A day off..

Well today I had to take off from training because I had a migraine, so no miles today, but yesterday I did run 5 miles. I would have run further, but my knee was giving me some pain, so I thought I would ease up. Tomorrow will be a day off as well, but I'll be back to it Friday. Over and out!

Lo!

Don't WALK, RUN!

That's right! No more walking...at least not for my workouts anymore! Today was the first day that I got the "okay" to run again! Not at a pace that I would normally run (6.5 on a treadmill), but still running again!

I ended up running 5.5 miles in an hour with about an 11 minute pace. The great thing was that I wasn't in any pain, or discomfort! So I believe that I'll be able to continue running the rest of the week, and on throughout my training!

Over and out!

Lo!

Walking...

Well, more walking...

Today I walked 6.5 miles in 111 minutes.

I'd still love to be running, but I'm really trying to keep to this, and walk until Monday at the earliest.

I did a little bit of abdominal stuff, but my arms were still pretty tired from the past couple days, so I decided to give them some rest. Over and out!

Lo!

Frustration!!!

Today I was planning on using the elliptical machine but when I was in class having some work done on my leg again, my instructor said to take a day off from running. I told her that I haven't in a few days, but that I've been using the elliptical instead! She said that I shouldn't do that either! UGH! So she told me no faster than 3.0 on the speed, but I begged and she said that I could go no faster than 3.5. Which is a pretty good pace for walking but I could have still gone faster, and still only been walking. Anyway, so I walked for 3.1 miles today in 51 minutes, and then did some upper body strength conditioning. As you can guess this doesn't make me happy at all! I know that if I don't watch what I'm doing now and take it easy that I could seriously injure myself and then the half marathon might only be a dream. That means that the rest of the week, probably anyway, that I'll only be walking and doing upper body strength training. Ugh! Over and out.

Lo

Elliptical for a while...

Well today I didn't work out too much because I had a deep tissue massage just before going to the gym, so I wanted to ease up some to try and let the massage really do its thing. That meant that I used the elliptical machine, and only for 3.6 miles, and 35 minutes. I did an abdominal work out as well, and did a little bit of arm stuff too. Hopefully I can get this figured out with my legs and not be in as much pain....well okay, pain isn't really it, it's just annoying. For whatever reason, my right thigh wont relax. I'm going to have it worked on some more with massage and stretching so hopefully something will give soon! Over and out!

Lo!

Getting stronger!

I had a GREAT workout today! I used the elliptical machine again, hoping that I can get my knee back into working order soon! I went 4.6 miles in 45 minutes on the cross country course! Then I did some really good seated leg presses, 120 pounds and then I even did 5 reps of 140 pounds! I was very excited when I did that! Next I did some bicep curls, and then some ab isolator stuff. I really feel like I'm getting in great shape! I love this feeling! Over and out!

Lo!

Good work out!

Today I worked out on the elliptical machine for 45 minutes, 4.15 miles! I also did some ab & oblique isolator work outs, and a little bit with my arms. I didn't want to push anything too much considering that I really did a lot yesterday. Now it's time for some stretching, and hopefully some much needed rest as well! Over and out!

Lo!

Training Hard!

Great work out today! I ran 2.5 miles in 23 minutes on a cross country course to start out. Granted it wasn't a great time, but I was planning on getting in quite a bit of weight training as well. And I did a bunch of weight training...for about 45 minutes! Ab & oblique stuff, then it was on to work the legs and arms. Leg - press, extensions, curls, adductor, & abductor! Arm - rowing, vertical bench press, and push ups! Oh, I feel GREAT! Over and out!

Lo!

Running again!

Today I ran for the first time in three days! Now that might not seem like a big deal, but I've missed it, both emotionally and physically. I ran a 5k, 3.1 miles, faster than I have in a while, at a 8:34 pace! I felt pretty good after running too which was nice. I did some weights to work out my arms some which I haven't done in a while either. Overall, training is going well! Over and out!

Lo!

Ellipitcal Trainer...

