Crazy for Cardio...... Or just plain crazy.

Tuesday~ 800's on the track (3:28 ish pace) with equal recovery time. I wanted to do 8, but was totally fine with 6. It was hot and humid and I felt I could have thrown up. Awesome. My breathing was not the best, but I tried to ignore it. The weird thing is I had my vocal cords close up for about 10 seconds during my .75 of a mile cool down. It was at a snails pace because I was so tired from the workout! Not sure why that happened.
The 800's were very hard. I am not sure if it was because I an doing a cleanse right now that I felt different or what. Oh-it might have been do to the fact that I taught Cardio Sculpt at 4:15pm--how could I forget that??? It was kickboxing with some power moves thrown in for fun and weights and abs. I am still sore. It's been a while!

Wednesday~ Spin intervals that were hard. They were hard(er) for me due to my Tuesday stuff I think. I thought about running a few miles and the feeling passed almost as soon as it popped into my head.

Thursday~ Yoga..I made it. It was slightly difficult. Lots of hip openers (which I need BAD) and lots of hamstring stretches Ommmmm.
Before yoga I walked on the tread slowly with a bit of an incline for 30 minutes.
Depending on how I feel the rest of the day I might go for a walk or run or go to the gym for some light cardio. We shall see.....

Who needs to breath anyway?? This chick.

Tuesday~I went to the gym and did the elliptical for about 20 minutes I think...I can't remember! (it's been a long week...)
I later went to running club and was prepared and mildly excited to run some 800's! The weather was too good to be true. It was in the 70's--aaaahh!!
I did the regular warm up which consists of a 2 mile easy paced run-it's slightly uphill ( of course!). I felt my lungs collapsing constricting at the top of the hill. I thought this to be normal right?!? I did just crest a nice sized hill at an 8:10 (ooops) pace right?!? RIGHT?!?! So we turned around to complete the rest of the warm up and when I stopped and recovered I could still "feel it" in my chest. Fab. I tried not to worry because I know that I medicated myself correctly (Singular and Advair to the rescue). I still decided to use my emergency inhaler ( Abuterol) before starting the 800's. I got my 2 puffs of that and went into the first 800 rearing to go! I ran it at 3:20 something I think. This was about 10-11 seconds too fast according to my pace. And it was about 3 minutes too fast according to my asthma! Oh boy. I could not breath at the end. As I "recovered" my breathing got worse- I walked a lap but that did not help at all. I decided to be done for the night. I hung out on the track with my wheezy self and cheered for my non-wheezing team. I was also hanging out to make sure I did not pass out or anything. I also hung out because Tuesday is MY TIME and I was not ready to go home to my kids and Matt (whom I love with all by heart by the way!).
So that was my Tuesday. I am very frustrated by all of this of course. I am going to see the allergist on the 13th for a 2 hour appointment. I think I will get the lovely skin prick test. Super fun! I am supposed to attempt 16 miles on my own on Sunday. I will try. I won't die trying so don't worry. :)

Wednesday- Thanks for reading about today if you actually made it through Tuesday's blabbering.
Spin today. I did a nice, but challenging interval loop. Plenty of hills with short segments of pure speed and endurance. Lots of hootin' and hollerin' going on! The class was not very full. I hope due in part to the almost 80 degree weather we had. Nice.
Totally Toned was 2 hours later. I can't remember what I did, but the girls came back today saying their abs were mighty sore. Mission Accomplished.

Speed work--800's.

Speed work day.
It went well. I owe it to my pacing buddy Katie! Thanks girl!
Today's workout was to do (6-8) 800 repeats at repetition pace( whatever that means) my pace should have been between 3:28-3:32 area. This is how my 6 went:
3:32
3:20
3:25
3:20
3:20
3:17

Not too shabby! I know I try not to push it harder than I need to, but sometimes you just do what comes naturally I think. Today I felt nice and strong and having Katie to run with helped me immensely!
We were to take an equal recovery time in between the intervals. It seemed like a long time to recover, but I am thankful for it as it let me recover fully..I was able to push that much harder.
I was still a bit sore from lifting weights Monday night. I am still trying to figure out from what exactly. It might be the fact that I took a week off from lifting?? Who knows. I like to be sore usually.
Great day today!

Saturday-- should have stayed in bed today!

