I wasn't feeling the absolute best today. Mentally, I wanted to go for a run. Between the biking and taking Tuesday off, I haven't run since Sunday. I was feeling somewhat meh but didn't think it would stop me. Then I realized that I left my iPod at home. At first, I only thought about how I would miss it while doing so exams at work. Then I realized that it was a running day and I DIDN'T HAVE MY iPOD! No music/podcast/audiobook to listen to while running. No keeping track of my run with Nike+. Ack! If I had forgot it Monday or Wednesday, it wouldn't have matter as those were biking days. Which is about the only thing that bothers me about the biking, not being able to listen to anything. I did keep track of the distance using Runkeeper on my phone. But it sure didn't help my mood during the run. But I did it.
Today's workout:
5W/30R/5W
distance: ~3.1 miles
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Wildlife
I designated yesterday as this week's rest day. Mostly because I wanted barbecue for lunch. But, on with the show.
I have seen various wildlife around work. I used to see bunnies grazing in the grass along the side of the road as I arrived at work in the morning. And I've seen deer occasionally. Just within the last two weeks, I saw a deer during a run. (We won't discuss the squished turtle I saw while running last week). Today: wild turkeys.
Let me back up and tell you a little story. My in-laws live in a new development in an area that hasn't been built up too much yet. As a result, they see a lot of wildlife. Deer, raccoons, wild turkeys, etc. We've seen the deer. And I like to tease that I don't believe they really have wild turkeys because we've never witnessed them. To top that off, while on a work trip to New York City, my husband and I found a turkey in a park near where you would take the ferry to Ellis Island. So we say we found a turkey in NYC, but not in the woods of Alabama.
Back to today. As I was biking, I saw some cars from the opposite direction stopping. And then I saw a wild turkey cross the road. At first I thought it was maybe a goose because we have a lot of them around work. But no, a turkey. And then, five little baby (closer to juvenile) turkeys following close behind. As I got close to them, they were in some trees to my right and I was able to confirm that they were turkeys.
Makes looking forward to a workout easier. What wildlife will I see next?
Today's workout: Cycling
Distance: 5.25 miles
Time: ~25 minutes
Weather: Sunny, hot
I have seen various wildlife around work. I used to see bunnies grazing in the grass along the side of the road as I arrived at work in the morning. And I've seen deer occasionally. Just within the last two weeks, I saw a deer during a run. (We won't discuss the squished turtle I saw while running last week). Today: wild turkeys.
Let me back up and tell you a little story. My in-laws live in a new development in an area that hasn't been built up too much yet. As a result, they see a lot of wildlife. Deer, raccoons, wild turkeys, etc. We've seen the deer. And I like to tease that I don't believe they really have wild turkeys because we've never witnessed them. To top that off, while on a work trip to New York City, my husband and I found a turkey in a park near where you would take the ferry to Ellis Island. So we say we found a turkey in NYC, but not in the woods of Alabama.
Back to today. As I was biking, I saw some cars from the opposite direction stopping. And then I saw a wild turkey cross the road. At first I thought it was maybe a goose because we have a lot of them around work. But no, a turkey. And then, five little baby (closer to juvenile) turkeys following close behind. As I got close to them, they were in some trees to my right and I was able to confirm that they were turkeys.
Makes looking forward to a workout easier. What wildlife will I see next?
Today's workout: Cycling
Distance: 5.25 miles
Time: ~25 minutes
Weather: Sunny, hot
Monday, June 27, 2011
Spinning my wheels
So now what? In a little less than 3 months, I'm doing the MS Cox Atlanta ride (you want to contribute...go to www.causeofcarol.com). The most I've been on my bike in years and years was when doing the triathlon. So you could say that I need to do some cycling training. The ride is 35 miles on the first day then 25 miles on the second day. Now that I've accomplished my first goal to get running, I'm alternating running and cycling days. Today was the first day of cycling. I felt pretty good. My upper legs were a little shaky when I got done. But it didn't last too long. Overall, I felt pretty good.
