Posted onMarch 26, 2019|Comments Off on Doing Some Marathon Watching (or Helping Random Runners Power Up)
For the past several years, I have gone out to cheer on the runners of the LA Marathon. It’s become a tradition for me to do it, and while it doesn’t always work out the way I hope it will I try my best. I usually cheer runners on from the same place, which I think has a few benefits. First, it’s one of the closest places for me to drive to that is on the marathon route. Also, my friends who run the marathon year after year usually know where I am so I can cheer them on directly.
I haven’t always had signs with me when I cheer on the runners, but that has become something I look forward to doing. I love having fun signs because I know it makes the runners smile. While I’ve never done a marathon, I know that there are points in my 5K races that I need to be cheered on and having fun signs to read is a good distraction. So I want to do the same for others. And I have been told by many marathon running friends that the place I usually cheer on from (between miles 19 and 20) tends to be a place many runners hit a wall so all encouragement is appreciated.
I didn’t start working on what I wanted on my cheering signs until the last minute. I asked my friend who was going to be joining me to cheer if there was any particular sign she wanted me to make (I’m happy to make the signs for my friends to hold too). She thought about it, and decided this is what she wanted.
I also wanted a sign that was specific to Orangetheory since I knew several people from there would be running too. I had a few ideas of what I could put on a sign, and this was the final decision.
And even though it was only going to be me and 1 friend out there, I wanted to make a 3rd sign since one was specific to Orangetheory people. I looked at a few different lists online of funny signs and I saw one that a kid had at a marathon a few years ago. But I figured it would be a really good one to have.
Making the signs is a pretty easy process since I get paper letters from the store (my handwriting is way too sloppy) and I was proud of what I made and how they looked when I was done.
Marathon day ended up being a really gorgeous day. It was sunny but not too hot. And we lucked out with very little traffic on the way there and we found a parking space pretty quickly. We had been tracking the pace of the friends we wanted to cheer on, and we were standing on the sideline before any of them already went by.
Even with the tracking the marathon provided, we kind of failed at cheering on our friends. Some of them we didn’t see even though we knew approximately when they would be going by. And several people we did see but they were on the other side of the street and didn’t see us (and they had headphones in so they couldn’t hear us cheer). It was a little disappointing that we didn’t get to directly cheer on the people we wanted to see, but that didn’t mean we weren’t going to cheer on for all the people we didn’t know.
It took a little bit of time, but my sign ended up being a pretty big hit. People were running by and tapping the sign to power up. There were even some people who were on the other side of the street that noticed the sign and came over just to tap it. Everyone who saw any of our signs had a big smile and I know that they enjoyed them. The only mistake I made with my power up sign was that I didn’t reinforce in somehow. After a bunch of people were tapping it, the sign was starting to bend and it was harder to hold it steady as more people came over to tap it. But I just tried to hold the sign tight and I think it worked out well.
We were out there cheering on the runners for about 2 hours before we had to head out. There was a family standing near us that was also cheering on runners but didn’t have a sign, so we offered them the power up sign. The kids were super excited to have it and I was glad that more runners were going to get joy out of it.
I know that some people are a bit annoyed with the marathon because of all the street closures and sometimes traffic can be really horrible. But I do enjoy it. Any time I can see a group of strangers come together for something positive is something I like to see. I love getting to cheer on the runners because I know that they appreciate it. And hopefully next year when I cheer for the marathon some of my friends will see me so I can cheer them up directly!
Posted onOctober 22, 2018|Comments Off on A Week Of Progress (or Feeling More Like Me)
Last week, I wrote about how I was hoping this past week of workouts wouldn’t be a week where I felt nauseous. It seemed like I would be feeling back to normal by Monday, and I really was optimistic. But it didn’t end up being that way. But with the issues I had, I found new ways to make progress and ended the week on a high note.
Monday’s workout was a power day, but I decided to stick with the bike again. I wasn’t feeling nauseous before the workout, but I was scared it might kick in during class. And I’m working on what I can do to help keep the nausea away when there is a chance I’ll have it but not experiencing it. And I think using the bike instead of the treadmill is one of those things that is a good option to do.
