Thursday, March 24, 2011

Another awesome Thursday

Thursdays are good to me. Last time I took a run on a Thursday (the 3rd) I had a rockin' 4miler with a overall pace of 9:06. That was a tough run but doable.
Today's run was also tough though not as tough as that one, but I am super pleased because I figured out how to get my Garmin to give me the mile splits of my run! WOO HOO!

Mar 24
OUTDOOR RUN 4miles 41:24, (9:12 avg pace) 45* with a windchill of 35*
Mile splits mile 1-9:40, mile 2-9:53 (lots of hills), mile 3- 9:20, mile 4- 8:28, last .5miles-4:01
It also told me my best mph pace was 6:41....wha'??? Musta been running from a burgler....or towards a burger. =) Oh and note to self: always pee right before you leave on a run so that your run doesnt turn into a tempo for reasons other than a speed workout =)
The run was pretty windy and it was oh so wonderful that it kept turning to see my oh so beautiful sweaty snotty face with every oh so curvy turn. Peachy.
However I do feel pretty rockin' that I managed to pull out that overall pace with that wind beating me up.
UPPER BODY WEIGHTS
PUSH UP CHALLENGE
PLANKS (3 sets, first set 30 seconds, last 2 sets were 20 seconds each)
'MILL WALK...since I did my run at night, I wanted to get a little cardio in this morning so I opted for a 'mill walk. 34 minutes, 1.92miles, 0-10 at 4% incline, 10-20 at 5% and 20-30 t 6%

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Do you do planks for upper body strength?
-I actually enjoyed it in a horrible self-torturing kind of way. I felt it really working my lower back and tummy. My core basically =)
What is your favorite post-run snack?
-Right now its chocolate milk! But I am open to suggestions!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Mar 23 workout and food stuff

Mar 23:
ELLIPTICAL 10.5mi, 50:00, 20min at level 1 and 2, 10min at level 3
LOWER BODY WEIGHTS...used 8# dumbbells for almost all of it! YAY ME!

Did the push up challenge last night and decided to repeat week 2 and add 2 push ups to each set, so I did 6/8/6/6 and on the last set I did 13. I always think I am doing well til I look over and see hubby cranking out an insane number of MANLY push ups like they're nothing. When I started this, I started at week 1, Column 1, He started on Week 4, column 3, so this week he started week 6 column 3 which means he did 45/55/35/30 and the last set he did 56. Crazysauce. PURE crazysauce. Maybe even with a side of Looneygravy.

So I did this post to show some of the healthy snacks I have been eating but I had to start by showing you this UBER yummy baked ziti dish I made recently. Yummiest. Thing. Ever. Made more epic by a side of homemade garlic bread.
Resist from licking the screen.

this is something I recently started doing (sometimes) to help me resist from eating a whole bag of naughtiness. I put my naughty foods in a baggie. This is 200 calories of reese's mini's, so i know i can eat ONLY out of this bag during the day if I want something sweet. Worked while I was doing it but I head dived out of the bandwagon. Need to hitch a ride again.

Here are some of the snacks I have been eating the last few weeks. I try to keep the calories between 100-200 per snack...



Don't be hatin' on the Lion King plate. Playing with the kiddos>doing dishes.



This was some pre-run fuel one day. That's 1/2 a pb and j sammy right there. Brings out the 6yr old in me. And I ran like I wanted to be the first one to the teeter totter afterwards.



Eyes were bigger than the tummy here. I had to save the yogurt for later.


I am trying (sort of) to eat healthier and eat less. I really REALLY want to lose this jelly belly but it's content to stay RIGHT where it is. I know my eating has to change. I am exercising enough so my eating has to be the only hold back. I am trying to stay right around or under 2,000. Most days I make it and when I go over, its usually only 100-200 calories more. I think part of the problem is I eat too much at one time. Keeping a food log has helped. But I tend to eat WAY too much at a meal and then make up for it by eating less at the next meal but that doesnt take away the fact that I ate too much at that previous meal, at which I am assuming my body stored all those extra calories as fat since I overate, yes?
So, how do you guys resist overeating?