Today I worked out on the ellipitcal trainer because I wanted to give my knee and hip an extended rest. I'm not the biggest fan of elliptical trainers because being that I've run for so many years it's hard to transition to more of a gliding then running motion. Plus usually when I use them about every mile or so my left hip (the one that is giving me problems) "pops out", so I don't feel like I get much of a work out in because I'm having to "re-start" so often. This time was different though, I actually was able to glide on it! I did a pretty good work out too! I ended up going almost 5 miles, in 45 minutes on the cross country course. Part of it I was "pedaling" backwards too! Hopefully I can get in a good run tomorrow! Over and out!

Lo!

A quick dish...

Today was a cross training day for me...tomorrow might be as well if my hip, and knee aren't feeling up to par. I road a 10k in about a half hour, and learned how to make this amazing dinner from the Food Network! Yes, my gym has 12 inch flat screen TVs for all of the cardiovascular equipment, with cable! After I was finished riding the bike, I was still waiting to see the final product on the show, so I stood there and stretched while waiting. I then was cleaning up my machine, and the sweetest little elderly lady says to me, "Well that looks pretty good!" So I stood there and talked with her for a little bit, mainly telling her what was in the dish. I see her and her husband in there every day that I am there. They are always walking on the treadmills, and lifting weights, keeping in shape in to their old age. It's really great to see that because I don't feel like many people, especially older people work out much. They are the sweetest couple though, and I'm hoping that in the next couple days that I will learn their names. When they were leaving she had asked me if I just stay at the gym all day long...I usually get there before they do, and almost always leave after they have already left. They're like my grandparents in the area! It's great! Oh, and another great thing...I weighed myself just to see where I'm at and to track my progress. I am now under 130 pounds! It's been a while, but it's great to be there again! Although, I need to get a measuring tape and use that more so than the scale. Still, I was happy about that though! Over and out!

Lo!

Little less than expected...

Well today I planned on running a 10k, but after getting through the 5k, I wasn't feeling all that great, and didn't want to push myself too far. So instead I only ran 4.75 miles, in 42:03, which still was a good work out, but nothing to what I was planning on. I did wear my new knee brace, which really helped out, so we'll see how well it goes with the next couple times I run. After the run, I did some abdominal strengthening, but that was it for the day. Over and out!

Lo!

Day of physical rest...

I was thinking that I would go and work out today, that changed shortly after getting out of bed though. My knee was still bothering me some, and I didn't want to push it too hard...I'll save that for the big race! So today will be spent resting my legs, and refocusing my mental side of all of this training. In high school when I was on our cross country team our coach used to tell us all the time that running was, "80% mental, and only 20% physical." Being that I grew up with that mentality, and really learning what that meant, I am a huge supporter of that idea. Therefore, I am going to pay attention to the mental side of running today. Set aside some time to "run the race in my head, so when comes time to actually run it, I'm mentally prepared for it." This time it will be slightly different though because I don't know the course.

Back in high school every week we had a race we would mentally prepare for it the day before by laying down and going from toe to head relaxing every part of our body. Then we would imagine that we are at the start line, the gun goes off and we start the race, and are running with a pack of our teammates, or with a person who we plan to beat in the actual race. We would know the course already so we would be able to picture the turns in our head, or the hill that we are coming up to, etc. This time though, I only know the start and the finish line, and really that's about it. Yes, there is a map online, (check it out here or here!) but I really don't know the terrain very well, so it doesn't help all that much. Anyway, my next planned day to train will be Monday, so until next time...

Over and out!

Lo!

Closer to my goal....

Today it was time to run the 10k, and see how things are moving for me. I wasn't sure how well I would do considering I was still pretty sore from the previous workouts, but I figured if I was really in that much pain, I would stop. I stepped up today though, and ran a 10k, in 62 minutes! I was pretty happy with that being that I was thinking that I might not even finish the whole thing! I figure I better start running longer more often considering that the half marathon is a little more than double what I ran today! After the run, I did my normal ab, oblique, and back routine, and then did some vertical seated bench press for a little arm action.

