Workout Wednesday 2/5/20

I just made it to 4 weeks with 2 workouts per week!  My abs still feel like they are dying every time I try to do any ab work, but hopefully they will start feeling stronger soon... On the not so bright side, my favorite pair of pants, which have been getting reeeallly hard to pull over my quads for awhile now, finally ripped in the seat yesterday so...RIP, favorite pants. 

Here's this week's workout from my class at school.  

3 rounds, 40 seconds on, 12 seconds off, 1:30 rest between rounds

Yesterday I did TRX at home, and then I added the Bosu for some of the ab work.  Apparently I like to torture myself.  I'm gonna get those abs stronger one way or another!

Workout Wednesday 1/29/20

I'm really trying to get back into the habit of strength training twice per week.  I work out once when I hold my weekly workout class at school, but finding making time to work out at home later in the week is a challenge.  Once I get home I just want to be lazy!  I have managed to talk myself into doing TRX at home for the last two Thursdays though, so hopefully I am building a habit... Two weeks ago and made the decision to do TRX but really didn't have the mental energy to also make up my workout, so I turned to YouTube and discovered a 30 minute, full-body, TRX workout by  BodyFit by Amy.  It was just what I needed!  And then last week I had slightly more energy so I made up my own workout using a mix of the TRX, bosu ball, and the weight bench. 

This week's workout at school: 

Do each exercise for 35 seconds, rest 12 seconds.  Rest 1:30 in between rounds, do 3 rounds. 

Workout Wednesday : TRX atomic split pike

I was slacking on TRX along with exercise in general while I was dealing with tendonitis in my foot, but last week I kicked my butt into gear and got back to TRX.  While I was at it, I decided to try out a new move : the atomic split pike. 

Pikes have always been pretty hard on my back, but as I've been doing TRX semi-consistently for awhile now, they are finally starting to get a little bit easier.  Push-ups are also still a very weak exercise for me, so I was pretty proud of myself for pulling off these atomic pikes, plus the extra modification of the split!  You can see when I start fatiguing that I don't get my pike quite as high, and then I rally for a few and get that pike a bit higher again.

In other news, check out my new TRX space!  My gym membership expires this week, and I'm not going to renew it.  It was nice to be able to use the space in the gym occasionally, but too often my workouts there were accompanied by basketballs, volleyballs, or pickleballs flying at my head, so it just wasn't worth it.  It's hard to do TRX in my apartment because my doorways are all in corners which really limits my range of motion. This room at a friend's house is working out really well though!  It's so nice to have a door in the middle of the wall that I can use so that I have room to go side to side! 

TRX Tuesday

In case you didn't already know, TRX is my all-time favorite workout.  It can be used to work out your entire body, you can take it with you just about anywhere, and it is highly adaptable to your fitness level.

When I was first introduced to TRX, it was being taught at 5:30 in the morning at my gym.  And I went to that class twice a week, without fail.  There were some days when I drove through snow to get there and got the snow day call in the middle of the workout.  That class was where I met Jim Moore, who became my running buddy and went to both my first half marathon and my first marathon with me.  We may or may not have been running together for a full month or more before admitting that we didn't know each other's names... introverts unite!  

Eventually I pushed myself too hard and ended up quitting TRX due to back pain, but I missed it, and it was years before I was able to find my way back.  I ended up making my own straps out of odds and ends at some point, and then a few years later I bought some real ones.  I don't get to an actual class very often, but I do try to do a workout on my own every week or two.  It is great strength training for runners! 

Here are two core-strength combos I like to do when I am feeling too busy or lazy to fit in a full workout.  I do about 3 sets of each, to failure.  

Knees to Chest Combo

(knees to center, right, center, left, repeat)

-adjust foot cradles so the bottom of the cradle is about mid-shin height
-lay on stomach and place toes through cradles
-raise yourself up on your hands so that arms are straight and hands are positioned under shoulders
-while in this plank position, feet should be directly under or slightly in front of the anchor point

Atomic Pike

(alternate push-up with pike)

-start in the same position as for the knees to chest combo
-do a pushup
-as you come out of the push-up, raise your butt into the air, keeping legs and back straight
-raise as high as you can, then straighten back into plank position as you lower into the next push-up

You can tell that push-ups are not my strength...especially not as my arms fatigue.  