Today's workout: Cycling
Distance/time: ~5.2 miles/~25 minutes
Today's workout: Cycling
Distance/time: ~5.2 miles/~25 minutes
Sunday, June 26, 2011
GOOOOOOALLLL!
Today marked a major milestone. I finished the 12 weeks of the Nike Plus Walk to Run program. Can I run? Yes, I can! So here's a little wrap-up on what I've achieved:
At the beginning of the 12 weeks, my regular workouts involved walking around the interior hallways at work at lunchtime. The goal was 3 days a week. Some weeks it was a stretch to get in 2 days of walking. Now? Across the past 12 weeks, I worked out all but 13 days. That's almost 6 days a week, on average. And the program had one day of rest each week built into it. I'm really proud of my commitment to the program. And that time period included trips out of town, unforeseen weather or other challenges, working out on weekends, etc. What changed? I went to run/walk before eating my lunch. Before, I would eat first, then walk. Which would lend itself to inertia keeping me in my chair. So for motivation and not getting sick by eating then exercising, I exercise first, then eat. Any now I actually want to go and get the run in. What's happened to me? :-)
I've done a triathlon and a 5K. The triathlon wasn't pretty. But I was happy to finish. Even if I was walking at the end. And while I run 5K or more on my full running days now, it still felt good to participate in an actual 5K event.
Random things:
Gatorade is really sweet. As I was doing the triathlon, I was really not digging the Gatorade. They have a new product now G Fit that is supposed to be lightly flavored enhanced water. We'll see. I tried some today. It was fine for an after workout drink. I'm not sure how I'll feel about it for during workout hydration. But I need to find something for the longer workouts that I'll like.
My other go-to post-workout drink is coconut water. It has electrolytes in it. And I like the flavor.
I'm loving my Frogg Toggs Chilly Pad for cooling me off after the workout.
It's hot. And humid. I'm hoping that training midday will be helpful for the times when it's not so hot and humid.
I picked up some new sunglasses yesterday. I was using some inexpensive Foster Grants. But I didn't like how they would move around on my face as I ran. So I scoped out some Oakleys. And I hunted them down. Tried them on. Loved them. Took them out for a test run today. Still loving them. I'm calling them a reward for completing the 12 week Walk to Run. But I didn't think of that until I had already bought them :-) (If you're interested, they're the Half Jacket style with black iridium lenses).
Today's workout:
5W/30R/5W
weather: already hot and humid at 8:30 am
distance: ~3.5 miles
What's next? Stay tuned tomorrow! This is not the end!
At the beginning of the 12 weeks, my regular workouts involved walking around the interior hallways at work at lunchtime. The goal was 3 days a week. Some weeks it was a stretch to get in 2 days of walking. Now? Across the past 12 weeks, I worked out all but 13 days. That's almost 6 days a week, on average. And the program had one day of rest each week built into it. I'm really proud of my commitment to the program. And that time period included trips out of town, unforeseen weather or other challenges, working out on weekends, etc. What changed? I went to run/walk before eating my lunch. Before, I would eat first, then walk. Which would lend itself to inertia keeping me in my chair. So for motivation and not getting sick by eating then exercising, I exercise first, then eat. Any now I actually want to go and get the run in. What's happened to me? :-)
I've done a triathlon and a 5K. The triathlon wasn't pretty. But I was happy to finish. Even if I was walking at the end. And while I run 5K or more on my full running days now, it still felt good to participate in an actual 5K event.
Random things:
Gatorade is really sweet. As I was doing the triathlon, I was really not digging the Gatorade. They have a new product now G Fit that is supposed to be lightly flavored enhanced water. We'll see. I tried some today. It was fine for an after workout drink. I'm not sure how I'll feel about it for during workout hydration. But I need to find something for the longer workouts that I'll like.
My other go-to post-workout drink is coconut water. It has electrolytes in it. And I like the flavor.
