Runners Spit A Lot

Yesterday on my way home from work, I decided that I would stop into City Sports because they always have pretty good stuff on their clearance rack, and I was hoping that I could score some good long-sleeved running tops. I also signed up for their mailing (by e-mail) list, so I also had a 15% off coupon for any one regularly priced item. I ended up finding two long-sleeved tops that were both originally $60 each, but on sale for $20 each and a pair of shorts on clearance for $15. Granted, I know I didn't need the shorts for winter, but for $15 it was too hard to pass up!
This was my shopping booty:


While I was walking home from work yesterday, I was walking home in a wintery mix of snow and rain. Not too fun. It also made me a little bit nervous about this morning's race and what the weather conditions would be like. I knew it would be cold - the coldest morning so far this winter, I think - but I also wasn't quite sure how that would go for me. When I woke up this morning, I got up in plenty of time to get dressed, eat and get all organized before the race and to ride the subway up to pick up my race number and chip. Instead of taking the subway, I decided to just take a cab. I know it seems like I wimped out a little bit, and I sort of feel like I did, but I was also okay with that. I really didn't want to end up standing outside for any longer than I had to in the cold.

The temperature was 33 degrees and according to the internet, felt much colder (about 10 degrees), although I didn't think it felt that much colder. I ended up wearing: a tank top, a long sleeved shirt, my new purple long-sleeved shirt, running tights, shorts, my Terrier bike vest, gloves and my Westchester Triathlon running hat. The bike vest was fantastic for the pockets! I took some Muscle Milk to have before the race in one of our new collapsible water bottles, so the back pockets of the vest were perfect for holding the bottle while I was running.

I took a cab up to 89th Street and picked up my number and timing chip and it was about 7:10 by that point. I was supposed to be meeting the other Terriers at 7:30. Since I had some time to kill before that and all I had to do was stand outside, I figured I might as well just jog for a few minutes to keep myself a little bit warm. I ran for about 10 minutes and then went back to the meeting spot. People started arriving shortly after that as well as Coach Robert, who led us through some drills in order to warm up before the race.

We started with some push-up drills. We went into plank position and then did some stretches by bringing one foot up next to our hand. We'd then go back to plank and do a couple of push-ups. Then we did some really short stride drills - high knees with claps underneath the knee, marching, stretching our quads, and one really horrible one to open up your hips. That drill called for you to bring your knee up and then swing it out to the side of your body and then put it down on the ground. Every time I did that, I could just hear my hips clicking and cracking. It really wasn't my favorite and I was glad that it was a short drill. After the drills, we ran up to the start of the race.

Holy cow! That was not what I was expecting! I was expecting a few hundred people ... not thousands of people! This is what greeted me:

To be fair, I've seen other NYRR races in the past and they've never had anywhere near this many people participating. I was floored as to how many people were there. I lined up in my corral (near the back, with the other slow people), and waited for the race to start. I did cool down a little bit while waiting, but it wasn't too bad and they started the race pretty much on time, so that was nice. I have to say that I never got nervous while I was waiting for the race to start. That told me a couple of things: (1) that I was really taking this seriously as a race and (2) that I had absolutely no doubts that I could complete this. Me waiting in the corral:

I have never done a running race before and certainly not one with 8,000+ people participating, so I had no idea what to expect. The first mile was definitely the worst because people were really bunched up and there was a lot of jostling for position. There were also a lot of faster runners coming up from the back because they had gotten there late. Also, one of the most surprising things to me was all the noises that people were making. I must have heard 1,000 people hock up loogies and spit them out. I had no idea that runners were such big spitters! And then, all throughout the race, I saw people spitting all over the place. Gross!

The start of the race was at 102nd Street, which meant that we had to tackle the Harlem Hill almost right away. I thought that would be good because it would make the rest of the race seem pretty easy in comparison. Truthfully, the hill really wasn't that hard. I don't know if part of that was the fact that I was mostly being carried along in a sea of people or what, but it really wasn't bad at all. I reached mile marker #1 at 10:10. I was hoping to average about 10 minute miles, but I also really wasn't wanting to push myself too much. After all, I only signed up for the race to motivate myself to keep my running miles up at a decent place, not to win anything. I figured that anything under 1:05:00 I'd be happy with although I was hoping to beat my Standalone Time from a week ago.

Somewhere between Miles 1 & 2, I saw a guy sitting on a rock in the park. It looked like it could have been Drew, but it also didn't quite look like him. He was wearing a hat I didn't recognize and the sun shining off his coat made it look grey instead of black. But, as I was running past, I realized that it was in fact him and I yelled out and he snapped a quick picture:

As you can see, it's not really any wonder he didn't see me. I can barely see me! He said he couldn't believe how many people there were and that once he realized how many people were participating that he was wishing a little bit that he had signed up to run with me. I tried to tell him that a month ago, too bad he didn't!

At some point between Mile 2 & 3, I realized that my heart rate was pretty high, especially compared to what it's been when I've been running recently, and I tried to slow down a little bit, but that didn't have much effect, so I took a 30 second walking break as an attempt to try to get it lowered. I don't really think it helped my heart slow down, but mentally it made me feel like I tried, so that was probably what really mattered. When I got to Mile 3, there were a bunch of spectators standing there cheering that we'd made it half-way already! Even though it had taken me 30 minutes to get there, it definitely felt like it was really fast. I ran Mile 2 and 3 in 10 minutes each.

Mile 3 was right at the 72nd Street Transverse and I did briefly wonder what would happen if I just ran across and headed north, cutting off the bottom loop of the Park. I didn't really seriously consider it, I was mostly more just curious what would happen. Would the volunteers stop me? Of course, I just kept running the actual path in the park. Somewhere during Mile 4, the hip opening drills that we had done this morning came back to haunt me. My hips were not happy. I decided in the interest of personal safety that I should take another quick walk break and start again and see how they felt. I took another 30 second walking break and started running again. It was a little bit better and I realized that I could tough it out for another two miles. I was still doing really well on my 10 minute/mile pace, so I was hoping to keep it up for the end of the race too.

Pretty soon I was back to 90th Street and the point where I had met the other Terriers this morning. From that point on, I just kept telling myself that I had already run the rest of the distance once today and I was just re-tracing my steps from earlier. When I reached the mile marker for Mile 6, Drew was standing there. I gave him a fist-bump and kept running strong for the last 0.20 miles to the finish.

My official time was 1:02:12, which is a 10:01 pace. I am thrilled with that pace! Granted, my heart rate was out of control, but I felt okay during the race. I think that if I hadn't been worried about my heart rate and not taken that first 30 second walking break, I would have made it for 10:00 miles, but I'm 100% satisfied with this result, especially since all I really wanted to do was keep myself motivated to keep running.