What are your favorite HEALTHY and SIMPLE meals and snacks (I'm a mom of 5 remember so it HAS to be simple) =)










Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Mar 22

Mar 22 workout:
4 mile run on the 'mill, 41:20...
Started out at 5.4 and upped the speed about every 1/2 mile. When I got to the 3mi mark I upped it to 6.5. I think that was a little drastic for me as I had to stop for a minute 1/2 way thru the mile to walk! But, I got back to it after that, upped it back to 6.5 and finished out the mile-tough stuff!
UPPER BODY WORK...
Not seeing the results here that I want. I feel like I am getting a little stronger but I'm not seeing any definition in my arms so I think I may need to enlist hubby to help me out. I am just doing 3 sets of biceps, shoulders, triceps and back, 12 reps each, using mainly 8 and 10# dumbbells.
I have the push up challenge on tap for tonight. This beging week 3. We had to do another fit test at the end of week 2 to see if we are ready to move on, and I'm NOT! SO disappointing. You have to be able to do 16 consecutive push ups to move on and I can only do 13 and the last one was TOUGH. And these are the KNEE push ups!!! It's very discouraging to see how weak my upper body is =( So, I am going to repeat week 2 I think and just add one push up to every set (which is what I did last week). HOPEFULLY then I'll be able to move on.
I can really feel that my weakest link in doing the push ups is my core. My arms always feel fine, but my lower bad and tummy area always feel very weak and trembly. So I need to work on that.

What are your favorite upper body exercises?

Monday, March 21, 2011

Short and Sweet

Holy buckets! I didnt realize til I got on here that it had been so long since I had posted my workouts! Deepest apologies but life has been B to the izzy over here!
So here's the workouts:

Mar 6
MILL walk...1.8mi, 30:00. 3% incline

Mar 7
ELLIPTICAL....2mi, 20:00
MILL RUN...4mi, 43:00 (10:45 pace)
MILL WALK....1.5mi 25min
UPPER BODY WEIGHTS
PUSH UP CHALLENGE Week 1 Day 1 *I have the upper body strength of a newborn baby. Its borderline abnormal how WEAK I am!! I am hoping these push ups will help that. By the way I am doing the girlie ones as I can not even do ONE of the 'real' ones. Hopefully by the end I will be able to!

Mar 8
ELLIPTICAL....9.6mi, 44:00

Mar 9
ELLIPTICAL....2mi, 10:00
MILL RUN....3 mi, mile 1-11:00, mile 2-9:50, mile 3-9:50
UPPER BODY WEIGHTS
PUSH UPS
SIT UPS

Mar 10
ELLIPTICAL....8.25mi, 39:00 level 1, 2, 3
MILL WALK...1.75mi, 30:00, 4% incline
LOWER BODY WEIGHTS

Mar 11
ELLIPTICAL...8.9mi, 40:00, 2/1 intervals for 15min
UPPER BODY WEIGHTS
PUSH UPS
SIT UPS

Mar 13
VIRTUAL 5K RACE....3.09 mi, 25:25 (8:13 pace) *Met a goal for this Spring already and ran the first mile in 8 minutes!! Was a hard hard run though. Wore my Garmin for this one and ran the same route I ran for my virtual 5K last Thanksgiving and realized that even though I mapped THAT run SUPER close at mapmyrun.com I was off by more then a tenth of a mile. So even though I ran this run in almost the same time (last Thanksgiving it was 25:30) I was actually faster =)

Mar 14
ELLIPTICAL...9.15mi, 45:00
MILL WALK....1.25mi, 3% incline
UPPER BODY WEIGHTS
PUSH UPS

Mar 15
ELLIPTICAL....10mi, 45:00 2/1 intervals
MILL WALK....1.5mi, 29min, 4% and 5% incline
LOWER BODY WIEGHTS *upped the weights from 3 and 5# dumbbells to 5 and 8# dumbbells
SIT UPS

Mar 16
OUTDOOR RUN....5mi, 51:20 (10:16 pace), 74* and VERY windy *Note to self: when the wind is blowing around at, oh, 472 mph, wear sunglasses to prevent yourself from having to pick branches and small animals out of your eyes for 1/2 the run...
ELLIPTICAL....8.6mi, 40:00
UPPER BODY WEIGHTS
PUSH UPS Week 2 Day 2

Mar 17
ELLIPTICAL....10.5mi, 50:00, 20min at level 1 and 2, 10min at level 3
LOWER BODY WEIGHTS

