Week 5: July 18- July 24
Monday:
I was scheduled to have an early morning strength workout with Moiria today but my body was still feeling the effects of the strenuous workouts the day before and canceled the workout. Throughout the day I focused on hydrating lots more than usual due my low energy level.
I did attend the Body Flow class in the evening and even that seemed more challenging than normal to me. I’m hoping that this hot spell that is going through the area will past sooner rather than later.
I also decided to hold off on my weekly swim lesson with Derek. I haven’t had much time in the last week to practice some of the things we worked on during the previous lesson.
Tuesday:
I woke up and literally had to drag myself out of bed in order to attend Moira’s AM bootcamp. I’m glad that I got up and went through the workout but at the same time I was really tired throughout the class and then the remainder of the day.
The track workout was canceled due to the heat index so I decided to get my run done inside on the treadmill. It felt great to have a cool fan blowing on me as I ran. It was also nice to have a t.v. right in front of me as I ran. It was still hard to believe that I’m running inside in the summer due to the weather!!
Wednesday:
Since I was having a tough time getting up early this week I decided to try a different hot yoga class this week in the afternoon as opposed to the morning. This week I tried the Warm Flow class at 5:30-6:30. Although it wasn’t as hot as the normal Hot Flow class that I attend it was still very challenging. One of the differences was the use of the foam roller.
The group workout was canceled tonight, again due to the heat. I made the decision again to run inside on the treadmill at Harbor. It felt good to have completed the runs even without feeling like all my energy was fully drained. The one thing I found out recently about running on a treadmill is to make sure you have the incline set to at least 1.0. This helps to simulate what it would be like to run outside.
Thursday:
I completed a strength workout with Moira. We completed a number of different functional exercises that worked my core and upper body muscles.
Friday:
I decided to take the day off from the any sort of exercise due to the Tough Mudder event that I would be completing on Saturday.
Saturday:
I participated in the Tough Mudder event held at the Devil’s Head Resort. I won’t go into a lot of detail because it would be better to just look up the event on the internet in order to see some of the events. It was a crazy experience and something that I would highly recommend people try.
I think that all the workouts that I’ve done at Harbor and the running that I’ve completed really prepared me for this event. Out of the nearly 7,000 that completed the event many struggled with throughout.
Sunday:
I met the Fleet Feet group for a 13-mile run at the Panera Bread on University. We ran through the UW campus and over to the east side. Although I was technically supposed to go 16 miles today my legs and body were pretty sore from the Tough Mudder. I thought that just completing the 13 miler would allow me to keep my distances up while not over doing it with my body.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Week 4: July 11-17
Week 4: July 11 – July 17
Monday:
Strength:
I was excited to get going with the week. This week and next week I don’t have anything specific planned so I’m hoping to buckle down and stick with my plan for the next two weeks. I’m also hoping to really focus on my nutrition and avoid the sugar!!! We’ll see how it goes.
I met for a workout with Moira. We did a number of different strengthening type activities. The toughest by far was three different stages of a hip strengthening activity using the TRX. We also did some different activities using the swiss balls and dumbbells in the free weight rooms. Outside of the actual workout we continued to discuss nutrition. One of the things we agreed to do was to do a weigh-in and body fat check every week.
Flexibility:
I attended the weekly body flow class. Another great class, although it seems harder for me this week for some reason. One of the most relaxing times of the week is the last 8 minutes of the class.
Swimming:
I had my 3rd class with Derek, Harbor’s swim coach. First off I have say how nice it is to learn the proper swimming technique from a coach who definitely knows what they are doing but is also patience. Derek does a great job of teaching while still allowing me to discuss mistakes on my own. We worked on kicks, breathing, and body position for the majority of the lesson. These are also the three aspects of swimming that I need to continue to work on throughout the week. A suggestion for a practice workout that Derek gave me was:
-Kicking with the kickboard on my back for 50 m.
-Kicking with the kickboard on stomach for 50 m.
