these drills to my speedwork rotation.

Hubby won't be surprised at all when he reads this. I love to skip. I sometimes spontaneously start skipping when we're hiking. (He has pictures to prove it.) But I never thought of skipping as exercise, and certainly never considered it as cross-training.

I also really like the way this Running Times workout is structured, with skipping followed by strides, to build muscle memory into the drill.

My only quibble: I love running because I can do it anywhere, but these drills call for a sports field. First, flat, soft turf is important for safety while doing these drills. (You don't want to roll an ankle by landing on an uneven spot.) Second, even though I was on an athletic field, I was getting funny looks from dog-walkers for both high skipping and foot shuffle...

But I'll brave mockery to skip again!

We'll call this a May cross training success.

Here's quick recap of the other new-to-me cross training challenges I've tackled so far:

• January = burpees - I am not a fan.
• February = cardio kickboxing - liked Jillian Michael's videos enough that I've done several more since February.
• March = stability ball strength training - just glad I didn't crack my skull open.
• April = 100 ups - by far the best new-to-me workout to date. I've added "100 ups" to my strength-training routine every week since I tried them.

Skip with me @RunTraveler

or on Facebook

What would you recommend for June cross training?

Goals, not resolutions

Photo credit

Resolutions. Bah. Humbug!
Resolutions are for sissies.

New Year's is one of my favorite holidays. I love the "year in review" recaps, and I love the bright, shiny expanse of a new year rolling out ahead of me.

But, for me, resolutions sort of suck the life out of the new year. Resolutions imply that we're unhappy about our current lives. Resolutions imply short-term changes on which we will never follow through.

Goals, on the other hand... Goals are different.

Goals set us up for success. Well-designed goals provide both a specific accomplishment and a clear path to achievement.

Goal: Spend more time here in 2012.

Case in point:
I could resolve to "get faster" in 2012.
But what does that mean?
So my goal will be more specific: run a sub 24 minute 5k, and do track work and hill repeats on alternating weeks until I beat my 5k PR.

I'm still working on my goal list... but a new 5k PR is priority #1.

(For more on my thoughts about goals vs. resolutions, see my recent piece for Examiner.com)

Are you a resolver? A goal setter?
What are your goals for the New Year?