I have forgotten to mention how glorious the weather has been the past couple of days. It was nice and warm on Thursday for my 15K (42F, 6C) and calm. Yesterday it got up to 70F (21C) in the afternoon, and it was sunny and just SO wonderful. This morning it was incredibly warm...hmmm, suspiciously warm, at 56F (13C). When it's that warm in the morning at this time of year, it's the "warm before the storm" and sure enough it will snow. Yup, tonight it is to be windy with 1 to 3 inches of snow, and a low of 33F (1C). I'm hoping it won't stick much to the road so I can do my 15K in the morning, but it might be icky enough that I wait to do it until the afternoon tomorrow, when the snow is supposed to stop and it's going to be about 40F (4C).
Enough of the weather report. Suffice it to say that it was NICE this morning. I even got up a little late (for me) and didn't get over to the track until about 7:30. It was light out (instead of pitch black like at 6 am when I usually work out) and even (gasp!) sunny! The cloud cover came in during the workout, presaging the storm later tonight. Anyway, I warmed up with a brisk 1600m in 10:11. I enjoyed passing the one runner on the track :). Then I did some dynamic flexibility drills, trying to loosen up my still sore hamstrings.
I got started on my 2K. I was planning on about 1:08/200m to give me an 11:40 (5:50/k); I figured I could do that. But I was pushing hard this morning and I was even faster! Yay! I got to 1K in 5:42, and then pulled out the second 1K in 5:48 for an 11:30! I was really pleased - if I'm in good shape, I can do several 2Ks at 11:30. I'm sure I would not have been able to do several at that speed (yet!), but I was happy to do one that fast to start. I had a 4 min rest, and my HR only got down to the low 120s. If I'm in really good shape, it will get below 120 in that time. Oh well. Moving on, I did my 1K, hoping for under 5:45. I worked it very hard, and got a 5:42! Then I had a 3 minute rest. During that rest, an elderly man arrived at the track, and I recognized him from last summer. His name is Gordon, and he does the Senior Olympics a lot, and he is training for 9 track and field events in Mesquite, NV, next week. He was quite complimentary on my racewalking, and I enjoyed chatting with him for a few minutes before I had to go again. I was hoping for low 2:50s for the 500s, since I was pre-fatigued, but I surprised myself, pulling out a 2:48 on the first one. After 2 min rest (where my HR barely dipped below 130...yeah, still out of shape), I really wanted to go even faster on the last one. I knew it would be close, and I sprinted the last 100m in only 30 sec (!) to get a 2:47. Yeah, pretty much gave it my all on that one, with HR 176 at the end. I was glad to be done. Whew.
Some fast times for my current state of not-quite-in-shape, but they need to be a lot faster by this summer. We'll get there. I just have to do each workout well and then the rest is not really up to me, but up to my body. I'm just going to do all I can do to make each one good.
Garmin connect data here.
***
OK, now for the crazy part. Immediately after I finished this workout, I drove straight over to the gym for a Pilates class. I figured I could always skip stuff if it hurt too much. The Saturday class has a different instructor and it's a bit easier than the Tu/Th class, but it was still tough after a hard workout. I'm glad I did it, though. I managed to do just about everything, despite the pre-fatiguing of the hard track workout. Whew.
Total for the week (Sun-Sat): 3 weight training workouts, 3 Pilates workouts, 2 spinning workouts, and 5 racewalking workouts totaling 48.2 km (30 miles). Not bad. Not bad at all. I'm on track to get in the best shape that I can.
In other good news, the eating has been better this week, especially the last few days. The scale said 150.2 lb (68.2 kg) this morning, down from 155 (70.5 kg) around the time of my miscarriage. Good...it's moving in the right direction. Now to lose another 5 lb or so of unneeded rear-end fat.
Saturday, April 02, 2011
Friday, April 01, 2011
Spinning & weight training
Continuing with my theme of getting into the best shape possible by July, I worked hard on my cross-training day. I took the usual 6am-7am Friday spinning class, and it's good and hard. We have been doing aerobic threshold sets, and today we did them at either 1) high cadence and low resistance w/sprints, or 2) low cadence & high resistance. It hurt. For some reason, a heart rate of low 160s seems much more painful on the stationary bike than when racewalking - not sure why, but it does. On a road bike it's not so bad...maybe it's the scenery? RW with that high HR on a treadmill is equally painful as the bike. I don't know why the scenery should matter, but I guess it does. Anyway, the spinning workout was good and hard, and I felt it really work my glutes. Thankfully, the hamstrings got a bit of a break, as spinning is easier on them than RW.
***
Then it was on to weight training with Lisa. I started with some leg stuff but then did more arms to try and give my legs a rest. Note: for weights, I almost always do 3x10-12 reps for each set, alternating exercises in supersets. I needed to do my PT exercises for my foot, so I started with 1) balance L foot on dyna disk and toss medicine ball at the wall/lateral walks with resistance band (for abductors - to ward off IT band trouble), then 2) calf raises, one-legged, no weights/bench press 30 lb ea arm. Then 3) lateral raises 10 lb each arm/row w/70 lb, 4) bicep curls (15 lb ea arm)/lat pull-down (only 60 lb this week), 5) tricep skull-crushers (12 lb ea arm)/chest fly (20 lb ea arm). Finally, core work: sit-ups on ball (upper & lower abs), pendulums w/ball (obliques), Russian twists w/ball (obliques), and rows (lower abs). Then stretching.
***
Then it was on to weight training with Lisa. I started with some leg stuff but then did more arms to try and give my legs a rest. Note: for weights, I almost always do 3x10-12 reps for each set, alternating exercises in supersets. I needed to do my PT exercises for my foot, so I started with 1) balance L foot on dyna disk and toss medicine ball at the wall/lateral walks with resistance band (for abductors - to ward off IT band trouble), then 2) calf raises, one-legged, no weights/bench press 30 lb ea arm. Then 3) lateral raises 10 lb each arm/row w/70 lb, 4) bicep curls (15 lb ea arm)/lat pull-down (only 60 lb this week), 5) tricep skull-crushers (12 lb ea arm)/chest fly (20 lb ea arm). Finally, core work: sit-ups on ball (upper & lower abs), pendulums w/ball (obliques), Russian twists w/ball (obliques), and rows (lower abs). Then stretching.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Pilates
I went to PIlates again tonight. It was the same instructor as usual for Tu/Th, but it was HARD tonight. Not sure if it was because I'd done 15K this morning or what, but there was a bunch of stuff that was seriously difficult. It kicked my butt - literally! My hamstrings and glutes are still really sore...good thing I'm not racewalking tomorrow. I'm going to spinning class, which won't be easy, but at least the hamstrings will get a bit of a rest. Then some weight training. Got to work hard if I'm going to be competitive in July!!!
15K
I was apprehensive about this workout. I was quite tired (I bailed on my planned session with the video bike last night, because I was too tired), and everything was a bit sore. My hamstrings were VERY sore, but my calves & glutes were also sore. But you never know what is going to happen, and I ended up having a decent 15K.
I got a bit tired at 6-7k, but then got a second wind at 10K. I even managed the last 2K uphill at a 6:33 pace. Not bad! Everything still hurts, now that I'm done. I should stretch today, but probably won't find enough time. I'm going to Pilates tonight, though.
I'm late for work so no more details right now...gotta go!
Total 1:36:16 for the 15K, ave pace 6:25k, ave HR 152.
Garmin connect data here.
I got a bit tired at 6-7k, but then got a second wind at 10K. I even managed the last 2K uphill at a 6:33 pace. Not bad! Everything still hurts, now that I'm done. I should stretch today, but probably won't find enough time. I'm going to Pilates tonight, though.
I'm late for work so no more details right now...gotta go!
Total 1:36:16 for the 15K, ave pace 6:25k, ave HR 152.
Garmin connect data here.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
10K
Today was a recovery 10K. It actually felt fairly hard. My glutes and hamstrings were tired from yesterday - probably from the combination of the 5K fartlek and the Pilates. Anyway, my pace was erratic, and I had to really work to keep 6:30/km after about 4km or so. Oh well, at least it's done. Hopefully I haven't worked so hard that I have nothing left for the 15K tomorrow. Well, whatever doesn't kill me will make me stronger, right?
Oh, and it was 1:04:30 for 10K for 6:26/km with ave HR 151.
Garmin connect data here.
***
I was late to the gym for weight training, and also had to renew my membership. It's actually a bargain - $269/year (University of Utah discount price) for a gold pass, which lets me work out at any of the county facilities and also allows me to take unlimited classes - Pilates, spinning, etc. Anyway, by the time I started I didn't have that much time left to work out. My foot was definitely achy after this morning's 10K, so I made sure to do some PT exercises: balance on the dyna disk w/medicine ball toss against the wall, calf raises. I also did one-legged squats (body weight only), hip hikes (for abductors to ward off IT band problems), and some tricep dips. Then some core stuff w/Lisa: plank w/feet on foam roller (learned that in Pilates!), sit-ups on ball, hip-ups, heel touchers (for obliques). Stretching...ahhhhh....my poor hamstrings!
Oh, and it was 1:04:30 for 10K for 6:26/km with ave HR 151.
Garmin connect data here.
***
I was late to the gym for weight training, and also had to renew my membership. It's actually a bargain - $269/year (University of Utah discount price) for a gold pass, which lets me work out at any of the county facilities and also allows me to take unlimited classes - Pilates, spinning, etc. Anyway, by the time I started I didn't have that much time left to work out. My foot was definitely achy after this morning's 10K, so I made sure to do some PT exercises: balance on the dyna disk w/medicine ball toss against the wall, calf raises. I also did one-legged squats (body weight only), hip hikes (for abductors to ward off IT band problems), and some tricep dips. Then some core stuff w/Lisa: plank w/feet on foam roller (learned that in Pilates!), sit-ups on ball, hip-ups, heel touchers (for obliques). Stretching...ahhhhh....my poor hamstrings!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Pilates
I went to Pilates again tonight. I really like it - it's definitely not much in the way of cardio, and not as directly intense on individual muscles as weight training, but it really works the whole body in a very synergistic manner, especially the core. Tonight we did a lot of bridge work - for glutes and back, mostly. Some of the more interesting moves: bridges with feet on a foam roller, and then calf raises on the foam roller in the bridge position. Also, plank with the feet on the foam roller, then the same alternately lifting each leg. There were some tough balance moves, which is probably my weakest area. Anyway, it was good - and somehow even though it's taxing, it's very relaxing at the same time - darkened room, soft music, nice & quiet. Ahhhhh. No kid noise :).
5K fartlek
It was cold this morning, for the end of March. 28F (-2C) and it was windy, too. Almost windy enough to affect my times, but overall I don't think it was a factor.
I hit the track for this workout. The running club was there, but I got there late enough that by the time I did my 1600m warm-up in 10:09 (not bad!) and some dynamic flexibility drills, they were cooling down, and left lane 1 open for me.
This workout went pretty well. I gave it my all, and was pretty consistent from start to finish. I hit 3K in 17:53 or so, which is 9 seconds better than last week, and then I went on to do 2 more km. I'm improving, but now it's going to be a fight for each 10-15 seconds. It's going to take a while and I have to be patient. I have 3+ more months so hopefully I'll be ready by then.
Here are my 500m splits (rounded UP manually, since the watch rounds down on the Garmin connect website):
2:52, 2:53 fast
3:11 medium
2:53 fast
3:14 medium
2:52 fast
3:15 medium
2:54 fast
3:16 medium
2:53 fast
Total 30:12. Wow, that was a seriously consistent workout.
My foot felt fine this morning. Yay! Hopefully it will feel good the rest of the day as well.
I'm planning on Pilates tonight. I'm going to do all I can to be in the best shape ever. That's all I can do - work hard, and the rest is not up to me. My body will do what it's capable of.
Garmin connect data here.
I hit the track for this workout. The running club was there, but I got there late enough that by the time I did my 1600m warm-up in 10:09 (not bad!) and some dynamic flexibility drills, they were cooling down, and left lane 1 open for me.
This workout went pretty well. I gave it my all, and was pretty consistent from start to finish. I hit 3K in 17:53 or so, which is 9 seconds better than last week, and then I went on to do 2 more km. I'm improving, but now it's going to be a fight for each 10-15 seconds. It's going to take a while and I have to be patient. I have 3+ more months so hopefully I'll be ready by then.
Here are my 500m splits (rounded UP manually, since the watch rounds down on the Garmin connect website):
2:52, 2:53 fast
3:11 medium
2:53 fast
3:14 medium
2:52 fast
3:15 medium
2:54 fast
3:16 medium
2:53 fast
Total 30:12. Wow, that was a seriously consistent workout.
My foot felt fine this morning. Yay! Hopefully it will feel good the rest of the day as well.
I'm planning on Pilates tonight. I'm going to do all I can to be in the best shape ever. That's all I can do - work hard, and the rest is not up to me. My body will do what it's capable of.
Garmin connect data here.
Monday, March 28, 2011
a non-racewalking post :)
It's spring in Utah. That means daffodils...and snow on daffodils. Here are a few more shots of our yellow beauties.
I've been enjoying taking the kids to Diva's cupcakes for a little one-on-one time weekly. Calvin and I enjoyed some time together in the greenhouse two weeks ago. Some more photos here.
On Saturday, I took Michelle to a princess tea party at the zoo. Yeah, somehow, without my encouragement, she's become enamored of all things princess. Oh well, it's awfully cute! Her tiara belonged to my mom when she was a little girl, and then to me, and now it's Michelle's. More pictures here.
And speaking of Michelle, she asked me for a big rainbow pancake...and she got it :). Too fun!
Finally, in one of my finer parenting moments, I let Calvin run too fast on the treadmill. I was right there, and pushed STOP immediately, but face meets treadmill is not a pretty thing. Oops :(.
cross-training
Today was an optional day, but I'm feeling good, so I decided to do some spinning and weight training. The spinning class was quite good, as usual. I pushed hard but not too hard - my HR was 155-160 in the harder segments but not higher. I want to save some energy for tomorrow's 5K fartlek.
Weight training: bench press (30 lb ea arm)/L foot PT dyna disk w/ball throws; calf raises (one-legged, body weight, 15)/lat pull-down (70 lb); lateral raises (10 lb ea arm)/lunges on dyna disk 15 each leg (foot PT); one-legged dead lifts 35 lb/tricep skull-crushers 12 lb ea arm. As you can see, I'm doing some foot PT. My left foot is ever-so-slightly achy and I want to stave off problems. I've been focusing on my RW form, too. Let's hope it stays manageable. I think it will.
Weight training: bench press (30 lb ea arm)/L foot PT dyna disk w/ball throws; calf raises (one-legged, body weight, 15)/lat pull-down (70 lb); lateral raises (10 lb ea arm)/lunges on dyna disk 15 each leg (foot PT); one-legged dead lifts 35 lb/tricep skull-crushers 12 lb ea arm. As you can see, I'm doing some foot PT. My left foot is ever-so-slightly achy and I want to stave off problems. I've been focusing on my RW form, too. Let's hope it stays manageable. I think it will.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
12K - better today!
I'm feeling better. The cold is mostly gone. I woke with a nasty headache though, and it was snowing lightly. Yuck. I decided to go back to bed and walk in the afternoon, as the weather was supposed to be nicer. It was :).
This afternoon it was 46F (8C) and sunny when I left on my walk. Capris and a long-sleeve shirt were just right - too hot at the start, but later the wind picked up and it became overcast, even raining just a bit at the end, and so I was glad I had the long sleeves.
I started off feeling pretty fresh, despite the 6K kickdown yesterday. I was really fast for the first 2K (it IS downhill, but not that steep), with 500m splits of 2:48, 2:57, 2:55, and 3:02, but my heart rate wasn't that high, so I just kept going, figuring it was going to be a good day. For the next 2K I did about 6:20/k, but my legs were getting heavy for some reason, maybe because I was going too fast? I don't know, because my heart rate seemed OK. I just kept on going. Just before 6K I passed the house of one of Calvin's friends, and his mom was outside raking, so I stopped to talk with her for a few minutes. The rest perked me up and I was able to continue at a good clip until 8.3K when I passed her again. Between the first and second time I saw her I decided I should invite their family over for dinner this week, so I stopped to talk to her again...I confess I didn't mind the rest! My legs were tired but when I continued I was able to hold up really well and posted some fast times up the hill - the last 2K had 500m splits of 3:13 (!), 3:22 (OK), 3:16, and 3:19. That's actually pretty fast for me for that 2K, and I was even happier with the total time. I finished in 1:16:20, with ave HR of just 151, and 2.5 minutes faster than on Wednesday for the same workout (and same route). Nice!
