5x1000m on the Track

Goal:
3x1000m + 4x400m

Actual:
3 mile warmup
5x1000m with 2:30 rest at 3:17, 3:17, 3:17, 3:17, 3:16
3 mile cool down for ~10 miles total

Woke up at 515AM to get out the door by 530 to meet Caleb at his house before running to the JCSU Track together for our workout.  We were supposed to catch a group from the Dowd on the way, and didn't see them so kept on going towards the track.  Only David Willis showed up a couple minutes later, so it was a smaller group that we typically had at the track.  This is mainly due to the fact that several people have been heading to the Summer Track Series on Tuesday evenings to get in their workouts.

I started this workout with the expectation of running 3:20, and was pleasantly surprised to find my splits under that mark.  David was about 10 seconds ahead of me while Caleb was about 10 seconds behind me on each interval, so I was basically alone for the workout.  Sometimes I struggle when I'm in no man's land like that, so I employed some tactics to keep myself focused.  Lacking Laurie's encouraging presence, I kept my eyes straight on David's back so that I wouldn't slow down.  Everything felt very relaxed and controlled, so I came out of the workout feeling pretty confident for the race on Friday in China Grove.

In other news, Garrett was picked up by the Trois Rivieres Aigles in Quebec, Canada.  I'm hoping to get a chance to visit him in late June / early July, but it will be an expensive trip.  It's been exactly four weeks since I last saw him, so by late June I'll undoubtedly be getting a little antsy to see my husband.

Workout Fail

Goal:
2x3 Mile at GHMP

Actual:
10x1 Min on/off at McAlpine

"Why do you always plan big workouts after vacation?  They never end well!"

That's exactly what Aaron practically spat out to me as he joined Laurie and I as we finished our adjusted workout of minuters.  And he was exactly right.  He also added that I never learn.  Maybe it's just that I am an overachiever and hope that each time it will go well.  Well, it didn't. 

Upon my return from California, I struggled to wake up in the morning and the humid air seemed like a shock to my system.  I, along with other Charlotteans, am probably adjusting to the full onset of summer weather that has arrived.  It's hot, humid and sticky.  Beads of sweat form all over my body and drip continuously down when I run; that's how I know it's summer.  All of that being said, the workout probably should have just been scrapped, but we decided to do minuters instead and to put all of our marbles in the bag for a hard long run Saturday.  This plan has worked for me in the past, and I just have to trust that all of my hard long runs since March will give me what it takes to run sub 5:55 at the USA Half Marathon Champs in 3.5 weeks.

Down Ladder at the JCSU Track

Goal:
2000m, 1600m, 1200m, 800m, 400m w/ 400m rest

Actual:
2.5 mile warmup to JCSU
2000m (5:45 through mile), 1600m (5:29), 1200m (4:01 - all in 80), 800m (2:36 - 78/78), 400m (70), 400m (72) w/ 400m jog rest
2.5 mile cool down for ~10 Miles total

pm: 5 miles for 15 miles total for day

The 5:10AM alarm this morning was much easier to wake up to, knowing that Laurie was coming to my house for the warmup.  Given that there was basically no way out of this workout without dramatically affecting Laurie's workout, I hopped out of bed immediately to begin my preparations.  Somehow I had extra time to spare and I found myself sweeping the floor before heading out the door.  The warmup was uneventful, and we made it to the track where we found AJ waiting for us.  Not long thereafter, Aaron, Jesse, Charlie and Mike all showed up and the two separate groups began their respective workouts. 

Laurie and I were solo, so we alternated leads for each interval, and I was up first for the 2000m.  I took us out entirely too slow (93) and found myself making up for it on the remaining laps.  In the end, we came through in our target pace of 5:45.  For the mile, Laurie lead us through a solid time of 5:29 and I felt like my breathing was out of whack.  I didn't want the workout to be doomed due to my labored breathing, so I accounted it to the humidity and not my lack of fitness.  Fortunately, for the remainder of the workout, I felt comfortable and confident and....fast!  After the first 9 laps of works were completed, the workout was much easier to handle as we only had 6 laps left.  Since the boys had 400s, we waited for them for our last interval, and I tucked right in with Mike and took us out at what I would consider a blistering pace of 70.  In my Nike Pegasus trainers, that was basically all out for me, but it felt almost effortless.  I would actually consider it fun, which is an adjective I thought I'd never use in the near future to describe a track workout. Since I'm an overachiever, I decided to add on another 400m since the guys had one more to go.  Although this went against the prescribed workout, I didn't want to pass up another opportunity to potentially beat the guys.  This "una mas" interval wasn't as fast as my other one, but the effort was still there.