After I was done with the race, I grabbed a cup of water and a bagel and met up with Drew. They were handing out t-shirts before the race, but I didn't get one because I didn't want to have to either (A) carry it with me or (B) check my t-shirt with the baggage people. I tried to see if I could get one after the fact, but they had packed them up already, so we just headed for the subway home. When we got home, Drew made us brunch and then I settled in for a nap!

Drew was planning on going to the gymnasium this afternoon and in order to keep up with my weight training, I really needed to go too and finish up Week 9's plan, which was legs. Oof. I'm not sure that it was the smartest idea I've ever had to go to the gym with him and do my leg lifting after running a 10K, but I figure it's not the dumbest idea I've ever had either. The lifts are still Pyramid Ups (meaning you add weight and decrease the reps each set) and with Drew's help I definitely lifted above my normal comfort zone.

This was the workout:

Barbell Squats: 1 set of 12 reps @ 45 lbs / 1 set of 12 reps @ 65 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 95 lbs
Leg Press: 1 set of 12 reps @ 135 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 180 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 225 lbs
Leg Extension: 1 set of 12 reps @ 70 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 85 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 100 lbs
Crunches (with weight): 1 set of 20 reps @ 25 lbs / 1 set of 15 reps @ 25 lbs / 1 set of 20 reps @ 25 lbs

I've definitely never done weights that heavy before for any of the lifts. I really owe it all to Drew for pushing me more than I would have pushed myself. He definitely helped me by standing by me and the fact that he was there and I knew he would be able to help me if I couldn't do it myself helped me mentally. I wanted to make sure he didn't have to help me, but I was glad that he was there. The crunches with weight are the first time I've actually done them. All I can really say is that if you're wearing a white shirt while doing it, it's dirty. It also made it harder to do the crunches. Next time I'll try bumping up the weight a little bit.

All in all, it was quite the day today. I know I didn't have the best week earlier this week with workouts, but I'm hoping that today made up for some of that.

Running (1oK)
Time: 1:02:12
Distance: 6.20 miles
Pace: 10:01/mile
Calories: 871
Maximum HR: 195
Average HR: 183

Weight Lifting
Time: 49:10
Calories: 277
Maximum HR: 149
Average HR: 115

Tired At The Gymnasium

This morning I was exhausted. Drew got right up and started getting ready for the gym, which left me with no alternative but to do the same. Although I did sleep for an extra 10 minutes or so. When we were leaving the apartment and got outside, Drew realized that he forgot his iPod, so he went back to get it. I just kept walking to the gym. When he got to the gym 5 minutes later, I was still walking around trying to figure out what to do.

I was just so tired I couldn't make a decision. When Drew got there, he decided that we'd do stairs. Normally I always do the interval setting on the stair mill. I'm not sure I've ever done anything else. Well, this morning I decided to shake things up and do the Aerobic Training setting. I don't know if I liked it any more or less than normal. Well, I might have liked it a little bit more because even though the whole thing was a lot of intervals, they weren't as long as it is on just the purely interval level. I was definitely still as sweaty as usual, so there wasn't a lack of sweating on this different setting!

Once we were done on the stairs, Drew asked if I'd help spot him while he did some heavy bench presses. It took a little bit longer than I anticipated, but he did some really heavy lifts, the highest that he got to was doing a couple reps at 200, so I was definitely impressed with that! (Well, I helped him a little bit, but he still mostly did it himself). He wanted to some negatives and then have me help him lift the weight back up, but I told him that I was too nervous about the weight falling and crushing him, so we didn't do that.

Because the weight lifting took a little longer than I thought it would, I didn't really have time to do another set of cardio like I had been planning. So, instead, I just hopped on the treadmill and did one quick mile (in about 10 minutes). I don't have any sort of statistics from the treadmill because I thought I had started my watch, but apparently I forgot so I didn't realize it until I was already more than halfway done.

I finished up with some stretching and then headed home to go to work for the day. Yes, that's right, I'm spending this Saturday at work. I guess there are worse things, but I'm tired and wishing it wasn't the case today.

Stair Mill
Time: 30:04
Distance: 2.92 miles (140 floors)
Pace: 10:17/mile
Calories: 317
Maximum HR:170
Average HR: 157

Muscle Up!

As you can see by my lack of blogging, I've had a rough few days. Tuesday I had every intention of getting up early and going running with Terrier, but when I woke up and saw that it was 30 something outside and realized that I needed the sleep, I couldn't force myself up and out of bed. Wednesday I never really had any hope of working out since I had to be at work at 6:30 in the morning and that was too early for me to ever try to workout before. Yesterday I set my alarm, but I think I was wiped out from the extra work I've been doing at my real job and it just wasn't happening either. All day yesterday I felt like I had a black cloud hanging over me because I hadn't worked out. I was really feeling down in the dumps about it. I didn't even take three whole days off after my triathlon for Pete's sake!

Of course, the only cure for this is to get back to the gym and keep working out. So, that's just what I did this morning. Drew got up early to come along with me and he even lifted weights with me too! Today was supposed to be a leg lifting day according to the plan, but in honor of the fact that I have a 10K to run on Sunday, I decided that it might not be a good idea to do that, so I swapped the remaining two workouts for the week. Instead of legs, we did back, biceps & abs.

This was the workout:

Dumbbell Pullovers: 1 set of 12 reps @ 20 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 25 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 30 lbs
Lat Pulldown (Underhand): 1 set of 15 reps @ 50 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 60 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 70 lbs
Dumbbell Curls: 1 set of 12 reps @ 15 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 9/10 reps @ 20 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 3 reps @ 25 lbs (per arm)
Barbell Curls: 1 set of 12 reps @ 30 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 40 lbs / 1 set of 6 reps @ 45 lbs
Reverse Crunches: 1 set of 12 reps / 1 set of 10 reps / 1 set of 8 reps

The pullovers and the pulldowns were just fine. The curls is where it started to get really hard. On the second set of dumbbell curls, I was struggling. Drew told me that I should "muscle up" and use my whole body to get the dumbbell up. So, instead of standing still, I sort of swung my arm back in order to get it to go forward. I'm sure that's not the best form in the entire world, but as he pointed out, if you need to move or lift something heavy in real life, you're not going to be standing still to do so.