We had 5 blocks on cardio and they all had a similar pattern with a push pace, base pace, and ending with a push to all out pace. Each block the push pace before the all out got longer so it became a bit more challenging to do an all out after it. I was using my normal resistance levels for all the bike work but tried to do some faster pedaling with the push and all out paces. When we got to the longer push paces, I tried to do almost like my run/walk intervals with the pedaling. I would do some speedy pedaling and then recover a bit with pedaling slower but still being at the same resistance level. It was a new challenge and made working on the bike different and fun. And I did feel like I was working much harder!
On the floor, we had one long block with adding on exercises. Each round started with a row, but as we added on exercises the rows got shorter. The exercises included neutral full thrusters with weights, Y raises on the straps, bench tap squats, plank jacks to push ups, and lunges with weights. The rows were all pretty short starting with 300 meters and going down 50 meters each time, so I was able to do those easily and within my time goals. And the floor work was going well for the most part until I got to the plank jacks to push ups. When I’m nauseous I don’t do things that make me face down and parallel to the ground. I was feeling pretty good so I wasn’t thinking about that until I started the plank jacks. Then my nausea came back and it was lasting longer than I thought. So I had to switch to doing them with my hands on the bench to not be totally parallel to the floor. I made it through the lunges which was the last exercise just as the workout ended. There were bonus rounds I was hoping to get to, but I was happy just to finish everything that we were supposed to.
Wednesday’s workout was an endurance day. While my nausea was almost gone, I was dealing with a queasy stomach and was being extra cautious. I don’t know what caused the queasiness, but I was going to do what I do when I’m nauseous to make sure that I was going to be able to do the workout to the best of my ability.
I was on the bike for cardio and we had 3 blocks. The focus of all of the blocks was coming back to base pace after a push pace so most of the push paces were a minute or under. It was nice to not have all 3 minute push paces like we do sometimes for endurance days. I kept my resistance levels at the usual levels and I didn’t do the intervals like I did on Monday since the push paces were shorter. But I did try to keep pedaling faster to make up for the shorter segments. I did have a few moments of nausea hitting me when I had to stop on the bike to let it pass, but I was just so glad that it was even less frequent than Monday because it felt like my nausea was lasting forever this time.
On the floor, we had 2 regular blocks and 1 rowing block. The first floor block was all mini-band work. We had weighted squats, hip bridges, and weighted ab twists. I used 20lb weights for all the exercises which is normal for the squats and hip bridges but a bit heavier than I normally do for ab twists. I’ve struggled in the past with the mini-bands getting really twisted on my legs, but this time they stayed where they were placed so I didn’t have to waste time fixing them. The second block was weighted squats to upright rows, mountain climbers, and half get ups. I had to go to a lighter weight for this block for the squats and half get ups because I was dealing with some shoulder soreness that I’ve had from time to time the past month or so, but that also allowed me to be slower with my movements and in turn that made them feel harder.
The row block was an interesting one. It was using the rowing as the recovery but it didn’t feel like recovery. We had 3 rounds of doing 30 seconds of squats followed by 1 minute to do a 150 meter row. That row should take under 45 seconds, but you also have to consider the time it takes to get strapped into the rower. If you finish the row before the minute is done, then you get to have a full recovery. For me, I was finishing the row with maybe 5 seconds to go so it wasn’t really a recovery at all. The end of the rowing block was a 30 second push row to a 1 minute all out row. I did try to increase my wattage for the all out row, but it wasn’t easy with it being at the end of the workout. But I did my best and got the wattage up a tiny bit by the end.
Friday’s workout was really working in my favor. I was finally not nauseous, it was a power day, it was a switch day, and it was a 3 group workout. So I knew I could be on the treadmill and really do my best. I was never going to be on the treadmill for that long and there would be a lot of opportunities for me to work on my running. I had been craving running (even when I was nauseous) recently and I was so happy that I’d get to do that.
For the treadmill, the first and last block were the same and the middle one was different. The first and third block were really short and since I knew I’d be coming off the treadmill when the block was done I really went for it. Those blocks were a 45 second push pace, 45 second base pace, and a 30 second all out. For the first block I ran my push and all out at my normal running speed and walked my base pace. But for the last block I wanted to try to do more so I increased my speed for the all out and ran the fastest I’ve run in probably a year! The second block was a little longer with a set of 1 minute intervals with push paces, base paces, and all outs followed by a set of 30 second intervals doing the same. I was using my normal running speed for all the 1 minute push and all outs and for the 30 second push paces. But I increased my speed for the 30 second all out (which is what inspired me to do more in the last block) and I was just so happy.