-Spear drill 50 m on both sides.
-Kickboard comeback
Tuesday:
AM Boot camp:
I attended the AM boot camp led by Moira. We did four rounds of 5 activities per rounds. It really kicked butt! I left dripping with sweat.
Track Work:
I met the Fleet Feet group at the Madison Memorial Track to work on some speed work. We did a build set of 100’s and 200’s and then a speed set of 800’s. Very, very challenging but good!
Wednesday:
I ended up doing some different things on Tuesday night that kept me up to late to attend hot yoga in the morning. At night I met up with the Fleet Feet running group and ran a solid 5 mile loop on the far west side.
Thursday:
I completed a strength workout with Moira today. The workout again focused on doing a circuit of 4-5 different exercises for 3-4 different rounds. During the breaks in between we talked a lot about nutrition. This continues to be a struggle for me. My addition to sugar and balancing out carbs and protein are the two biggest obstacles that I need to overcome. The biggest success I have had over the past two weeks or so is that I’ve given up eating all that laffy taffy.
Friday:
I completed my first solo tempo run through the pheasant branch conservancy. This was a challenge but it was one that I was ready to handle. The weather was still ridiculously hot and humid. My goal pace was to average 7:36 miles. I think my average was a bit closer to 7:40 when it was all said and done. Overall, I felt better about doing it by myself and have the energy and the ability to push on.
Saturday:
My scheduled workout today was an easy 5-mile run but I took advantage of another group run opportunity. I ended up running around 7 miles with some trail runners. The North Face store sponsored a trail run with one of their professional athletes leading the charge. It was something different and it was really cool. We spent time going through the trails around the Picnic Point area of the UW-Madison campus.
Sunday:
The hot weather continued throughout the area. My training plan had me running 13 miles. I was able to connect in with a couple other runners and we decided to meet at 6:30 run for 30 minutes and then meet up with the group that would be running at 7. Well, even at that early hour the air was thick and hot. After meeting up with the group run at 7 am and completing 9 of the 11 scheduled miles I had to stop. I was out of water and my feet felt as if I had stepped into a puddle of water. My clothes were sopping wet!
Monday:
Strength:
I was excited to get going with the week. This week and next week I don’t have anything specific planned so I’m hoping to buckle down and stick with my plan for the next two weeks. I’m also hoping to really focus on my nutrition and avoid the sugar!!! We’ll see how it goes.
I met for a workout with Moira. We did a number of different strengthening type activities. The toughest by far was three different stages of a hip strengthening activity using the TRX. We also did some different activities using the swiss balls and dumbbells in the free weight rooms. Outside of the actual workout we continued to discuss nutrition. One of the things we agreed to do was to do a weigh-in and body fat check every week.
Flexibility:
I attended the weekly body flow class. Another great class, although it seems harder for me this week for some reason. One of the most relaxing times of the week is the last 8 minutes of the class.
Swimming:
I had my 3rd class with Derek, Harbor’s swim coach. First off I have say how nice it is to learn the proper swimming technique from a coach who definitely knows what they are doing but is also patience. Derek does a great job of teaching while still allowing me to discuss mistakes on my own. We worked on kicks, breathing, and body position for the majority of the lesson. These are also the three aspects of swimming that I need to continue to work on throughout the week. A suggestion for a practice workout that Derek gave me was:
-Kicking with the kickboard on my back for 50 m.
-Kicking with the kickboard on stomach for 50 m.
-Spear drill 50 m on both sides.
-Kickboard comeback
Tuesday:
AM Boot camp:
I attended the AM boot camp led by Moira. We did four rounds of 5 activities per rounds. It really kicked butt! I left dripping with sweat.
Track Work:
I met the Fleet Feet group at the Madison Memorial Track to work on some speed work. We did a build set of 100’s and 200’s and then a speed set of 800’s. Very, very challenging but good!