The last set of dumbbell curls was impossible. I tried to lift it once and I just wrote "FAIL" in my book. I couldn't do it. But, Drew told me that if I muscled up, I could. And I did! I did three of them. Not a huge success, but still good for my growing muscles. Drew had to help me with the barbell curls too. I was really lucky he was there with me, because he definitely pushed me more than I would have pushed myself.

After the weight lifting, I did some 'fake running', which is what I like to think the elliptical is. Mostly, I really wanted to read my book and the elliptical is a really good way to do so. Drew did the elliptical with me, so we just did our whole workout together. Well, he stayed at the gym and did more cardio, but I had to get home and get to work early. I'm just glad that I'm back into the swing of things. Next week might be more of the same with going to work early, but I'm really going to try to stick with the workouts better!

Weight Lifting
Time: 57:08
Calories: 342
Maximum HR: 154
Average HR: 117

Elliptical
Time: 32:42
Distance: 2.85 miles
Pace: 11:28/mile
Calories: 311
Maximum HR: 159
Average HR: 147

Yeah, I'm A Badass

This morning Drew got up and went to his old gym to meet with his personal trainer, which meant that he got up really early in order to get there by 6:00. I was going to just sleep for a few more minutes, which turned into the rest of the morning, so I didn't make it to the gym before work. However, I packed a bag in order to force myself to go to the gym after work. It's a lot easier to go to the gym straight from work instead of having to go home in between and change.

I started out with some cardio, which I don't normally do. I really was thinking that I'd do half an hour of cardio, do my weight lifting and then finish up with some more cardio. Drew and I tried to figure out our Heart Rate Zones last night and this is what I came up with for mine:

195 Maximum
Zone 2 = 117 - 137 (60-70%)
Zone 3 = 137 - 156 (70-80%)
Zone 4 = 156 - 176 (80-90%)

I thought that perhaps I should try to stay in a lower Heart Rate Zone than I have been while running and see how it felt. With that in mind, I did a half an hour on the Arc Trainer. It's still really not my favorite piece of cardio equipment at the gymnasium, but it did keep my heart rate lower, so I think it was a success. It's also really good for reading, so that's a small bonus in my book (no pun intended).

I'm starting Week 9 of my Weight Lifting program and I finally remembered to bring (and use) something that I bought a few weeks ago, but haven't had the best memory. Here they are:

Workout gloves!!

Drew made me take this photo with my hands in fists so that you can truly see how "badass" I actually am...
I'm not really sure that I felt like a badass. I sort-of felt a little bit silly wearing these gloves and recording my weights in my workout book, but my hands felt a lot better, so all in all, it was a good thing!

Here was today's workout:
Barbell Bench Press: 1 set of 12 reps @ 45 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 55 lbs / 1 set of 6 reps @ 65 lbs
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press: 1 set of 12 reps @ 20 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 8 reps @ 30 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 6 reps @ 30 lbs (per arm)
Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 1 set of 12 reps @ 10 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 12 reps @ 15 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 10 reps @ 20 lbs (per arm)
Tricep Pushdowns: 1 set of 12 reps @ 30 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 40 lbs / 1 set of 5 reps @ 50 lbs
Reverse Crunches: 1 set of 12 reps / 2 sets of 10 reps

This week is all about Pyramid-Up, which means that you should increase the weights on each set and decrease the reps. This took a lot longer than some of my other recent weight lifting because you were supposed to rest for 3 minutes in between sets. The goal reps were 12 for the first set, 10 for the second set and 8 for the third set. I had some trouble lifting really heavy today because I was by myself. I thought I probably could have squeezed out two more reps on the bench press set, but I was too afraid to let myself do it. I was shaky after 6 reps at 65 pounds and wasn't sure I'd be able to do two more (or even one more) without a spotter, so I just let it be at 6 reps. Drew said I could have asked anyone at the gym to spot for me, so I guess I know for next time. Even though I'm not sure I would have felt comfortable asking anyway. 65 pounds doesn't seem like a whole lot and I'd feel a little wimpy having to ask for a spotter for such a light weight.

I kept the weight at 30 pounds for the dumbbell bench press because I was having trouble lifting the weight onto the bench and lying down all at the same time. Um, that's right. Until just right now, reading over my stats did I realize that I did decline bench presses. Oops! I gotta tell you, it was another exercise where having a spotter could have been really helpful in order to hand me the dumbbells. I actually considered switching to barbells, because I thought that would be a lot easier to manage, but I stuck it out with what I thought was the right thing.

The crunches were supposed to be crunches with weight, but the weight room and the stretching areas were so crowded that I decided to try reverse crunches again and see if I had the same ill side effects as before. It definitely wasn't as painful while doing them, so I'm hopeful that my abs are back to normal now.

I really wanted to do another set of cardio once I finished up with the weight lifting, but it was already 7:30 and I needed to get home and do laundry before tomorrow, so I cut my workout a little bit short. It definitely didn't help that the weight lifting took longer than expected, but at least now I know that these workouts will be longer.

The rest of this week promises to be pretty bad for me at work so at the very least, I'm going to plan on keeping up with my weight lifting (likely on Thursday and Saturday), but I might skip out on some other stuff. I think it's pretty certain that I won't have a chance to workout at all on Wednesday, since I have to be at work at 6:30 and will be there late as well. I also have to go into work early Thursday and Friday and I have to work on Saturday. I'm trying to take it all in stride and remind myself that I already know I can run the 10K on Sunday and I don't have anything else really big that I have to be training for at this second. It's not ideal, but I'll do the best I can.

Arc Trainer
Time: 30:23
Distance: 1.16 miles
Pace: 26:11/mile
Calories: 259
Maximum HR: 149
Average HR: 138

Weight Lifting
Time: 43:19
Calories: 196
Maximum HR: 137
Average HR: 107

I Feel Bad

Today Drew and I had planned to go running. He claims that last time we went he said that he wanted to go 3 miles and I made us run 4, but this time he actually said 4 miles, so I suggested that we run the Central Loop of Central Park (starting at 72nd Street and going up and across the 102nd Street Transverse).

We walked from the bottom of the Park up to 72nd Street and headed North. I don't know why, but I've really been on a kick of running clockwise instead of counter-clockwise, so that's what we did today too. Drew was a little worried about his toe hurting while running, but we started out fairly slow and he said that it was fine.

My legs were exhausted the entire time we were running. I think it was a combination of the longer run I did on Friday and the biking I did yesterday, but they were beat! I tried to keep us at a slower pace than it seemed like Drew wanted to run. I am still really concentrating on keeping my heart rate under 180 when possible and that seems to be somewhere around a 10 minute (or 10+) mile.