I'm loving my Frogg Toggs Chilly Pad for cooling me off after the workout.
It's hot. And humid. I'm hoping that training midday will be helpful for the times when it's not so hot and humid.
I picked up some new sunglasses yesterday. I was using some inexpensive Foster Grants. But I didn't like how they would move around on my face as I ran. So I scoped out some Oakleys. And I hunted them down. Tried them on. Loved them. Took them out for a test run today. Still loving them. I'm calling them a reward for completing the 12 week Walk to Run. But I didn't think of that until I had already bought them :-) (If you're interested, they're the Half Jacket style with black iridium lenses).
Today's workout:
5W/30R/5W
weather: already hot and humid at 8:30 am
distance: ~3.5 miles
What's next? Stay tuned tomorrow! This is not the end!
Friday, June 24, 2011
Keeping cool
Today was definitely a little bit cooler than it has been. I'm under no illusion that it will stay that way. It's only the end of June. There's lots more summer to go. There's not much I can do about it while I'm out running. But I've got something I've been using the past week or so that's been helping out once I finish. I got a Frogg Toggs Chilly Pad. It helps me get dried off. And draping it around my neck gets me cooled down quickly. Just drying off with a towel wasn't doing much for stopping the sweating. But the cool down with the Chilly Pad has really helped on that front.
Today's Workout:
5W/30R/5W
weather: partly cloudy, occasional breeze, an eensy bit cooler (but still hot)
distance: ~3.6 miles (BTW, I really need to calibrate my foot pod sometime...)
Today's Workout:
5W/30R/5W
weather: partly cloudy, occasional breeze, an eensy bit cooler (but still hot)
distance: ~3.6 miles (BTW, I really need to calibrate my foot pod sometime...)
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Nearly thwarted
When I was ready for my run today at lunchtime I encountered some road blocks. First, it was raining. It wasn't raining extremely hard so I figured I'd still go for it. Then I went to go change. And the bathroom I use for changing was being worked on by maintenance. And I didn't feel like wandering halfway around the building to go to another one. It would just add overall time to the whole process. So, no workout.
When I got home, it wasn't raining. So, I decided to go then. And it ended up being a good time to go. Today was much cooler. It was overcast and threatening to rain again. There was a nice breeze. I can't do it on a regular basis at this time because of time considerations with dinner. But today I was heating some soup previously cooked, so dinner prep was quick. So I feel better for being able to get in the workout.
Today's workout:
(1W/30 sec R)x17, 4W
weather: mostly cloudy, cooler, breezy
distance: ~2.4 miles
When I got home, it wasn't raining. So, I decided to go then. And it ended up being a good time to go. Today was much cooler. It was overcast and threatening to rain again. There was a nice breeze. I can't do it on a regular basis at this time because of time considerations with dinner. But today I was heating some soup previously cooked, so dinner prep was quick. So I feel better for being able to get in the workout.
Today's workout:
(1W/30 sec R)x17, 4W
weather: mostly cloudy, cooler, breezy
distance: ~2.4 miles
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Rain, rain
But not on me. It was drizzly when I got to work. And it was raining buckets when I left work. But in the middle of the day it was partly cloudy. And it was allegedly cooler today. I don't know that I could really tell. I was still very sweaty in the end.
And why hasn't anyone told me how to properly spell triathlon?! I've been spelling it wrong this whole time. Which I knew from the red squiggly line under triathalon every time I put it in the blog. But I couldn't think how it should be spelled. Know I've got it figured out. No help from you :-)
Today's workout:
5W/30R/5W
weather: partly cloudy and hot
distance: ~3.5 miles
And why hasn't anyone told me how to properly spell triathlon?! I've been spelling it wrong this whole time. Which I knew from the red squiggly line under triathalon every time I put it in the blog. But I couldn't think how it should be spelled. Know I've got it figured out. No help from you :-)
Today's workout:
5W/30R/5W
weather: partly cloudy and hot
distance: ~3.5 miles
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Brain Fry
I am feeling completely brain fried this evening. So you just get today's facts:
(1W/30 sec R)x17, 4W
weather: still hot
distance: ~2.4 miles
(1W/30 sec R)x17, 4W
weather: still hot
distance: ~2.4 miles
Monday, June 20, 2011
In the home stretch
I'm in the last week of the Nike+ Walk to Run program. I can definitely see how far I've come. Barely running to being able to run from 30 minutes continuously. And now I've got all kinds of crazy ideas for feats of athleticism. Including the already completed triathalon and 5K. And the future goal of the MS Bike ride (you can still contribute! www.causeofcarol.com).