Wednesday:
I ended up doing some different things on Tuesday night that kept me up to late to attend hot yoga in the morning. At night I met up with the Fleet Feet running group and ran a solid 5 mile loop on the far west side.
Thursday:
I completed a strength workout with Moira today. The workout again focused on doing a circuit of 4-5 different exercises for 3-4 different rounds. During the breaks in between we talked a lot about nutrition. This continues to be a struggle for me. My addition to sugar and balancing out carbs and protein are the two biggest obstacles that I need to overcome. The biggest success I have had over the past two weeks or so is that I’ve given up eating all that laffy taffy.
Friday:
I completed my first solo tempo run through the pheasant branch conservancy. This was a challenge but it was one that I was ready to handle. The weather was still ridiculously hot and humid. My goal pace was to average 7:36 miles. I think my average was a bit closer to 7:40 when it was all said and done. Overall, I felt better about doing it by myself and have the energy and the ability to push on.
Saturday:
My scheduled workout today was an easy 5-mile run but I took advantage of another group run opportunity. I ended up running around 7 miles with some trail runners. The North Face store sponsored a trail run with one of their professional athletes leading the charge. It was something different and it was really cool. We spent time going through the trails around the Picnic Point area of the UW-Madison campus.
Sunday:
The hot weather continued throughout the area. My training plan had me running 13 miles. I was able to connect in with a couple other runners and we decided to meet at 6:30 run for 30 minutes and then meet up with the group that would be running at 7. Well, even at that early hour the air was thick and hot. After meeting up with the group run at 7 am and completing 9 of the 11 scheduled miles I had to stop. I was out of water and my feet felt as if I had stepped into a puddle of water. My clothes were sopping wet!
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Week 3: July 4- July 10
Monday:
I didn’t accomplish a lot today with the holiday. It was some well needed R and R though after a two tough days of workouts.
Tuesday:
Again, I was out of town overnight and wasn’t able to make the AM bootcamp with Moira. I was back in town early enough to attend the Fleet Feet track workout. What a butt kicker!!! All the workouts start with a mile warm up and end with a mile cool down. On this particular day I had to be timed doing a 2.4 KM race (6 laps around the track). This was hard enough! After this I had to do the following: 100m-200m-300m-400m-400m-300m-200m-100m; in between each of these intervals we had to do a 10 burbies or 10 toe touches. It was one of those workouts in which you feel like you’ve accomplished something after it’s done. Unfortunately, after the workout my right hip/butt felt as if I had pulled a bit of the muscle. I’m hopping it won’t prohibit my future workout!
Wednesday:
Hot Yoga!!! It was nice to be back into the routine of getting up early to do yoga. Part of my weekly training routine is to complete the Hot Power Flow class at the Harbor Wellness Center from 5:45-6:45. When my alarm went off the first thing I wanted to do was to hit the snooze and go back to sleep for the extra hour. Well, so much for that!!! I was able to overcome my lazy inner voice and get up to do the class.
This week Tammy R taught the class. I’ve had her teach my first several classes so I was familiar with her style. The initial 10-15 minutes of class were challenging but soon after I was able to climb back into a routine that allowed me to continue. Again, at the end of class and throughout the rest of the day I felt like I had additional energy coupled with the pain in my hip/ butt from the previous night was extremely reduced.
Running- I again met the Fleet Feet group for a run through the Pheasant Branch Conversancy. Although I was only supposed to do 5 miles I felt so good that I did an additional 7.5 miles! My hip/butt only felt a little bit sore, ahhh the benefits of hot yoga!!!
Thursday:
Today I completed another strength workout that was laid out by Moira in the Free Weight area of HAC. Usually I play racquetball or swim with a friend of mine but my schedule didn’t allow me to.