I really need to work on that...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What's your go-to workout when you are in a hurry?
Let me know in the comments!

post-long run

This week: 

M : bike w/Chuck 20.3 / 16.2 mph / 1385 ft

T : bike w/Chuck & Joe 20.4 / 14.7 mph / 1207 ft

W : TRX 3 x 10 @ 45/15

shakeout 1 / 7:54 / 0 ft

R : yoga class 1 hour

group run 4.7 / 7:53 / 253 ft

F : rest

Sa : run w/ Mollie 7.1 / 8:39 / 154 ft

Su : workout 15 minutes

total run miles : 12.8

total bike miles : 40.7

It was hard not to run for so many days in a row...but I managed!  I tried to wait til Thursday, but after Wednesday's TRX in an 80 degree apartment I really wanted to feel a breeze.  Also, I went overkill on the squats and lunges and I wanted to shake out my legs.  At least I only did a mile, and I skipped the inhaler so that I couldn't go too far or fast anyway.  It felt good though, and so Thursday I felt good about going for a good 4-5 mile run.  In the meantime, my bike got some good use while I was resting my foot!  

On Thursday I started with the guys.  They were running faster than I wanted to go, but I let them carry me for a few miles, and then I split off to jog back to the brewery while they continued on, since they wanted more miles than me anyway.  My foot hurt a little bit, but it's unavoidable as the roads I was running on had the same camber that hurt it to begin with!  

On Saturday, Mollie and I headed to Damascus where we ran around town and up and down the Creeper Trail while people-watching at the Trail Days Festival.  We ran the first 4.5 ish miles together, then she stopped and I picked up the pace and got a few more miles in.  It was hot and sunny, but I felt pretty good.  

Creeper Trail on a gorgeous day.

I have missed running alone

I love my running group and running friends, of course!  But after running alone for so many years, sometimes I really miss it.  And it is hard to figure out where I am race-pace wise when I am always running someone else's pace.  Also, running has always been something I do for me and it is really nice to put in headphones and just go!  Nothing but the pavement, my thoughts, and the music to keep me company if my thoughts shut up for a minute or two. This week I was feeling burned out on running with people and definitely enjoyed all my solo runs!

This week : 

M : TRX @ GVF 45 minutes

horseback ride 35 minutes

hill run 4 / 7:38 / 315 ft

Pub Run 3.1 / 9:09 / 0ft

T : solo track ladder 8.5 / 9:01 / 98 ft

200,400,600,800,1000,1000,800,600,400,200, walk recoveries 200-400

W : 6 / 8:10 / 282 ft

R : 7 / 7:26 / 338 ft

5 miles tempo alternating goal marathon/half marathon paces 

F : yoga 20 minutes

Sa : 12.5 / 8:14 / 650 ft

Su: TRX 30 x 45/15

total miles : 41.1

I was still in Lewisburg on Monday, as I used my 2 personal days for the year on Monday and Tuesday and spent a long weekend there.  It was nice to do a TRX class at the gym where my friend is an instructor, and then I relaxed for awhile before going to ride horses with her.  That evening,  I enjoyed running some quick hills before the Pub Run, despite the crazy wind storm that was going on, and then had a nice easy 5k with a friend for the Pub Run.  

On Tuesday, the guys backed out of the track workout since they had done their long run on Sunday instead of Saturday, but I was determined to stick to my plan so I went to the track alone.  I ran my intervals by feel rather than by the watch, and was happy to be within 3 seconds on each pair of intervals especially since all but 600s were faster the second time.

200s : 40, 38

400s : 1:29, 1:27

600s : 2:15, 2:18

800s : 3:10, 3:07

1000s : 4:01, 4:00

Wednesday is normally a workout or rest day, but it was absolutely gorgeous and warm out, so I couldn't resist going for a nice easy jog.  (Especially since there was no usual faculty meeting and so I got home on time)

On Thursday I decided I wanted to run alone instead of with the group, so that I could really focus on my own pace.  The idea was to alternate goal marathon/half marathon pace, but I am really bad at running my planned paces... I would like to blame the hills for that, as they make it hard to stick to a pace, but I know it is also due to me not being quite disciplined enough.  My goal marathon pace doesn't tend to feel very fast, so it's hard to consider it a "real" workout.  Currently, goal marathon pace is 7:30, and goal half marathon pace is 6:40.  My marathon pace miles were too fast and my half marathon pace miles were too slow, but the hills were different for every mile, and definitely played a role in the pacing.  In the end, I'm just going to say the marathon/half marathon "efforts" were being exerted and call it good enough.  

Friday is usually my complete rest day, but I hadn't done yoga all week.  I really wasn't in the mood for it on Friday either though, so I did about 10-15 minutes of yoga and then did a bit of stretching, and decided it was all close enough.  