Because Drew kept running ahead of me, I told him that if I was slowing him down, he should just run on ahead. I think I told him at least two or three times that he should just run ahead. Finally, I had to tell him that him running faster than me was making me feel bad about myself. It wasn't the fact that I can't run that fast, it's that I can't run that fast while keeping my heart rate in the zone I wanted. He said that he wasn't trying to race me or even run at any specific pace, it's just how he was running. I knew he wasn't doing it on purpose, it was just how I felt about the whole situation.

I was thinking about it a lot and I think it's a lot different than running in a group with Terrier because there everyone goes at their own pace and you don't feel bad passing someone (or being passed) because there is an unwritten understanding. It's a lot different when you go running with someone specific and think that you'll be running together and then to have that person running just two steps in front of you the entire time is a little bit frustrating (to me at least).

Once I pointed out my frustration, Drew stayed behind me the rest of the way (or right next to me). It might be really crazy, but I felt like I was running more on my own pace that way instead of just trying to keep up with him and I actually wouldn't be surprised to find out that we ran faster once I started leading than we were the other way around.

When we got to 72nd Street and were crossing the transverse, I realized that if we pushed it just a little bit more, we could come out with 10-minute miles, which would be nice, so right when we passed by the Cherry Hill Fountain, I told Drew to pick it up a little and we sprinted to the end.

I don't think this was our best run ever together just because I think I was a little off and feeling left behind, but I'm really happy with the final result. After we ended the run, Drew said that while he really liked the route, he wasn't so thrilled to have to walk home from 72nd Street. I can't really say I blame him, although it is a good cool down and we did stretch for a while once we ended running. It doesn't take long for your body to cool off and then walking home isn't really all that fun in these cooler temperatures!

Running
Time: 40:57
Distance: 4.10 miles
Pace: 9:59/mile
Calories: 547
Maximum HR: 189
Average HR: 175

A Mini Triathlon

This morning I got up and went off to the gymnasium. I was meeting Drew at the gym and he reserved a swim lane for us at 11 and I wanted to get a workout in before the swim. When I got there I hopped on the computerized spin bike and decided to try the strength program.

I'm not sure if I've done that one before. I was thinking that it was going to be similar to the endurance program and be a lot of seated flats and seated climbs. However, it turned out to be the opposite. I was up out of the saddle more than I was seated, but it was definitely a good and sweaty workout.

I had about an hour to workout and wanted to give myself some time to stretch before the pool. That meant that after my 40+ minute bike ride, I still had about 15 minutes to kill.

So, what I decided to do was a mini brick. I hopped of the bike, switched shoes, and ran to the treadmill. I set the treadmill on 1% incline at 6.0 (10-minute mile pace). I actually ended up only running for a mile and then walked for a few more minutes as a cool down. It was actually a really easy mile and my legs felt fine, which was nice.

After biking and running, I went off to stretch and also do some foam rolling on my shins. While we were both stretching, we were discussing the ab machine that neither of us has ever used before. Of course, that meant that we had to try it out. I did 30 crunches (not sure that's the right terminology or not).

Finally, it was time for the pool. Drew fell down our stairs last night and has quite the bruise on his toe! That meant that when he went to kick today while swimming, it didn't feel so great. So, instead of doing some kicking (which is what he really should be concentrating on) we did a lot with the pull buoy.

He's definitely improving overall. He still says that he's having trouble breathing, so he was trying to exhale more by breathing every 4th stroke instead of every 2nd stroke. I also really tried to emphasize to him that if he slows his arm stroke down, he'll feel more comfortable hanging out on his side before rolling back over and putting his head back into the water again. I think it's all starting to come together a little bit more than before.

I didn't really do much swimming myself, although I do have a big Terrier Swim Meet coming up and for some reason I decided to sign up for the 50 meter backstroke. I practiced backstroke a little bit. Mostly what I need to make sure I've got down is my stroke count from the flags so that I can do my flip-turn at the right time. I think with a few more times concentrating on it, I'll have it down in no time.

Once we were done swimming, we went and sat in the sauna for a few minutes. It's no hot tub, but it's certainly better than nothing! All in all, I had a really mini triathlon today with my biking, running and swimming. And of course, it was all out of order! It's not very often that I do all three disciplines in the same day, so it was just a little bit funny to me.

Biking
Time: 41:00
Distance: 12.50 miles
Pace: 18.29 MPH average
Calories: 415
Maximum HR: 162
Average HR: 150

Running
Time: 10:00
Distance: 1.00 mile
Pace: 10:00/mile
Calories: 190
Maximum HR: 175
Average HR: 158

Swimming
Time: 25:13
Calories: 111
Maximum HR: 162
Average HR: 105

A Standalone Time

I ended up taking yesterday as a rest day. Drew got up and went to the gym early, but I slept for an extra hour and then spent the rest of the morning getting ready for our Turkey Day. His parents were joining us before they had to catch a flight, so we had a pretty early dinner (more of a lunch), so it was well worth skipping the gym in favor of making and eating a special lunch.

Drew and I had thought about waking up early today to go hit some Black Friday sales, but we were lame and didn't go. I wasn't 100% sure I really wanted to brave the crowds anyway. Instead, we planted ourselves on the couch and watched lots of TV. We didn't get up and moving around until well into the afternoon. Drew wanted to head off to the gym and I decided to go for a run.

I have a 10K race coming up next weekend and I figured that although in our group Terrier runs, I generally run somewhere around 6 miles total, I don't generally do it in one straight shot, so I might want to try that out before the big race. So, that was my plan today. To do something I've never done before ... run the Big Loop in Central Park!

I didn't get to the park until a little after 3:30 and I was wearing running tights, shorts, and two long-sleeved shirts. I didn't take gloves or any ear coverings. I ended up being okay without the gloves, although they would have been a nice addition, but I really wished I had a hat/headband with me. The temperature was in the mid-40s and although I was probably dressed appropriately for the temperature, I wasn't dressed appropriately for the wind! I also didn't really factor in that the sun was setting and it'd be dark by the time I got home.

Because we spent most of the day glued to the couch, that meant that we didn't eat or drink a whole lot in our laziness. Which meant that I started the run off feeling a tiny bit hungry. In order to try to combat that, I brought some Shot Blocks with me. I'd never tried them before and figured that this was as good of a time as any to try them out. I ended up having two while running and they were sort-of everything I'd heard that they'd be. They tasted okay, but got stuck in my teeth. They also made me a bit gassy, which I didn't really like at all. I ended up deciding to give the rest of them to Laura because I didn't think I'd use them again.