Friday:
Another challenging tempo run with Moira. This was a shorter than normal (only 2 miles of actual tempo) I really worked hard and it felt good. Although my legs still aren’t exactly feeling the best. We spent a majority of the time as we did a cool down and after talking about nutrition. I’ve really let my nutrition slide over the past 5-6 weeks and my performance is effected by it. I’ve avoided weighing myself over the past few weeks because in the back of my head I knew the results weren’t going to be pretty.
A tool that has been helpful to me in the past is a calorie tracking app for my phone. One app that I used last summer and fall was called: My Fitness Pal. It was a great app that was easy to use as you begin to track your food intake. What I’ve switched to last spring is the Live Strong app. I like the Live Strong app because it allows you to put in the specific time of day as opposed to just putting in breakfast, lunch, dinner.
Saturday:
I did an easy 5-mile run through the Pheasant Branch Conservancy with a friend. Things went well although the heat and humidity was ridiculous.
Sunday:
I was scheduled to run a 10-mile smooth and easy run today. I met the Fleet Feet group in the Olin South Parking Lot for a run down the Lakeshore Trail, another great place to run in Madison. We started at 8 am, which was the first mistake. The temperature was already in the low 80’s by that time. I ended up going at a faster than my scheduled 8:30 pace. My average pace was around 8:10 per mile. The weather got the best of the group so I only ended up running 8 miles.
I didn’t accomplish a lot today with the holiday. It was some well needed R and R though after a two tough days of workouts.
Tuesday:
Again, I was out of town overnight and wasn’t able to make the AM bootcamp with Moira. I was back in town early enough to attend the Fleet Feet track workout. What a butt kicker!!! All the workouts start with a mile warm up and end with a mile cool down. On this particular day I had to be timed doing a 2.4 KM race (6 laps around the track). This was hard enough! After this I had to do the following: 100m-200m-300m-400m-400m-300m-200m-100m; in between each of these intervals we had to do a 10 burbies or 10 toe touches. It was one of those workouts in which you feel like you’ve accomplished something after it’s done. Unfortunately, after the workout my right hip/butt felt as if I had pulled a bit of the muscle. I’m hopping it won’t prohibit my future workout!
Wednesday:
Hot Yoga!!! It was nice to be back into the routine of getting up early to do yoga. Part of my weekly training routine is to complete the Hot Power Flow class at the Harbor Wellness Center from 5:45-6:45. When my alarm went off the first thing I wanted to do was to hit the snooze and go back to sleep for the extra hour. Well, so much for that!!! I was able to overcome my lazy inner voice and get up to do the class.
This week Tammy R taught the class. I’ve had her teach my first several classes so I was familiar with her style. The initial 10-15 minutes of class were challenging but soon after I was able to climb back into a routine that allowed me to continue. Again, at the end of class and throughout the rest of the day I felt like I had additional energy coupled with the pain in my hip/ butt from the previous night was extremely reduced.
Running- I again met the Fleet Feet group for a run through the Pheasant Branch Conversancy. Although I was only supposed to do 5 miles I felt so good that I did an additional 7.5 miles! My hip/butt only felt a little bit sore, ahhh the benefits of hot yoga!!!
Thursday:
Today I completed another strength workout that was laid out by Moira in the Free Weight area of HAC. Usually I play racquetball or swim with a friend of mine but my schedule didn’t allow me to.
Friday:
Another challenging tempo run with Moira. This was a shorter than normal (only 2 miles of actual tempo) I really worked hard and it felt good. Although my legs still aren’t exactly feeling the best. We spent a majority of the time as we did a cool down and after talking about nutrition. I’ve really let my nutrition slide over the past 5-6 weeks and my performance is effected by it. I’ve avoided weighing myself over the past few weeks because in the back of my head I knew the results weren’t going to be pretty.
A tool that has been helpful to me in the past is a calorie tracking app for my phone. One app that I used last summer and fall was called: My Fitness Pal. It was a great app that was easy to use as you begin to track your food intake. What I’ve switched to last spring is the Live Strong app. I like the Live Strong app because it allows you to put in the specific time of day as opposed to just putting in breakfast, lunch, dinner.