Overall, this workout is a positive indicator that my fitness is indeed where I want it to be.  I felt relaxed and maintained what I consider to be some solid times.  Admittedly, though, I am looking forward to a long weekend in California with my sister where I don't have to get up at 5:00AM

Tempo + 400s

Goal:
Pre Race workout with tempo + speed

Actual:
3 mile warmup
4x400m in 72, 73, 73, 72 w/ 1:30 rest b/w and 3:00 b/w set
2 mile tempo in 11:09 - 5:36, 5:33 (4:00 rest)
4x400m in 73, 75, 75, 74 with 1:30 rest
3 mile cool down for 10 miles total

Today Garrett left for baseball for the entire season, so it was silly of me to think that I'd actually wake up to do a workout with Laurie.  After a fitful night of sleep because I was undoubtedly thinking about Garrett leaving for 5+ months, I woke up to cancel on Laurie and sleep for an additional 2 hours.  By 8AM, Garrett dropped me off at work before embarking on a ten hour drive to Indiana to begin his baseball season.  Our goodbye went something like this as we left the house:

Garrett (heads for the door):  Alright, let's go.
Caitlin:  Uh...don't I get a hug or something.
Garrett (perplexed):  Oh, right...
Caitlin (gives Garrett a hug):  See you in July, I guess.
Garrett:  Yeah, I'm so excited to start pitching.

...In other words, peace out, wife!!  And Garrett left like giddy kindergartner on the first day of school while I remained the dejected, unpopular kid left behind.

Having said all that, I ran my workout in the evening with Caleb and Eric on the Dilworth Speed Loop.  I was really excited about all the splits I ran and felt really comfortable, but as I cooled down I realized that the times may have been a little too aggressive for a pre-race workout.  I'm hoping to win the 10k on Saturday, so I should have put on the brakes a little bit so I didn't feel so gassed after the workout.  We'll see what happens!

Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred-Day 1

As you may remember, my husband and I recently re-watched all of The Walking Dead and did The Walking Dead Workout along with it. Ok, so we did MOST of the workouts! I'm not going lie to you guys!

I started the 30 Day Shred kind of on a whim so I was a bad blogger and didn't get "before" pictures or measurements. Oops. I don't think I'm brave enough to share that mess on the internet anyhow!

Don't run out and buy the DVD! Level 1 and 3 are on YouTube and Level 2 is on Vimeo!

My husband and I did record our weight and measurements not too long ago so I'll be using those to give you guys an average amount of pounds/inches lost through this program. 

Like I said, I just kind of picked this workout on a whim as something to get myself moving. I've heard of plenty of people using this program with fantastic results. A quick YouTube search will help you get motivated and inspired! 

All you need for this workout is a couple of hand weights. 2lb, 3lb, or 5lb depending on your current level of fitness. A yoga mat is helpful too but I think I'll be fine without one. 

You'll definitely be working, that's for sure! I was sweating in no time. She makes you move and keep moving for the entire time! You do a warm up of dynamic stretching and cardio then move right into strength. The entire workout is less than 30 minutes so the point is to give you a more intense workout in less time. She likes to say, "20 minutes with this workout is better than hours of phoning it in at the gym." It's closer to 30 minutes including the warm up and cool down. 

Her concept is a basic 3-2-1 premise. 3 minutes of strength training, 2 minutes of cardio, and 1 minute of abdominal exercises. This repeats 3 different times with different exercises for each circuit. There are three different levels and you do each level for 10 days or until you're comfortable moving on. There are no strict rules, just do it how you feel works best for your body!

I'm excited to stick with it and see some results!! Jump in and join me! 