I was as reared up to go as I could force myself to be this morining. I knew what i had in store. 5-6 1 mile tempo runs on the treadmill with a 60 seconds rest in between. I also had a time limit as Matt has to work today.
I did a mile warm up at an 8:30 pace. After that I stretched for about 3 minutes or so and then I was off. My first tempo mile was at 7:35 pace. I felt pretty crappy at the half way mark, but I finished. I took the minute rest and did the next mile at a 7:30 pace. I figured I wanted to get done already. Now on to mile 3. This is where it went sour. I did it in maybe a 8 minute pace. It felt like I was going way slower. It was a total struggle too. I think I did a whole mile, maybe it was a bit short. I took my 1 minute break...and turned it into a 5 minute walk break! yikes. I was done. FAIL! Oh well. I was ticked off then, but now I realize I should have probably taken the day off or done a low-key type of cardio and saved the speed nonsense for Sunday! Too late. I will (most likely) take tomorrow off completely. I almost went home after my pitiful attempt at speed, but of course I did not. I only did 20 minutes on the elliptical though. What a day. We all have our bad days from time to time and today was my day!
Hopefully the rest of my day goes well....(Miles is potty training, and so far..we are batting 0!)

Tuesday-Weights, Tempo and running on EMPTY

Today was hard.
It started with a new workout.

Walking lunges
Negative Pull ups
Plank Rows
Leg Press
Push ups

4 sets of 10 today. I did NO direct core work today. I think the planks rows/push ups pull ups and lunges took care of that!! Whew!

I also hammered out 15 hard minutes on the elliptical just for fun.
Later in the evening was my usual Tuesday Night Special- Running Club.
I was kind of excited to go and run tonight. I already knew what I was in for, but you never know how you are going to feel until you actual do it.
Tonight was a tempo training (icky).
These runs are sooo beneficial though. I love to hate them. Mostly I hate them.
The plan was to do 1 mile at tempo pace ( this week it's 7:45 pace for me) with a 60 second rest and then repeat 4-5 times. After the 2 mile warm up this is how it went:
7:25 (ooops)
7:48 (closer)
7:39 ( almost)
7:35 ( nope)

cool down- 1.5 miles

I have an expert running partner (she ran in college) and is a great pacer. She was not on her A game tonight! She is usually right on the money with her pacing skills! I rely on her! Ha...she did her best. Better than I could do, so I am not really complaining.
It was tough tonight. The weather was perfect. The ground was not too slippery. There was not a blizzard. I was not overly sore or injured.
I can guess what caused it to be difficult for me though. I usually look at my diet. That must have been my problem today. I ate an apple about 1.5 hours before the workout. DUH. I so know my body better then that. I know I need something more than an apple!! I will blame it on no fuel. I think I did this a few weeks ago. It was during a race nonetheless. I run out of time with doing things around the house and plain forgetting to eat. How can I forget to eat. It's like one of my favorite hobbies!
I still made it through the workout. My stomach was actually growling as I was running(awesome). I could hear it and feel it. Lesson hopefully learned AGAIN.
All in all, it was a great day!

Sunday REST Day?? No way!

I decided to go to the gym and use the treadmill for my speed session I did not do on Thursday.
2 mile warm up followed by 2 minutes fast and 2 minutes slower x 6. I made it a progressive workout. Whew. It was tough, but I knew it was only for 2 minutes and then i would get to slow down. 2 minutes is a long time though. I topped out at 9.0 mph for my last fast 2 minutes. Glad that's over! I then did a 2 mile cool down which was one mile jogging and 1 mile walking. I actually walked more than a mile because I started getting into this movie on FX called Death Sentence starring Kevin Bacon. The 15 minute foot chase scene I watched got me hooked. The movie was made in 2007 and I remember wanting to see it. Of course, it's not coming on again anytime soon.
Anyway.... after my workout I felt really great. I felt a lot better than I normally do on a Sunday. I know it's because I did my long run earlier in the week and not on Saturday. Even though the 70 minute Power Spin kicked my butt-- it's no match for a 10 mile run!

Tuesday and Wednesday Recap..

I can't believe it's Thursday already!!! I have been a busy lady. My daughter has been out of school since Tuesday even though today officially starts her Mid-Winter break. Tuesday her school had electrical issues and yesterday was a snow-day. She was not a happy camper. The girl loves her some school!