Saturday:
I did an easy 5-mile run through the Pheasant Branch Conservancy with a friend. Things went well although the heat and humidity was ridiculous.
Sunday:
I was scheduled to run a 10-mile smooth and easy run today. I met the Fleet Feet group in the Olin South Parking Lot for a run down the Lakeshore Trail, another great place to run in Madison. We started at 8 am, which was the first mistake. The temperature was already in the low 80’s by that time. I ended up going at a faster than my scheduled 8:30 pace. My average pace was around 8:10 per mile. The weather got the best of the group so I only ended up running 8 miles.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Week 2: June 27-July 2
Week 2: June 27- July 2nd
Monday:
Strength
I had to drag myself out of bed for the morning strength workout with Moira but I’m glad I did. We focused on number of different exercises and went through them in several times. Although I couldn’t remember all of the different exercises, here’s a summary:
Gravitron Pull-Ups
TRX Rows
TRX Negative Rows
Dumbbell rows
One Leg Isolating Tough Downs
Free Motion Machine wood choppers
Hip Lifts with Feet on Swissball
Push Up Cross over
Lunges pushing off shoe glides
Flexibility
I participated in body flow at the wellness center from 6-7
Swimming
I had my second class with Derek in the lap pool. Last time he showed me some things to start with. He also encouraged me to work on the way in which I glide through the water and kick. Here’s a sample work out he gave me to practice:
-Glides -Glides with a kick
-Kick on a side
-Breathing practice on the wall
-Kick Board Catch Up
The second lesson started with me doing a breathing activity as I moved down a lane in the lap pool. After this warm up I did a number of glides to show Derek how my progress was. As expected I still needed to work on my form a lot. We spent the remainder of the lesson working on specifically kicking. I’m hoping to work on my swimming again and continue to take several more lessons with Derek.
Tuesday:
AM Bootcamp- I completed another grueling workout led by Moira. There was a several other participants which helped for Motivation. We did a number of different stations and rotated through them several times.
Wednesday:
I was out of town in the morning so I was unable to attend Hot Yoga, which I greatly missed, but I’m looking forward to doing next week. I was able to make it back in time to do a 5 mile group run on the Military Ridge Trail in Verona.
Thursday:
I completed a strength workout in the Harbor Weight Room and Sport Court Area that was designed specifically for me by Moira.
Friday:
This was my second Tempo Run in the Pheasant Branch Conversancy. Although it is extremely difficult, as Moira reminded me, this is the type of workout that helps you get faster. I’m really hoping to get more comfortable going at such a fast pace. This week we were able to keep a more consistent 7:20 pace over the course of the three mile loop.
The other aspect of my session with Moira was to talk about nutrition. She strongly encouraged me to take a better account of what I’m putting into my body. This has been really hard. Although I’ve lost lots of weight over the past year I still need to lose a bit more to get faster. One of my strategies is to start tracking everything that I take in (even if it’s junk!!!). I’m hoping this will help to encourage me to think twice before eating it. I’m also going to go through it with Moira and set up a more consistent plan.
Saturday:
I had a really tough series of workouts planned for the day! On top of the three physical activities planned the weather was very, very hot and humid. I started by meeting a friend of mine for a “light” 3-5 mile run. We choose to check out the Ice Age Trail off of PD. Although it was a really pretty stretch of trail, the terrain was very challenging (Either uphill or downhill). We ended only going 3.5 miles due to the weather and the trail.
Secondly, I headed over to another local park to meet up with a group of people completed the Tough Mudder competition later this month in Devil’s Lake. For this activity the group did a number of challenging station activities.
Finally, I headed over to another friend’s house to help his family move. I thought it would only take 1-2 hours and would be mostly boxes. Well, 5 hours later, drenched in sweat, and aching from head to toe I headed home.