Do you like Jillian Michaels? Have you ever tried any of her workouts?

Till next time,

Catherine

Massive Workout Fail

Goal:
2x3mile with 2 min rest @ 600-550

Actual:
3 mile warmup
1.25 mile in 608 pace
1 mile in 600 pace
4x400m in 80
10 miles total

Because I was sick (or allergic to all this damn pollen) this whole week, it resulted in lots of missed morning runs.  This morning was no exception, so I opted for a workout at McAlpine in the early evening with Garrett biking alongside.  I was completely unprepared for the 86 degree heat, with air heavy not only with moisture but also pollen.   I headed into the workout with the intention of just running at what felt "hard" and not looking at splits.

With the sun beating down on my pale, abino-ish skin, I set off for a hard pace at the start line of the XC course.  As I passed the 800m mark, I opted to run on the paved portion, so I turned on the bridge.  A woman happened to be sitting on the bridge with her dog on a leash.  As I cruised by, the dog jumped out and bit my hip.  I didn't stop, but Garrett yelled from the bike, "Did he get you..." and I pulled up my shorts to check.  Sure enough, I had bloody mark on my leg, albeit small.  I was so pissed that I didn't stop to check if her dog had rabies shots.  I just kept going but then I was so flustered I didn't want to go anymore, so I stopped after 1.25 miles.  There isn't much to report about the rest of the workout, except that I tried to run hard for some other portions and ultimately decided to end it with some 400m repeats on the course.

In hindsight, I wish I had just scrapped a workout for this week and just focused on resting and recovering.  I learned that if I'm sick, I need to listen to my body and just run easy as opposed to plowing through workouts that will just make me feel less confident in my fitness.

6x800m with Caleb

Goal:
Pre race workout

Actual:
5k Warmup
6x800m with 2:00 rest at 2:35, 2:38, 2:37, 2:37, 2:38, 2:38
3.3 mile cool down for 10 miles total

Caleb and I opted to sleep in and do this workout in the afternoon instead.  I was open to workout options as it was pre-race and really just wanted company. Caleb had an 800m workout prescribed as one of his last workouts leading up to the Boston Marathon, so I said yes and headed to the Dilworth Speed Loop with him to get this done.

There isn't too much to report for the intervals except that we went out too fast on the first interval and I felt like my legs paid for it on the others.  I felt really good and strong, but I would have rather finished in a 2:35 than begun with one.  Caleb and I were together for the first 4 intervals, but on the final two, he fell back a little bit and I was left to push hard on my own terms.

I'm ready for a nice 8k in Greensboro on Saturday, but I'm definitely not looking forward to the hills around the course.

The Walking Dead Workout-Season 2

Better late than never, here's my recap of Season 2 of The Walking Dead Workout! We're about halfway through Season 3, I know...I know. The season is over, but we don't have TV so we just watch the episodes online after they've aired. This show is so intense! 

If you haven't been following this workout, here are the rules for when you're watching the show:

You can also find my intro to The Walking Dead Workout HERE and the complete Season 1 HERE. 

Just to clarify, the numbers are the TOTAL numbers of what exercise you should be doing, not how many of each thing happened. For example, in Season 2-Episode 1, you will do 25 crunches, meaning only 5 walkers were killed. Don't worry, you won't always have it so easy! 

Here's another quick breakdown if you're looking for more targeted workouts.

Season 2:

Episode 1-Easy

Episode 2-Easy

Episode 3-Abs

Episode 4-Easy

Episode 5-Easy

Episode 6-Abs

Episode 7-Abs

Episode 8-Legs

Episode 9-Moderate/Abs

Episode 10-Abs

Episode 11-Moderate/Abs

Episode 12-Hard/Abs

I also explained more details and particulars in this post HERE about Season 1. 

What do you think about The Walking Dead Workout? Is it something you'd try? 