Today was still really hot! But I don't know if it's because I've been running in the heat, but it didn't seem too terrible. Part of my route was shaded, there was some cloud cover, and there was a breeze. But I suppose my sweat testifies to the fact that was very hot.
Today's workout:
5W/30R/5W
weather: Hot!
distance: ~3.4 miles
Today was still really hot! But I don't know if it's because I've been running in the heat, but it didn't seem too terrible. Part of my route was shaded, there was some cloud cover, and there was a breeze. But I suppose my sweat testifies to the fact that was very hot.
Today's workout:
5W/30R/5W
weather: Hot!
distance: ~3.4 miles
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Two for Saturday
Sorry for the lack of updates the past couple of days. You didn't think I had fallen off the weekend, did you? Of course not! Thursday was a planned rest day (I do get those!). Yesterday, I was just so tired, being a Friday and having run a 5K yesterday morning and actually working a full week at work for the first time in a few weeks, I just didn't have it in me to get on the computer. I fell asleep on the couch.
What did I do yesterday? I went and ran a 5K at our sister base in the morning. While I may have reached that distance this week during my regular workouts, this was the first 5K race that I've done. I've walked 5K events in the past. But this was the first time I've run one. Luckily, it was overcast, so it wasn't too overtly hot. But it was humid and I was pretty darn sweaty by the end of it. It wasn't too bad a run. It wasn't extremely hilly, but hilly enough. Especially since the end of the run was mostly uphill. Blech. But I did it with a time of 31 minutes.
And today? I took it "easy," comparatively. Today was an interval day. I thought I was moving pretty slow, but seemed to do about the same distance as I usually do for this workout. It was overcast again this morning, but still humid.
I'm mulling over what day next week I want to designate as the rest day. It might be tomorrow. I've got a lot to do. And the weekend is short.
Workouts:
Friday:
All running for 5K (~3.1 miles)
weather: overcast, hot and muggy
Saturday:
(1W/30 sec R)x17, 5W
weather: overcast, hot and muggy
distance: ~2.3 miles
What did I do yesterday? I went and ran a 5K at our sister base in the morning. While I may have reached that distance this week during my regular workouts, this was the first 5K race that I've done. I've walked 5K events in the past. But this was the first time I've run one. Luckily, it was overcast, so it wasn't too overtly hot. But it was humid and I was pretty darn sweaty by the end of it. It wasn't too bad a run. It wasn't extremely hilly, but hilly enough. Especially since the end of the run was mostly uphill. Blech. But I did it with a time of 31 minutes.
And today? I took it "easy," comparatively. Today was an interval day. I thought I was moving pretty slow, but seemed to do about the same distance as I usually do for this workout. It was overcast again this morning, but still humid.
I'm mulling over what day next week I want to designate as the rest day. It might be tomorrow. I've got a lot to do. And the weekend is short.
Workouts:
Friday:
All running for 5K (~3.1 miles)
weather: overcast, hot and muggy
Saturday:
(1W/30 sec R)x17, 5W
weather: overcast, hot and muggy
distance: ~2.3 miles
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Change of plans
Today was supposed to be my off day for the week. I planned it that way due to happenings at work. Then said happenings changed. But I wisely took my gear to work with me in case there were any changes. Good planning on my part. And I had been concerned about whether I would be able to get in my workout tomorrow. Now it doesn't matter. Tomorrow can be the off day. But I'll still take my gear in case stuff changes again.