Two good workouts in a row. I think my body is recovering from all the insults of this winter. I'm encouraged and hoping for some more improvements this week.
Garmin connect data here.
This afternoon it was 46F (8C) and sunny when I left on my walk. Capris and a long-sleeve shirt were just right - too hot at the start, but later the wind picked up and it became overcast, even raining just a bit at the end, and so I was glad I had the long sleeves.
I started off feeling pretty fresh, despite the 6K kickdown yesterday. I was really fast for the first 2K (it IS downhill, but not that steep), with 500m splits of 2:48, 2:57, 2:55, and 3:02, but my heart rate wasn't that high, so I just kept going, figuring it was going to be a good day. For the next 2K I did about 6:20/k, but my legs were getting heavy for some reason, maybe because I was going too fast? I don't know, because my heart rate seemed OK. I just kept on going. Just before 6K I passed the house of one of Calvin's friends, and his mom was outside raking, so I stopped to talk with her for a few minutes. The rest perked me up and I was able to continue at a good clip until 8.3K when I passed her again. Between the first and second time I saw her I decided I should invite their family over for dinner this week, so I stopped to talk to her again...I confess I didn't mind the rest! My legs were tired but when I continued I was able to hold up really well and posted some fast times up the hill - the last 2K had 500m splits of 3:13 (!), 3:22 (OK), 3:16, and 3:19. That's actually pretty fast for me for that 2K, and I was even happier with the total time. I finished in 1:16:20, with ave HR of just 151, and 2.5 minutes faster than on Wednesday for the same workout (and same route). Nice!
Two good workouts in a row. I think my body is recovering from all the insults of this winter. I'm encouraged and hoping for some more improvements this week.
Garmin connect data here.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
6K kickdown
I still have the cold, but I'm feeling about 90% of normal now, so I figured a hard workout would be fine (and besides, I did a hard workout in spinning yesterday and then worked all day, and that went all right). The weather was chilly at 32F (0C), but it was calm and there was no precipitation, thankfully.
Today I was to do a 6K kickdown. Normally my kickdowns have been 4 splits, but since this one was so short, it was to be 3 splits of 2K each. Jim didn't say how fast to go - just however I felt, and to start a little faster than usual since it was just a 3 split kickdown.
I took his advice to heart! I know I always start these too fast, and I tried not to, but it's been a long time since I've done one, so of course I started too fast. I did have the help of the slight downhill on the north side of Liberty Park, but then I kept going too fast :). Oh well! I'm still happy with the workout. Why? 1) I did go faster on each split. 2) I had a very fast 6K overall, and I felt strong until the last 1.5 km; even then, I still managed to pull out a strong finish on the last 500m despite being very tired. 3) I now have a much better idea of pace than I did before. This takes a while to work out, especially after a layoff like I've had.
I really died on the last 1.5 km (though like I said I did manage a good last 500m). It hurt a lot, but in a good way. I feel I got a great workout, and that's the point.
Here are my splits: 2K (4x500m)
12:30 (3:06, 3:07, 3:04, 3:13)
12:00 (3:02, 3:00, 2:58, 3:00)
11:42 (2:52, 2:56, 3:03, 2:51)
Total time was 36:17 (my watch rounds down for some reason, hence the extra 5 seconds). I'm proud of this effort. It is 3 minutes faster than the hilly 6K I did in November when I was sick (OK, so this route was flat, and I'm feeling decent now though not 100% over my cold). I got to 5K in about 30:20, which is quick considering I started off at a 6:15/km pace. I felt really strong until the very end, and the endurance will return. I got a nice sense of confidence that I still have some good speed in there.
Garmin connect data here.
Today I was to do a 6K kickdown. Normally my kickdowns have been 4 splits, but since this one was so short, it was to be 3 splits of 2K each. Jim didn't say how fast to go - just however I felt, and to start a little faster than usual since it was just a 3 split kickdown.
I took his advice to heart! I know I always start these too fast, and I tried not to, but it's been a long time since I've done one, so of course I started too fast. I did have the help of the slight downhill on the north side of Liberty Park, but then I kept going too fast :). Oh well! I'm still happy with the workout. Why? 1) I did go faster on each split. 2) I had a very fast 6K overall, and I felt strong until the last 1.5 km; even then, I still managed to pull out a strong finish on the last 500m despite being very tired. 3) I now have a much better idea of pace than I did before. This takes a while to work out, especially after a layoff like I've had.
I really died on the last 1.5 km (though like I said I did manage a good last 500m). It hurt a lot, but in a good way. I feel I got a great workout, and that's the point.
Here are my splits: 2K (4x500m)
12:30 (3:06, 3:07, 3:04, 3:13)
12:00 (3:02, 3:00, 2:58, 3:00)
11:42 (2:52, 2:56, 3:03, 2:51)
Total time was 36:17 (my watch rounds down for some reason, hence the extra 5 seconds). I'm proud of this effort. It is 3 minutes faster than the hilly 6K I did in November when I was sick (OK, so this route was flat, and I'm feeling decent now though not 100% over my cold). I got to 5K in about 30:20, which is quick considering I started off at a 6:15/km pace. I felt really strong until the very end, and the endurance will return. I got a nice sense of confidence that I still have some good speed in there.
Garmin connect data here.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Spinning
This morning I felt slightly better. I am still quite fatigued and have the runny nose and congestion, but I did feel better than yesterday morning, so there was no doubt in my mind that I'd work out.
Today I was to cross-train. I attended the 6-7 am spinning class at the gym, and it was very good. The instructor actually cared that our cadence matched the music - love that. As a musician, it drives me nuts when the cadence doesn't match. Anyway, the workout was hard and good - 5 x 5' aerobic threshold intervals. A little on the boring side, when you're on the stationary bike, but you're breathing hard and working it so it's not so bad. My HR was in the low 160s for most of the intervals, which was about right for aerobic threshold.
The weather has been so windy this week. I was glad I wasn't outside, as it was horrible this morning. It's supposed to snow a couple inches today, and maybe a bit more tonight. Looks like it could possibly be OK for an outdoor workout tomorrow. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, as I have a 6km kickdown to do, and I'd prefer to do that outside if possible. Because it's spring break at the U, the indoor track won't be open until late tomorrow, so my only other option is the treadmill.
Today I was to cross-train. I attended the 6-7 am spinning class at the gym, and it was very good. The instructor actually cared that our cadence matched the music - love that. As a musician, it drives me nuts when the cadence doesn't match. Anyway, the workout was hard and good - 5 x 5' aerobic threshold intervals. A little on the boring side, when you're on the stationary bike, but you're breathing hard and working it so it's not so bad. My HR was in the low 160s for most of the intervals, which was about right for aerobic threshold.
The weather has been so windy this week. I was glad I wasn't outside, as it was horrible this morning. It's supposed to snow a couple inches today, and maybe a bit more tonight. Looks like it could possibly be OK for an outdoor workout tomorrow. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, as I have a 6km kickdown to do, and I'd prefer to do that outside if possible. Because it's spring break at the U, the indoor track won't be open until late tomorrow, so my only other option is the treadmill.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
still sick; 10K
I am still sick today. However, I woke up feeling much better than I did last night. That's not unusual for me, as I generally feel worse at night when I'm sick. I was really on the edge of doing my workout or not. I have a dry cough, a runny nose, swollen lymph nodes, congestion, and fatigue. But I felt like I could get through a workout OK, and when I checked the weather it said it was a very warm 55F and not raining yet! I looked outside, and my thermometer was reading 45F but it wasn't raining. Cool! Decent weather! So I got dressed for outside and started down the street. It was gusty and windy, but then it started to rain. Ugh. I had this feeling if I continued that it was going to pour, as we were supposed to get quite a storm. And I hadn't brought my rain jacket, and I started to think about the fact that I was sick, and the treadmill started to look appealing. After all, I could stop at any time if I didn't feel well, I could do a load of laundry while I was on it, and control the environment, more or less. So, I turned around and headed back home.
I threw on my new shorts (the ones I bought for World Masters) and hopped on the treadmill. I figured it would be a disaster, but it went well! I did stop at 30 min for about 3 min to move the laundry from the washer into the dryer (multitasking at its best!), and then 15 min later for a drink of water (another benefit of being indoors), but other than that it was steady. I had done about 2/3km (0.4mi) outside, so I had 5.8 miles to go inside. I did most of the indoor part at 5.8mph, and the last 1.4 km at 5.7mph. The outside portion took me 4:30, and the inside part took 60:15, for a total of 1:04:45 with ave HR 149. Not bad! I'm glad I did the workout. However, I'm paying. I'm really tired, so I'm leaving work early to get a nap before I have to pick up the kids from school.
Garmin connect data here.
***
Treadmill ruminations - I wanted to see how my treadmill did in terms of calculating pace, etc. I timed it for 0.62 miles (1km) at 5.8 mph and it was consistently 6:24-6:25. That's pretty close. It should be 6:25.8. The one km I did at 5.7 mph was 6:32, also right about spot on. The one question I still have about my treadmill is whether it is actually flat. My basement floor is not very flat (hey, it's a 1940 house!), but I have it in a spot I think is flat. I didn't have time after my workout to run to the garage and get the level, but I'll do that this afternoon. I'm curious. I think it's pretty close, but I'm not sure.
I threw on my new shorts (the ones I bought for World Masters) and hopped on the treadmill. I figured it would be a disaster, but it went well! I did stop at 30 min for about 3 min to move the laundry from the washer into the dryer (multitasking at its best!), and then 15 min later for a drink of water (another benefit of being indoors), but other than that it was steady. I had done about 2/3km (0.4mi) outside, so I had 5.8 miles to go inside. I did most of the indoor part at 5.8mph, and the last 1.4 km at 5.7mph. The outside portion took me 4:30, and the inside part took 60:15, for a total of 1:04:45 with ave HR 149. Not bad! I'm glad I did the workout. However, I'm paying. I'm really tired, so I'm leaving work early to get a nap before I have to pick up the kids from school.
Garmin connect data here.
***
Treadmill ruminations - I wanted to see how my treadmill did in terms of calculating pace, etc. I timed it for 0.62 miles (1km) at 5.8 mph and it was consistently 6:24-6:25. That's pretty close. It should be 6:25.8. The one km I did at 5.7 mph was 6:32, also right about spot on. The one question I still have about my treadmill is whether it is actually flat. My basement floor is not very flat (hey, it's a 1940 house!), but I have it in a spot I think is flat. I didn't have time after my workout to run to the garage and get the level, but I'll do that this afternoon. I'm curious. I think it's pretty close, but I'm not sure.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
sick again :( :( :(
I've been feeling worse and worse throughout the day today. Tonight I feel terrible. I had to come into work for a little to do an experiment but I'm headed right home to bed. I didn't go to the gym tonight for x-training, as I felt lousy. I'll be lucky if I feel good enough for my 10K tomorrow. I probably won't. I'm coughing now, which means it's in my chest, which is usually how I decide whether I'm working out or not. If it's in the chest, I bail out :(. I have had sore throat, runny nose, swollen lymph nodes, and now, the cough. UGH. Hopefully this virus won't last like the one last fall...
12K; other stuff
I figured today might be slow. It was, but not too bad, all things considered.
Weather: 32F (0C) and breezy. It was kind of chilly! I wore my fleece, and that seemed about right. It was clear, though, which was nice. March-May are the rainiest/snowiest months in SLC, so I'm glad for every day that is clear.
I started off well - 6:14 and 6:11 for the first 2km. But the 3rd km was 6:27 and I knew it would be a slog after that. I managed to keep the pace OK for the most part, though by 6km I wondered if I was going to be 6:45/km average! My legs were tired. However, I just kept trying to keep my cadence and that seemed to work OK. My HR was not that high, but my muscles were complaining and I just felt sluggish. I picked up a bit around 9 km and did a 6:31, and did decently on the last uphill, so it was really just from 5-9km that was quite slow.
Total time 1:18:50 for 6:34/km and ave HR 151. It's a decent start. I have another 12K on Sunday and I'll do better.
Garmin connect data here.
***
I did Pilates again last night from 5:30-6:20pm. The kids were at swim lessons so it worked out well. It was a good class and I'm the tiniest bit sore today in the abs. I noticed because I did weight training this morning after my 12K and the core part was a bit sore.
So far I'm doing well adding in the Pilates and some extra x-training. Hoping to make it to the gym tonight for some stationary bike time. My cold is still annoying me, though - I'm tired, not sleeping the best, and still have a runny nose. Grrrr!
Weather: 32F (0C) and breezy. It was kind of chilly! I wore my fleece, and that seemed about right. It was clear, though, which was nice. March-May are the rainiest/snowiest months in SLC, so I'm glad for every day that is clear.
I started off well - 6:14 and 6:11 for the first 2km. But the 3rd km was 6:27 and I knew it would be a slog after that. I managed to keep the pace OK for the most part, though by 6km I wondered if I was going to be 6:45/km average! My legs were tired. However, I just kept trying to keep my cadence and that seemed to work OK. My HR was not that high, but my muscles were complaining and I just felt sluggish. I picked up a bit around 9 km and did a 6:31, and did decently on the last uphill, so it was really just from 5-9km that was quite slow.
Total time 1:18:50 for 6:34/km and ave HR 151. It's a decent start. I have another 12K on Sunday and I'll do better.
Garmin connect data here.
***
I did Pilates again last night from 5:30-6:20pm. The kids were at swim lessons so it worked out well. It was a good class and I'm the tiniest bit sore today in the abs. I noticed because I did weight training this morning after my 12K and the core part was a bit sore.
So far I'm doing well adding in the Pilates and some extra x-training. Hoping to make it to the gym tonight for some stationary bike time. My cold is still annoying me, though - I'm tired, not sleeping the best, and still have a runny nose. Grrrr!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
3K fartlek
Last night when I went to bed, I noticed I had a bit of a sore throat. Loren is recovering from a fairly nasty cold that kept him out of work on Friday, so I wasn't that surprised. I hoped it wouldn't get bad enough to keep me from my workout. Plus, it was supposed to snow. I can always work out at the indoor track on weekdays, so at least I had a backup.
This morning I didn't feel great when I got up; I still had the slight sore throat and also a touch of a runny nose, but it wasn't bad enough to keep me from my workout. I was also a bit sore from weight training yesterday.
The weather was sort of cooperative. It was 35F (2C) and snowing lightly-moderately, but at least it wasn't windy. Definitely better than the indoor track! I thought that the outdoor track might have snow on it. There was quite a bit of snow on the grass, but none on the road, so I opted for a road workout.
I warmed up doing a mile (1600m) downhill in a nice fast 9:48. I didn't feel that great for the first 1/2 mile or so; my legs were heavy and mentally I wasn't into it. However, by the time I finished the warm-up I was feeling better.
I started off with a reasonably fast 1K, with 500m splits of 2:48 and 2:52 on the very slight downhill. My legs felt all right, though I knew I'd tire fast. My first recovery was a disappointing 3:16, but I redeemed that with a 2:52 for the next 500m fast. I managed a 3:15 for the next recovery, but knew I'd pay in the last 500m. My legs didn't have much left, nor did my lungs. I just wanted to finish under 3:00 on the slight uphill, and I did, in 2:57. My total time was 18:02, which is over 30 seconds faster than Friday. That's good. It's still a pretty slow time, though, but I guess I can't expect much better right now, and that's OK. I'm just going to have to be patient, which I'm not good at!