On the rower, the first and third block were the same with 3 rounds of a 30 second all out pace followed by 15 seconds to recover. 15 seconds of recovery feels like nothing so it just felt like a few minutes of rowing. I wasn’t getting my wattage as high as I would have liked, but I tried. The middle block was rounds of rowing with lunges between each round. We started at a 100 meter row and went up 50 meters each time. My hips were feeling a bit tight when I was doing the lunges (probably due to the running), so I didn’t have the easiest time with them. But I used the rower for balance and almost used them more as stretches.
And on the floor, just like with the treadmill and rower, the first and third blocks were the same. We had timed exercises with squats with medicine ball presses, sit up with shoulder presses using the medicine ball, and atomic mountain climbers. Each exercise was for 30 seconds with 15 seconds of recovery between to get ready for the next exercise. The second block had good mornings to tricep kickbacks, single arm clean to press, bear steps, and singe arm chest presses. I used my normal weights for the weight work because I was getting a bit tired and didn’t want my form to suffer. But I could feel how hard I was working even though I didn’t use super heavy weights.
Saturday’s workout was endurance, strength, and power based and it ended up being the highlight of the week for me. I was feeling so great after running on Friday that I wanted to do it again. And I had a great opportunity to do that during the treadmill portion of class.
The first block was endurance based with a 3 minute push pace, 2 minute base pace, 1 minute push pace, and 1 minute all out. I did the long push pace as 1 minute run/walk intervals, walked the base pace, and ran the last push and all out pace. 2 minutes of running felt long, but I felt awesome after doing it! The next block was focused on strength so we had incline work, and I walked for all of that. But we still ended with a 1 minute push pace to a 1 minute all out and I ran those 2 minutes again. And the last block just had 2 rounds of 1 minute push paces to 1 minute all out paces and I ran those too! The last few were tough and I think I might have overdone it a bit with the running, but I really just wanted to do it and I’m glad I did.
For the floor work, we started with a block on the rower. We had rounds of rowing with body weight exercises between each row. For the first 2 rounds, we had 100 meter rows. The next 2 rounds were 10 pulls on the rower. And the last round was 30 second rows. I only got through 1 of the 30 second rows. And between each row we had either squats or lunges. The next block was weighted work with lateral lunges and plank rows. And the last block was a partner core blast where one partner held a side plank while the other had bicycle crunches and leg raises. For some reason my heart rate was so high during this workout and it wasn’t coming back down like it normally does, so I was using the time I was supposed to be side planking as a little bit of a rest. I didn’t want to be slacking while I was doing the core work because my partner was waiting on me!
I’m so glad that this past week of workouts ended on a high note. I have needed this victory feeling and I’m feeling much more optimistic about my workouts than I was the week before. And I’m glad I’m in a better workout mindset because this week is the beginning of Hell Week! I’m doing 3 days of Hell Week this week and 2 days of it the week after, so I’ll be writing all about it over the next 2 weeks!
Posted onAugust 6, 2018|Comments Off on Good Days And Bad Days (or Proving Myself Wrong)
This past week of workouts was seriously up and down. I was all over the place and thinking sometimes I was having a horrible workout week and at other times thinking that I’m killing it in my workouts. It was really odd and a bit unsettling but in the end I think things were more positive than negative.
Monday’s workout was a tough day for me. I slept poorly the night before but thought maybe it wouldn’t be affecting me too much. Unfortunately, the lack of sleep also meant I was going to have a bad hip day. I felt it pretty quickly and debated about going on the bike, but I was just hoping it would get better as I walked.
It was a strength based workout so it was all incline work on the treadmill. I kept things pretty basic for myself and I did all my base pace inclines at 4% and all my push or all out pace inclines at 6%. We had 3 blocks that all had a similar format of decreasing push paces with increasing inclines (except for me keeping my inclines the same). The first block had a 2 minute, 90 second, 1 minute, and 30 second push pace. The next block eliminated the 2 minute push pace and the last block eliminated the 2 minute and 90 second push paces. And every block ended with a 30 second all out. I really struggled with my hip issues and it was annoying at times, but it was one of those mornings where I just figured that doing something was better than nothing.