Let's see if I can remember my workouts from earlier this week.
Tuesday: Oh yes. I had a 5 AM client so of course I slept like crap Monday night. After training her I went to the gym to do my full body circuit with about a little more than 60% effort. UGH. Hate that feeling. I plowed through it anyway. I also played on this punching/kicking game between sets. 1 whole minute seemed to take forever! It was a lot of fun and made me in a bit of a better mood. We played 3 rounds...I won every time ( just sayin').
I got on the elliptical for about 15 minutes of varying hard paced intervals. The plan later that night was to run hills with the running club. It was snowing like crazy on Tuesday. Less than half way through the warm up I was sure I was not going to be doing hills. It was waaay to slippery/dangerous. I did 1 hill and almost twisted my ankle. Yup. Scratch hills. A few of us(5) took off to run around the lake and also added some miles on. We did 6.5 hard miles ( in the snow, it felt like I was flying) in 59 minutes. That's not slow, but it sure felt as if I was running at least an 8:15 ish pace. For real! I actually felt really good out there. It was freezing and blowing snow and I STILL don't have my face protector. Duh.
Moving on to Wednesday. Spin day. Fast paced intervals with a 4 minute hill added to the end. That was the basic concept of class. I added 3 sprints on at the tale end since we had a few minutes to spare. It was a simple format that really tested the classes fitness level. It was a sweat fest. Fun stuff. Totally Toned at Noon went well too. I joined in on more of the fun than I usually do (mostly a space issue), and my hips were on fire after a wonderful round of hip circles. Ouch. In a good way. Really.
I had an experienced cyclist at Spin, but a spin newcomer. At the end of class he thanked me for "popping his cherry". Ummm..yea dude. Oh, and he called me dude and gave me a high five as well. He warned me that he will be back. Eeeeek.

Tuesday fun fun fun!

Tuesday!
I made it to the gym for weights this morning. A little later than normal, but I am happy my kids got up!
New circuit today. We did a 3x12:

Squat and press
Mountain climbers
Leg Curl
1 minute core

circuit 2
Lat pull down
Plank to press
Leg Extension
1 minute core

Later on was my speed workout.
2 mile warm up
1 mile at 7:44
1 minute rest
1 mile at 7:35
1 minute rest
1 mile at 7:35
1 minute rest
1 mile at 7:35
2 mile cool down

Good times! Ugh! My goal pace was 7:35 and I did just that. We were told to take the first one out slower. I felt really good. Told ya I was going to rock it tonight!
With that being said I want to add what coach wrote on a blog to explain why we did what we did tonight:

With tonight being our first tempo type workout of the year I'd like to give everyone the why and not just the how of this type of workout. First tempo training falls into two varieties (steady, prolonged runs, also called tempo runs, and intermittent runs, also called cruise intervals -- which is what we will be doing tonight.) both of which are run at the same relative intensity. Tempo training is great for improving endurance. Subjectively, tempo intensity is "comfortably hard" , or 20-30 seconds per mile slower than your 5k race pace. Objectively, tempo training is in the area of 83-88% of your Max VO2 or about 88-92% of your maximum heart rate. I know at this point in the training cycle it's hard to figure out exactly where we fit into the intensity charts, but let's try to remember "comfortably hard". I will bring some pace charts tonight or by going to http://www.runbayou.com/jackd.htm you will be able to determine proper pace. See everyone tonight!!!!

My coach is the best. He is out there on the roads/track/races right with us. He is super FAST too. He ran last years Boston Marathon in a 2:57! Holy FAST!
Today was a great day.

Wednesday and Thursday stuff.......

Well Wednesday was an off day. I know. I had a complete day or rest on Sunday!! Oh well. My kids were up all night Tuesday and early Wednesday morning. No sleep for anyone so I was a nice mommy and let my girl sleep in until almost 10am ( the start of my spin class) Thank goodness I found a sub at the LAST minute!! My kids always come first. They both had/have some weird hacking cough that naturally is worse at night! All the honey in the world was not going to "cure" them. They are both doing so much better now.

I was able to get to my 12 noon class though. I was not much of a good instructor I might admit...they seemed to get a good workout, but I felt off my usual game. I was sooo tired. I can work through it usually, but I was going on 3-4 not so good hours of sleep. Whew.

On to Thursday.

I am still behind in my sleep, but was able to make it to the gym this morning for weight training. Still doing the same circuit, but that will change next Tuesday. I think my training partner is ready to step up his game as well. It was a good one today. 4x10. No time for core today, but we did stretch for a good 8 minutes!

I also went back to the gym to do my speed workout on the good old treadmill. Today was a fartlek workout (Training in which the pace is varied from a fast sprint to slow jogging).