I ran the Big Loop in a clockwise direction (which is against the majority of traffic). Running this way is the way that the New York City triathlon takes you, so that was a nice taste to see how that run would go. I am not really sure what route the race next weekend will take, but even if it's the opposite direction, I think I'll feel fairly confident while running since I'm so familiar with the route in both directions.

While I was running, I really concentrated on keeping my heart rate below 180 as it seems to me that somewhere in the mid-170s is really where I feel most comfortable. I know it's not the fastest that I can run, but I can keep running there for a longer distance, which seems to be the key to all of these endurance sports. I also really thought that it'd be good for me to have a standalone time that wasn't tied to a triathlon to compare next weekend's race to. My Westchester running time was 1:06:16 (10:41 pace) and I guess I'd like to get my 10K race pace closer to 10 minutes per mile.

Today I was able to shave 3 minutes off the Westchester time and I never felt like I was going too hard. I'd think that in the race it might be possible to get another 1:16 off that time to get down to 10 minute miles, so that's what I'm going to aim for.

Running
Time: 1:03:16
Distance: 6.10 miles
Pace: 10:22/mile
Calories: 824
Maximum HR: 189
Average HR: 173

The Max

This morning I headed off to the gymnasium with Drew and I really wanted to try to figure out what my max bench press would be. I had been looking at this site and trying to guess what I thought I could get to. I was really hoping that I could do 100, even though I thought it might be a little bit ambitious.

We got to the gym and loaded up the bar so that I'd try lifting 100 pounds. Um, it was a no go. I lowered the bar, but I couldn't push it back up. Of course, when I told that to Drew, I expected him to pick it up right away, but he didn't really help me all that much at first even though I felt a little frantic that it was going to crash down and smoosh my chest in. So, then we decided to try again at 95 pounds. Still the same situation where I could lower the bar but not push it back up.

So, then we decided to go about it from the other direction. We took lots more weight off and then started adding it back on. I was able to lift 65 pounds just fine. I was able to lift 75 pounds with a bit of a struggle. I was able to lift 80 pounds and thought I had reached my max. Drew says he's not convinced that it was my max because even though my arms were a little shaky pushing it up, he said that it was still relatively quick. I decided that I had maxed out at 80. I guess I'm a little disappointed that it wasn't more, especially since I've been doing so much weight lifting, but I guess I know where I am now and can only hope to maintain this level and hopefully improve.

After that, I went over and spun my little heart out on the computerized spin bike. I did the race day program which gets you up out of the saddle about 50% of the time. Nothing too noteworthy to report here. It definitely is a lot better now that I realized that I can clip in with my regular bike shoes, although I wonder if I'll be more likely to forget to clip out when stopping on my regular bike now that I'm getting used to the stationary bike!

Biking
Time: 37:44
Distance: 12.80 miles
Pace: 20.35 MPH average
Calories: 363
Maximum HR: 163
Average HR: 146

Out For A Run, Home With A Turkey

This morning I got up and headed out for the Terrier run. While I was getting dressed (in running tights, shorts, short-sleeved shirt, long sleeved shirt and gloves) I told Drew that I really didn't feel like going because I was so tired, but I didn't have a lot of say in the matter. I had set it up so that I had to pick up our Thanksgiving Day Turkey on the way home from the run. Technically, I guess I still could have slept in a little bit and gotten the turkey anyway, but that didn't really seem like the reason why I set the turkey pick-up for 7:00 am!

I ran there and then we did our normal strides workout. We finished the strides up today with some strength exercises. We did 30 lunges, 20 squats and two sets of push-ups. I did 10 push-ups each time (we were supposed to do 15), but I feel good about the 20 that I did do. I'm not going to worry about the 10 that I didn't do.

As far as the clothing goes, I felt like my arms were a little bit cold with just the one layer of long-sleeves, but I did end up taking my gloves off pretty early on, so I wasn't perfect, but I was pretty close. Today's workout was one that I knew I'd have to cut short in order to pick up the turkey and the couple of other things that I still needed to buy before Thursday and get home in time for work. Today's workout was going to be focusing on hills. We ran as a group to a spot on the bridle path just south of the Reservoir, under a bridge. Don't ask me exactly where we were, I get lost on those paths (which also means that the mileage today is a bit of a guess since the maps don't really cover the paths).

We were supposed to do 40 minutes of hill running up and down a longer hill and a short hill. I only did about 10 minutes of hill running before going and running back towards home. I felt like I was being a quitter, because I wasn't leaving because I was tired or anything, I just had to get my turkey! I think that I would definitely like to go back and do this workout again even if it's just by myself to prove that I can.

I got to Whole Foods just as they were opening, bought my turkey, green beans & spinach and headed home for the day. The timing worked out just perfectly.

The times below are the times I actually recorded and then what I think the time would be approximately for the strides. I didn't time them, but going off of last week's, I think this is about right, although we did a few less this week than we did last week.

Running
Time: 36:45 / (~10:00 strides)
Distance: 3.86 miles / (0.64 strides)
Pace: 9:31/mile / 15:37/mile
Calories: 466
Maximum HR: 187
Average HR: 171

I Guess I Should Have Listened Today

I ended up taking a rest day yesterday. After working out every day last week, I just needed a break. I think it was well earned and much needed. Today, Laura and I planned to use our last day of our 5-day pass to the Fancy Gym! We had to head there after work instead of our normal morning workouts.

I left work and walked home with Drew (who had to go to some fancy fund raising dinner). I was changing clothes and getting ready to head off to the gymnasium and happened to comment on how hungry I was. I was making myself some Muscle Milk to take with me to the gym, but Drew suggested that I should take a bar or at least half of a bar to carry me through. For some reason, I thought the Muscle Milk would be enough, especially since I had just had a snack before leaving work.

Laura and I got to the gym about the same time, but I had to do my weight lifting and she headed straight for the pool. I'm on Week 8 of my 12 Week program, so I can't believe how fast this has gone and how little is left! This actually worked out really well for this week because Week 8 is one workout of total body drop sets. The book explains that approximately every two months, your body needs a short break from weight training in order for your muscles to fully recover. I'm just glad that it worked out to be this week because with the holiday on Thursday, I think I'll have trouble working out that day. This was today's weight lifting:

Barbell Shoulder Press: 1 set of 12 reps @ 35 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 30 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 25 lbs
Leg Extensions: 1 set of 10 reps @ 70 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 60 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 50 lbs
Dumbbell Squats: 1 set of 15 reps @ 30 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 15 reps @ 25 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 15 reps @ 20 lbs (per arm)
Dumbbell Bench Press: 1 set of 12 reps @ 20 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 12 reps @ 15 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 12 reps @ 10 lbs (per arm)
Tricep Pushdowns: 1 set of 7 reps @ 35 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 30 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 25 lbs
Crunches: 3 sets of 15 reps

I really rushed through this and my arms were not happy about it. I really was just trying to hurry up and get to the pool. The squats were supposed to be with a barbell, but they didn't really seem like they had all of the equipment I was looking for, so I just went with dumbbells since it was easier. The tricep pushdowns were impossible. I'll say that they didn't have the regular lat pulldown machine that I like to use at my regular gym, so I had to use the cable machine and I don't think it was the best set-up. But boy, were my arms exhausted! The crunches were supposed to be with weight added, but there aren't a lot of weight plates at this fancy gym and they certainly aren't anywhere close to where I was going to be doing crunches, so I just went ahead and did them regularly. This was the first time I can remember recently where I wasn't wincing with pain while doing crunches, so I'm hoping my abs are back to normal.