Mar 18
MILL RUN...4mi, 42:40
MILL WALK...2.37mi, 40:00, 4 and 5% incline
UPPER BODY WEIGHTS
SIT UPS
PUSH UPS Week 2 Day 3

Mar 19
SIT UPS

Mar 20
OUTDOOR RUN...7mi, 1hr 13min 8sec, (10:26 pace), 57* with a slight wind *Started out bad, got a side stitch RIGHT at the start that had me thinking I might need to turn around and head home, but I went ahead and ran thru it to see if it would go away and about a mile and a 1/2 into the run it did. HALLELUJAH! The rest of the run went fine until the last tenth of a mile when I started to get a tummy ache. I ended the run about a 1/2 mile from home and that walk home was TORTURE. Not only was my tummy super upset but I had to use the 'water closet' like nobody's business. I can only imagine what the people in the houses I passed on the walk home must of thought. I felt yucky the whole rest of the day. I think I may not have eaten enough for breakfast before this run. Lesson learned.

Mar 21
ELLIPTICAL 6.8mi, 32:00 (tempo pace)
SIT UPS

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All in all, a great last couple of weeks of workouts. I have my first 5K race of the season coming up on April 30th. Super excited. Its a ladies/gals only race to benefit the local woman's shelter here in town. This is the 2nd year of the race. It's going to be hilly though so I am only hoping to finish, I have no pace goals in mind. I'll be doing it with a bunch of friends as well so that is the icing AND sprinkles on the cake.

I am thinking of incorporating HIIT into my workout regimen (High Intensity Interval Training). I have the book 'Ready, Set, Go!' by Phil Campbell and am about 1/2 way thru the book. Does anyone else do this? If so what do you think?

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Is it true???

Has the sun turned blue? Have cows learned to fly? Can pigs talk?
SURELY something must have happened to make Anna post TWO days in a row!!!!

HA!
No, nothing except a really awesome 'long' run. I use quotes because 6 miles just doesn't seem 'long' to me after running 10 miles last fall, but according to my plan, its my 'long' run for this week. So saith Hal, so I do.

I was going to do this run tomorrow but the weather is going to be a little sketchy. Now, I have done 5 on the 'mill before, but I didnt want to push my luck and do 6, so I really wanted to run this one outside.
I mapped a new route and everything. I LOVE running in new places. How many of you drive around your city/town and notice where the sidewalks are? How often do you look around when you drive and think 'I would LOVE to run here'! Me? All. The. Time.
I actually love running on busy roads. I am sure the exhaust will kill me before too long, but to tell you the truth, I dont even notice. Which probably means I am too far gone already.
Order the headstone now.

Mar 6
6miles, 1hr 1min 19seconds (10:13 avg pace)... 35*, gear: headband, jacket, tech shirt, hydration belt, garmin, hydration belt, tunes, fila tights....I went out for my run at 3:45 after a FRANTIC afternoon of grocery shopping (got some good deals!), so that I could get HOME in time to get said run in, before dinner. I am REALLY starting to dig this afternoon/evening running! I did sacrifice a pair of gloves (thankfully the cheapie kind) and ALL my tissue to the road gods on this one as well. Boo.

I have been looking at the pace charts from McMillan and am a bit undecided as to what to do.
Ya see, last October 27th I ran an 'official' 5K race at 27:30. BUT on Thanksgiving Day, I ran a 5K at 25:30 (it was a virtual race, so I was the only runner) =) And I ran ALL. OUT. Like so out of control-gasping kind of running. I dont even think I would run that hard in a race, it was a bit embarrassing. So anyway, I typed both of those times in and printed out the 2 sheets that give me my training times. The 'endurance' times I get for the 25:30 race are all doable but the times under the 'stamina' have me a little scared. I just dont think there is any way I can maintain those paces for more than a mile, IF that! So I have been using the 27:30 sheet for my training runs.

However, today, on my long run, I tried to keep the pace NICE and easy and comfortable. When I hit the last mile, my pace was 10:05, and this route had a lot of good sized lengthy hills in it (that last mile had a .30 hill so I really held the pace back to make it all the way up). So I am wondering if I AM capable of those times on the 25:30 sheet...? Still nervous about it though.

BUT doing these hills on this run is making more confident that I can tackle the hills in the 1/2 I want to do in May (my first). Getting so excited for it!!