Today's workout:
(1W/30 sec R)x17, 4.5 W
weather: sunny. hot - but it hasn't seem quite as hot this week. It's only been a couple of degrees cooler (maybe) this week. So I don't know if it's that or if I'm just getting used to running in the heat
distance: ~2.3 miles
Today's workout:
(1W/30 sec R)x17, 4.5 W
weather: sunny. hot - but it hasn't seem quite as hot this week. It's only been a couple of degrees cooler (maybe) this week. So I don't know if it's that or if I'm just getting used to running in the heat
distance: ~2.3 miles
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
That's 5K
Full running day today. And I reached ~3.1 miles. Which is ~5K.. Whoop!
Today's workout:
5W/25R/5W
weather: still sunny. still hot
distance: ~3.1 miles
Today's workout:
5W/25R/5W
weather: still sunny. still hot
distance: ~3.1 miles
Monday, June 13, 2011
Adding in the hills
The past week or so I've been working in some hill work when running at work. The runway has been way too boring. And in direct sunshine. The hills have some shade to them. And the hills are do-able (way better than those hill from the triathalon).
Today's workout:
(1W/30 sec R)x17, 4.5W
weather: sunny and hot
distance: ~2.2 miles
Today's workout:
(1W/30 sec R)x17, 4.5W
weather: sunny and hot
distance: ~2.2 miles
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Decisions, decisions
How am I feeling today? Thanks for asking! I little sore. Mostly my neck and shoulders caused by the swimming. A little bit sore in the legs. And barely saddle sore. Yea for bike shorts!
So I had a decision to make. Did I want to take it super easy today and just walk? Which would be the choice if I was following the program and ran 25 minutes yesterday. Or did I want to do the 25 minutes of running? Because I didn't actually run 25 minutes yesterday. And I feel let down that I didn't meet that time goal. But my legs and the hills were having non of the running.
And I ran. And I felt good for doing it. What has become of me? :-) And I reached a personal running milestone today. For the first time, I did a total of 3 miles!
Today's workout:
5W/25R/5W
weather: sunny. quite nice in the morning, but I was still quite sweaty at the end
distance: ~3 miles
So I had a decision to make. Did I want to take it super easy today and just walk? Which would be the choice if I was following the program and ran 25 minutes yesterday. Or did I want to do the 25 minutes of running? Because I didn't actually run 25 minutes yesterday. And I feel let down that I didn't meet that time goal. But my legs and the hills were having non of the running.
And I ran. And I felt good for doing it. What has become of me? :-) And I reached a personal running milestone today. For the first time, I did a total of 3 miles!
Today's workout:
5W/25R/5W
weather: sunny. quite nice in the morning, but I was still quite sweaty at the end
distance: ~3 miles
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Achievement Unlocked!
If I had a bucket list (which I don't) I don't really think a triathalon of any distance would have been on it. It's probably safe to say nothing particularly physical would have been on it. And yet, today I found myself doing a super sprint triathalon organized by a co-worker.
The course: 300 yard swim, ~8 mile bike, ~2 mile run.
As we drove into the neighborhood, part of which the bike and run would cover, I mentally and verbally cursed the hills on which we drove.
The contestants: Mostly co-workers, of varying athletic ability. Three did the event as a relay with the runner being the wife of a co-worker. The non-coworkers in the group consisted of spouses of co-workers and kids of co-workers. By the way, one of the spouses is a big runner and has even competed in a full-length Ironman Triathalon. His wife (my co-worker) also does a lot of running and biking and does shorter triathalons.