Till next time,

Catherine

Workout Fail

Goal:
3x2 Mile w/ 2 min rest @ 5:45, 5:40, 5:35

Actual:
3 mile warmup, 1 mile at 6:30, 2.5 miles cool down

Tonight's workout was going to be a normal one on the Dilworth Speed Loop that called for 3x2 miles with 2 min rest.  My arch, calves, achilles--well, basically every single muscle in my lower leg--had been fickle. On Sunday and Monday, I had to cut both runs 3-5 miles short because my legs just couldn't handle it.  Tuesday, I felt nothing.  Today, well, I was hoping for the same as yesterday.  On the warmup down East Blvd, I felt ready to put in a good workout, but as soon as I began my first interval, everything was out of whack. My breathing was heavy and my legs still felt like lead weights.  After 1000m, I slowed it down, bringing in a 6:30 mile split.  Then I resorted to walking, finally stopping at the tennis courts in Freedom Park, debating going to Laurie's house to call Garrett so that he could pick my wounded self up.  I gathered myself and was able to muster enough strength to run the 2.5 miles back to my house instead.

After today's workout and seeing how long it has taken my calves to recover from my 8k race this past weekend, I am just going to do a tempo in my long run on Saturday.  My body is telling me it's not ready for a workout, so I'm not going to push it.  I wonder if wearing the Nike Flyknits had a negative effect on my legs, or if it was just the first time I've raced fast in a long time.  Who knows!

Walking Dead Workout-Season 1

You may remember when I started The Walking Dead Workout when I wrote about it HERE. My husband and I have finally made it into Season 2 so I wanted to give you guys a re-cap of Season 1. This way you can do the workout without having to pause every 5 seconds in the show. Trust me, it's annoying. 

If you haven't heard of The Walking Dead Workout, it's basically like one of those movie/TV show drinking games, but instead of taking shots, you do different exercises. It's really a lot of fun, especially if you already enjoy the show! This gave us a good excuse to re-watch all of the episodes! 

As you can see, the episodes vary a lot! Also, I'm sure there are things that I missed but this is pretty much right.

Here's another quick breakdown if you're looking for more targeted workouts.

Season 1:
Episode 1-Arms, legs, abs
Episode 2-Abs
Episode 3-Legs/Easy
Episode 4-Abs and arms
Episode 5-Arms/Easy
Episode 6-Easy

Each episode that goes by we keep asking more detailed questions about each thing. We sort of took our own liberties with the differences.

-If someone kills a walker, we need to pretty much see the walker get killed for it to count. If they're simply shooting but you never see specific bodies, it doesn't count.

-For the guns being drawn, again, we need to see it or they need to have the intent to shoot something, not just the character walking around casually holding his/her gun.

-Human blood being spilled is pretty self explanatory. If you see human blood then you do 5 lunges.

-Someone referring to "the living" has been difficult. In Episode 5 someone (Rick, I think) actually says "The Living." But other than that it's been hard to decide if telling a story (Dale telling Andrea about his wife passing from cancer, Rick talking to Morgan over the radio, etc) counts or not. What do you think?

-With someone crying, it has to be a pretty obvious cry with tears and ugly cry-faces too. Farrah from Teen Mom or Kim Kardashian anyone? I shouldn't laugh...but I do. I don't watch their shows but I've seen enough to know about their awful crying faces! But really, no one looks cute when they cry.

-If someone screams, it can't be Lori yelling at Carl, it has to be someone screaming out of shock or fear. Also can't just be someone yelling to get someone's attention.

-There have only been two episodes involving human death in Season 1. The first was when the herd came through the quarry camp and killed several members of the group and the next being the CDC doctor and Jacqui. The herd scene is difficult because we only counted two characters that we knew (Ed and Amy. Amy gets you twice because she's later killed as a walker!) but one other human who was dead but not recognized as a character. It gets worse when you realize there are at least 5 wrapped human bodies in the pick up truck to be buried when it's all said and done. Hmm.

There you have it...The Walking Dead Workout-Season 1 in a nutshell. Ok that's a pretty big nutshell (Austin Powers joke).

Have at it and enjoy! It's a fun workout that varies quite a bit and it's a good excuse to re-watch the show!

Click HERE to check out Season 2!

Have you tried The Walking Dead Workout? Would you?