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Do you have certain routes you take all the time on your runs or do you mix it up a lot?
I have a certain route but will add extra little twists and turns sometimes to mix it up, my route depends on the distance I am running.

What training plan do you follow?
I'm a Hal lova' all the way.

Do you loathe down/up hills or love them?
I LOVE uphills, feels like I am REALLY doin' something! The downhills I hate, if I run them correctly I always feel a bit out of control and silly looking =)

Friday, March 4, 2011

The inner cheetah...

Hi folks!
I am breaking my 'once-a-week' posting streak, hope you can handle it! =)
I had such an AWESOME run last night and wanted to share all that running joy with my bloggy running buddies (cuz everyone else couldn't care less) =)
So I'll get you up to speed with this weeks workouts:

Mar 1
'mill run, 4 miles 40 minutes...this was a bit difficult towards the end. My tempo runs are probably more accurately called 'progression runs' as I run the first mile easy and then up the tempo every so often after that. Mile 1-11:00, Mile 2-10:20, Mile 3-10:10, Mile 4-9:10.
elliptical 4.2 miles, 20:00...warm up before hitting the 'mill
'mill WALK 3% incline 1.5miles, 24:00...had a very big lunch so I wanted to burn off a few of those unnecessary calories. Felt good to boost the HR for a bit!
UPPER BODY WEIGHTS

My 9yr old took this. She ROCKS the grainy photo look. She does blurry to a T as well.

Mar 2
elliptical 9.6mi 45:00...pregression, 15 minutes Level 1, 2, and 3
billy goat climb on the 'mill .88 miles, 15:00, incline 12%...this totally kicked my trash. And I loved EVERY horrible minute of it.
=)
'mill walk 1.8 miles, 30 minutes 5% incline with 3# dumbbells...I had no restraint when it came to the GS cookies after lunch today so I had to get my tush movin' in hopes of reversing the damage. Even added 3# dumbbells to speed up that calorie burning lovliness.
LOWER BODY WEIGHTS

Mar 3
OUTDOOR RUN 4 miles, 36:27 (9:07 average pace), 52*....This run ROCKED like a grandma! Oh how I loved it. I ran the first mile at 10:30 and then just kept upping the tempo as I went along. Threw some strides in and took the up hills a little harder than usual. At the 3.1 (5K) mark I was around 28:37 which is only a minute slower than my fastest 'official' 5K time from last October! I ran this at an uncomfortable pace but it was totally managable and I felt like I could have gone longer!
I think I ran that last mile close to an 8 minute mile which is pretty neat. One of my goals this Spring is to run an 8 minute mile. Just one! That's not too much to ask, right? The weather was perfect and I got to run into the sunset and come into the home stretch as the sun had gone down and the sky was a BEAUTIFUL blue. These are the nights dreams are made of people. =)
My post-run reward was a DELICIOUS piece of pizza (food tastes SO much better after a hard workout, don't you agree?) and a nice hot shower (uninterrupted by the small fry in the house). Bliss. PURE bliss.
elliptical 6.5 mi, 30 min, 15 min each at level 1 and level 2....run for this day was at night, so I got a little bit of cardio in, in the morning too.
'mill walk .68mi, 10:00...cool down after the elliptical
UPPER BODY WEIGHTS

Mar 4
elliptical 9.9mi 45:00, level 1 and level 2...felt good this morning. Was concerned my knees or legs would be yelling at me after last nights run, but nothing. Such good little knees. So obedient.
'mill walk .62, 10:00 3% incline...cooldown after the elliptical
LOWER BODY WEIGHTS

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So, next week I am starting that crazy popular '100 pushup challenge' which could also be named 'how to inflict torture upon yourself voluntarily'. Wowzer.
Is anyone else doing this or has done it? To say I am nervous would be an understatement. My upper body is CRAZY weak. I tried to do the 'man' pushups and could not. Even. Do one! So I went to the girlie pushups they had on the site and did 5 (that 6th one was too shaky to count) and my pits were screaming at me this morning! *sigh* You just don't realize how much you need your pits on your side until they turn against ya.

What's your favorite upper body exercise?

Do you lift weights regularly? If so, how often and how long does it take you?

What is your favorite time of day to run, morning, mid-day or night?