The biggest bummer about the weight lifting today was the fact that I bought myself something new to use while weight lifting and I forgot it in my locker! I'll tell you more about it when I remember to actually use it. I drank my Muscle Milk as soon as I got to the gym, I couldn't wait and save it until after the weight lifting, so as soon as that happened, I knew my stomach might be in trouble.

I realized that while I had printed out a swimplan.com workout, I had left it at home, so it was of no use to me. I figured I'd just do whatever I felt like. Terrier is having a swim meet in a couple of weeks and I signed up for the 50-meter backstroke and the 50-meter freestyle, so I figured I should probably practice my backstroke and tonight seemed like a pretty good opportunity.

When I got to the pool, Laura was in a lane by herself, so we just decided to split that lane unless the lifeguard came over and told us to circle swim. It went really well for a while - I'd guess at least 20 or 25 minutes where we were able to split the lane and just do our own thing. Laura was working on a bunch of drills and I sort-of aimlessly did a really random workout. All I can really tell you is that there was lots of kicking, a fair amount of backstroke, a fair amount of freestyle and a little bit of breaststroke thrown in for good measure. At some point towards the end we did have to start circle swimming and sharing our lane with a third person, which wasn't ideal.

Part of my aimlessness definitely stemmed from the fact that I was really hungry once I started swimming. I'll admit it, I should have listened to Drew. He was right about taking a bar with me. Next time, I'll realize that swimming makes me really hungry and that he's right about stuff like this!

The best thing was that once we got out of the pool, we could head straight to the hot tub! We stayed in for longer than the recommended 15 minutes, but we also had to milk it for all that we could as I'm not sure when we'll next be at a pool with a hot tub. It was actually really nice to not have to worry about getting out and going off to work and it's always such a nice way to end a workout!

Weight Lifting
Time: 20:37
Calories: 157
Maximum HR: 160
Average HR: 128

Swimming
Time: 33:30
Distance: 1250 yards = 0.71 miles
Pace: 47:10/mile
Calories: 317
Maximum HR: 167
Average HR: 144

I Wasn't Listening

This morning I slept in until about 10, which was quite a nice treat. Then Drew and I went for a walk around Union Square and of course ended up buying lots more bars and some other various things. After our afternoon jaunt, we went home, changed clothes and headed out for a run. I'm not quite sure how I convinced him to come with me, but somehow I talked him into it.

When we were walking to the park, there was a group of guys right by the Maine Monument playing music, which led to a brief discussion of me telling Drew about another music group I had heard recently in the subway. After I had told him about the other group, he then admitted that he wasn't really listening to me at all while I was talking. I admit, it wasn't that great of a story, but it always makes me wonder what else he's not listening to!

I had told him before we left the house that today's run wouldn't be fast. I really wanted to concentrate on keeping my heart rate in the 170s as it seems to be a much more comfortable running pace for me with a slightly lower heart rate. He had said that he wanted to run about 4 miles, so I suggested that we run up the West Side until we reached the Reservoir, run around the Reservoir Loop and then back down the West Side again.

The thing about running north first, which is against traffic, is that there is a lot more to see that way. I'm not really sure we saw anything or anyone noteworthy, but it just makes the whole thing more enjoyable. There were a couple moments where we were running a little bit faster than I would have liked for my heart rate, but I really tried to keep it slower. I told Drew that if he wanted to run ahead and go faster he should feel free, but he said that he was doing fine at my slower pace.

Once we reached the reservoir, I really made an effort to keep my heart rate in the 170s. It's a fairly easy conversational pace for me and I wasn't trying to win any awards with my run. Once we got all the way around the Reservoir Loop, Drew looked at his watch and said, "about 17 minutes ... sort-of slow." Geez! I'm fairly certain I said it several times that this would be a slow run. I'm not sure what he was thinking that meant (or maybe he just wasn't listening again!).

We ended up running 3.9 miles in just under 40 minutes, so it really wasn't that slow of a run overall. It's nice to know that I can still keep about a 10 minute mile pace even with a slower heart rate, which I think would help me be able to run for longer stretches. I think that's my strategy for the 10K I have on December 6 ... to keep my heart rate in the 170s and just take my time. I'm really just doing this as motivation to keep running and I don't think the 6 miles will be a problem no matter what, which is really nice to know!

Time: 39:48
Distance: 3.90 miles
Pace: 10:12/mile
Calories: 508
Maximum HR: 183
Average HR: 172

How Fancy Is Too Fancy?

This morning I met Laura again at the fancy gymnasium, although I got there first because Laura wanted to meet to ride bikes but I also needed to finish up Week 7 of my Weight Lifting book. Since we hadn't checked out any of the cardio or weight lifting equipment yesterday while we were there, I wasn't really sure what we were in for, but I figured that it was such a fancy gym that they'd at least have what my regular gym had.

After checking in and getting all my stuff settled into a locker I headed to the weight lifting/cardio area to check out the equipment. And I honestly wasn't that impressed. For as big as the gym is, I thought that they really crammed a bunch of weight lifting machines into a fairly small area. And while there were a lot of dumbbells (plus over my regular gym), there were not a lot of free weight machines (minus).

This was today's workout, which is still Drop Sets:

Leg Press: 1 set of 12 reps @ 120 lbs / 1 set of 12 reps @ 100 lbs / 1 set of 12 reps @ 80 lbs
Leg Curls: 1 set of 10 reps @ 65 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 50 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 40 lbs
Leg Extensions: 1 set of 1 reps @ 60 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 50 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 50 lbs
Dumbbell Squats: 1 set of 15 reps @ 25 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 15 reps @ 20 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 15 reps @ 15 lbs (per arm)
Calf Raises: 1 set of 10 reps @ 105 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 80 lbs / 1 set of 12 reps @ 60 lbs

The leg press machine I had to do on a not-plate loaded machine, instead it was one where you move the pin up and down on the stacked weights. I didn't really love it because the weight increments weren't exactly what I wanted and it's not something you can customize. On the leg extensions, I realized that I forgot to move the pin for the third set of lifting. No wonder my legs were so tired! The dumbbell squats were a lot nicer here than at my regular gym because there were so many dumbbells available, which was a big bonus in my mind.