My plan for Saturday changed many times, both while planning it and during the actual run.  I believe I had originally planned 12, but at some point decided to do 14 instead.  I then played with the idea of doing 5-7 tempo miles in the middle of it.  However, at some point in the middle of the week I discovered that I was about 5 lbs under my ideal weight.  (Apparently all the extra miles + a reduction in the already-small bit of weekly alcohol I was drinking finally took their toll).  I did not want to carry water/fuel for a run of 14 miles or less.  I started out my run thinking I was going to do 14.  But then I got to thinking about how big a difference 5 lbs underweight is for me.  And about how I had run 18.5 last weekend and was doing 30 next weekend.  And how all those factors meant I should not be overdoing it this weekend.  First, I dropped the idea of tempo miles because I didn't think I could do them efficiently while underweight without fuel.  Then I dropped the 14 mile idea thinking 12 was plenty in between last weekend's and next weekend's miles.  The one goal I stuck to was wanting to keep the average pace between 8 and 8:30.  I was doing pretty well for most of the run, but the last 4 miles were really windy.  In my face wind.  I thought for sure I was going to completely lose the pace, but somehow it appears I did a good job of fighting the wind!  And I suspect I am also just stronger than I want to give myself credit for....  I have done so few long runs alone in the last few months, it is hard to know what pace I am really capable of.  I was really happy with my average pace for this run.  It was less than half of the marathon distance, but I was not trying to race it either.  It was a great solo mid-distance training run to see where I am.  

It was chilly on Saturday (it felt so weird to wear long sleeves),

but it was gorgeous out!

Upcoming

Next weekend I am doing a very belated 30 miles for 30 years (which might end up being an early 31 for 31...  I was not in shape to run 30 miles on my 30th birthday, but had thought I would either bike 30 miles or run 30 minutes.  Instead, I started celebrating the end of the school year at noon with my coworkers, and then went straight to my birthday party at 6.  Now, I am actually capable of running 30 miles, and I am determined to do it before I turn 31.  I had originally planned it for the 20th, but then I decided I should move it up a week to give myself more time to recover before my June 10 marathon.  

Low Mileage Week + 5k

I was going to call this a recovery week, but then I remembered that I didn't technically take it very easy this week at all...I just had reduced mileage.  I'm imagining that my legs needed some recovery time from the 27 miler, but it was hard to take it too easy because they didn't feel like they needed recovery.  But taking it easy for recovery seemed like a good excuse to skip the run today, even though maybe by today it doesn't matter anymore.

This week : 

M : 20 minute yoga

T : run 7 / 8:16 / 591 ft

W : hill workout 6.5 / 8:23 / 909 ft

R : TRX 30 minutes 45/15

F : off

Sa : warm up : 2 / 7:44 / 95 ft

race 3.1 / 6:43 / 194 ft

cool down 2 / 8:40 / 128 ft

Su : 15 minute yoga

total miles : 20.6

Yoga is not my favorite, but it is definitely helping me keep the hip pain at bay, so I guess it's good that I started and ended the week with yoga.  I've also made great strides with my frog stand this week, I can now hold it for about 10 seconds, and I can come out of it smoothly instead of falling on my face.  I'm about to find out what the next step is between frog stand and handstand.  

Tuesday's run was cold with blowing snow, but of course I ran anyway.  I wasn't sure how many miles I was going to get, but as usual, once I settled into the run I felt great and went farther than I expected to.  It was my first run post-27 miler, and everything felt good.  

Cold and snow can't stop me from running!

On Wednesday I ended up with a day off school because of ice on the roads, with temperatures too cold to melt it off the untreated roads.  Because I live in the south where they don't know how to deal with ice and snow on roads... I was lucky I was running late that morning, normally I would have been already well on my way to work at the time the call was made.  But I was dragging, so I was just on my way out the door when the call was made.  (And when I say late...I just mean later than usual.  I still would have been early to work.)  I ended up settling on the couch to read all morning, and took a nap for about an hour.  It was pretty cold and windy outside so I put off the run all morning, but then went out around 12 to get it done.  I did a loop warmup that was about 1.6 miles long, then did suicides up and down the hill I live on.  There are 3 side streets off the main part of the hill, so I ran to the first one and back down, then the second, then the third, then all the way to the top, around a short loop, and then made my way back down one street at a time. I ran hard going up, and jogged back down each time.  Then I ran my warm up loop in reverse as a cool down.  The hill I ran was pretty steep, so all the times running up it wore me out!  

the beginning of the hill...

I was a bit sore on Thursday, but I needed my TRX for the week so I went ahead and did it, and I didn't spare my muscles at all.  I upgraded myself from 30/10 to 45/15, and did a lot of tough leg work.  It didn't seem like the brightest idea 2 days before a 5k, but I decided marathon and strength training was more important than a 5k.  

TRX fun

I took Friday off because I like to take Friday's off...but also because I drove to Lewisburg after work.  I hadn't been here since Christmas it's nice to be back!  It would have been weird to celebrate St Patrick's Day anywhere other than the Irish Pub in Lewisburg!  I'm on spring break now, so I get to spend several days here.  I'm looking forward to a TRX class at the gym on Monday morning and running some mountains at some point!