As predicted, the swim was my weakest event. I don't have a stroke. At all. I ended up resorting to a modified backstroke. I was out of the pool last. By a lot. At least I didn't drown :-)
Now the bike. My legs were shaky coming out of the pool. By the time I got on the bike, the shaking had stopped. And off I went. And as anticipated, the hills sucked. Big time. At some point as I was on my bike, I saw tri-guy running on the back half of the run. No big shocker. I managed to stay on my bike almost all the way through the course. I did have to get off my bike and push it on the last big hill. But I got back on and rode it in. I think everyone was done by that point (boy the swim killed me), but I still had the run to go.
More jelly legs. Now, if all I had to do today was run, it would have been NO problem. Today, I had to run following the large, un-trained challenges of swimming and running. So I walked the first half of the race course. On the way back, I mostly ran slowly aside from a couple of hills, which I walked. But I ran it in from the last turn until the end.
I did it! Dead last! (By the way, the kids in the race did not do the full distances, so I don't feel bad losing to them.) But I knew before I started I wasn't going to win it. Or come in second. Or third. I'm going to hurt tomorrow, but I already have a massage scheduled. And I'm going to try to go out and do a light walk/run tomorrow to work out the kinks and set my self up properly for the week.
After a fabulous cookout and awards ceremony (I won the 33 yo division! And I'm not even 33 yo! (Everyone had a division of one :-))), we all went for a dip in the pool.
What are the stats? I think I finished in a little over 2 hours. I don't remember the exact time, which wasn't really the point. Finishing was. The run took me 30 minutes and a distance of ~2.3 miles. The temperature was tolerable.
What have I learned? If I ever want to do a triathalon again (especially something other than the Tin Man), I should probably do some swimming lessons. And I need to do some more biking, but that's already on the list. Gatorade is terrible. It is just too sweet, full-sugar or artificial sweetener.
What's next? I still have two more weeks of my running program left. After that, I'm going to start alternating running days with biking days. I need to get my biking legs for the MS Cox Atlanta ride at Callaway Gardens in September. You can still donate here: www.causeofcarol.com. Click through to the Callaway Gardens team and click my name there. We've got a great team.
After that? I have some thoughts. Nothing solid But I like having goals. Good motivation.
Thank you so much to my family for all of their support! Both in my general running plan and for the Tin Man. It means a lot to me.
And thank you to all those who have given my positive feedback, both in person and written. I don't necessarily think what I'm doing is inspiration-worthy and that certainly isn't why I do it. I feel I've come a long way since I started. And while I hoped to do better today, I realize that I didn't do anything to prepare for the swim or the bike. Ten weeks ago, I know I wouldn't have been able to run for 20 minutes straight and wouldn't have even contemplated doing a triathalon. And now I can run for 20 minutes and have done a triathalon. So I know I'll be able to do the Callaway Gardens ride in September because I'm going to start training for that in a couple of weeks.
Onward and upward!
The course: 300 yard swim, ~8 mile bike, ~2 mile run.
As we drove into the neighborhood, part of which the bike and run would cover, I mentally and verbally cursed the hills on which we drove.
The contestants: Mostly co-workers, of varying athletic ability. Three did the event as a relay with the runner being the wife of a co-worker. The non-coworkers in the group consisted of spouses of co-workers and kids of co-workers. By the way, one of the spouses is a big runner and has even competed in a full-length Ironman Triathalon. His wife (my co-worker) also does a lot of running and biking and does shorter triathalons.
As predicted, the swim was my weakest event. I don't have a stroke. At all. I ended up resorting to a modified backstroke. I was out of the pool last. By a lot. At least I didn't drown :-)
Now the bike. My legs were shaky coming out of the pool. By the time I got on the bike, the shaking had stopped. And off I went. And as anticipated, the hills sucked. Big time. At some point as I was on my bike, I saw tri-guy running on the back half of the run. No big shocker. I managed to stay on my bike almost all the way through the course. I did have to get off my bike and push it on the last big hill. But I got back on and rode it in. I think everyone was done by that point (boy the swim killed me), but I still had the run to go.