I normally do calf raises on the leg press machine, but that wasn't an option today since it wasn't the normal leg press machine. Instead, I did them on the plate loaded calf press machine, which I normally don't use. The last time that I did calf raises with Drew, he was using the machine I used today and was lifting 150 pounds. However, he can apparently lift over 300 pounds doing calf raises using the leg press machine. I think he's somehow cheating. I don't know how you can double your weight like that with the different machines. We're going to have a "Pepsi Challenge" soon to see if he can in fact do what he claims to be able to do as I think there is something a little bit fishy about the whole situation.

After doing my weight lifting, I looked around and tried to find the cardio or spin bikes. I didn't see any spin bikes out in the cardio area, which is unlike my gym (minus). Then it was time to meet Laura. We met up and went in search of spin bikes that weren't in the spinning classroom as there was a class going on at that time. We asked a rather unhelpful woman who was working at a information-type desk in the cardio area and she wasn't able to answer any questions about whether or not they had spin bikes not in the spinning classroom or really anything at all.

My gym has one regular and two fancy computerized spin bikes out in the regular area and I guess I just assumed that this fancy gym would have something similar. Wrong. We did find one spin bike that Laura tried out but the seat wouldn't move up or down, so we both hit the cardio bikes instead. I thought that their cardio bike was a lot fancier than the one at my regular gymnasium, but I'll be honest, I mostly concentrated on watching the E! Kardashian Wedding special instead of anything else.

I think also that because my legs were tired from the weight lifting and I was really hoping for better equipment in the cardio area, my heart just wasn't in it. I did a random setting on the bike and switched around between levels 8 and 15 (the highest level was 25). It actually was pretty tough and I do appreciate how cardio bikes automatically adjust the resistance for you, but it wasn't exactly the workout I was looking for.

However, what I was looking for was the hot tub at the end of our workout! It was just such a nice end to the workout and a really nice way to start my Friday before heading to work.

Weight Lifting
Time: 18:40
Calories: 160
Maximum HR: 158
Average HR: 136

Cardio Bike
Time: 40:00
Distance: 8.94 miles
Pace: 13.41 MPH (average)
Calories: 374
Maximum HR: 158
Average HR: 143

A Really Fancy Gymnasium

This morning I met Laura for a swim at the really fancy gymnasium. Drew got an invitation in the mail for you and a guest to go try out the Reebok Sports Club NY for 5 days and he was gracious enough to let me & Laura use it. This morning Laura and I met for a swim at the fancy gym.

Once we were all checked in, we headed to the locker room. I'm not sure I'm a huge fan of their locker room facilities because you swap your ID card for a key to a locker. I guess I didn't love having to worry about a key the whole time, since I'm used to using a combination lock on my gym locker everywhere else. Before we headed off to the pool, I needed to use the restroom and when I was trying to find it, I found a hot tub!

I immediately reported back to Laura and we agreed to cut our swim short in order to test out their hot tub. Since we had been planning on swimming for an hour, I had printed out a swimplan.com to keep me focused in the pool. Because we cut the swim short, I had to cut out a little less than half of it.

This is the original workout and the portion in blue is what I actually did:

Warm-Up
4 x 100 Freestyle Swim

Build Up (repeat 4 times)
1 x 50 Freestyle Breath Left, rest 0:15
1 x 50 Freestyle Breath Right, rest 0:15

Core
4 x 100 Freestyle Swim, leave on 1:55
4 x 100 Freestyle Swim, leave on 1:50
8 x 50 Freestyle Swim, leave on 0:58

Warm-Down
1 x 100 Freestyle Push & Glide, rest 0:20
1 x 100 Freestyle Easy, rest 0:20

I actually ended up doing 150 as a warm-down, so my total was 1350 yards instead of 2200 yards. I actually think that it ended up being a really good (and fast-paced) swim for me. The last time I went swimming with Laura I didn't have a plan and I'm realizing that I do much better when I have one. Even if it's not as fancy as this.

The pool itself was fine. For as large as the entire facility is, I would have expected a larger pool. I mean, there are two full-sized basketball courts, I would have thought they could have an 8-lane pool! I swam in the fast lane, which wasn't really that fast. At one point a guy with flippers came into the lane and I was still faster, so that just goes to show what "fast" meant at that pool. The lifeguard actually said that the people swimming in the morning were the fast crowd. My swim workout actually worked really well because it gave my lane a chance to spread out a little bit while I was waiting during the "core" portion of the workout. I had no trouble finishing the distances in the times allotted, so that was a good feeling.

After the swim, Laura and I headed to the hot tub. Soooooo nice! It was hot, but not too hot and it was bubbly and nice and relaxing. It really should be a requirement to have hot tubs at all swimming pools. Because the gym was so humongous, we didn't have a chance to look around, but we're planning on going again tomorrow and using the bikes and I'm going to lift, so I think we'll have a much better idea of how the rest of the gym looks. I'm really interested to see the rest of their facilities! And use the hot tub again, of course!

Time: 28:51
Distance: 0.77 miles (1350 yards)
Pace: 37:28/mile
Calories: 323
Maximum HR: 171
Average HR: 160

Just The Regular Gymnasium

This morning Laura and I had been planning on going to check out a new and really fancy gymnasium, but things didn't go quite as planned, so I ended up just going to the regular gymnasium with Drew. Today I had my second set of Drop Set weight lifting to do and Drew wanted to ride spin bikes, so that was my plan for the day.

This was the weight lifting:

Dumbbell Rows (Right Arm): 1 set of 10 reps @ 25 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 20 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 15 lbs
Dumbbell Rows (Left Arm): 1 set of 10 reps @ 25 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 20 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 15 lbs
Lat Pulldown (Triangle Bar): 1 set of 10 reps @ 70 lbs/ 1 set of 10 reps @ 50 lbs / 1 set of 15 reps @ 30 lbs
Barbell Bench Press: 1 set of 12 reps @ 45 lbs / 1 set of 12 reps @ 35 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 30 lbs
Dumbbell Pullovers: 1 set of 10 reps @ 30 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 25 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 20 lbs
Dumbbell Curls: 1 set of 10 reps @ 20 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 10 reps @ 15 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 10 reps @ 10 lbs (per arm)

This Drop Set thing sure is tricky. I really tried to lift heavy on the first set so that I could then decrease to something more reasonable for the second set. I would say that I was definitely struggling on most of the second sets. It's weird because your muscles think "Oh wow! This is so light," but after doing a couple of reps, you realize that it's still a decent amount of weight that you're lifting with zero rest between sets.