Ave HR for the whole workout was only 163, so I guess I could have pushed harder? I don't know - it felt very hard at the time. At least I got a good workout. Hopefully my cold won't get too much worse. I'm feeling fairly tired and out-of-sorts now, so I'll try to get to bed early if possible. I am supposed to do 12K in the morning, and will have to be up early to finish in time to meet Lisa for some weight training.
If I feel up to it this evening, I plan to go to a Pilates class from 5:30-6:20. I'd really like to go, but if my cold gets worse, I might not.
Garmin connect data here.
This morning I didn't feel great when I got up; I still had the slight sore throat and also a touch of a runny nose, but it wasn't bad enough to keep me from my workout. I was also a bit sore from weight training yesterday.
The weather was sort of cooperative. It was 35F (2C) and snowing lightly-moderately, but at least it wasn't windy. Definitely better than the indoor track! I thought that the outdoor track might have snow on it. There was quite a bit of snow on the grass, but none on the road, so I opted for a road workout.
I warmed up doing a mile (1600m) downhill in a nice fast 9:48. I didn't feel that great for the first 1/2 mile or so; my legs were heavy and mentally I wasn't into it. However, by the time I finished the warm-up I was feeling better.
I started off with a reasonably fast 1K, with 500m splits of 2:48 and 2:52 on the very slight downhill. My legs felt all right, though I knew I'd tire fast. My first recovery was a disappointing 3:16, but I redeemed that with a 2:52 for the next 500m fast. I managed a 3:15 for the next recovery, but knew I'd pay in the last 500m. My legs didn't have much left, nor did my lungs. I just wanted to finish under 3:00 on the slight uphill, and I did, in 2:57. My total time was 18:02, which is over 30 seconds faster than Friday. That's good. It's still a pretty slow time, though, but I guess I can't expect much better right now, and that's OK. I'm just going to have to be patient, which I'm not good at!
Ave HR for the whole workout was only 163, so I guess I could have pushed harder? I don't know - it felt very hard at the time. At least I got a good workout. Hopefully my cold won't get too much worse. I'm feeling fairly tired and out-of-sorts now, so I'll try to get to bed early if possible. I am supposed to do 12K in the morning, and will have to be up early to finish in time to meet Lisa for some weight training.
If I feel up to it this evening, I plan to go to a Pilates class from 5:30-6:20. I'd really like to go, but if my cold gets worse, I might not.
Garmin connect data here.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Cross-training
Today I was to cross-train. I took a nice hard spinning class for an hour, and then lifted weights. Everything is feeling pretty good, but my left foot is slightly sore again. Grrrr. Hopefully it will be OK if I watch my form and baby it.
I've been exercising well with my new determination, but the food part has not been so good. I weighed 155 this morning, which is about 10-12 lb above where I would like to be in July. Not good. Time to stop the stress eating (which doesn't help anyway) and find something to replace it with. That's this week's challenge. Ideas: read with a cup of hot tea, take a bath, play the piano. I'm going to try some of these this week.
I've been exercising well with my new determination, but the food part has not been so good. I weighed 155 this morning, which is about 10-12 lb above where I would like to be in July. Not good. Time to stop the stress eating (which doesn't help anyway) and find something to replace it with. That's this week's challenge. Ideas: read with a cup of hot tea, take a bath, play the piano. I'm going to try some of these this week.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
an old favorite
I wasn't sure I'd get to walk today, as the weather was iffy. It did snow last night, but it wasn't cold enough to stick to the street, just to the grass, and it stopped before I got up. Yay! I decided to do my old favorite route, SugarHouse Park. It's quite hilly, and so usually I avoid it when I'm trying to keep a certain training pace, but I think hills are actually quite beneficial, so I may do it more. In fact, I did manage to keep less than a 6:30/km pace on the hills today, though not without a good amount of effort.
The first km is a killer, up the steep hill by my house. It's always slow, and this time I did it feeling heavy-legged, in 7:18. I thought I was going to have a hard time after that - my legs were quite tired, and hamstrings still sore from weights on Friday. But I picked up the pace as much as I could and the 2nd km (slight downhill) was 5:59! I have no idea where that came from. I was encouraged, and kept pushing. It was chilly at 35F (2C), but beautiful with the snow and the pink glow from the sunrise. I love SugarHouse Park.
Around the park I went, doing the hills in quite respectable split times of 6:25 and 6:19, and then still managing the slight uphill to the 5th km in 6:34. Then I got to coast down the nice big hill at a 5:42km pace for the last 0.8 km and finished in 37:14 for 6:25/km, with ave HR of 153. I thought my ave HR was higher, as at times I was really pushing. Overall I'd say it was a moderately hard effort, about like yesterday. It was therapeutic for sure.
Garmin connect data here.
***
I'm about to go to the gym and hop on the bike for some cross-training. Jim suggested that extra cross-training was a really good way to improve my speed, so I am going to take it to heart and do the extra work. I'll enjoy a good book while I'm there at least :).
The first km is a killer, up the steep hill by my house. It's always slow, and this time I did it feeling heavy-legged, in 7:18. I thought I was going to have a hard time after that - my legs were quite tired, and hamstrings still sore from weights on Friday. But I picked up the pace as much as I could and the 2nd km (slight downhill) was 5:59! I have no idea where that came from. I was encouraged, and kept pushing. It was chilly at 35F (2C), but beautiful with the snow and the pink glow from the sunrise. I love SugarHouse Park.
Around the park I went, doing the hills in quite respectable split times of 6:25 and 6:19, and then still managing the slight uphill to the 5th km in 6:34. Then I got to coast down the nice big hill at a 5:42km pace for the last 0.8 km and finished in 37:14 for 6:25/km, with ave HR of 153. I thought my ave HR was higher, as at times I was really pushing. Overall I'd say it was a moderately hard effort, about like yesterday. It was therapeutic for sure.
Garmin connect data here.
***
I'm about to go to the gym and hop on the bike for some cross-training. Jim suggested that extra cross-training was a really good way to improve my speed, so I am going to take it to heart and do the extra work. I'll enjoy a good book while I'm there at least :).
Saturday, March 19, 2011
by way of explanation
It is probably clear to the readers of my blog that something odd has been going on with me. I have gone back and forth a lot in my mind as to whether I should write about this or not. However, after discussing it with friends and a reader of this blog (you know who you are...thank you!), I decided that it might be good therapy to write about it, and that it has potential to help some others or at least open up a bit more what seems to be a taboo subject in our society. Why that is, I'm not sure, and I think it would be more healthy if it wasn't that way. So I'm going to do my small part to make a difference.
If you are squeamish or sensitive, you might not want to read this. I'm not going to be graphic, but it's not a tame subject. You've been warned. Otherwise, read on.
On February 22nd or so, I was wondering a bit why I hadn't gotten my period. It's quite regular at 26-28 days and it was day 28. Insert a bit of history here - I have a severe luteal phase defect (7 days on average instead of 14) and my two children were conceived with the aid of fertility drugs. I was at the grocery store with the kids and thought to get a pregnancy test just in case (though I highly doubted I could be pregnant, since we weren't trying or taking any medication). They didn't have any on obvious display and I was in a hurry so I skipped it. Two days later, I knew I'd better settle the question, because it was nagging me even more. I picked up some tests and hurried home and took one. I about passed out with surprise when it was positive. I was shocked, a bit angry, kind of freaked out, and in disbelief. I spent the day in a fog and arranged for a sitter so I could take Loren out to dinner and tell him. He was equally shocked, but to his credit, he took it much better than I did and was even happy about it. I started to relax and get a bit excited about the whole thing.
Over the next 10 days or so I took it easy with my workouts (no more speed work, fewer miles, etc.) and planned things out in my head. I knew I shouldn't get too excited, as the risk of miscarriage increases a lot with age, and I was almost 41. Still, it was impossible not to think ahead and anticipate things like how great my kids would be with a new baby, how much my parents would enjoy it, etc.
On Monday, March 7, the day before my birthday, I had a very small amount of bright red spotting. Uh-oh. I freaked out and was quite upset. Funny, since this had been unplanned, but I guess the mother instinct is very strong. The spotting stopped and I was relieved and thought maybe it was OK. But on Tuesday night when I was out celebrating my birthday dinner with my friend Sarah, it started up again. It wasn't that much bleeding, but I was concerned and called the doctor the next morning. He saw me right away and did blood work to check my HCG levels. The next day I checked in with him and the levels were really good at 25000 (I was 6 wk 2 days pregnant at that point). He scheduled an ultrasound to see if all was well, and it looked great. I saw the baby's heart beating, and it was SUCH a relief, and such a gift to see that little heartbeat. The doctor said that things were much more likely to be OK after seeing the heartbeat, and he said the small amount of bleeding I was having was most likely due to the placenta's location - it was probably a bit over the cervix and it would move as the uterus grew, and the bleeding would probably stop in 7-10 days. He did say not to exercise until the bleeding had stopped, and I had already been cautious enough to stop, reluctantly, but realizing the necessity. He is a great doc and didn't promise that things would be OK, but just said it was more likely after seeing the heartbeat on ultrasound, and that things looked good at that point.
Well, unfortunately, things didn't stay OK. It was quite a rollercoaster week, emotionally. On Saturday, March 12th, I awoke at 5 am with severe pain. I knew it was really bad within 10 minutes or so, and I woke Loren up, telling him I knew I was having a miscarriage. The pain was bad enough that I had to breathe through the waves, almost like being in labor. It continued like that for 2 hours, and of course the bleeding increased. It was terrible, physically and emotionally. I cried the whole 2 hours, both from pain and from terrible sadness at the profound loss. Thankfully, the pain abated after 2 hours, and I was able to sleep for a while. The rest of the day was spent a bit in a fog. I cancelled my piano students, didn't do anything else I'd planned, and we ate dinner out so I wouldn't have to cook. I mourned and cried, but also hugged Calvin and Michelle tighter, re-realizing what a gift they are.
I didn't go to the ER, because Loren (trained in family practice though not practicing medicine now) said it wasn't necessary. I did go to see my doctor right away on Monday morning. He and his office staff were wonderful. I need to send them a thank-you note. They handled it so professionally and with so much compassion. They got me out of the waiting room full of pregnant women ASAP, found a comfy room to sit me in, and gave me some bereavement materials to read while I waited for the doctor, who was quite busy that morning. He was great, though. He did have to examine me, and it was rather uncomfortable, but I wanted him to do his job to make sure I was healthy. The main risk is infection, especially when you have been bleeding before a miscarriage, and even more so if there is any tissue that is not expelled. He didn't find anything, but of course didn't probe too much either, as early on the body is pretty good at taking care of things itself. He did prescribe antibiotics for me, which I am usually loathe to take as I don't like increasing antibiotic resistance. However, this time I agreed that it was wise, and have been dutifully taking them and enjoying the lovely GI side effects (no more details needed).
It's been a week today since this happened, and it's been tough. I think maybe I'm over the worst of the emotional pain now, but I'm not sure. A lot of things remind me of the loss; seeing a 5-year-old holding her 1-year-old sister's hand in Diva's Cupcakes and Coffee nearly sent me over the edge on Tuesday. Similar things have cropped up all week. I knew we wouldn't try again for another child, so in a way I'm mourning that as well; we had thought our family complete until this happened, but of course now a small part of me wanted another child, even if it was impractical. I had so many mixed feelings. Mostly profound sadness, but also some frustration. I had been disappointed that I wouldn't get to do the World Masters, but I figured I'd go cheer my friends on, and that I'd have the reward of a beautiful child at the end. Now that wasn't going to happen. Yes, I could still do the races, but how would I get back in shape again? So many setbacks this year. My body has been through a lot and I wonder how hard it will be to get it back into racing shape. I know women do this all the time - Kara Goucher and Deena Kastor, world-class runners, have both recently given birth, which is much more than I went through this time, and they are going to try to get back in shape for the 2012 Olympics. Still...it's a daunting task, made more complex by the fact that I'm an emotional eater and I've gained 5-6 pounds through all of this. I'm getting distracted here; I was talking about my feelings. Anyway, most of my feelings were sadness and depression-type feelings, with a few small feelings of relief (mostly financial!) mixed in. It has been so weird. I sometimes don't even know how I feel. Mostly it's just been very, very hard.
Racewalking has been great therapy this week. I should say first that my doctor cleared me for all kinds of exercise on Monday. On Tuesday, I was feeling terrible, and racewalking helped me to snap out of the lousy funk I was in when I woke up. Of course, racewalking has been a bit of a mixed bag, as I struggled through a simple 3K fartlek workout yesterday. However, I was expecting that, and it didn't upset me too much; still, it was hard. Today was good, as I managed a decent 10K, though not a great one. Given my condition it was as good as could be expected, though. I think I did lose a fair amount of blood, and my hormones are probably going crazy, so what can I realistically expect?
Another great therapy this week has been planning ahead for the World Masters and a fun summer vacation with the family. I chatted with friends this week and arranged for the three other "coachees" of my coach Jim to stay with me at my brother's house just outside of Sacramento during the races. It's going to be a lot of fun rooming together and racing together. My brother is out of town then and graciously made his home available to us, for which I am really thankful. We plan for Loren and the kids to join me there a few days before the 20K (the last race), and then we are planning a family trip to Disneyland after that. Thinking ahead to good times, enjoying my kids, working out, and working hard at my job have kept me sane this week, along with the comfort of my friends and family and my faith.
Then there have been the more surreal aspects of this. I didn't think I'd have to be worrying about birth control. Hahahaha. Well, I had to talk to the doc and Loren about that and come up with some plans for what to do. It's been interesting, and I'll spare you the details. Suffice it to say that we are doing all we can to be sure we don't go through this again. That makes me a bit sad, oddly enough, but I know it's the wise thing to do. We knew that since we weren't using birth control previously that this could potentially happen, but thought it quite unlikely given my history, and were willing to take the small chance that we could have another child. We discussed it a couple times a year to be sure we were still willing to take the small risk. But now we know that the risk might be slightly greater, so we really have to take action.
Well, that's the end of the story for now. I know it's going to be a while before I feel totally normal again, physically or emotionally, but I do feel I'm on the road to recovery. Writing about it has indeed been therapeutic, and I hope it benefits someone out there as well. At least my blog for the past few weeks should make a little more sense now to my readers. If you've gotten this far, thanks for reading and thank you for your support.
If you are squeamish or sensitive, you might not want to read this. I'm not going to be graphic, but it's not a tame subject. You've been warned. Otherwise, read on.
On February 22nd or so, I was wondering a bit why I hadn't gotten my period. It's quite regular at 26-28 days and it was day 28. Insert a bit of history here - I have a severe luteal phase defect (7 days on average instead of 14) and my two children were conceived with the aid of fertility drugs. I was at the grocery store with the kids and thought to get a pregnancy test just in case (though I highly doubted I could be pregnant, since we weren't trying or taking any medication). They didn't have any on obvious display and I was in a hurry so I skipped it. Two days later, I knew I'd better settle the question, because it was nagging me even more. I picked up some tests and hurried home and took one. I about passed out with surprise when it was positive. I was shocked, a bit angry, kind of freaked out, and in disbelief. I spent the day in a fog and arranged for a sitter so I could take Loren out to dinner and tell him. He was equally shocked, but to his credit, he took it much better than I did and was even happy about it. I started to relax and get a bit excited about the whole thing.
Over the next 10 days or so I took it easy with my workouts (no more speed work, fewer miles, etc.) and planned things out in my head. I knew I shouldn't get too excited, as the risk of miscarriage increases a lot with age, and I was almost 41. Still, it was impossible not to think ahead and anticipate things like how great my kids would be with a new baby, how much my parents would enjoy it, etc.