Till next time,
Catherine

Pre-Race Fartlek

Goal:
8-6-4-2-1 with half rest gradually getting faster

Actual:
3 mile warmup
8-6-4-2-1 starting at 545 pace and getting faster to about 5:20 pace
2 mile cool down for 10 miles total

I wanted to get in at least 3 miles of work for my pre-race workout, but still get some turnover, so I drew this workout out from the dust. I hadn't done this since before Twin Cities, so it was nice to pull something out that I hadn't done in quite some time.  Fortunately, Phil was open to doing this workout too, which I was very grateful for since this workout is much harder than it seems.  Of course, I wanted to start out at like 550-600 pace, but I took us off much faster than that and had to maintain that faster pace for the remainder of the workout.  I had worked the night before until 8:00PM, so I believe that this made me feel like the effort was much harder than it should have been.  However, I was still pleased with the splits and the effort.  I've got the Rumba on the Lumber 5k on Saturday, so this was a great tune-up in preparation.

10x400m with Meagan!

Goal:
No workout

Actual:
2.5 mile warmup
10x400m with 1:00 rest at 75-78
3 mile cool down for ~8.5 miles

While I had hoped that the sun would make an appearance for Meagan's visit to Charlotte, it didn't quite work out that way.  Instead, the temperature hovered at 37 degrees the entire day, from 5:30AM until 5PM, not budging a smidgen over that.  To make matters worse, it was raining.  I woke up to Meagan peering outside the window, desperately trying to tell if it was raining hard.  Without less than a second thought, we both decided sleep outweighed running. As a side note, when I went to work, both my boss and my co-worker commented that I looked "tired."  So that definitely means that running in the morning makes me look more spritely rather than sleeping in.

We headed out the door later that afternoon for the Dilworth Speed Loop, where we traversed back and forth on the 800m section.  I felt good through about 7 and then I started to feel less energized.  My quads were very cold and much too red, but I powered through, without a single interval slower than my times a couple weeks ago.  Meagan pulled away from me on the last 3-4, but a part of me didn't care because I knew she was running really fast, while I was just running fast.  Indeed, I was already ahead of myself since I hadn't planned to do a workout anyways.

While the quantity was low, the quality was high, the company splendid, and the weather terrible.  But that didn't stop us from getting the work done in miserable conditions and then rewarding ourselves with a smoothie from Carolinas Smoothie.  Nothing is better than working out with one of my besties.  Too bad this is tricking me into thinking Meagan's back for good!

3x2 Mile

Goal:
3x2 Mile with 2:00 Rest at 600-555-550 pace

Actual:
2.7 mile warmup
3x2 mile with 2:00 rest
11:36 (5:50/5:46)
11:31 (5:46/5:45)
11:17 (5:40/5:37)
2.3 mile cool down for 11 miles total

Just like last Tuesday, Caleb, Charlie, Brad and I rolled out of bed to meet at the speed loop for some 2 mile repeats.  We had a guest appearance from Jaskot, which was a appreciated addition to the group, especially for me.  The weather was pleasantly perfect, with temps in the upper 40s and little wind.  We started and the boy immediately took off ahead of me, as I settled into what felt like a comfortable pace with Matt.  After 3/4 of a mile, Matt had fallen off my pace, and I was still 10-15 meters behind Caleb and Charlie.  I finished with a solid time and made it my goal to continue to get closer to Charlie and Caleb. By the second interval, I had closed the gap from 10 meters to 5 meters.  At the start of the third, they weren't too far ahead of me, so I made a move to charge a couple of strides to tuck in directly behind them.  I stayed with both of them through 1.5 miles and then Charlie and I began to pull away from Caleb.  I felt absolutely great the entire workout and was pleased to close in such a solid time.

What I liked most about this workout was that I was basically alone for the first four miles of the workout and still found the motivation within myself to push hard.  Last fall, I really struggled with this mental tenacity and I feel really confident that my mentality is finely tuned again!  This also proves that running 60-65 miles a week is really enabling me to bring my quality back to what it should be.