The floor was 2 blocks and the first block allowed us to decide how many reps we did for each exercise. We had deadlifts, bicep curls, tricep kickbacks, and push-ups and could to 6-10 reps for each thing. I decided to go heavy on my weights and try to do 8 reps each thing. We had 3 rounds of doing those exercises before we went to the rower for a 500 meter row. My row time was decent considering it was a longer row, but nothing amazing. And when I got back to the floor to keep working on the exercises I went down to 6 reps for each exercise. And we ended the workout with a core blast which I had to modify a bit because anything with my feet in the air is tough on my hip.
Wednesday’s workout was better than Monday’s but it still wasn’t my best day. It was an endurance, strength, and power based workout and I knew that I would struggle a bit to run but wanted to see what I could do.
The first block on the treadmill was 4 rounds of 45 second push paces and 45 second all out paces. I walked all the push paces but ran the all out paces. 45 seconds felt like a really long time to me for some reason! It wasn’t that I was tired or hurting, I just felt off. I really had such a high the past few weeks with my running and this was one of the first times I was worried that my progress was moving backwards. The second block was endurance based with 90 second push paces and I decided to walk all of them. I thought about doing 30 second intervals but decided it would be best for me not to push myself too much. But that block did end with a 30 second push to 30 second all out pace and I ran for that minute. And the last block was rounds of 30 second push paces at inclines to 30 second all outs on a flat incline. But I stuck with just walking at the inclines I set it to be at for that minute and kept my speed the same.
On the floor, we started with a longer block. We had pull-ups on the straps, fly raises with weights, plank press outs, and ab work. After doing that we had a row that started with a 100 meter row and increased each round. I went decently heavy with my weight for the fly raises but I struggled with the ab work. We were supposed to do leg raises to crunches but my body was just not ok with the leg raises. So I decided to do double the crunches and figured it counted as a good modification. I only was on the rower for a 100 and 200 meter row but I did get pretty close to my PR time for my 100 meter row! And the last block was a shorter one with squat rotations on the straps and weighted crunches which went much better than the ab work in the first block.
Friday’s workout was a 3 group workout and it was a mix of endurance and strength. We had 2 blocks at each section of the room and I was starting on the treadmill. The treadmill blocks were pretty basic. The first block was an 8 minute run for distance and the second block was a 4 minute run for distance. For the first one, I did 45 seconds of running and 1 minute of walking. Those intervals were working pretty well for me and I didn’t feel too bad when it was done.
So for the 4 minute distance run, I thought maybe I should push myself and try to run it all. And that just wasn’t going to happen. 30 seconds in I was already tired. But I was determined to do at least what I did in the longer block if not something better. In the end, I ran for a minute and walked for 45 seconds. But I still felt really disappointed with myself. I know that the progress is happening and it might be slow, but I still want to push myself and do better. I can’t help it.
On the rower, we had the same block twice. But the difference was one block was 8 minutes and the other was 4 (just like on the treadmill). We started with a 1 minute row and then we had 10 squats to lunges on each side. Then we repeated that until time was called. The rows were fine (nothing too spectacular) but squats to lunges are tough for me. I had to hold on to the rower water tanks to do them but I still had to take a lot of time to do them too. Because of that, I didn’t do as many rounds as I would have liked to.
On the floor the first block was lunges, single arm dumbbell squats to rows, Y raises on the straps, and sit ups. The lunges were fine and I was able to use heavy weights for the single arm work. The strap work was tough (I think my body was just getting tired so I was not able to be as stiff as I should have been) and the sit ups took time too. But nothing too bad. The last block was lateral lunges and tricep extensions and both of those exercises went pretty well.
Saturday’s workout was the day that made everything better in my week. The workout was a power run/row and I had a feeling I could do some good work with the treadmill work. The run/row consisted of a .25 mile run, squat presses with a medicine ball, a 250 meter row, and more squat presses with a medicine ball. And I had it in my head that I needed to prove to myself that I was getting better at running and be able to run the .25 mile run without stopping.
Considering how the day before I was struggling, this was a huge idea. But I’m super stubborn and was determined to do this for at least one round. When I got started running the first time, it felt ok when I was starting. I did feel a bit ready to walk at the 1 minute mark, but I pushed on because I wasn’t feeling that bad. And I just kept watching the distance on the treadmill and doing weird math things in my head (like figuring out that I was 2/25ths of the way through) and that helped to pass the time. And then just over 3 minutes in I did it!