On Monday, March 7, the day before my birthday, I had a very small amount of bright red spotting. Uh-oh. I freaked out and was quite upset. Funny, since this had been unplanned, but I guess the mother instinct is very strong. The spotting stopped and I was relieved and thought maybe it was OK. But on Tuesday night when I was out celebrating my birthday dinner with my friend Sarah, it started up again. It wasn't that much bleeding, but I was concerned and called the doctor the next morning. He saw me right away and did blood work to check my HCG levels. The next day I checked in with him and the levels were really good at 25000 (I was 6 wk 2 days pregnant at that point). He scheduled an ultrasound to see if all was well, and it looked great. I saw the baby's heart beating, and it was SUCH a relief, and such a gift to see that little heartbeat. The doctor said that things were much more likely to be OK after seeing the heartbeat, and he said the small amount of bleeding I was having was most likely due to the placenta's location - it was probably a bit over the cervix and it would move as the uterus grew, and the bleeding would probably stop in 7-10 days. He did say not to exercise until the bleeding had stopped, and I had already been cautious enough to stop, reluctantly, but realizing the necessity. He is a great doc and didn't promise that things would be OK, but just said it was more likely after seeing the heartbeat on ultrasound, and that things looked good at that point.
Well, unfortunately, things didn't stay OK. It was quite a rollercoaster week, emotionally. On Saturday, March 12th, I awoke at 5 am with severe pain. I knew it was really bad within 10 minutes or so, and I woke Loren up, telling him I knew I was having a miscarriage. The pain was bad enough that I had to breathe through the waves, almost like being in labor. It continued like that for 2 hours, and of course the bleeding increased. It was terrible, physically and emotionally. I cried the whole 2 hours, both from pain and from terrible sadness at the profound loss. Thankfully, the pain abated after 2 hours, and I was able to sleep for a while. The rest of the day was spent a bit in a fog. I cancelled my piano students, didn't do anything else I'd planned, and we ate dinner out so I wouldn't have to cook. I mourned and cried, but also hugged Calvin and Michelle tighter, re-realizing what a gift they are.
I didn't go to the ER, because Loren (trained in family practice though not practicing medicine now) said it wasn't necessary. I did go to see my doctor right away on Monday morning. He and his office staff were wonderful. I need to send them a thank-you note. They handled it so professionally and with so much compassion. They got me out of the waiting room full of pregnant women ASAP, found a comfy room to sit me in, and gave me some bereavement materials to read while I waited for the doctor, who was quite busy that morning. He was great, though. He did have to examine me, and it was rather uncomfortable, but I wanted him to do his job to make sure I was healthy. The main risk is infection, especially when you have been bleeding before a miscarriage, and even more so if there is any tissue that is not expelled. He didn't find anything, but of course didn't probe too much either, as early on the body is pretty good at taking care of things itself. He did prescribe antibiotics for me, which I am usually loathe to take as I don't like increasing antibiotic resistance. However, this time I agreed that it was wise, and have been dutifully taking them and enjoying the lovely GI side effects (no more details needed).
It's been a week today since this happened, and it's been tough. I think maybe I'm over the worst of the emotional pain now, but I'm not sure. A lot of things remind me of the loss; seeing a 5-year-old holding her 1-year-old sister's hand in Diva's Cupcakes and Coffee nearly sent me over the edge on Tuesday. Similar things have cropped up all week. I knew we wouldn't try again for another child, so in a way I'm mourning that as well; we had thought our family complete until this happened, but of course now a small part of me wanted another child, even if it was impractical. I had so many mixed feelings. Mostly profound sadness, but also some frustration. I had been disappointed that I wouldn't get to do the World Masters, but I figured I'd go cheer my friends on, and that I'd have the reward of a beautiful child at the end. Now that wasn't going to happen. Yes, I could still do the races, but how would I get back in shape again? So many setbacks this year. My body has been through a lot and I wonder how hard it will be to get it back into racing shape. I know women do this all the time - Kara Goucher and Deena Kastor, world-class runners, have both recently given birth, which is much more than I went through this time, and they are going to try to get back in shape for the 2012 Olympics. Still...it's a daunting task, made more complex by the fact that I'm an emotional eater and I've gained 5-6 pounds through all of this. I'm getting distracted here; I was talking about my feelings. Anyway, most of my feelings were sadness and depression-type feelings, with a few small feelings of relief (mostly financial!) mixed in. It has been so weird. I sometimes don't even know how I feel. Mostly it's just been very, very hard.
Racewalking has been great therapy this week. I should say first that my doctor cleared me for all kinds of exercise on Monday. On Tuesday, I was feeling terrible, and racewalking helped me to snap out of the lousy funk I was in when I woke up. Of course, racewalking has been a bit of a mixed bag, as I struggled through a simple 3K fartlek workout yesterday. However, I was expecting that, and it didn't upset me too much; still, it was hard. Today was good, as I managed a decent 10K, though not a great one. Given my condition it was as good as could be expected, though. I think I did lose a fair amount of blood, and my hormones are probably going crazy, so what can I realistically expect?
Another great therapy this week has been planning ahead for the World Masters and a fun summer vacation with the family. I chatted with friends this week and arranged for the three other "coachees" of my coach Jim to stay with me at my brother's house just outside of Sacramento during the races. It's going to be a lot of fun rooming together and racing together. My brother is out of town then and graciously made his home available to us, for which I am really thankful. We plan for Loren and the kids to join me there a few days before the 20K (the last race), and then we are planning a family trip to Disneyland after that. Thinking ahead to good times, enjoying my kids, working out, and working hard at my job have kept me sane this week, along with the comfort of my friends and family and my faith.
Then there have been the more surreal aspects of this. I didn't think I'd have to be worrying about birth control. Hahahaha. Well, I had to talk to the doc and Loren about that and come up with some plans for what to do. It's been interesting, and I'll spare you the details. Suffice it to say that we are doing all we can to be sure we don't go through this again. That makes me a bit sad, oddly enough, but I know it's the wise thing to do. We knew that since we weren't using birth control previously that this could potentially happen, but thought it quite unlikely given my history, and were willing to take the small chance that we could have another child. We discussed it a couple times a year to be sure we were still willing to take the small risk. But now we know that the risk might be slightly greater, so we really have to take action.
Well, that's the end of the story for now. I know it's going to be a while before I feel totally normal again, physically or emotionally, but I do feel I'm on the road to recovery. Writing about it has indeed been therapeutic, and I hope it benefits someone out there as well. At least my blog for the past few weeks should make a little more sense now to my readers. If you've gotten this far, thanks for reading and thank you for your support.
determination
I have a new sense of determination. I have been dealt some lousy cards, but I can choose how to deal with it. I can either feel sorry for myself, eat too much crap, dwell on my slow racewalking (currently slow but not permanently so!), and generally be miserable, OR I can work to turn things around as well as I can. I can't control all the circumstances, but I can do what I can to get back in shape, and even try to get in the best shape of my life.
This morning I woke determined to walk the best 10K that I could. (I was to do it tomorrow, but weather is dictating that I swap things around; if I can walk tomorrow, I will, but it's iffy). My hamstrings were a bit sore this morning from the weight training yesterday, but I figured that wouldn't matter too much. I started off trying to keep a nice fast cadence and settle into a quick rhythm. I was a bit disappointed in the 6:22 for the first km, which is half downhill and half flat. However, I just kept on going. The second km was a bit better, in 6:16, and I kept the pace for the third km, also in 6:16. I noticed my HR was a bit higher than I'd like, and I wondered how long I'd be able to keep a good pace. My legs were a bit tired by 3-4 km, as they have been this week, and I thought that the wheels might fall off sooner or later. However, it never happened. I kept pushing, and my body kept responding. I continued with the 4th km in 6:23, and worried about the 5th km which is often slow on this route (don't know why since the 5th km is flat), but I did it in 6:23 also. I still kept wondering how long I could hold the pace, and got into Liberty Park in the 6th km in 6:13 (nice downhill for part of that one). I was now beginning to hope I could go under 1:05 for the 10K. On this route, the last 3 km are the hardest. I got to 7km in 6:16, and then the real work began. The last 3km is a gradual though noticeable uphill. I did them in 6:36, 6:37, and 6:38! I was quite happy with that.
Total time 1:04:04 for the 10K; ave HR was pretty high at 157 because I channeled much of my recent frustration into this walk, and pushed moderately hard.
Garmin connect data here.
***
In keeping with my new determination, I have decided to figure out how to attend some Pilates classes. My coach keeps telling me it would really be helpful, and I keep thinking I don't have time. Well, I'm going to make time. I went this morning after my walk to the 8:30-9:15 am Pilates class at the gym. It was good - parts of it were quite challenging, and parts of it were just a nice good workout.
This morning I woke determined to walk the best 10K that I could. (I was to do it tomorrow, but weather is dictating that I swap things around; if I can walk tomorrow, I will, but it's iffy). My hamstrings were a bit sore this morning from the weight training yesterday, but I figured that wouldn't matter too much. I started off trying to keep a nice fast cadence and settle into a quick rhythm. I was a bit disappointed in the 6:22 for the first km, which is half downhill and half flat. However, I just kept on going. The second km was a bit better, in 6:16, and I kept the pace for the third km, also in 6:16. I noticed my HR was a bit higher than I'd like, and I wondered how long I'd be able to keep a good pace. My legs were a bit tired by 3-4 km, as they have been this week, and I thought that the wheels might fall off sooner or later. However, it never happened. I kept pushing, and my body kept responding. I continued with the 4th km in 6:23, and worried about the 5th km which is often slow on this route (don't know why since the 5th km is flat), but I did it in 6:23 also. I still kept wondering how long I could hold the pace, and got into Liberty Park in the 6th km in 6:13 (nice downhill for part of that one). I was now beginning to hope I could go under 1:05 for the 10K. On this route, the last 3 km are the hardest. I got to 7km in 6:16, and then the real work began. The last 3km is a gradual though noticeable uphill. I did them in 6:36, 6:37, and 6:38! I was quite happy with that.
Total time 1:04:04 for the 10K; ave HR was pretty high at 157 because I channeled much of my recent frustration into this walk, and pushed moderately hard.
Garmin connect data here.
***
In keeping with my new determination, I have decided to figure out how to attend some Pilates classes. My coach keeps telling me it would really be helpful, and I keep thinking I don't have time. Well, I'm going to make time. I went this morning after my walk to the 8:30-9:15 am Pilates class at the gym. It was good - parts of it were quite challenging, and parts of it were just a nice good workout.
Friday, March 18, 2011
starting over yet again...3K fartlek
This was my first speed work since February 21st, and it showed. I knew it would be slow. I was hoping for 18:00-18:15, but that turned out to be overly optimistic.
I had a good warm-up; 1600m in 10:18 with ave HR of 147. I felt pretty good. The weather was OK; it was clear and 38F (3C) but quite windy, so it felt cold. I kept my fleece on for the whole workout. Every time I went around the one side of the track, the wind blasted me in the face. I don't think it slowed me down very much - maybe 10 seconds for the whole workout? No, the only excuse for today is that my body is recovering and I just have to be patient with it.
I did some dynamic drills after my warm-up and then quickly set about the workout. It was too cold to do much else, with the wind! The first km felt a little hard, but OK. I did it in 5:50, which is pretty slow for me, but I figured I'd be all right. However, I knew I was in trouble when I saw my first 500m recovery - it was only 3:18, at least 10 sec slower than usual. Ugh. Then the 500m hard was very hard indeed. My lungs were OK but the legs were not. There was just no gas in the tank. I wanted to go faster, but I just couldn't. I only did a 3:01 for that 500m, and then a very pathetic 3:26 500m recovery. Finally, the last 500m came, and none too soon. I was wiped (how sad is that?). I went all-out and managed a 2:59. Wow, that was slow.
Total time was 18:34 with ave HR of 165. I'm pretty sure that's the worst I've ever done for this workout. I'm trying to keep a good attitude, though. I can only get faster from here, right? It's just hard. This week has been extremely mentally challenging, and I don't feel I have a lot of reserve to draw on. I just have to keep going. The times will get better - I know that. I have to hang in there until they do, and just do the hard work without the payoff. The payoff will come eventually, but for now, I just have to do the work.
Garmin connect data here.
***
After the workout, I went to the gym and lifted for a while with Lisa. I did bench press (30 lb each arm)/abductor machine (80 lb); then military press (20lb each arm)/calf raises (one-legged, body weight), lat pull-down (70lb)/hamstring machine (60 lb); then core work. Sit-ups, toe-touchers, Russian twists all with medicine ball; 1 min plank, then repeat the medicine ball routine. Then we did rows and bicycles. It was a good hard set. I noticed that I am pretty weak after not lifting for a couple weeks. That too will return with time and more lifting.
I had a good warm-up; 1600m in 10:18 with ave HR of 147. I felt pretty good. The weather was OK; it was clear and 38F (3C) but quite windy, so it felt cold. I kept my fleece on for the whole workout. Every time I went around the one side of the track, the wind blasted me in the face. I don't think it slowed me down very much - maybe 10 seconds for the whole workout? No, the only excuse for today is that my body is recovering and I just have to be patient with it.
I did some dynamic drills after my warm-up and then quickly set about the workout. It was too cold to do much else, with the wind! The first km felt a little hard, but OK. I did it in 5:50, which is pretty slow for me, but I figured I'd be all right. However, I knew I was in trouble when I saw my first 500m recovery - it was only 3:18, at least 10 sec slower than usual. Ugh. Then the 500m hard was very hard indeed. My lungs were OK but the legs were not. There was just no gas in the tank. I wanted to go faster, but I just couldn't. I only did a 3:01 for that 500m, and then a very pathetic 3:26 500m recovery. Finally, the last 500m came, and none too soon. I was wiped (how sad is that?). I went all-out and managed a 2:59. Wow, that was slow.
Total time was 18:34 with ave HR of 165. I'm pretty sure that's the worst I've ever done for this workout. I'm trying to keep a good attitude, though. I can only get faster from here, right? It's just hard. This week has been extremely mentally challenging, and I don't feel I have a lot of reserve to draw on. I just have to keep going. The times will get better - I know that. I have to hang in there until they do, and just do the hard work without the payoff. The payoff will come eventually, but for now, I just have to do the work.
Garmin connect data here.
***
After the workout, I went to the gym and lifted for a while with Lisa. I did bench press (30 lb each arm)/abductor machine (80 lb); then military press (20lb each arm)/calf raises (one-legged, body weight), lat pull-down (70lb)/hamstring machine (60 lb); then core work. Sit-ups, toe-touchers, Russian twists all with medicine ball; 1 min plank, then repeat the medicine ball routine. Then we did rows and bicycles. It was a good hard set. I noticed that I am pretty weak after not lifting for a couple weeks. That too will return with time and more lifting.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
rest day
I was up late last night doing a hypoxia experiment at work, and I felt I needed the rest, so I slept in (for me) until 6:30 am, lounged around reading for 30 min, and then got up. It felt good. I am supposed to start getting back in the groove tomorrow with a 3K fartlek, so the rest seemed appropriate. Not that a 3K fartlek is a long workout or anything, but I've been through a lot lately and it's better to err on the side of caution. However, this does mean I have to be more careful about what I eat! So far, so good :).
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
5K & elliptical
It was amazing outside this morning - the freak warm & windy spell that means a spring snow is on the way. I could do without the snow, but the warmth this morning was great. It was 60F (15C) and I wore shorts and a T-shirt! So nice!!! I woke a little late, as I'm still getting used to the time change, but I had time for 5K before I was supposed to be at the gym to meet Lisa.
I didn't start out that fast, considering the downhill and all - my first km was the second slowest, in 6:30. But I picked up speed as I went, and though my glutes and hamstrings were just slightly sore from yesterday's effort, I was able to do the other km in 6:27, 6:25, 6:17, and 6:40 (uphill) for 32:21 total. Ave HR was only 148, so I'm pleased with today's walk. Hopefully the improvement will continue and I'll be back in racing shape. It feels a bit like an uphill battle: 1) the mental aspect of regaining fitness, 2) the 5 lb I gained due to stress eating/physiologic factors, 3) the inactivity of last week. However, all of those can be overcome with time and effort. I've just got to try to stay positive and move in the right direction.
On a related note, I registered for the World Masters last night - I am signed up for the 5K, 10K, and 20K. Can't wait! I'm going to stay at my brother's house (he'll be out of town) with my friends Nyle (from New Zealand), David (from Australia), and Lis (from Colorado). I'm excited!