It's hard to pace on the treadmill, but I did most of them at 7.6 mph up to 8.2 mph. It was 2 minutes fast 2 minutes slow jogging. 8 times. Oh what fun! I attempted to go to my beloved kickboxing class right after. I snuck in the back and lasted about 8 minutes ( the warm up! So sad), but I listened to my body and it was in need of some nourishment. No need to be all crazy stupid in the name of extra cardio! And besides I am kicking the idea of getting my long run in tomorrow morning. Ugh. Long treadmill run by myself. I should get to be d now. 4:14 AM will be here soon.

Friday--speed work on the dreaded treadmill...

So nice to be all done ( almost) with my workouts for the day!
I kind of impressed myself by getting up early to go and do my speed workout! I am unable to run with the club on Thursdays...so I asked a fellow clubber what the workout was.
They did a 1.6 mile warm up and cool down. In between that was some nonsense. 1 minute fast run followed by a 1 minute slower run...x8! I wish I could have been there with them for the motivation. But ya do what ya gotta do!
I did a 1.5 mile warm up (13 ish minutes). I stretched and then I did the workout. It was hard to figure out what speed to run at. I ended up going from 8.0 up to almost 10. It was hard ,but in a very gratifying fun way. Yea. I am weird. When I was done I stretched a bit and then ran a 1 mile cool down. I hopped on the elliptical for a very easy 15 minutes.
I am happy to say that I stretched again for a whole 13 minutes straight! I needed it too.
It was a great day. It's not over yet though. I have to teach Totally Toned at noon. I am not sure what I am going to do, so I best go and plan it now!

Tuesday-- Run for the Hills!

Tonight (6 PM) was the first speed session for my running club--RunGR.com. Even though I knew what the workouts would be you are really never ready for it! It was HARD.

We were told to run the hill 4-8 times. That is pretty wide open. I was set to do 6, but of course my competitive nature took right over and I had to do 8. I was totally spent at 4.5 though! I feel so good when it's over and done with. During I kind of feel like keeling over. For real. Hills are the worst/best thing in training. The good thing is that it makes the workout literally fly by. 8 hills came out to be about 2 miles total. Warm up and cool down were 1.5 miles each way. Not too many today, but that was not the point of today's workout. Hill sprints build leg strength and speed. Bring it!! I need that!!! I even stretched today after running. It was the peer pressure I tell yea! I don't mind stretching while gossiping. It's distracting. I might have stretched for a solid 10-12 minutes. YAY!

This morning I made it to the gym for my usual full body circuit. I might change this up this week or next for sure. It was fun while it lasted.

Core today was planks (3 sets) and some one legged roll ups (3 sets). They hurt.

Today was a good day!

Done for the day!

It is always nice to get my workout over by the time it's 8am. Well usually. I had a change of plans due to a certain fisherman. Since I won't be making it to running club tonight I got in done in the morning. Not a huge deal I just had to get up early and run on the treadmill. Yuck.
The workout was 2 mile warm up and a 6 mile run at marathon pace followed by a 2 mile cool down. I did most on the treadmill expect for the 2 mile cool down. I moved on over to the elliptical for that. I needed a change of scenery and I hate the treadmill when the weather is this nice!
I did most of the "workout" miles at an 8 mile pace. I am not convinced this will be my marathon pace though. I wish I was more confident. My coach thinks I am physically capable of doing this pace but he is not sure of my mental readiness. He is right because I have no idea either. Those thoughts get in your head and convince you that you can't do it. I need some positive self talk right about now. I will work on that starting today! So glad to be done for the day! I need a nap.

Motivation found!

I'm baaack! So glad I found the motivation to get out there and move today!!

It was a great workout indeed.

I went to running club ( I have not been able to go on Thursdays EVER).

I went early for the 30 minute core torture. I learned a lot. I like to be reminded that core is just not your midsection and your back. We worked the hell out of our hips and I hope I feel it in the morning. I learned some new things to incorporate in my group exercise classes.

After the warm up we did our 2 mile warm up. I should add that the water was a hot 85 degrees. Low humidity though--WHEW!

We had to do (4-5) 1200 meter runs( 3 times around the track) with equal recovery time. My plan was to try and do them in 5:10. I did the first one in 5:12, then 5:02, 5:00, and 5:00. The last 3 I was pretty sure I was going to lose my pre workout snack ( apple and a mini bagel). I then did a 1 mile cool down. I am so glad I went. I know how good these tough workouts will help me as I prepare to tackle the 26.2 miles this October. These are workouts that I love to hate. More hate then love at times, but I LOVE how I feel when it's over. The sense of accomplishment can't be beat. I can't wait to do it all over again next week.