I couldn’t believe that I just ran the entire thing! I was tired and had to take some time before doing the squats, row, and squats; but that time was worth knowing I ran for that distance! I was on the treadmill a total of 3 times during the run/row and I managed to run the .25 mile distance every single time.
I still know that this can’t happen every workout and I might be a bit sore this week, but it was worth it to me to prove that I could do it. I needed this mental boost and it really did put me in the best mood!
On the floor we had 3 blocks and they were all timed exercises. The first block had single arm low rows and sit-ups. I was using a heavier weight for the single arm low rows but it wasn’t the heaviest weight I’ve used for it. I really felt the effort from running when I was on the floor so I had to take things a bit slower and I felt better using a slightly lower weight than the maximum that I know I could use. The second block had pullovers and sit-up to squats and the last block had lateral lunges and pop jacks (I was jumping my feet back and forth and using the bench for my hands). I think the running was the best part of my workout that day but the floor work wasn’t too shabby!
I’m so glad that last week ended on a high note because it’s put me in a great mindset for this week. There’s no guarantee this week will go well, but every time I have a really great workout it reminds me of what I can do and I remember that the bad days aren’t the best representation of my abilities. I’m just hoping that the good days outweigh the bad ones.
Posted onJuly 30, 2018|Comments Off on Another Week Of Progress And Practicing Patience (or Having Some Good Challenges)
This past week of workouts was actually a pretty great one for me. It’s been interesting getting back into running and figuring out how much to do and when it’s too much and I need to take a step back. But this past week of workouts gave me so many opportunities to work on running and figure things out, which is exactly what I needed.
Monday’s workout was a benchmark class and I was a bit hesitant about it. It was the 12 minute run for distance benchmark and I knew I wouldn’t be anywhere close to what my best distance was for that challenge since my best distance was when I ran the entire thing. Of course, I had the thought that maybe I should see if I could run the entire thing, but I knew better than to even try that and went with doing intervals.
For the first 10 minutes I did 45 seconds of running/1 minute of walking like I had done on Saturday the week before. It was the longest I had done run/walk intervals since I started running again and it was getting very tough for the second half of the challenge. I did need to take some breaks to catch my breath and I thought about stopping, but I also knew that a lot of the issues I was having was in my head. Because of the timing of the intervals, the last minute was a bit different so I would end on a run. I did my last interval and then ended on a 1 minute run. That last minute was difficult and I’m so glad I didn’t push my speed at all because I don’t know if I could have done it. My goal was to do at least .75 miles and I’m glad that I was able to do a little bit better than that.
For the second block on the treadmill, we had timed push to base paces. It was all 90 second push paces and I started the first one thinking I’d do 30 second intervals. But after those first 30 seconds of running, I realized that I maxed out on running for the day. So for all the push paces I did my walking at an incline. I would have loved to keep working on running, but considering I did the entire 12 minute distance challenge with run/walk intervals I couldn’t be too upset with myself.
On the floor we had 2 blocks. The first block had triceps with weights, chest presses with weights, Y raises on the straps, and plank kick throughs. I used heavier weights for my triceps and chest presses but my body was just not having it with the plank kick throughs. My hips were locking up and it was impossible for me to get my leg to kick through without losing my balance. It was frustrating that I couldn’t even do a real modification for these moves so I ended up doing plank shoulder taps so at least I was doing something that was plank related. The second block had a 200 meter row at the beginning of each round and then it was 2 different arm moves with weights and the mini-bands. We had front raises and hammer curls. I was doing my normal weights for those but with the mini-band it was harder than normal.
Wednesday’s workout was a run/row but it was done in blocks instead of us doing the run/row on our own. So we had 5 blocks for cardio, 3 of which were on the treadmill and 2 were on the rower. On the first and last block on the treadmill, we had a 2 minute push pace to a 1 minute all out pace. I did the 2 minute push pace as a 1 minute run/1 minute walk and then ran the 1 minute all out so it was all 1 minute intervals. And the middle block had a walking recovery after the all out pace followed by another 1 minute all out so I could do it as 1 minute intervals as well. I have said that I was slowly getting back to running, but I have also been moving pretty quickly to increase my running and I realized that I might not be ready for 1 minute intervals yet. I can do them occasionally, but these blocks proved to me that I wasn’t ready to do them over and over.