On the lat pulldowns, the third set was definitely too light. I probably should have been lifting 40 pounds instead of 30, but I think that there is a bit of a learning curve here and I'm doing my best. On the flip side, 30 pounds is the most I've lifted for the dumbbell pullovers. It was not easy, but I did it. The part that I actually really didn't like was the fact that once you get to 30 pounds, the dumbbells at the gym change sizes, and I didn't like holding onto the bigger dumbbell for that exercise. On the dumbbell curls, 20 lbs per arm was the most I've ever lifted and it was really challenging. I started out doing the curls at the same time, but I ended up having to stagger that set so I would just do right arm-left arm, etc.

I was really happy that there were no crunches in today's workout! After the weight lifting was done, Drew and I hit the spin bikes. We both used the computerized spin bikes, but Drew told me that he really just wanted to read his book and not be in and out of the saddle all the time, so I said that we should do the endurance program as that's mostly seated flats with just one or two standing flats thrown into the mix. I think he set his for about 30 minutes, but I set mine for 55-60. When I said endurance, I meant endurance.

Except that after 30 minutes, I wanted to get off the bike too! Oof. It was hard riding a bike for an hour. But, I hung in there and didn't give up. And I felt much better about completing my ride at the end and not giving up on myself or my workout. The best part about getting off the bike was seeing that my average cadence was 86, which I thought was pretty awesome.

Weight Lifting
Time: 27:44
Calories: 181
Maximum HR: 145
Average HR: 119

Spin Bike
Time: 57:45
Distance: 21.70 miles
Pace: 22.55 MPH (average)
Calories: 545
Maximum HR: 162
Average HR: 144

Thanks, Operation Beautiful!

This morning was the Terrier run and I actually managed to get up and out of bed on time in order to get to the meeting point by 6:00. I did snooze for as long as possible before committing to getting out of bed, however. I also tried the new Iced Gingerbread Clif bar for the first time. Yum! It definitely tastes like the real deal, except that it's got lots of protein included.

My telephone's weather said that it was 47 degrees, which didn't sound too cold. As a result, I wore shorts, a short-sleeved shirt and a long-sleeved shirt. I looked for my gloves, but couldn't find them and figured I could just tough it out. When I went outside, I was definitely chilly. I actually started running after two blocks (I normally walk all the way to the park and then start running) in order to warm up a little bit. Once I started running, I didn't really notice the cold. I did notice the wind gusts, though!

I got to the meeting point with a minute to spare, so I guess it's good that I started running sooner rather than later. Shortly after I got there, we started our normal stride drills. I finally remembered to time these today. Of course, I forgot to count exactly how many we did, but I think it was in the neighborhood of 0.85 miles worth, if I'm remembering all the drills we did correctly. Also, I'm a little surprised by that number as I thought it was more in the 0.50 mile range, but I have just been going off an old posting that I did and since then Gmap Pedometer seems to have updated their maps, so that is most likely why. The one thing about the timing that I did today is that I just let it run for the entire time. I didn't stop and start for each stride, so I think it's throwing my pacing off for the rest of the day, but only slightly and I'm not too concerned.

Our main workout today was a Fartlek run. We would run for 10 minutes as a warm-up and then do a 1-2-3-2-1 pattern Fartlek for a total of 44 minutes, including the warm-up. Even now at my desk with my super fancy adding machine (see below) I can't get that to add up quite right, so I guess that explains why I couldn't get it to add up while I was running either.

The first ten minutes I just let everyone run ahead of me. I was really trying to keep that portion as a warm-up and save myself for the pick-ups during the Fartlek. The pattern was supposed to be one minute on, one minute off, two minutes on, two minutes off, three minutes on, etc. After running for the first minute on, I realized that it was too hard to have my watch on my wrist and I took it off and held it in my hand so that I could make sure to keep going for each of the "on segments" and also to make sure that I didn't stay too long on an "off segment."

We were supposed to run around the Lower Loop of the Park. I noticed that someone had written the following in sidewalk chalk along the running path. It was actually really cool because each phrase was separated by 100 yards or so, so you had to keep looking for the next one. It said, "Wow! You're Hot! No, Really! Keep it up!". On my second loop around, I noticed that it was an OperationBeautiful.com note! I'd just like to say that it was really inspiring and definitely made me push a little bit harder on my "on segments" thinking about the fact that someone out there wrote that special little note. I wish I'd had my camera (or phone) with me to take a photo, but I try to go with the bare minimum when running, so I didn't have any way to take a photo.

After completing my second loop, I still had some time to kill, so I went and ran around the Cherry Hill Fountain and then also up Dead Road (a.k.a. Central Park Driveway, according to Gmaps). Most people were already done and waiting back at the starting point, but I wanted to get the most out of my run and it hadn't been 44 minutes yet. I actually finished in 42:26, which was as close as I could get to 44 and I was also the last person to finish. But, obviously, we all started our watches at the same time, so those people didn't run for quite as long as I did (although, let's face it, they all ran further!).

Once we all met back up at the starting point, we did some more drills and strength exercises. We would do one strength exercise and then run a stride drill. We did 2 sets of 15 squats, 15 lunges on each leg, 15 step ups (onto a park bench) on each leg, 3 sets of 15 push-ups (I managed to do 10, 5 & 5), and 2 sets of holding plank position (on our forearms) for 1:00. Seriously? Can I not get away from the ab workouts? I would really like just one day of rest! I think that I might have to declare one day soon a completely off day and do nothing with my stomach other than eat!

I didn't time the last set of strides, so the stats below are from the run to the park, the warm-up strides, the main set Fartlek and the run out of the park (but not all the way home). Not a bad day, especially in the calorie burning department. I also feel a lot more confident about this 10K that I have coming up. I now think that I can easily finish, especially since I'm sure that my total mileage for the day was over 7 considering the fact that I didn't add in the last set of strides. I'm sure I'll be a little tired at the end, but it's a race, right? Aren't you supposed to get tired?

Time: 1:11:10
Distance: 6.92 miles
Pace: 10:17/mile
Calories: 950
Maximum HR: 187
Average HR: 172