12x400m with 1:00 Rest

Goal:
12x400m with 1:00 rest

Actual:
3 mile warmup
12x400m with 50-60 sec rest at 78-80 depending on uphill/downhill
3.5 mile cool down for 10 miles total

Was supposed to do this workout on Tuesday, but a tight left calf made me push the workout back a day.  I did this in the late afternoon with Billy after work while he did 6x800m on the Dilworth Speed Loop.  We started at the start line and ran back and forth between there and the 800m mark.  As always, 1/3 were downhill-ish and 2/4 were uphill-ish.  I got to run the first half of Billy's workout with him as he continued to finish out his interval.  It worked out quite perfectly for my first legit workout back.  While I didn't feel amazing and felt like I was actually running 75s instead of 78s, I was very happy with this workout.  I didn't feel my calf and I was able to sustain the effort the entire way.  It may not have been pretty, but I've got to be consistent to bring my fitness back to where I want it to be.  Garrett biking alongside me helped tremendously and forced me to push up the inclines when I really didn't want to.   Looking forward to a long run with a tempo this weekend with the Cupid's Revenge group.

First Morning Workout

I need this pillowcase.

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Today my husband and I worked out at 7am.

It was intense.

Many of you are probably like, "Psshhh Catherine! Morning workouts are great! What's your deal?"

My deal is that I'm not a morning person and working out has yet to become fun for me! I'm not exactly a night person either. Although, I'd rather get necessary things over with in the morning and have the afternoon/evening to do other things. I figured working out could be added to that without much fuss.

Ok it wasn't easy and there was plenty of fussin' but we did it!

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My husband and I *tried* to go to sleep early last night (which didn't work...we were both wide awake till almost midnight) and then got up at 6:30 in the morning to go to the gym. The hardest part was actually waking up and getting out of bed. I think if we can manage that, we'll be good. The bed is just soo comfortable! The actual workout wasn't really any easier or harder than doing it in the evening. So I think it just comes down to forcing ourselves out of bed. 

One thing we did that helped was that we each set alarms on our phone and we put them on opposite sides of the room so we had to physically get up to turn it off. I've heard it suggested to put your alarm clock in the other room...it works! We also set up EVERYTHING in advance. We had our gym clothes ready, our work clothes set out, the dog food ready to go, two delicious breakfast pockets in the fridge to thaw and even set out plates and forks. I was prepared. It helped! We had a tough time getting up so we were a few minutes behind schedule but because I didn't have to scramble for these other things, we both still made it to work on time. 

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We did the first week of Couch to 5k again. This is our third attempt to make it through the whole thing! Third time's the charm, right? I'm hoping so! I want to run a 5k with my husband in the spring. I think we can do it! 

We're also doing another cool challenge a friend suggested to me. It's called 1000 Miles Challenge. All you do is walk/jog/run 1000 miles in a year! That equates to about 2.7 miles a day. We're already quite behind but I'm excited to have another goal to work towards. I started a basic Excel spreadsheet to keep track. The first week of the Couch to 5k has you do about 1.75 miles or so but we ended up doing 1.8 this morning. 1.8 down, 998.2 to go! 

Do you like to workout in the morning or the evening? What gets you motivated to workout?

Till next time,

Catherine

Health Goals

At the risk of doing something that is highly overdone, especially in the beginning of a new year, I figured I should type up some of my current goals for getting healthier. I know I'm in the same boat as many people...this is our year! We're going to finally get healthier. Losing weight is awesome but the main goal is to get healthy and I mean it.

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I've always had extra weight and have always wanted to get rid of it. My weight fluctuates a bit but I feel like overall I've tried to stay fairly healthy. Keyword: tried. I'm usually pretty active and have worked several labor intensive jobs. But it always seemed like I'd eat the worst when I worked the hardest. We (the girls I worked with) were just exhausted all the time that when we finally got a chance to eat we would eat whatever was the fastest because we had to get right back to work! I shouldn't place all the blame on my previous job(s) but trust me, it didn't help. Especially because in our minds, hey, we're working really hard, let's "reward" ourselves with food. Bad thinking!

So now, upon entering the new year, 2013, I'm ready to buckle down. I have no excuses! I've got a great, supportive husband who will eat better with me, cook with me, work out with me and so on. There's a world of motivation and workouts on Pinterest and we belong to a great gym. No more excuses!