***
After the 5K I went to the gym to meet Lisa, who wasn't there. So I decided to do 20 min on the elliptical. I need a little extra cardio to get rid of that 5 lb...sigh. I did 2.5 miles in the 20 min - 8 min/mile pace. My legs were tired after the 5K but to still manage that pace on the elliptical was good.
Garmin data from 5K here.
I didn't start out that fast, considering the downhill and all - my first km was the second slowest, in 6:30. But I picked up speed as I went, and though my glutes and hamstrings were just slightly sore from yesterday's effort, I was able to do the other km in 6:27, 6:25, 6:17, and 6:40 (uphill) for 32:21 total. Ave HR was only 148, so I'm pleased with today's walk. Hopefully the improvement will continue and I'll be back in racing shape. It feels a bit like an uphill battle: 1) the mental aspect of regaining fitness, 2) the 5 lb I gained due to stress eating/physiologic factors, 3) the inactivity of last week. However, all of those can be overcome with time and effort. I've just got to try to stay positive and move in the right direction.
On a related note, I registered for the World Masters last night - I am signed up for the 5K, 10K, and 20K. Can't wait! I'm going to stay at my brother's house (he'll be out of town) with my friends Nyle (from New Zealand), David (from Australia), and Lis (from Colorado). I'm excited!
***
After the 5K I went to the gym to meet Lisa, who wasn't there. So I decided to do 20 min on the elliptical. I need a little extra cardio to get rid of that 5 lb...sigh. I did 2.5 miles in the 20 min - 8 min/mile pace. My legs were tired after the 5K but to still manage that pace on the elliptical was good.
Garmin data from 5K here.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
moving forward
This morning I woke up feeling quite down. I woke up early, w/o alarm, at 5 am. I just sat there thinking and feeling a bit sorry for myself for an hour or so. I wasn't at all in the mood to racewalk, but I knew I had to do it in order to get out of my self-pitying funk. So I dragged my sorry behind out the door and as usual, was not the least bit sorry. By 2K into the workout I felt much, much better.
Then I started to push harder, because I was feeling a bit angry and it felt good to exhaust myself physically. I pushed hard and was well under 6:30/k at 4 km (about 6:18/km) before the uphill home. I was originally thinking to do 8.5k, but after 3k I knew I wasn't up to that physically, at least not today. So after one loop of Liberty Park, I tackled the uphill back home and the 5th km was in just 6:21 (!). I don't think I've done that km of that route faster even when I'm in great shape. Then I was tired and did the next one in 6:38, which is average for me for that km when I'm in good shape, so still fast for my current condition.
I finished the whole route in 40:29, for 6:25/km, with ave HR 156 (yeah, pushing...). The endorphins lasted for an hour before I started feeling a bit down again, but I have gotten through the day pretty well, which is much better than how I would have felt had I not racewalked. A good part of the mood lift was due to my speedy pace, which helped me have confidence that my speed will be back soon, with training, rest, and good nutrition.
Garmin connect data here.
Then I started to push harder, because I was feeling a bit angry and it felt good to exhaust myself physically. I pushed hard and was well under 6:30/k at 4 km (about 6:18/km) before the uphill home. I was originally thinking to do 8.5k, but after 3k I knew I wasn't up to that physically, at least not today. So after one loop of Liberty Park, I tackled the uphill back home and the 5th km was in just 6:21 (!). I don't think I've done that km of that route faster even when I'm in great shape. Then I was tired and did the next one in 6:38, which is average for me for that km when I'm in good shape, so still fast for my current condition.
I finished the whole route in 40:29, for 6:25/km, with ave HR 156 (yeah, pushing...). The endorphins lasted for an hour before I started feeling a bit down again, but I have gotten through the day pretty well, which is much better than how I would have felt had I not racewalked. A good part of the mood lift was due to my speedy pace, which helped me have confidence that my speed will be back soon, with training, rest, and good nutrition.
Garmin connect data here.
Monday, March 14, 2011
cross-training
Easing back into things gradually...very gradually. Today I did 30 min on the stationary bike, and got some much-needed conversation with my friend Lisa in the process. It's good to have girlfriends to process things with! The bike felt fine - no big deal. I felt like I easily could have done another 30 minutes. In addition, I got official medical clearance today to exercise however I like :). Yay! I'm not going to overdo, though, but with the base I had before, it shouldn't take long to be back in the swing of things.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
very slow, but back at it
After not exercising all week, I just had to get out and racewalk. It's going to take a while to get back in shape again after my latest setback...ugh. Hopefully I have enough time before the World Masters in July. Well, I will just do what I can to get as fast as I can, and that's all I can do. I have to say that this morning's performance was fairly pathetic, but I suppose that is to be expected.
I did the 6.3K Liberty Park route in 44:42, for a paltry 7:04/km. But average HR was 152, so I was working hard enough. I shouldn't be too hard on myself, as that is all my body will do right now. That will change, and I'll be back. It's just going to take some time, which is the one thing I don't have enough of. Too many setbacks this winter; very frustrating.
I did the 6.3K Liberty Park route in 44:42, for a paltry 7:04/km. But average HR was 152, so I was working hard enough. I shouldn't be too hard on myself, as that is all my body will do right now. That will change, and I'll be back. It's just going to take some time, which is the one thing I don't have enough of. Too many setbacks this winter; very frustrating.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
I'll be back soon
Sorry I've been gone for a few days. I've had some personal issues to attend to. Everything is going to be OK, and I don't want anyone to worry. Really! Anyway, I did have to take a little time off exercising this week, but I am going to be back in the swing of things soon, training hard for the World Masters in Sacramento! :)
Tuesday, March 08, 2011
rough couple of days...
It's been a rough couple of days. I did manage 15 min stationary bike + 45 min weight training yesterday, but today was definitely a rest day...and probably tomorrow too...
Sunday, March 06, 2011
short recovery walk
After the longer distance of 15.3K (9.5 miles) yesterday I decided to do a shortish recovery walk today. I took it very easy and did the SugarHouse Park route (5.8 hilly km) in 42:22. Ave HR only 142 - kept it very slow & easy. I felt really good - my hamstrings were maybe slightly sore but everything else felt great. That's how I want to be feeling as I gradually add a few more miles/km until the 1/2 marathon I'm doing on April 16th.
Saturday, March 05, 2011
cross-training; very easy 15K
Yesterday I cross-trained - the weather was originally supposed to be bad, but then it was beautiful. Had I been paying closer attention, I would have racewalked a bit I think, but that's OK. Instead I did an hour on the bike and 30 min on the elliptical, adn finished one book for book club (Taroko Gorge by Jacob Ritari - it was OK), and started another book, The Lazarus Vendetta, a fluffy-ish techno-thriller a bit like Robin Cook but better written. You need something kind of fluffy to keep your mind occupied when cross-training, I think!
***
Today I just wanted to get out there today and do the distance. It's been a couple weeks since I did 15K, and there is a half marathon (21.1K) that I want to do nice & slow on April 16th, so I need to keep some long days under my belt.
The weather was great today - 40F (4C), overcast, and calm. Very nice. I just wore a long-sleeved shirt and tights, and gloves. I carried water because I knew I'd be out a while - knew I would be slow, and that was fine. It felt great to be out there, and I thoroughly enjoyed my slow walk. I ended up taking a different route - just randomly went some places - and so it turned out to be 15.34k (9.5 miles). Total time 1:49:14 for 7:07/k. Garmin connect data here.
***
Today I just wanted to get out there today and do the distance. It's been a couple weeks since I did 15K, and there is a half marathon (21.1K) that I want to do nice & slow on April 16th, so I need to keep some long days under my belt.
The weather was great today - 40F (4C), overcast, and calm. Very nice. I just wore a long-sleeved shirt and tights, and gloves. I carried water because I knew I'd be out a while - knew I would be slow, and that was fine. It felt great to be out there, and I thoroughly enjoyed my slow walk. I ended up taking a different route - just randomly went some places - and so it turned out to be 15.34k (9.5 miles). Total time 1:49:14 for 7:07/k. Garmin connect data here.
Thursday, March 03, 2011
Wednesday & Thursday
Wednesday: I did an hour on the bike & elliptical (30 min each) followed by abs with Lisa. Meant to do weight training too, but got up late and it didn't happen.
Thursday: Up late last night for work (36 hour time point...sigh...), so I felt tired and a bit lightheaded this morning. I also had a few GI issues even before I went out. So I decided to go short and take it really easy. I actually enjoyed my walk a lot; it rained very lightly on and off but it was warm at 40F (4C) and it felt great to be out there. I got in a nice slow rhythm and just kept it there on this hilly route. Took me longer than the watch time because I hit stop and then forgot to start again at an intersection, and so I missed about 4 minutes. I did 5.8k at only 7:06/km, but hey, at least I was out there. Garmin data here.
Oh, I have some new shoes that were mentioned on one of the racewalking Yahoo! groups, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE them. They are New Balance 205s, and they are light yet supportive, and they just feel really good. I got them on sale for $30 or so at Joe's New Balance outlet. Nice! Today was the 2nd day I wore them, and they are fantastic.
Thursday: Up late last night for work (36 hour time point...sigh...), so I felt tired and a bit lightheaded this morning. I also had a few GI issues even before I went out. So I decided to go short and take it really easy. I actually enjoyed my walk a lot; it rained very lightly on and off but it was warm at 40F (4C) and it felt great to be out there. I got in a nice slow rhythm and just kept it there on this hilly route. Took me longer than the watch time because I hit stop and then forgot to start again at an intersection, and so I missed about 4 minutes. I did 5.8k at only 7:06/km, but hey, at least I was out there. Garmin data here.
Oh, I have some new shoes that were mentioned on one of the racewalking Yahoo! groups, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE them. They are New Balance 205s, and they are light yet supportive, and they just feel really good. I got them on sale for $30 or so at Joe's New Balance outlet. Nice! Today was the 2nd day I wore them, and they are fantastic.
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
still taking it a bit easy
I'm still taking it a bit easy, as I was feeling off on Saturday night/Sunday.
Monday: stationary bike 45', then weight training.
Today: 8.6k in Liberty Park at 6:35/km. I felt pretty darn good. I was thinking to do 8.5K (twice around the park, plus to and from home), then was thinking no, maybe 6.3K (once around the park). I felt good after once around, so I did twice. It was nice this morning - chilly, but nice. It was 30F (-1C) but calm and clear. It's supposed to get up to 50F (10C) today! Yay! The worst of winter is over. However, we will still have some quite cold & snowy days. Still, it's nice that it's warmer.
Monday: stationary bike 45', then weight training.
Today: 8.6k in Liberty Park at 6:35/km. I felt pretty darn good. I was thinking to do 8.5K (twice around the park, plus to and from home), then was thinking no, maybe 6.3K (once around the park). I felt good after once around, so I did twice. It was nice this morning - chilly, but nice. It was 30F (-1C) but calm and clear. It's supposed to get up to 50F (10C) today! Yay! The worst of winter is over. However, we will still have some quite cold & snowy days. Still, it's nice that it's warmer.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
rest day again
Today I intended to walk 15K. However, I woke not feeling that great, so I slept in and then later this afternoon I took a long nap. I'm feeling a bit better now and hopefully will be at least up to stationary bike and weight training tomorrow. That's the plan anyway.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
the last few days
It's been an eventful last few days, so I apologize for not blogging sooner. Anyway, here's what I've been up to, exercise-wise:
Thursday: rest day.
Friday: 6.3K around Liberty Park. I was supposed to do 8K but I got up too late. It was snowing lightly but not too cold (31F) and I really enjoyed my walk - it was beautiful. I took it really easy, and I was very slow, but I just didn't care today. I averaged 7:08/km for the 6.3k. Garmin connect data here. After my racewalk, I went to the gym and lifted with Lisa for a while, and did some good core work.
Saturday: I was going to do a long day today but it snowed about 5-6 inches (15cm) and so I decided I'd cross train and do a longer day tomorrow. I did 45 min on the stationary bike, and enjoyed reading my Scientific American magazine and listening to some U2.
Thursday: rest day.
Friday: 6.3K around Liberty Park. I was supposed to do 8K but I got up too late. It was snowing lightly but not too cold (31F) and I really enjoyed my walk - it was beautiful. I took it really easy, and I was very slow, but I just didn't care today. I averaged 7:08/km for the 6.3k. Garmin connect data here. After my racewalk, I went to the gym and lifted with Lisa for a while, and did some good core work.
Saturday: I was going to do a long day today but it snowed about 5-6 inches (15cm) and so I decided I'd cross train and do a longer day tomorrow. I did 45 min on the stationary bike, and enjoyed reading my Scientific American magazine and listening to some U2.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
12K
It was about 26F (-3C) when I went out this morning. One nice thing is that at least it's getting light a bit earlier these days (unfortunately daylight savings will start in a few weeks). It was dark when I started but it was light by the time I finished. With temps in the 20s, though, I figured the breathing might be an issue again. It was; despite taking albuterol before going out I did cough a bit. Seemed better than yesterday, though.
I forgot to charge the battery in my Garmin yesterday, so it was desperately low. When I realized that I only had about 5 minutes to charge it because I had to get going so I could get back in time to take Calvin to school. Grrr. The battery made it to 4.52km, but I had brought a backup stopwatch to get the rest of the workout. Then when I got home I mapped the distance online so I still know more or less how I did. I just don't have HR data or splits for the last 7.26km. I had to guess how far 12k was, and I knew I was guessing a touch short, but it was close.
I felt reasonably good this morning. I knew I wasn't breaking any land speed records, but it felt OK. It was kind of nice not to have the pressure of the Garmin beeping every km telling me my splits.
Total distance 11.78km; total time 1:17:48, for 6:36/km. I'd guess my ave HR was about 152-153 but I really have no idea; my ave HR for the first 4.52k was a bit high at 154, but I think I slowed down a bit after that (I know I did slow down a little). Oh, and I do know it took me about 6:40 for the 2nd to last km (uphill) and 6:36 for the last bigger uphill km. I pushed at the end to finish well.
My knee didn't bother me much (though it was killing me all day yesterday), and today it's been feeling better - it's a superficial wound but hurts to wear jeans, so I wore some looser corduroys today.
The thing that does hurt is my foot. While I was out walking it was merely a bit warm, but now that I've been on it all day it's definitely achy and a bit throbby. Not good. I'm glad that tomorrow is a rest day. I did focus on my form today to try and avoid this problem, so I'm not sure what is up with that. Hopefully after a day off it will feel better. I want it to be better because I have 20K planned on Saturday. It's supposed to snow Friday night and Saturday morning so I'm not sure what I'm going to end up doing - 20K on the indoor track would be a serious bore, but that might be what I do, depending on the snow amount. 20K in a few inches of the white stuff is not that great either!
I forgot to charge the battery in my Garmin yesterday, so it was desperately low. When I realized that I only had about 5 minutes to charge it because I had to get going so I could get back in time to take Calvin to school. Grrr. The battery made it to 4.52km, but I had brought a backup stopwatch to get the rest of the workout. Then when I got home I mapped the distance online so I still know more or less how I did. I just don't have HR data or splits for the last 7.26km. I had to guess how far 12k was, and I knew I was guessing a touch short, but it was close.
I felt reasonably good this morning. I knew I wasn't breaking any land speed records, but it felt OK. It was kind of nice not to have the pressure of the Garmin beeping every km telling me my splits.
Total distance 11.78km; total time 1:17:48, for 6:36/km. I'd guess my ave HR was about 152-153 but I really have no idea; my ave HR for the first 4.52k was a bit high at 154, but I think I slowed down a bit after that (I know I did slow down a little). Oh, and I do know it took me about 6:40 for the 2nd to last km (uphill) and 6:36 for the last bigger uphill km. I pushed at the end to finish well.
My knee didn't bother me much (though it was killing me all day yesterday), and today it's been feeling better - it's a superficial wound but hurts to wear jeans, so I wore some looser corduroys today.
The thing that does hurt is my foot. While I was out walking it was merely a bit warm, but now that I've been on it all day it's definitely achy and a bit throbby. Not good. I'm glad that tomorrow is a rest day. I did focus on my form today to try and avoid this problem, so I'm not sure what is up with that. Hopefully after a day off it will feel better. I want it to be better because I have 20K planned on Saturday. It's supposed to snow Friday night and Saturday morning so I'm not sure what I'm going to end up doing - 20K on the indoor track would be a serious bore, but that might be what I do, depending on the snow amount. 20K in a few inches of the white stuff is not that great either!