On the rower we had the same plan for both blocks. We started with a 100 meter row and then had 10 medicine ball squat presses. Then we did 150 meters and more squats and were supposed to keep increasing the row by 50 meters each time. I only made it to the second round of squats each time and those squats were tough because the only medicine ball that was left was the heaviest one when I’m used to either the lightest or medium one. I probably would have gotten more rowing done if I had the lighter medicine ball, but I’ve learned that it’s always good for me to challenge myself with what weights I use from time to time.
On the floor we had 2 regular floor blocks and 1 rowing block. The first floor block had half get-ups and single leg squats using the straps. Single leg stuff is tough to do with my hip issues, but I’ve been picking up tricks to use so I can try them more often. And I was able to do the single leg squats this time with taking some breaks while working on them. The second block had single arm presses, goblet squats, and lunges. And for my squats I used one of the new heavy weights I started using recently and they were hard! I might have overdone it a bit based on what I had done earlier in the workout, but I was only feeling sore after the workout and not pain (soreness is ok). And the rowing block was the same as the rowing block we had during the run/row, but this time I had a lighter medicine ball at my rower so I was able to get to the rower for the 3rd row.
Friday’s workout was an endurance day, but it was also a 3 group class and a class where we switched between blocks so it didn’t feel like a normal endurance day. Every block was 6 minutes and we were at each station twice during the workout.
The first time we were on the treadmill we had 2 rounds of 90 second push paces with 1 minute base paces and ended with a 1 minute all out. I knew I couldn’t run for 90 seconds and wasn’t sure I wanted to try running for a minute again for more than just the all out at the end, so I did the 90 second push paces as 30 seconds of running and 1 minute of walking on my usual push incline as a power walker. And then I ran the all out at the end of the block. The second time we were on the treadmill we had a 6 minute run for distance to do on our own. I decided to do my 45 second run/1 minute walk intervals like I had done before. The only difference this time was for the last 45 seconds of the block I increased my running speed. It was hard to run faster, but it was easier to do that than it was to run longer. I was happy to see that I did slightly better than half of what I did in my 12 minute run on Monday which is proof of my progress even if it’s not much.
The rower was the same for both blocks. We started with a 90 second row for distance and then had 12 squats. Then it was back to the rower for a 30 second row and more squats. We repeated the 30 second row and squats until the block was done. And on the floor the first block was lunges, upright rows, and running men and the second block was single arm shoulder presses and plank work. For the weighted work I wasn’t using my heavy weights because I was starting to feel a bit light headed. I’m not sure what caused it (it might have been that I had an early dinner on Thursday so it had been longer between my last meal and my workout than normal), but I just took breaks when I was feeling weird and didn’t push myself too much with the weights.
Saturday’s workout was a signature OTF workout called Orange Trinity. All classes were 3 group classes even if they normally are 2 group classes and we were at each section of the room for 14 minutes.
First I was on the treadmill where we had a run/weighted exercise block. Each time on the treadmill we ran .15 miles and after that we had squat presses using a medicine ball with decreasing reps each round. With the run, I knew I’d be doing them as run/walk intervals, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted them to be when I started. I figured I’d run for 45 seconds and then plan from there. I thought maybe I’d be doing a 45 second run, a 1 minute walk, and finish with another 45 second run and that would get me to the right distance, but I discovered that with the distance it was perfect to do it as just 45 second intervals. So I ran twice each time for 45 seconds with a 45 second walk in the middle. As much as I would have liked to see if I could run the entire distance, I knew that there was so much more coming up and I didn’t want to exhaust myself.
Next was the rower which is what I had heard was the toughest part of the workout. Essentially, it was a 14 minute row. But there were push and base rows to do within those 14 minutes so it wasn’t just a row for distance. We started with a 1 minute push row followed by 90 seconds and 2 minutes and then went back down before we ended with an all out row. Ideally, I wanted to get at least 2800 meters since that averages 200 meters a minute (which is pretty much the standard we are supposed to do). But this was a big endurance row and I had to take super quick breaks during the 14 minutes to wipe away sweat or tighten the foot straps. I would have loved to have done the entire thing without stopping, but I was pretty close. All of my breaks together were probably under 30 seconds so that’s not bad. I was just over 2700 meters when time was up but now I have a goal to work on the next time we have this workout.