I want to:

• Lose weight
• Drop pant sizes
• Lose inches
• Tone up/Strengthen my muscles (I'm no weakling but I want to be stronger)
• Feel more confident
• Be healthier

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How I plan to do it:

• Gym 3 days a week--Couch to 5k program, lots of walking/elliptical, and weight training
• Lighter workout at home 2 days a week--Walking Dead Workout for now
• Eat more salads! Every day would be ideal
• Take daily women's multi-vitamin
• Drink more water--8 glasses + 
• Eat more fruits and vegetables--DAILY
• Eat less wheat products (we only eat whole grain/wheat, but could be limited)
• Continue to avoid processed food, fried food, refined, bleached, enriched, high fructose corn syrup, etc
• Don't eat out or highly limit it, twice monthly max
• Yoga? (I know it's supposed to be great for you but I've never tried...input?)

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All of these things are basically the same for my husband as well. He doesn't need to lose as much as I want to but he wants to be stronger and healthier.

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I decided to write this down on my blog in order to give myself more accountability. I would LOVE any kind of support and motivation from my readers and friends! All the nitty gritty scary details like weight and inches are staying in a secure Excel file on my computer...not brave enough to put that out there! Maybe when (not if! Need to be more positive too) I reach my goals! Maybe.

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My husband and I have talked about it a million times but we really need to buckle down and get serious. We want to live LONG, HEALTHY lives together. I don't ever want to be hampered down by a preventable disease. The decisions we make today effect our health later on in life.

Follow my Health and Fitness board to see some of the cool stuff I've pinned regarding health and fitness! That's where all of my pictures came from for today's post. I try to pin fun workouts and motivation along with other health tips and tidbits.

Are you trying to do any of these things in the new year? How are you going about it? Also, any suggestions for fun home workouts once we complete every episode for The Walking Dead Workout?

Till next time,
Catherine

Pre-Race Workout

Goal:
3 mile tempo at 6:00-5:50 + 4x400m

Actual:
3.5 mile warmup
3 mile tempo in 6:10, 5:56, 5:56 + 4x400m with 1:00 rest.
3 mile cool down

4 miles in the pm

This felt harder than it should have, but I've had other workouts where I could barely break 6:00 pace before a race and then really crushed the race, so I walked away feeling pretty good about my effort, and confident about the prospect of a race in DC.  Caleb, Laurie, Eric and I all met up at the Speed Loop way before the sun came up, and started the workout without much thought.  For the first mile, we were all in a comfortable little pack, talking a little too much, and it was eerily similar to my Army Ten Miler pre-race workout last year.  Except, this year we went through the first mile much more slowly and then Caleb and Laurie took off and I tried to hang on desperately, but my leg wouldn't do it.  Then I hovered around the same pace for the last mile, watching Caleb and Laurie run smoothly about 30 meters ahead.  After a half mile jog, we started the 400s and again, my legs felt heavy to lift, but I completed them feeling strong.  On the cool down, I enjoyed the cooler weather and felt really positive about the weekend.

Then, in the afternoon, I felt my hamstring revert back to where it had been a couple weeks ago--exceptionally tight.  When I really thought things were starting to get better in my hammy, a little workout went ahead and threw it all off.  It really all comes down to the fact that I was slack on my glute exercises. Like most runners, I've got a weakness in my left glute, which is causing my hamstring to do a lot more work than necessary, therefore causing my hamstring some wear and tear.  Hopefully it will hold up for Army Ten Miler!

3x2 Mile Bust

Goal:
3x2 Mile with 2:00 Rest at 11:30-1:40 (5:45-5:50 pace)

Actual:
4 mile warmup
3x2 mile at:
5:55/5:45 (11:40) 2 min jog rest
6:08/5:57 (12:05) 3 min jog rest
5:56/6:08 (12:04)
1 mile cool down for 11+ miles total

I am really trying to stay positive here, but workouts like this really make me wonder what the hell is going on.  I've been on a strict iron supplementation program for the past four weeks and would expect that I could run 5:45 pace without sucking air.  Well, I can't.  Halfway through the second interval, I fought everything within myself not to stop and walk.  My muscles wanted it, my lungs wanted, and my mind almost wanted it.  But I didn't stop. I made myself push through it until the end, and then I took a longer rest between 2 and 3 so that my breathing could get back under control.