More jelly legs. Now, if all I had to do today was run, it would have been NO problem. Today, I had to run following the large, un-trained challenges of swimming and running. So I walked the first half of the race course. On the way back, I mostly ran slowly aside from a couple of hills, which I walked. But I ran it in from the last turn until the end.
I did it! Dead last! (By the way, the kids in the race did not do the full distances, so I don't feel bad losing to them.) But I knew before I started I wasn't going to win it. Or come in second. Or third. I'm going to hurt tomorrow, but I already have a massage scheduled. And I'm going to try to go out and do a light walk/run tomorrow to work out the kinks and set my self up properly for the week.
After a fabulous cookout and awards ceremony (I won the 33 yo division! And I'm not even 33 yo! (Everyone had a division of one :-))), we all went for a dip in the pool.
What are the stats? I think I finished in a little over 2 hours. I don't remember the exact time, which wasn't really the point. Finishing was. The run took me 30 minutes and a distance of ~2.3 miles. The temperature was tolerable.
What have I learned? If I ever want to do a triathalon again (especially something other than the Tin Man), I should probably do some swimming lessons. And I need to do some more biking, but that's already on the list. Gatorade is terrible. It is just too sweet, full-sugar or artificial sweetener.
What's next? I still have two more weeks of my running program left. After that, I'm going to start alternating running days with biking days. I need to get my biking legs for the MS Cox Atlanta ride at Callaway Gardens in September. You can still donate here: www.causeofcarol.com. Click through to the Callaway Gardens team and click my name there. We've got a great team.
After that? I have some thoughts. Nothing solid But I like having goals. Good motivation.
Thank you so much to my family for all of their support! Both in my general running plan and for the Tin Man. It means a lot to me.
And thank you to all those who have given my positive feedback, both in person and written. I don't necessarily think what I'm doing is inspiration-worthy and that certainly isn't why I do it. I feel I've come a long way since I started. And while I hoped to do better today, I realize that I didn't do anything to prepare for the swim or the bike. Ten weeks ago, I know I wouldn't have been able to run for 20 minutes straight and wouldn't have even contemplated doing a triathalon. And now I can run for 20 minutes and have done a triathalon. So I know I'll be able to do the Callaway Gardens ride in September because I'm going to start training for that in a couple of weeks.
Onward and upward!
Friday, June 10, 2011
Let's Get Ready to Rumble!
I arranged this training week so that the easier part of the workout was placed today. Because tomorrow is the Tin Man triathalon. This triathalon is just an informal fun thing with a bunch of co-workers. So wish me luck tomorrow, because I haven't done any swimming or biking training.
Today's workout:
(1W/30 sec R)x10, 5W
weather: sunny and hot
distance: ~2.2 miles
Today's workout:
(1W/30 sec R)x10, 5W
weather: sunny and hot
distance: ~2.2 miles
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Did you miss me?
I took my planned off day yesterday, so it was back to races today. I can definitely see improvement from when I did my first 20 minute stretch last week to my 20 minutes today. Even though it was still hot today and I even went up and down some hills, I didn't feel like I was suffering in the last 5 minutes of the run portion like I did during the first time I did it (and that was all flat). So I'm going into this weekend's triathalon feeling good about the run portion. The challenges will be the swim and bike portions (haven't done any training on those) then having to run after already doing all that. It's all going to come down to pacing. Don't burn out too quickly. Tomorrow is a light running/walking day.
Today's workout:
5W/20R/5W
weather: sunny and hot (got some rain this evening, though)
distance: ~2.5 miles
Today's workout:
5W/20R/5W
weather: sunny and hot (got some rain this evening, though)
distance: ~2.5 miles
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Taking it easy
Relatively speaking. At this point in the training program, I'm supposed to alternate just running days (with short walking warm up and cool down) with just walking days. And the walking days are for just 15 minutes. I can't do just 15 minutes of walking. At a minimum, I want to do 30 minutes of walking but that doesn't seem like enough. So I'm doing a little bit more than just walking.