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
ouch! 10K
My muscles were a little sore today - just a little, mostly in the adductors (weirdly!) and a little in the hamstrings. Other than that I was good to go. It was 29F (-2C) but relatively calm and overcast. I started off well, and in the 2nd km was feeling really strong like this would be a good workout. Then I fell. I tripped over a crack in the sidewalk on 21st South. My normal route is mostly residential, but I like walking through downtown SugarHouse for a couple blocks early in the morning. It's not too crowded yet and the traffic is a non-issue since I don't cross 21st South. Still, it does involve sidewalks, which are mostly in good repair. I managed to find the one bad spot this morning, tripped, and took a nasty fall. I was wearing tights and gloves, thankfully, or the damage would have been worse. My hands were stinging but it was my left knee that was really bad. I definitely had a serious abrasion on the knee. It hurt quite a lot but I figured I could still do the workout, as it was just a superficial wound. I was really glad my tights didn't rip, because they are a nice pair and they're not cheap.
I got up and did the 3rd km pretty fast, in 6:14! However, that was short-lived. I slowed down a lot and couldn't figure out why until 6k, when I started coughing. I think that the cold air is increasing my problems with exercise-induced asthma. I seem to walk much better on the warmer days. Spring, hurry up and come! Anyway, I was slow today. My legs felt OK; maybe a little tired but nothing too serious. I think I was slow because of my lungs. Oh well, nothing I can do about that.
Total time 1:06:01 for 10k for 6:36/km; ave HR 151. Garmin connect data here.
Sunday x-training
Oops! I forgot to post this, and so then my coach didn't know I did it.
On Sunday afternoon, I did 30 min on the bike and 30 min on the stair stepper. It was a good x-training workout - nice and easy, with book in hand :).
On Sunday afternoon, I did 30 min on the bike and 30 min on the stair stepper. It was a good x-training workout - nice and easy, with book in hand :).
Monday, February 21, 2011
5K fartlek on treadmill
This morning was an exercise in frustration. It started off well enough. I looked outside and it was 29F (-2C) and clear, and the roads looked mostly empty of snow (it snowed quite a bit yesterday and was supposed to snow a little more last night). So I got all dressed to walk outside, with all the layers and gloves and hat and pepper spray and headlamp and rear blinkie and reflective vest. Then I walked out my door onto the driveway by the side of my house. It was coated in ice. Uh-oh. I walked out to the street and it was only slightly better. Goody, goody. Black ice (which is just ice on the road which is hard to see). Walking outside was not going to happen. So I thought I'd go to the indoor track. Uh, nope. It's a holiday here (President's Day - for my international friends, this is to honor our presidents Washington and Lincoln) and so the indoor track isn't open until 9 am. That wasn't an option. So that left one thing: the dreadmill. Unfortunately, those darned things are just not really accurate, so I knew I wouldn't be able to gauge my fitness level very well, but I would be able to get a good hard workout. And that I did.
I warmed up with 1 mile in 10:36, doing a few pick-ups and taking it easy in between. I stretched out a bit and got started. I have had to adjust my times a bit from what is on my watch because I waited until the 'mill was almost up to speed (6.6mph for my fast intervals today except for the 4th one, which was half at 6.6 mph and half at 6.5 mph) to push start. My watch says 5:32 but it was really 5:39 for the first km. Then 3:06 recovery, and 2:49 fast 500m. Then 3:15 recovery (I was really feeling it and my HR was quite high), and 2:49 fast. Then 3:15 recovery and 2:50 fast. Then the wheels fell off a bit - I slowed down a lot on the recovery AND had some serious math issues. 500m is 0.31 miles, and the $#*(& treadmills only have miles because Americans are too colossally stupid to actually go metric and get with the program like the rest of the world. Anyway, I had to add 0.31 to 2.48 and somehow had it fixated in my head that it was 2.86 (probably because 1.86 miles is 3km...), so my 4th recovery was actually 0.38 miles (544m). Oops. Even more oops, it was in 4:06, which when translated to 500m instead of 544 is a ridiculously slow 3:46. I am wondering if this can be right? But that's what the watch says...and my HR was an ave of 173 (!). Ouch. Finally, the last 500m was 2:45 (it was at 2:49 pace like the other so not sure what is going on here).
So, my total was 30:14 if you count the first km as 5:39. Hmmm, that is kind of slow for the effort. Like I said, I don't trust the treadmill accuracy very much. And I'm not sure where the 3:46 came from. I have no idea what all this means, except that I had a very good and very hard workout. I was really pushing it, and my ave HR was 170 for the whole workout, which is crazy high. I feel pretty good now, though, and nothing hurts.
Garmin connect data here.
I warmed up with 1 mile in 10:36, doing a few pick-ups and taking it easy in between. I stretched out a bit and got started. I have had to adjust my times a bit from what is on my watch because I waited until the 'mill was almost up to speed (6.6mph for my fast intervals today except for the 4th one, which was half at 6.6 mph and half at 6.5 mph) to push start. My watch says 5:32 but it was really 5:39 for the first km. Then 3:06 recovery, and 2:49 fast 500m. Then 3:15 recovery (I was really feeling it and my HR was quite high), and 2:49 fast. Then 3:15 recovery and 2:50 fast. Then the wheels fell off a bit - I slowed down a lot on the recovery AND had some serious math issues. 500m is 0.31 miles, and the $#*(& treadmills only have miles because Americans are too colossally stupid to actually go metric and get with the program like the rest of the world. Anyway, I had to add 0.31 to 2.48 and somehow had it fixated in my head that it was 2.86 (probably because 1.86 miles is 3km...), so my 4th recovery was actually 0.38 miles (544m). Oops. Even more oops, it was in 4:06, which when translated to 500m instead of 544 is a ridiculously slow 3:46. I am wondering if this can be right? But that's what the watch says...and my HR was an ave of 173 (!). Ouch. Finally, the last 500m was 2:45 (it was at 2:49 pace like the other so not sure what is going on here).
So, my total was 30:14 if you count the first km as 5:39. Hmmm, that is kind of slow for the effort. Like I said, I don't trust the treadmill accuracy very much. And I'm not sure where the 3:46 came from. I have no idea what all this means, except that I had a very good and very hard workout. I was really pushing it, and my ave HR was 170 for the whole workout, which is crazy high. I feel pretty good now, though, and nothing hurts.
Garmin connect data here.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
bourbon-pecan-chocolate-chip pie
A racewalker friend from Australia has asked for this recipe. Since I am typing it anyway, I'll put it here so I can share. It's modified from Betty Crocker and an Emeril recipe from the magazine Everyday Food. It's kind of a hodgepodge of both recipes. Enjoy!
Bourbon-pecan-chocolate-chip pie
Makes one 10" pie
2 cups pecan halves
2/3c semisweet chocolate chips
4t all purpose flour, plus more for coating chocolate chips
4 lg eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/3c packed light brown sugar
1c light corn syrup
1/3c bourbon
1t vanilla extract
1/3c salted butter, melted
crust
2c all-purpose flour
1t salt
3/4c butter flavor Crisco
5-8T cold water (in Utah use 7-8T because it's so dry here!)
1. Preheat oven to 375. Make crust: whisk flour & salt in medium bowl. Cut in Crisco with pastry blender. Add just enough cold water to allow you to form a ball. Roll out on pastry mat with more flour.
2. Spread pecans in crust. In small bowl, toss chocolate chips in a little flour to coat, then scatter evenly over pecans.
3. In a medium bowl, stir together eggs, brown sugar, corn syrup, bourbon, vanilla, butter, and flour until well combined. Pour filling over pecans and chocolate chips.
4. Bake until filling is set and crust is browned, about 70 minutes. Loosely tent with foil if it browns too quickly. Let cool on a wire rack at least 1 hour. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Nutrition info...don't ask LOL!
Bourbon-pecan-chocolate-chip pie
Makes one 10" pie
2 cups pecan halves
2/3c semisweet chocolate chips
4t all purpose flour, plus more for coating chocolate chips
4 lg eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/3c packed light brown sugar
1c light corn syrup
1/3c bourbon
1t vanilla extract
1/3c salted butter, melted
crust
2c all-purpose flour
1t salt
3/4c butter flavor Crisco
5-8T cold water (in Utah use 7-8T because it's so dry here!)
1. Preheat oven to 375. Make crust: whisk flour & salt in medium bowl. Cut in Crisco with pastry blender. Add just enough cold water to allow you to form a ball. Roll out on pastry mat with more flour.
2. Spread pecans in crust. In small bowl, toss chocolate chips in a little flour to coat, then scatter evenly over pecans.
3. In a medium bowl, stir together eggs, brown sugar, corn syrup, bourbon, vanilla, butter, and flour until well combined. Pour filling over pecans and chocolate chips.
4. Bake until filling is set and crust is browned, about 70 minutes. Loosely tent with foil if it browns too quickly. Let cool on a wire rack at least 1 hour. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Nutrition info...don't ask LOL!
6.3K Liberty Park
Thought I might be pretty tired after yesterday's 15K in the wind, but I actually felt fine. My muscles weren't sore or anything, and I forgot to mention that while my foot felt slightly warm yesterday it wasn't really achy at all, so hopefully we're OK there. Oh, and I didn't have a coughing fit after finishing yesterday. I have still been having quite a bit of exercised-induced asthma but it seems to be getting better as the weather is a bit warmer.
It was warm this morning again (40F, 4C) and NOT windy today, just a little gentle breeze. It's supposed to rain today (and has been sprinkling since about 8 am) but it didn't do much at all when I was out. Nice.
I felt great for 3K and then tired a bit. It was harder to maintain the pace and I had a slow km (6:38 from 3-4). Then I sped up the hill doing 6:34 from 4-5. Still made it home in 40:45 which is 6:28/km (my watch says 6:30 but it also had the distance at 6.26k today (short) for some reason). Nice workout, with ave HR 152. Solid. And my foot felt fine.
It's been a good week, and I think the plan is to gradually and conservatively increase distance and also speed workouts. Eventually we'll be back to 2 speed workouts/wk and they'll be longer. But for now, I'm happy to up things slowly and carefully, and I think my body will respond well to that.
Garmin connect data here.
It was warm this morning again (40F, 4C) and NOT windy today, just a little gentle breeze. It's supposed to rain today (and has been sprinkling since about 8 am) but it didn't do much at all when I was out. Nice.
I felt great for 3K and then tired a bit. It was harder to maintain the pace and I had a slow km (6:38 from 3-4). Then I sped up the hill doing 6:34 from 4-5. Still made it home in 40:45 which is 6:28/km (my watch says 6:30 but it also had the distance at 6.26k today (short) for some reason). Nice workout, with ave HR 152. Solid. And my foot felt fine.
It's been a good week, and I think the plan is to gradually and conservatively increase distance and also speed workouts. Eventually we'll be back to 2 speed workouts/wk and they'll be longer. But for now, I'm happy to up things slowly and carefully, and I think my body will respond well to that.
Garmin connect data here.
Friday, February 18, 2011
windy 15K
Before my 15K I did some weight training with Lisa. I focused on arms mostly so as not to tire out my legs for the 15K. I did bench press (35 lb dumbbells - heavy, could only do 3x8 reps)/foot PT bouncing ball standing on dyna disk; one-legged dead lifts (PT for foot) w/35 lb/row (70 lb); one-legged calf raises/hammer curls (15 lb ea arm); tricep rope pull-downs (25 lb)/military press (20 lb ea arm). Then core: plank (only 90 sec today), ball curls, ball pendulums (obliques), hip-ups (lower abs), stretching.
***
I met some friends from my walking club at the Jordan River Trail. Today is my Friday off, and Michelle wanted to go to her preschool, and Calvin is at school, too, of course. AND my regular Friday morning piano students canceled. Wow, some time to myself! Anyway, I met my friends and we chatted for 10 min or so before starting out. I'm younger than them (and hence faster) and so I knew I'd just see them at the start and on the way back. We all commented on the wind before we left. It was warm this morning at 41F (5C) but very, very windy. South wind at 20 mph (32 kph) with gusts of 25 mph. It felt pretty cold - so I dressed as if it were 20F outside: long-sleeved shirt and fleece on top, and tights and fleece on the bottom. The wind was steady and unrelenting. I headed south (into the wind) to start. At first I couldn't figure out why my legs felt like sludge and my times were so slow for the HR and effort. Duh! About 5km in it occurred to me that maybe it was the wind...so I looked forward to the turn-around at 7.5k. Sure enough, once I turned around, my times improved.
I saw my friends on the return and stopped for a couple minutes to chat again. I told them it was easier once you turned around! It was a hard workout because of the wind. Seriously, it's like hills. You don't gain going downhill what you lose on the uphill, and with the wind you don't gain with the tailwind what you lose with the headwind. I ended up with a 1:38:18 for 6:33/km with ave HR of 155. That is more than 2 minutes slower than last Saturday with a higher heart rate, but I don't think it's a reflection of my conditioning at all, just the wind. I mean, I might have been slower than last week without the wind, but who knows? It felt much harder today, but again, how can you compare? Anyway, I'm pleased that I got out there and did a pretty good pace despite the conditions. I had a nice negative split - 49:26 on the way out and 48:52 on the way back. Thanks, tailwind!
One down side was that I had to stop a couple times on the way back for intestinal cramps. Darn. Those haven't plagued me in a while. I wonder what it is that I ate yesterday? I wish I could figure that out. Well, it just added to the challenge today. It wasn't really a fun workout, but I'm glad I did it.
Garmin connect data here.
***
I met some friends from my walking club at the Jordan River Trail. Today is my Friday off, and Michelle wanted to go to her preschool, and Calvin is at school, too, of course. AND my regular Friday morning piano students canceled. Wow, some time to myself! Anyway, I met my friends and we chatted for 10 min or so before starting out. I'm younger than them (and hence faster) and so I knew I'd just see them at the start and on the way back. We all commented on the wind before we left. It was warm this morning at 41F (5C) but very, very windy. South wind at 20 mph (32 kph) with gusts of 25 mph. It felt pretty cold - so I dressed as if it were 20F outside: long-sleeved shirt and fleece on top, and tights and fleece on the bottom. The wind was steady and unrelenting. I headed south (into the wind) to start. At first I couldn't figure out why my legs felt like sludge and my times were so slow for the HR and effort. Duh! About 5km in it occurred to me that maybe it was the wind...so I looked forward to the turn-around at 7.5k. Sure enough, once I turned around, my times improved.
I saw my friends on the return and stopped for a couple minutes to chat again. I told them it was easier once you turned around! It was a hard workout because of the wind. Seriously, it's like hills. You don't gain going downhill what you lose on the uphill, and with the wind you don't gain with the tailwind what you lose with the headwind. I ended up with a 1:38:18 for 6:33/km with ave HR of 155. That is more than 2 minutes slower than last Saturday with a higher heart rate, but I don't think it's a reflection of my conditioning at all, just the wind. I mean, I might have been slower than last week without the wind, but who knows? It felt much harder today, but again, how can you compare? Anyway, I'm pleased that I got out there and did a pretty good pace despite the conditions. I had a nice negative split - 49:26 on the way out and 48:52 on the way back. Thanks, tailwind!
One down side was that I had to stop a couple times on the way back for intestinal cramps. Darn. Those haven't plagued me in a while. I wonder what it is that I ate yesterday? I wish I could figure that out. Well, it just added to the challenge today. It wasn't really a fun workout, but I'm glad I did it.
Garmin connect data here.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
what we did in Mesquite
My friend Lani asked what we did in Mesquite last weekend, since we don't gamble or play golf. We were only there Friday night (late) through Sunday morning at 11 am. Basically, I racewalked, we read lots of books, shopped for certain items unavailable in Utah (ginger liqueur!), and sat by the pool. Oh, and had a pretty mediocre buffet dinner. It was great to just sit and do not much of anything. Seriously, if we'd been there a day or two longer we'd probably have gone bowling (they have a cool bowling alley), caught a movie, and done more reading and pool-sitting.