After the workout I headed over to a near by pharmacy to pick up a gel pack, an ace bandage, and a knee brace. The knee brace isn't really much of a brace though, its just a little strap that is placed right below my knee to help alleviate pain in my knee. I think it should work out well.

Over and out!

Lo!

Biking hard!

Today was a cross training day for me, so no running, which I was okay with because my legs were tired from the hard work out yesterday. I made sure to bring a good movie, Pirates of the Caribbean! (I'm able to pop in a DVD and watch it while I'm working out on the cardio machines at my gym.) I ended up riding a half marathon, 13.1 miles, in 64 minutes! So I was biking along with a pretty good clip! I decided to not do much in the way of weights, so mainly focused on my abs and obliques. I'm exhausted from the work out, which is a good thing because I really pushed it! Over and out!

Lo!

Half goal time???

As of right now my half marathon mile pace (HMP) is 9:30:00, which puts my goal at just over 2 hours; 2:04:58. I'm hoping by the next month that I am able to drop that time down under two hours, with a much more reasonable pace time as well. If I can drop my HMP to 9:00:00, I can get finish in under two hours! That makes me very happy! So until then I need to continue training, and work on speed interval work outs more. Today I ran a 5k at a reasonable pace, but want to get it going faster in the next month. I then moved on to doing quite a bit of weight training; leg extensions, press, and curls - all done together and separately with each leg. I don't want to neglect my arms, so I made sure to do bicep curls, tricep extensions, vertical bench press, rowing machine, and seated bench press. Yes, you could say that my arms are tired right now. One other thing that I make sure to work on every time I work out is both my back (especially lower back) muscles, and abdominal & oblique muscles. Every runner must keep these muscles toned as well to help keep their posture while out on long runs. Off to go make some dinner!

Over and out!

Lo!

Training for the Half!

So I figured that I would dedicate a blog to my training for the half marathon. I'll mainly be posting either things that pertain to my workouts (to keep myself accountable), or things that might help anyone else out there training for a half marathon, or any other race. Most of my insight will come from Runners World.

This was in an article on how to train for your best half marathon, so here are a few things to help you out!

As with the original marathon plan, this program includes eight essential principles. They are:

One. You can follow it without a lot of hassle. Thanks to the relatively low mileage the plan requires, your risk of overtraining and burnout is lower. It's also a program that will teach you a solid, positive, life-long approach to running.
Two. You run just three days a week. And each run--speed, tempo, long--has a specific purpose. The speedwork makes you faster; the tempo run raises your lactate threshold, enabling you to hold a faster pace during the half; and the long run increases your endurance.
Three. You run a variety of speedwork: 400s, 800s, and 1600-meter repeats. And make no mistake about it: There is real speed in these speed sessions, so run them with a fast friend.
Four. You do your tempo run--from two miles to eight miles--at faster than normal training pace, or 15 seconds slower than your targeted half-marathon pace.
Five. You gradually build up your long run to 12 miles, not the 20 needed for the marathon. And you do those long runs at a slightly faster pace than you would do on a normal long run.
Six. You cross-train twice a week. Easily at first, but as you get more fit, you raise the intensity, which will make you fitter.
Seven. You're asked not to train or race through pain or a slew of missed workouts due to sickness or busy times at work. Pierce believes if outside forces keep you from training consistently, you should reschedule your race when you have time to train.
Eight. You taper for two weeks (not the three needed for the marathon). This will ensure that you step up to the starting line rested, injury-free, and ready to reach your goal time.

Picking Your Goal Time
Use your current race results to determine your half-marathon race pace, then check out the chart below to find your corresponding goal time. To find your half-marathon mile pace (HMP) and goal time, take either your…
1) Current 5-K mile pace and add 35 seconds per mile for your HMP and goal time
2) Current 10-K mile pace and add 20 seconds per mile for your HMP.
3) Current marathon mile pace and subtract 20 seconds per mile for your HMP.
Note: If you don't have a current PR for any of the above, simply go to the track or a well-marked flat trail or road and run three miles as fast as you can. Then use the corresponding formula from number 1 above to find your half-marathon per mile pace and goal time.

Well, I hope this helps you out! Over and out!

Lo!