Today's workout:
(1W/30 sec R)x10, 15W
weather: sunny and hot, but not too bad
distance: ~2.2 miles
Today's workout:
(1W/30 sec R)x10, 15W
weather: sunny and hot, but not too bad
distance: ~2.2 miles
Monday, June 6, 2011
I've gone off the deep end
In planning my week, I have a couple of obstacles. First, I had to go out of town last night, returning this evening. Second, I have to take L to the eye doctor on Wednesday, potentially interfering with my exercise time. I had to decide whether to risk not having the doctor's appointment interfere or get up early this morning to run. Thus, the deep end. I got up at 5:30 this morning to run. Now, that is the absolute earliest I am willing to get up to run (note: I normally get up at 5 each morning to get ready for work. Thus, I will not be running on a normal work day). In another new move, I did the running on a treadmill. It was great in that it was completely level, not hot (though I did work up a sweat), and I felt I could have run longer. I don't think I could run on a treadmill on a regular basis, though. It would be boring. But for today, it was great. So now I've established Wednesday as my off day for this week. And I'm setting myself up for the big event this weekend: TIN MAN!
Today's workout:
5W/20R/5W
weather: inside and nice
distance: ~2.4 miles
Today's workout:
5W/20R/5W
weather: inside and nice
distance: ~2.4 miles
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Round and round
On the weekends, I just walk/run around my neighborhood. Because I live in a fairly small neighborhood, that basically means I'm circling the block 3-4 times. It does give me some elevation work, but there aren't any bad hills. It's pretty gentle.
Today's workout:
(1W/30 sec R)x20, 5W
weather: sunny. not to hot, yet
distance: ~2.8 miles
Today's workout:
(1W/30 sec R)x20, 5W
weather: sunny. not to hot, yet
distance: ~2.8 miles
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Well, that's annoying
I thought I was in week 10 of 12. As it turns out, I'm in week 9 of 12. It's not bothering me, mentally. Just a little annoying.
The twenty minute run was not as terrible today. Then again, I went out at 8:30 am as opposed to 11 am, which made a big difference in temperature. I would have to say, at no point the in the process have my muscles been more than just a little sore. So I'm pleased with the build-up of the program. Slow and steady has been great.
Today's workout:
5W/20R/5W
weather: sunny, not as hot during the workout
distance: ~2.7 miles
The twenty minute run was not as terrible today. Then again, I went out at 8:30 am as opposed to 11 am, which made a big difference in temperature. I would have to say, at no point the in the process have my muscles been more than just a little sore. So I'm pleased with the build-up of the program. Slow and steady has been great.
Today's workout:
5W/20R/5W
weather: sunny, not as hot during the workout
distance: ~2.7 miles
Thursday, June 2, 2011
And the beat keeps running, running...
I'm very proud to have progressed as far as I have in the almost 10 weeks I've been doing the walk to run plan. And as the end of this training program is now much nearer than not, I have no plans on stopping. And I have loftier goals on the horizon (like the MS Bike ride in the fall. Care to contribute?). Carrying on...
No workout tomorrow. But I purposefully planned my week to account for it. No worries ;-)
Today's workout:
(1W/30 sec R) x20, 5W
weather: still HOT
distance: ~2.8 miles
No workout tomorrow. But I purposefully planned my week to account for it. No worries ;-)
Today's workout:
(1W/30 sec R) x20, 5W
weather: still HOT
distance: ~2.8 miles
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Sweating my butt off
And I don't mean in the weight loss sense. I mean it was HOT today. And I still went out there. Today, the run was kicked up a notch to 20 minutes of continuous running bookended by 5 minutes to start and end. And at the end, I was sweaty from head to toe. Running in 90 degree weather will do that to you. And I tell you what, the last five minutes I had to dig deep. Phew, and it's supposed to be hot for the rest of the week.
Today's workout:
5W/20R/5W
weather: HOT!
distance: ~2.6 miles
Today's workout:
5W/20R/5W
weather: HOT!
distance: ~2.6 miles
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