Sunday:
I was scheduled to do my longest run since the marathon, 14 miles. I met my friend Dave at the Victor Allen’s on Monroe for two laps through the UW Arboretum. If you haven’t had the opportunity to run or bike through the Arboretum I highly recommend it. The scenery is beautiful and there are always lots of other people doing the same route, so when you’re feeling tired it helps! Even though we met at 7:00 it still wasn’t early enough to miss out on the hot and humid weather.
Monday:
Strength
I had to drag myself out of bed for the morning strength workout with Moira but I’m glad I did. We focused on number of different exercises and went through them in several times. Although I couldn’t remember all of the different exercises, here’s a summary:
Gravitron Pull-Ups
TRX Rows
TRX Negative Rows
Dumbbell rows
One Leg Isolating Tough Downs
Free Motion Machine wood choppers
Hip Lifts with Feet on Swissball
Push Up Cross over
Lunges pushing off shoe glides
Flexibility
I participated in body flow at the wellness center from 6-7
Swimming
I had my second class with Derek in the lap pool. Last time he showed me some things to start with. He also encouraged me to work on the way in which I glide through the water and kick. Here’s a sample work out he gave me to practice:
-Glides -Glides with a kick
-Kick on a side
-Breathing practice on the wall
-Kick Board Catch Up
The second lesson started with me doing a breathing activity as I moved down a lane in the lap pool. After this warm up I did a number of glides to show Derek how my progress was. As expected I still needed to work on my form a lot. We spent the remainder of the lesson working on specifically kicking. I’m hoping to work on my swimming again and continue to take several more lessons with Derek.
Tuesday:
AM Bootcamp- I completed another grueling workout led by Moira. There was a several other participants which helped for Motivation. We did a number of different stations and rotated through them several times.
Wednesday:
I was out of town in the morning so I was unable to attend Hot Yoga, which I greatly missed, but I’m looking forward to doing next week. I was able to make it back in time to do a 5 mile group run on the Military Ridge Trail in Verona.
Thursday:
I completed a strength workout in the Harbor Weight Room and Sport Court Area that was designed specifically for me by Moira.
Friday:
This was my second Tempo Run in the Pheasant Branch Conversancy. Although it is extremely difficult, as Moira reminded me, this is the type of workout that helps you get faster. I’m really hoping to get more comfortable going at such a fast pace. This week we were able to keep a more consistent 7:20 pace over the course of the three mile loop.
The other aspect of my session with Moira was to talk about nutrition. She strongly encouraged me to take a better account of what I’m putting into my body. This has been really hard. Although I’ve lost lots of weight over the past year I still need to lose a bit more to get faster. One of my strategies is to start tracking everything that I take in (even if it’s junk!!!). I’m hoping this will help to encourage me to think twice before eating it. I’m also going to go through it with Moira and set up a more consistent plan.
Saturday:
I had a really tough series of workouts planned for the day! On top of the three physical activities planned the weather was very, very hot and humid. I started by meeting a friend of mine for a “light” 3-5 mile run. We choose to check out the Ice Age Trail off of PD. Although it was a really pretty stretch of trail, the terrain was very challenging (Either uphill or downhill). We ended only going 3.5 miles due to the weather and the trail.
Secondly, I headed over to another local park to meet up with a group of people completed the Tough Mudder competition later this month in Devil’s Lake. For this activity the group did a number of challenging station activities.
Finally, I headed over to another friend’s house to help his family move. I thought it would only take 1-2 hours and would be mostly boxes. Well, 5 hours later, drenched in sweat, and aching from head to toe I headed home.
Sunday:
I was scheduled to do my longest run since the marathon, 14 miles. I met my friend Dave at the Victor Allen’s on Monroe for two laps through the UW Arboretum. If you haven’t had the opportunity to run or bike through the Arboretum I highly recommend it. The scenery is beautiful and there are always lots of other people doing the same route, so when you’re feeling tired it helps! Even though we met at 7:00 it still wasn’t early enough to miss out on the hot and humid weather.
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