More Mesquite photos.
***
Oh, and today is a rest day :).
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
weights, 10K
Today was weird. Last night I was at work from 9 pm to midnight doing a time-sensitive experiment. I figured I'd sleep until 6:30-6:45 then hit the gym for some weights, and fit in my 10K racewalking later in the day somewhere - maybe leave work early to do it. I did wake around 6:30 and went to the gym to lift, and while I was there I figured, "Hey, I could just take Calvin to school and then go racewalk BEFORE work, and be a bit late." The weather was amazingly warm at 50F (10C) but very, very windy. Seriously gusty knock-trash-cans-over windy. It is supposed to storm, and this is the "warm before the storm" that often happens here. The weather said possible rain turning to snow by 11am, so I thought going racewalking early was sounding better and better.
I took it easy on the lower body weights, knowing I'd be racewalking afterward. I did do walking lunges, but just used 15 lb/arm. Did some chest flys and calf raises and lat pull-downs, then also some bicep curls and tricep skull crushers. Then a good set of abs, including a 2-minute plank (haven't done one that long in a while). It's nice to be feeling better!
Then I drove Calvin to school, helped Michelle get dressed, and went racewalking. I was apprehensive I'd be slow after doing weight training, but happily, I felt great and was even faster than yesterday. I did the exact same route as yesterday and almost all my splits were significantly faster. However, the last 3K was mostly into the wind and uphill, and I was tired by then. I still pulled out a 1:04:11, 30 sec faster than yesterday. Everything felt great except that my left foot is still just the teeniest bit achy/warmish. I think it's going to be fine, and I'm not too worried, but I'm still just watching my form and monitoring it.
10K, 1:04:11, 6:25/km, ave HR 152. Garmin connect data here.
I took it easy on the lower body weights, knowing I'd be racewalking afterward. I did do walking lunges, but just used 15 lb/arm. Did some chest flys and calf raises and lat pull-downs, then also some bicep curls and tricep skull crushers. Then a good set of abs, including a 2-minute plank (haven't done one that long in a while). It's nice to be feeling better!
Then I drove Calvin to school, helped Michelle get dressed, and went racewalking. I was apprehensive I'd be slow after doing weight training, but happily, I felt great and was even faster than yesterday. I did the exact same route as yesterday and almost all my splits were significantly faster. However, the last 3K was mostly into the wind and uphill, and I was tired by then. I still pulled out a 1:04:11, 30 sec faster than yesterday. Everything felt great except that my left foot is still just the teeniest bit achy/warmish. I think it's going to be fine, and I'm not too worried, but I'm still just watching my form and monitoring it.
10K, 1:04:11, 6:25/km, ave HR 152. Garmin connect data here.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
10K
My calves were a bit sore this morning (I did calf raises yesterday after my 5K fartlek!). But the weather was nice at 34F (2C) and just the slightest breeze; a warm February morning for here. I'll take it - the cold and snow will be here tomorrow night through Monday at least.
It was a pretty uneventful 10K. I started off really well, but by 5K my legs were a little bit tired. I still did the 10K pretty fast, in 1:04:40, with ave HR 150. I worked it a bit at the end going up the slight hill, but other than that my effort was medium. I did feel kind of tired this morning; I haven't been getting quite enough sleep. My exercise-induced asthma was slightly noticeable. I was coughing a little during the workout and a fair amount at the end; my peak flow this morning was 450, which was pretty good. I took a little albuterol when I finished and the coughing is a lot better now.
My left foot is ever-so-slightly achy in the usual spot. I tried to focus a lot on my form to keep that pain at bay; hopefully it's just a little blip but I'll keep an eye on it.
Garmin connect data here.
It was a pretty uneventful 10K. I started off really well, but by 5K my legs were a little bit tired. I still did the 10K pretty fast, in 1:04:40, with ave HR 150. I worked it a bit at the end going up the slight hill, but other than that my effort was medium. I did feel kind of tired this morning; I haven't been getting quite enough sleep. My exercise-induced asthma was slightly noticeable. I was coughing a little during the workout and a fair amount at the end; my peak flow this morning was 450, which was pretty good. I took a little albuterol when I finished and the coughing is a lot better now.
My left foot is ever-so-slightly achy in the usual spot. I tried to focus a lot on my form to keep that pain at bay; hopefully it's just a little blip but I'll keep an eye on it.
Garmin connect data here.
Monday, February 14, 2011
5K fartlek under 30 min :)
There's nothing like a fast 5K to start your morning!
The NWS website said it was 40F (4C) with a slight breeze. They were wrong. My car thermometer said 35F and my house thermometer said 33. Still, it was a warm morning for here. It wasn't that windy either. I went to the track because after yesterday's warm weather in Salt Lake, it was free of snow :). It did have one small icy patch (about 2 strides long) but that wasn't bad.
I warmed up for 1600m in 10:29. Slooooowwwish for a warm-up, so I got a bit worried. I did a few dynamic flexibility drills, and my right hamstring was a little tight so I did some extra on that side. Otherwise, feeling decent. I figured I might be able to do this under 30:00 if I had a good day, but wasn't sure I was having a good day.
Then I started off. First km I felt I was working hard but it was only a 5:44. I just kept going. My recovery 500m was a 3:08, so then I figured maybe this workout would be OK after all. I pulled off a 2:50 for the next 500m and was encouraged. Then a 3:10 and 2:53 and I made it to 3K in 17:47 (a few seconds slower than last week's 3K fartlek). I thought I might just be able to do under 30 min for the 5K. I pushed pretty hard to get the last 2K fast - my legs started to get a bit tired. I still need to work on endurance, but it will come. Anyway, I managed 3:10 recovery, 2:53 fast, 3:12 recovery, and finally pulled off a 2:52 (working very hard!) to get my 29:58 total! Yay! I finished under 30 min! (My watch rounds down so the split totals don't equal the time total).
29:58, ave HR 165, 6:00/km. Garmin connect data here.
The NWS website said it was 40F (4C) with a slight breeze. They were wrong. My car thermometer said 35F and my house thermometer said 33. Still, it was a warm morning for here. It wasn't that windy either. I went to the track because after yesterday's warm weather in Salt Lake, it was free of snow :). It did have one small icy patch (about 2 strides long) but that wasn't bad.
I warmed up for 1600m in 10:29. Slooooowwwish for a warm-up, so I got a bit worried. I did a few dynamic flexibility drills, and my right hamstring was a little tight so I did some extra on that side. Otherwise, feeling decent. I figured I might be able to do this under 30:00 if I had a good day, but wasn't sure I was having a good day.
Then I started off. First km I felt I was working hard but it was only a 5:44. I just kept going. My recovery 500m was a 3:08, so then I figured maybe this workout would be OK after all. I pulled off a 2:50 for the next 500m and was encouraged. Then a 3:10 and 2:53 and I made it to 3K in 17:47 (a few seconds slower than last week's 3K fartlek). I thought I might just be able to do under 30 min for the 5K. I pushed pretty hard to get the last 2K fast - my legs started to get a bit tired. I still need to work on endurance, but it will come. Anyway, I managed 3:10 recovery, 2:53 fast, 3:12 recovery, and finally pulled off a 2:52 (working very hard!) to get my 29:58 total! Yay! I finished under 30 min! (My watch rounds down so the split totals don't equal the time total).
29:58, ave HR 165, 6:00/km. Garmin connect data here.
Sunday x-training
Still on vacation...I really wanted to RW because the weather is so nice here, but the coach said no. He wants me to save my energy for tomorrow's 5K fartlek. So I did 30 min on the bike and 30 min on the stair stepper in the hotel's small exercise room, and enjoyed talking with a nice couple vacationing from Saskatchewan. They were there for a month to golf. Heck, if I lived in Saskatchewan, I'd have to get away for a month in the winter, too. It's REALLY cold there!
Saturday, February 12, 2011
awesome 15K!!!!!
I felt really great today, and it showed. We're vacationing this weekend in Mesquite, Nevada. It's a border town that exists to have a few casinos close to Utah, or something like that (gambling is legal in Nevada but not in Utah). Technically, it is on the Arizona/Nevada border, but it's only about 40 miles from Utah, all the same. It is also known for its many golf courses. However, we don't gamble, and we don't golf. We just want to get WARM! It's supposed to be 70F (21C) here today...ahhhhhh.
I took two puffs of albuterol before starting my walk, just in case. I checked my peak flows before and after my walk and they were about 460. I felt like I was breathing a LOT better today in the warmer air, and I didn't cough as much while I was out or when I finished. It was about 35F (2C) when I started my walk, but it was sunny and it felt great. I waited until the sun came up, because I had the luxury of doing so today. My parents are watching the kids so we can have a weekend alone :). I wore tights and a long-sleeved shirt and gloves. The gloves came off after about 2-3k, and I wished I'd worn shorts. Seriously! I am used to the cold now, so I get hot easily, and it was 46F (8C) when I finished.
This is the route that I chose. I wanted something mostly flat, and it was - mostly. It was a good downhill to start, and a good uphill at the end (the uphill on this loop was steeper than the downhill). It's pretty flat in the middle, but there was a hill from 5-6K that slowed me down a bit. I started off fast, with two sub-6:15 kms, and my slowest km was on the way back up a big hill between 12-13 km (the freeway overpass), at 6:41. I'm so pleased that 6:41 was my slowest today, since this was the longest I've gone in a while. I felt a bit tired from 10-15k, but not too bad at all considering the hills. My legs were pretty fresh until 10-11K, and now that I'm done I feel a little stiff, but overall I feel pretty good.
Total time was 1:35:53 for 6:23/km with ave HR 153. Yeah, I pushed harder than I originally intended, but I was doing SO well that I just got in a groove and went for it :). Garmin connect data here.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Thursday & Friday
Thursday I took a rest day, and it felt very good to rest.
***
Today I did the 6.3K Liberty Park route. It was the fastest I've done it in quite some time! It took me 40:35, for 6:24/km, with average HR 150. Yeah, I was pushing up the hill on the way back, but I felt good and strong and wanted to see how fast I could do it, without pushing TOO hard. It was fun! I am just so happy to be feeling pretty much normal again.
I did have a bit of a coughing fit when I got back, as is common these days. It's definitely exercise-induced. Yesterday when I didn't work out I didn't cough much at all - surprise, surprise. I measured my peak flow and got 430 right after the workout today. I took a couple puffs of albuterol and about 15 min later my peak flows were 460. It took a while for the coughing to subside, but it's better now. The albuterol makes me a bit jittery, but it really does the trick for the coughing.
Tomorrow I'm to do 15K (9.3 miles). That's the longest I've gone since the half marathon back in November. I am sure I'm up to the distance - the only question is what speed will I be able to do it at? I'm not going to push too hard, as I want to make sure my body can handle the distance without worrying too much about the speed.
***
I haven't been eating as well the past week or so. I'm such a sucker for good dessert, and they have been plentiful this week. I think I just need to go cold turkey for a while on the after-dinner noshing. My weight is up about a pound, and I really need to be going the opposite direction. I'm thankful for racewalking, because it does give me leeway to eat good desserts. However, I can't do it every night or I do gain, despite my physical activity. I'd really like to be down 6-7 lb by July, so it's time to get the scale moving in the right direction. I keep saying this, and don't do it. But I know I'll feel much better if I get this under control a bit. It is a constant battle, I admit. However, it's one that is worth the fight.
***
Edited to add: Garmin connect data from today's walk here.
***
Today I did the 6.3K Liberty Park route. It was the fastest I've done it in quite some time! It took me 40:35, for 6:24/km, with average HR 150. Yeah, I was pushing up the hill on the way back, but I felt good and strong and wanted to see how fast I could do it, without pushing TOO hard. It was fun! I am just so happy to be feeling pretty much normal again.
I did have a bit of a coughing fit when I got back, as is common these days. It's definitely exercise-induced. Yesterday when I didn't work out I didn't cough much at all - surprise, surprise. I measured my peak flow and got 430 right after the workout today. I took a couple puffs of albuterol and about 15 min later my peak flows were 460. It took a while for the coughing to subside, but it's better now. The albuterol makes me a bit jittery, but it really does the trick for the coughing.
Tomorrow I'm to do 15K (9.3 miles). That's the longest I've gone since the half marathon back in November. I am sure I'm up to the distance - the only question is what speed will I be able to do it at? I'm not going to push too hard, as I want to make sure my body can handle the distance without worrying too much about the speed.
***
I haven't been eating as well the past week or so. I'm such a sucker for good dessert, and they have been plentiful this week. I think I just need to go cold turkey for a while on the after-dinner noshing. My weight is up about a pound, and I really need to be going the opposite direction. I'm thankful for racewalking, because it does give me leeway to eat good desserts. However, I can't do it every night or I do gain, despite my physical activity. I'd really like to be down 6-7 lb by July, so it's time to get the scale moving in the right direction. I keep saying this, and don't do it. But I know I'll feel much better if I get this under control a bit. It is a constant battle, I admit. However, it's one that is worth the fight.
***
Edited to add: Garmin connect data from today's walk here.
Wednesday, February 09, 2011
another 10k
I did another 10K today. I felt great when I started out, even though it was chilly (24F, -4C) with a slight breeze. My face got really cold by the end! But it was not as windy as yesterday, and the roads were 95% clear. However, about 3-4k I had a coughing fit, probably from the cold dry air, despite taking a puff of Albuterol before starting out today. Didn't seem to slow me down, though, but then I felt a bit wheezy for the rest of my walk. Still, I was fast to start off. Good thing, because about 7k my legs got really tired (I'm glad I'm taking a rest day tomorrow). I was able to keep pushing a bit but still lost ground especially since it was slightly uphill; my slowest km was 6:50.
Oh, and I regretted eating ice cream last night...GI pain dogged me at the end, too, and I had to stop a couple times. But in the end I still finished at 6:30/km for the 10K - watch says 9.77 because I clicked it off to wait for a car at one street and then didn't hit start again for a few tenths.
Also, saw a raccoon crossing the street and running up someone's front porch - that was pretty cool. They're pests but I kind of like them because they are clever and pretty cute.
Garmin connect data here.
Oh, and I regretted eating ice cream last night...GI pain dogged me at the end, too, and I had to stop a couple times. But in the end I still finished at 6:30/km for the 10K - watch says 9.77 because I clicked it off to wait for a car at one street and then didn't hit start again for a few tenths.
Also, saw a raccoon crossing the street and running up someone's front porch - that was pretty cool. They're pests but I kind of like them because they are clever and pretty cute.
Garmin connect data here.
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
10K indoors
It was 23F (-5C) and windy this morning, plus we had about 2 inches of new snow and the streets were icy. It wasn't hard to decide to walk inside.
47.4 times around the indoor track (211m) is 10K. Wheeeeeee...I was going to feel like a mouse on a wheel, but it beat the treadmill. 5 times around the track is 1055m, and so at a 6:30/km pace that is 6:51.45 per 5 laps (or 1:22 per lap). I was going to time each lap, but my watch laps were getting full, so I settled for every 5 laps (after the first few laps), with one mess-up. Still, I can add up the times more or less :).
I felt good to start, and my HR was nice and low, but as the workout went on I had to work harder to maintain pace. At the end, I was averaging HR of 158! However, overall my ave HR was only 148 for my 10K, and total time was a respectable 1:05:19 (considering I'm coming off illness and all).
My 5-lap times were (ave HR if I have it): 6:48 (130-something?), 6:49 (143), 6:52 (145), 6:55 (148), 6:55 (148), 6:56 (151), 6:59 (152), 6:53 (154), 6:48 (158), last 2.4 laps 3:17 (158). Got a bit sluggish in the middle there, but pulled it out with a harder effort at the end. I felt good when I finished, though I did have a fair amount of dry coughing.
Hopefully I will be able to walk outside tomorrow!
Garmin connect data here.