Saturday's 5k was the Celtic Knot 5k which I have run about 6 times now.  I missed it last year because of a sprained ankle.  I was really sore from the hills on Wednesday and the TRX on Thursday so I was afraid to run too hard.  I also want to work towards negative splits in races, but there's a giant hill in the last mile of this race so negative splits seem rather unrealistic.  I gave it a negative split effort though!  I started out a bit easier, instead of starting as fast as possible like I usually do for a 5k.  Then I pushed a little harder for each mile.  I finished in 20:52, not the 19:45 I had 2 years ago, but a good time for where I am in my training right now, especially since I really haven't been training for a sprint race!  

I had planned to run today, but my hip was bothering me yesterday, and I got lazy, so I ended up just doing some yoga.  

frog stand success

New personal distance record!

Twenty seven miles.  I finished over 24 hours ago and the soreness still hasn't set in.  I'm not in the clear yet though, tomorrow will be the day that any aches and pains set in.  Good thing Monday is easy miles/yoga day!

I would have liked a shakeout jog today, but I had to be at school all afternoon for our 10 year VAIS accreditation, and I had to spend most of the morning sleeping in to recover from yesterday's run since being at school meant no time for a nap today.  I did get almost 12 hours of sleep last night though, that was glorious.  If it wasn't a time-change weekend I could have had 13...

This week : 

M : 5.2 / 7:21 / 256 ft

20 min yoga for hip flexibility

T : group 6 x 800 track repeats 7.5 / 8:30 / 125 ft

3:17, 3:15, 3:16, 3:17, 3:18, 3:12

W : 30 min TRX full body

R : group 8 / 8:00 / 446 ft

F : rest

Sa : group 27 / 9:11 / 1239 ft

Su : rest

total miles : 47.7

Monday's run was supposed to be easy, but it felt good to be out there on a solo run since most of my runs are now group runs, and it was warm-ish, so I accidentally went kinda fast and pushed some hills.  Oops. At least the yoga was relaxing-ish.  I did the same video as last week.  I think I will probably do this same video for a few weeks, it seems to hit the spots I need help with.  

Tuesday was the second rainy track tuesday in a row, except this time it was raining even harder.  We went to the track and decided to do 800s with active recovery, since no one wants to stand around in the rain.  Each recovery was walk 200, jog 200.  There were 3 of us, and our 800 paces were pretty varied from each other, so we ended up spreading out pretty far and not regrouping in between.  

I did the same TRX video as last week, as last week it made me sore.  It made me sore again this week.  Looks like another good video to repeat until I don't need it anymore.  This time I tried a frog stand before my workout instead of after, since I realized it could be easier on fresh muscles.  I think I made it a whole 3 seconds this time...baby steps.  

frog stand!

Side planks are so hard...but this time I managed to get one hand in the air for part of it!

Thursday's 8 was probably more than I needed before a 27 mile run, but I decided to stick to the plan. I think it turned out to be ok. 

There were 4 of us for Saturday's long run.  Mollie was going for her first 20 miler, but I was hoping for something over 26.2.  The boys were willing to do as many as I wanted.  The boys are faster and I knew they would have trouble with the pace Mollie and I were going to run, so I told them to start at least 30 minutes behind us.  It worked out pretty well, they ended up catching us around mile 17, and then didn't have to wait too long for me.  We ran from Ben's apt in Abingdon to Mollie's house 20.5 miles away in Glade. Then Mollie was done and the rest of us kept going.  Corey was able to finish out the whole 27 miles with me.  And Mollie was able to cook our bacon burgers and fries while we were running so we could eat as soon as we were ready.  

Since I ran the first 20.5 slower than I needed to, I still had some good energy left and was able to speed up to Corey's pace for the last 6.5.  My feet were hurting from the extended period of time running, but I feel like that problem was purely the time, not the mileage.  My right knee did start to hurt pretty bad towards the end, and that was probably mileage-related.  Overall though, I would have to say that the run felt great...for 27 miles!  I never hit a wall of any kind, and I didn't get dehydrated or calorie depleted.  I did have some Tailwind endurance fuel mixed with the water in my camelbak, and ate some snacks along the way.  I put about 1.5 liters into the camelbak and drank most of it during the run.  

I tried compression gear for the first time this weekend, and am hooked!  I stumbled across a good deal for 3 pairs of compression calf sleeves, and decided to give them a try.  They just happened to arrive on Friday afternoon, which was perfect, because one calf had been cramping on and off throughout the day.  I put on the sleeves and the pain went away.  I wore them again for the long run, and hard to say if they actually helped, but they definitely didn't hurt!  Better safe than sorry I like to say.  I wore another pair for the rest of the day/evening.  

Wore these awesome calf sleeves from PRO Compression under my running tights for 27 miles.

Mollie and I, about to start running!

We clearly have different levels of cold tolerance.

We all survived! 3 of us had the longest runs of our lives!

Here's the plan for the upcoming week : 

M : jog, yoga

T : easy track tuesday

W : TRX

R : 6-8

F : off

Sa : 5k race

Su : shakeout