I would say that perhaps I went out too fast, but my first interval was practically all downhill from Mint to Morehead.  Hooray, I can run 5:45 pace going downhill.  I used to be able to run 5:45 pace on flat surface without thinking.  I can't image that it's just my iron that is affecting me right now, but whatever it is, it's not helping my frame of mind.  I've got Army Ten Miler in 9 days and I have no idea how to make a race plan if I don't even know what my body (mind?) can handle right now.  First plan of action is to head into LabCorp later today to get blood work done and see if my iron is finally higher.  If not, then I'll have some reevaluating to do.

The only thing I can think of is that I really need to slow everything down, kind of like what I did before Twin Cities.  For workouts like this, I would start at Marathon Pace for the first interval (6:10, 10k (5:50) pace for the second one, and like 5k-10k pace for the third one (542).

Wave Tempo

Goal:
10 Mile Wave in 5:55/6:25

Actual:
2.3 mile warmup
10 Mile Wave in 5:55/6:45
2 mile cool down for 14.3 miles total
2:58/3:00 (5:58)
3:23/3:20 (6:43)
2:56/2:57 (5:53)
3:30/3:30 (7:00)
3:03/2:59 (6:02)
3:20/3:16 (6:36)
2:55/2:59 (5:54)
3:24/3:20 (6:44)
2:56/3:00 (5:56)
3:40/3:20 (7:00)

Aaron had a similar workout to what Mark had on my schedule, so I decided to go down to his neck of the woods and run with him at McMullen in the morning.  While my confidence is still coming back, I really practiced going into this workout with some positive energy and trust that I could accomplish a solid effort of work for 10 miles.  Fortunately, my mental planning paid off because I was able to hit a pretty decent wave workout. Contrast this to two weeks ago, when I set out to do a 10 mile tempo and really just ended up running a 5 mile tempo at slower than my goal marathon pace.  Figures how a 20 degree drop in temperature and 14 days of iron supplementation can really come through.  While I do feel like my iron is probably coming back to a fairly normal level, I still don't know for sure and my times still aren't reflecting that I'm 100% better.  Typically for this type of workout, my "slower" portion would be between 6:20-6:30 and I was a bit off of that today.  However, I am excited by my faster splits because this was the first time that I've run 6:00 pace and had it feel easy.  In fact, for the very first interval, I thought that maybe we were too slow, but we came through right on pace for 6:00.  Despite the small improvement, it's enough to keep me smiling.  Looking forward to my next workout 3x2 mile later this week.

MIle Repeats

Goal:

6xmile with 2:00 rest at 5:26-5:34

Actual:

2.5 mile warmup

6xmile with 2:30 jog rest

5:43 (2:30) (downhill)

5:47 (2:13) (turns)

5:48 (2:18)

5:47 (2:24)

5:48 (2:34)

5:46

2 mile cool down

This was an early morning workouts with at least 10 other people at the Dilworth Speed Loop.  Waking up at 5AM isn't nearly as rough when you know that you will be joined by several friends. 

Laurie, Caleb, Spada, Dalena, and Jason all met at the speed loop to do this workout together while several other people were running loops as well, just at varying speeds and distances than us.  While the fellowship was fantastic, the weather was weary.  Dismal clouds blanketed the sky and sealed all the humidity to the ground, making it for a hot and humid run in weather that felt eerily similar to August instead of October. 

We out with David and Billy, who were running 3x2 mile, and instead of going out at the goal of 6:00 pace, we went out at a 5:43, which immediately put my in oxygen depletion and gasp mode.  Instead of turning around on the workout, I slowed up my pace and tried to relax my breathing pipe to ensure I was getting as much oxygen as possible.  While my times weren't blazing fast, my consistency was there, and that's all I can ask for right now. I know that my fitness is there, it's just hiding right now through the cover of my ferritin. 

Laurie and Caleb absolutely killed this workout, so after the third interval, Spada and I trailed behind those two, with Dalena a couple of seconds back from us.  I look forward to when I can keep up with Laurie on our workouts!