47.4 times around the indoor track (211m) is 10K. Wheeeeeee...I was going to feel like a mouse on a wheel, but it beat the treadmill. 5 times around the track is 1055m, and so at a 6:30/km pace that is 6:51.45 per 5 laps (or 1:22 per lap). I was going to time each lap, but my watch laps were getting full, so I settled for every 5 laps (after the first few laps), with one mess-up. Still, I can add up the times more or less :).
I felt good to start, and my HR was nice and low, but as the workout went on I had to work harder to maintain pace. At the end, I was averaging HR of 158! However, overall my ave HR was only 148 for my 10K, and total time was a respectable 1:05:19 (considering I'm coming off illness and all).
My 5-lap times were (ave HR if I have it): 6:48 (130-something?), 6:49 (143), 6:52 (145), 6:55 (148), 6:55 (148), 6:56 (151), 6:59 (152), 6:53 (154), 6:48 (158), last 2.4 laps 3:17 (158). Got a bit sluggish in the middle there, but pulled it out with a harder effort at the end. I felt good when I finished, though I did have a fair amount of dry coughing.
Hopefully I will be able to walk outside tomorrow!
Garmin connect data here.
Monday, February 07, 2011
new-to-us car
Drum roll...and here it is...2002 PT Cruiser with low miles and in pristine condition. We bought it from the family of one of my piano students. I spent a while today getting the emission and safety inspections and getting it registered (i.e. forking over lots of money in sales taxes, reg fees, etc.) at the DMV. Our mechanic says it looks very well taken care of :).
3+K fartlek (indoor 211m track)
In a hurry so just reporting the results for my coach. I felt great this morning! Times are 1055m fast, 527.5m med, then 527.5m fast, 527.5m med, 527.5m fast.
211m track times: 5:56.3, 3:20.5, 2:59.2, 3:24.5, 2:59.6, total 18:40.1 (19 sec faster than last week!).
Converted to 1K/500/500/500/500: 5:37.8, 3:10.1, 2:49.9, 3:13.8, 2:50.2 for 17:41.8.
Average HR 164 (higher than last week, but about the same as 2 wk ago).
I'm quite happy with this :).
Garmin connect data here.
211m track times: 5:56.3, 3:20.5, 2:59.2, 3:24.5, 2:59.6, total 18:40.1 (19 sec faster than last week!).
Converted to 1K/500/500/500/500: 5:37.8, 3:10.1, 2:49.9, 3:13.8, 2:50.2 for 17:41.8.
Average HR 164 (higher than last week, but about the same as 2 wk ago).
I'm quite happy with this :).
Garmin connect data here.
Sunday, February 06, 2011
banished to the bike for a day
My coach banished me to the bike for the day. After the sluggish performance of the last two days, he thought a day of cross-training would be a good thing, and I agreed. It was kind of nice to just hit the bike and the elliptical (30 min each) and read Runner's World, listen to some tunes, people-watch, and have a relaxing workout. The weather was really nice today though - about 41F (4C) and sunny, and it was beckoning me to be outside. Weird that 41 feels so warm, but after the cold weather of about 10 days ago, it really does feel nice, especially in the sun. Anyway, thought I was tempted to racewalk outside, I dutifully hit the gym and did my thing.
Tomorrow: another 3K fartlek. Hoping for good things!
Tomorrow: another 3K fartlek. Hoping for good things!
Saturday, February 05, 2011
6 years!
I apologize in advance if this seems weird to celebrate, but today, February 5th, is my 6th anniversary of joining Weight Watchers. My life has not been the same since joining, and it is so much better that I really can't help but celebrate. Thinking of all the cool racewalking things I've gotten to do, never mind the hiking and biking and so much more, makes me truly grateful and in a celebratory mood.
This photo is of me and Calvin at a Christmas party in December 2004, just 2 months before I joined Weight Watchers.
Me this summer at the start of our club 5K. Look how happy I am to be out there! The joy on my face is unmistakable. The joy that I feel from the confidence and strength my sport has given me is hard to describe. But this is why I can stay on the program and eat (more or less! lol!) the way that is healthy for me. Before I was miserable & didn't like the person I'd become. Now I revel in the strength racewalking gives me. Sure, right now I'm not as strong as I could be, due to illness and other factors. But that is unimportant. I'm out there, I'm healthy, and I'm content.
This photo is of me and Calvin at a Christmas party in December 2004, just 2 months before I joined Weight Watchers.
Me this summer at the start of our club 5K. Look how happy I am to be out there! The joy on my face is unmistakable. The joy that I feel from the confidence and strength my sport has given me is hard to describe. But this is why I can stay on the program and eat (more or less! lol!) the way that is healthy for me. Before I was miserable & didn't like the person I'd become. Now I revel in the strength racewalking gives me. Sure, right now I'm not as strong as I could be, due to illness and other factors. But that is unimportant. I'm out there, I'm healthy, and I'm content.
sluggish 12K
Forgot to mention this but now it seems germane, possibly. I went to the doctor on Wednesday 2/2 for a follow up from my 1/7 visit re: the possible asthma. My peak flows have not improved at all on the FloVent medication (low dose inhaled steroid) and so the doctor and I wondered 1) do I really have asthma (aside from the exercise-induced kind, which I definitely do have), or 2) I have it and the dose is too low of the FloVent? The doc was thinking some pulmonary function tests might be indicated, but then again, maybe not. I am still coughing quite a bit though - the dry non-productive kind, and it gets worse w/exercise. If it wasn't for the continuing cough, the doc said he wouldn't be concerned. However, the cough gives both of us pause.
In order to have pulmonary function tests, you have to be off the FloVent for at least 2 weeks. So, since I was thinking it wasn't doing any good anyway, we decided that I should stop taking it and see how my cough is. If it is not better in a few weeks, or if it worsens, then we will get pulmonary function tests. If it gets better, we'll assume that I'm fine. All this means that Wednesday morning was my last dose of FloVent.
Obviously the stuff stays in your system for a while, but yesterday and today's workouts were a bit subpar by recent standards. Is this related to the FloVent? Probably not...but I'm going to keep tabs on it and see how things go.
On to today's workout. I had planned to do 12k, and that's what I did, even though I knew after about 4k that it was going to be a bit slower than last week. I started off well enough but just didn't have it today. I felt OK, so I'm not sure what the deal was! The only complaint going in was that I was a bit sleep-deprived (up an hour later than I'd have liked) and my abductors are slightly sore from the PT exercises I did yesterday (IT band preventive maintenance). Other than that, I felt fine, and the weather was even pretty nice by February standards at 33F (1C) and calm; the air quality wasn't bad at 16 (PM2.5).
The one bit of good news is that my legs felt less tired than last week. This week they didn't get too tired until about 10K, and the last 2K was not too fun (uphill...). Last week the last 4K was hard, so there's some improvement.
My time was slower though. Today I went 1:20:41 for 6:43/k, with ave HR 152. Garmin connect data here.
In order to have pulmonary function tests, you have to be off the FloVent for at least 2 weeks. So, since I was thinking it wasn't doing any good anyway, we decided that I should stop taking it and see how my cough is. If it is not better in a few weeks, or if it worsens, then we will get pulmonary function tests. If it gets better, we'll assume that I'm fine. All this means that Wednesday morning was my last dose of FloVent.
Obviously the stuff stays in your system for a while, but yesterday and today's workouts were a bit subpar by recent standards. Is this related to the FloVent? Probably not...but I'm going to keep tabs on it and see how things go.
On to today's workout. I had planned to do 12k, and that's what I did, even though I knew after about 4k that it was going to be a bit slower than last week. I started off well enough but just didn't have it today. I felt OK, so I'm not sure what the deal was! The only complaint going in was that I was a bit sleep-deprived (up an hour later than I'd have liked) and my abductors are slightly sore from the PT exercises I did yesterday (IT band preventive maintenance). Other than that, I felt fine, and the weather was even pretty nice by February standards at 33F (1C) and calm; the air quality wasn't bad at 16 (PM2.5).
The one bit of good news is that my legs felt less tired than last week. This week they didn't get too tired until about 10K, and the last 2K was not too fun (uphill...). Last week the last 4K was hard, so there's some improvement.
My time was slower though. Today I went 1:20:41 for 6:43/k, with ave HR 152. Garmin connect data here.
Friday, February 04, 2011
6K on treadmill
I woke up a bit late today...so it was the treadmill for me, as I was to meet Lisa at the gym at 6:55. I had planned to go outside for 40-45 min and then go to the gym to lift, but instead I got to the gym and on the treadmill around 6:35. I really don't like the treadmill, but honestly, I'm also tired of the dark and the cold in the mornings, so I didn't mind quite as much today.
Well, I was on the treadmill, so I kept it at a constant speed, but my HR got pretty high for the speed that it was set on. I had it set for 5.7 mph (10:31/mile), which is about a 6:32/km pace. My HR started out pretty low, ave 132 for the first km, but it went up fast averaging 147, 151, 155, 158, then 160 for the last km...hmmm...sluggish today I guess. I did keep the 5.7 mph for the whole 6K though, which is one of the advantages of the treadmill I suppose. It felt like a pretty hard workout. Sigh...still pretty out-of-shape.
Tomorrow will be a longer workout - another 12km, probably. I hope it is a bit easier than it was last week, but I'm not so sure it will be. Long ways to go in the fitness department, but I have lots of time before my next serious race, so I must be patient. I'm just glad I can train again.
Well, I was on the treadmill, so I kept it at a constant speed, but my HR got pretty high for the speed that it was set on. I had it set for 5.7 mph (10:31/mile), which is about a 6:32/km pace. My HR started out pretty low, ave 132 for the first km, but it went up fast averaging 147, 151, 155, 158, then 160 for the last km...hmmm...sluggish today I guess. I did keep the 5.7 mph for the whole 6K though, which is one of the advantages of the treadmill I suppose. It felt like a pretty hard workout. Sigh...still pretty out-of-shape.
Tomorrow will be a longer workout - another 12km, probably. I hope it is a bit easier than it was last week, but I'm not so sure it will be. Long ways to go in the fitness department, but I have lots of time before my next serious race, so I must be patient. I'm just glad I can train again.
Thursday, February 03, 2011
rest day
I took a rest day today from exercising. It felt good to relax longer in bed and read a bit before going to work. Ahhhhh...
Back to the regular routine tomorrow. Probably some walking and some weight training.
Back to the regular routine tomorrow. Probably some walking and some weight training.
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
6.119K on indoor track
It was cold this morning, but not as cold as predicted. It was only 7F, but that was better than 0F (-18C)! It was supposed to be windy, too, but it wasn't. Had I known it would be 7F and calm, I would have walked outside. I still could have, but I was all packed & ready for the gym followed by heading straight up to work, so that's what I did. Actually, the indoor track is at the gym at the U, and I meet Lisa at the county recreation facility nearby, so I went to two gyms this morning. Yeah, I have two gym memberships. Kinda funny since I used to be a couch potato. I could just have one, but I talked Lisa into the membership first, and then when the weather turned nasty in the fall I realized it would be good to have one at the field house at the U so that I could use the indoor track rather than always having to do the treadmill. Besides, the county facility is much nicer and more comfortable in the summer (better air conditioning), so it's better year-round for weight training. I only need the U membership in the winter, and as part-time staff I can only buy 6 months at a time anyway, so it all works out.
Enough digression. I felt tired this morning (sleepy tired) after not enough sleep for a couple nights in a row. My legs were a tad sore (upper hamstrings/glutes) but other than that I felt OK. I was sluggish this morning, though. On the 211m track, 6:30/km is equivalent to 1:22/lap. I tried to keep that pace, but my body just wasn't into it this morning. Most laps were 1:23-1:24, and I settled into that rhythm because it felt right this morning. I finished 29 laps before it was time to go lift weights with Lisa. It took 40:24 for the 6.119K (211m * 29 laps), so I averaged 6:36/km with an ave HR of 150.
***
When I got to the other gym I didn't have a lot of time to lift weights because I chatted with Lisa too long (she was riding the stationary bike...should have hopped on the one next to her, but felt lazy!). I still got in a couple sets of stuff to help with my various weak spots, plus abs and stretching. I did walking lunges with 17.5lb in each hand/bench press w/30lb dumbbells then rowing machine (70 lb)/multi-hip abductors (80 lb), and finally some one-legged calf raises (body weight)/lateral raises (10 lb). Then core exercises that Lisa and I did together, plus stretching.
Enough digression. I felt tired this morning (sleepy tired) after not enough sleep for a couple nights in a row. My legs were a tad sore (upper hamstrings/glutes) but other than that I felt OK. I was sluggish this morning, though. On the 211m track, 6:30/km is equivalent to 1:22/lap. I tried to keep that pace, but my body just wasn't into it this morning. Most laps were 1:23-1:24, and I settled into that rhythm because it felt right this morning. I finished 29 laps before it was time to go lift weights with Lisa. It took 40:24 for the 6.119K (211m * 29 laps), so I averaged 6:36/km with an ave HR of 150.
***
When I got to the other gym I didn't have a lot of time to lift weights because I chatted with Lisa too long (she was riding the stationary bike...should have hopped on the one next to her, but felt lazy!). I still got in a couple sets of stuff to help with my various weak spots, plus abs and stretching. I did walking lunges with 17.5lb in each hand/bench press w/30lb dumbbells then rowing machine (70 lb)/multi-hip abductors (80 lb), and finally some one-legged calf raises (body weight)/lateral raises (10 lb). Then core exercises that Lisa and I did together, plus stretching.
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
cold but good
It was cold this morning. And it got colder while I was out there! It was 20F (-6.7C) when I started, but only 15F (-9.4C) when I finished, and now it's only 14F (-10C). It was just slightly breezy when I started, but the last 2.5km (uphill slightly) it was windy, gusting in my face. That was SO very, very cold!!! I was actually warm enough in my fleece except for the very end with the wind in my face.
Obviously a cold front just came through, and it's supposed to get colder - only 1F (-17.2C) tonight, they say, and windy. I think that tomorrow might be an indoor workout day. Even I have my limits. I love being outside, but not if I'm freezing. At least we don't have several feet of snow like the Midwest. Winters here are cold, but they are definitely warmer than Midwest winters. I lived in Wisconsin until I was 10 years old, and winter there is brutal.
Thankfully, winter is half over now I figure, so warmer weather is at least on the horizon now. One bright spot this morning was that it wasn't pitch black outside when I finished - it's getting lighter earlier :).
Anyway, I have to get to work, so I'll be brief: I had a great workout. I started a bit slow down the hill (1st km in 6:24) and felt that I didn't want to move faster, but managed to pick it up and did the 2nd km in 6:06. I kept a good pace for the next few km, and even managed to be pretty fast up the hill, at 6:42 and 6:40 for the uphill km. Even when I'm in good shape I tend to do those at about 6:37-6:38, so I am very happy with this.
Apparently I'm well recovered from yesterday's 3K fartlek. Total time 54:57 for the 8.5 km, for 6:28/km with ave HR of just 148. Not bad, not bad at all.
Garmin connect data here.
Obviously a cold front just came through, and it's supposed to get colder - only 1F (-17.2C) tonight, they say, and windy. I think that tomorrow might be an indoor workout day. Even I have my limits. I love being outside, but not if I'm freezing. At least we don't have several feet of snow like the Midwest. Winters here are cold, but they are definitely warmer than Midwest winters. I lived in Wisconsin until I was 10 years old, and winter there is brutal.
Thankfully, winter is half over now I figure, so warmer weather is at least on the horizon now. One bright spot this morning was that it wasn't pitch black outside when I finished - it's getting lighter earlier :).
Anyway, I have to get to work, so I'll be brief: I had a great workout. I started a bit slow down the hill (1st km in 6:24) and felt that I didn't want to move faster, but managed to pick it up and did the 2nd km in 6:06. I kept a good pace for the next few km, and even managed to be pretty fast up the hill, at 6:42 and 6:40 for the uphill km. Even when I'm in good shape I tend to do those at about 6:37-6:38, so I am very happy with this.
Apparently I'm well recovered from yesterday's 3K fartlek. Total time 54:57 for the 8.5 km, for 6:28/km with ave HR of just 148. Not bad, not bad at all.
Garmin connect data here.
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