The final block for me was on the floor and it was the same work we had during the Orange X workout. Even though I was so tired from the running and rowing, I was determined to use the same weights I used during the Orange X workout. So I did my squats with a 45lb weight, my row with a 35lb weight, and my chest press with a set of 30lb weights. I had to go a bit slower than I would have liked, but I was much more focused on using those weights and keeping my form than I was on doing as many rounds as I could have done.
Overall, I really am proud of myself with these workouts. I had a lot of opportunities where I could have pushed myself too much and done more than my body was ready for, and I didn’t do that. But at the same time, I found little ways to push myself and keep making progress so that was awesome too. I’m still just so happy that I’m getting back into running and I’m really hoping that I’ll have some more chances to make progress again this week.
I was pretty proud of myself when I started running again, but I also knew that I had to keep being easy on myself. I can see how easily I could push myself to try to be back to where I was before, but I know that in the long run it is better for me to take my time and work my way back there. This past week of workouts really gave me the chance to work on my progress as well as test my patience to prove to myself that I know how to take it slow.
Monday’s workout was a themed workout. Even though it was a 2 group class, it was a 3 partner workout as soon as we were done with the warm-up. But instead of having someone controlling the switch between the partners, all of the blocks were timed. We had 9 blocks (3 at each section) and they were all 3.5 minutes long.
When I was on the rower, we had distance rows. Each distance went up by 50 meters and we had squats with medicine balls between each row. And the partner on the rower ahead told me what distance they did so I picked up where they left off. I started on the rower and did the 100 and 150 meter rows. The next time I was on the rower I did the 400 meter and started the 450 meter row. And the last time on the rower I did the 650 meter row.
The floor was the same block every time and the timing worked out where I was able to get through each exercise once before time was called. We had swinging leg lunges, squats, pull-ups on the straps, seated twists with weights, and double crunches. The lunges were a bit tough for me but I was able to do the swinging lunges by holding on to the wall for balance. I noticed that I’m a lot stronger with my lunges going back than I was going forward so I tried to even them out when I was doing them.
The treadmill was supposed to be a mix of endurance, strength, and power but I kind of did the same thing every time. The first block was supposed to be a 3 minute push pace and a 30 second all out pace. I did the 3 minute push pace as my 30 second running/1 minute walking intervals and then did the 30 second all out as a run. The second block was supposed to be the same thing but with incline work and I just did the same as the first block. And the last block was a 30 second all out, 30 second walking recovery, 45 second all out, 45 second walking recovery, and 1 minute all out. I was going to do all of the all outs as a run, but I was a bit hesitant about the 1 minute all out. But I figured I’d try it and see what happens and managed to do the entire thing as a run.
Wednesday’s workout was a strength based class but I wanted to keep working on my running so I didn’t do any of the incline work. We had 3 blocks that all had a similar plan. The first block was 3 rounds of 1 minute base paces at an incline followed by 1 minutes of base pace at a flat road with a 30 second all out at the end. I ran when we were supposed to be doing the incline work and then had my base pace as my regular power walking to recover. And I ran the all out at the end just like I had been doing. The next block was 75 second hills with 45 second flat road recoveries. I ran for 45 seconds and then did the last 30 second and the 45 seconds of the recovery as my power walk. And the last block was 90 second hills with 60 second flat road recoveries and I did 30 second run/30 second walk intervals instead of the hill time.
I was battling some nausea during the end of the treadmill time, but I really tried to fight through it. I think it might be too early to tell, but I felt like the nausea wasn’t as bad when I was running as it was when I was walking. It might be like my hip pain which hurts less with running for some weird reason. I did have to take some breaks during the treadmill to let the nausea go by, but it wasn’t as bad as it can get so I felt pretty lucky that I was able to do the running work that I did.
The floor was split into a longer floor block and a short rowing block. On the floor block we had bent low rows, pullovers, bicep curls, and reverse flies with weights and then the block ended with crunches. For my low rows, bicep curls, and reverse flies I was using a 20lb weight and I used a 30lb weight for my pullovers. Those were all the new heavier weights with the exception of the low rows (I couldn’t find a 25lb weight and 30lb was too heavy). And the rowing was a similar pattern with the treadmill with 2 rounds of 90 second rows for distance and ending with a 30 second all out row. All of my rowing was higher than the minimum we were supposed to get, but it wasn’t as good as I know it could be.
Friday was a day that was a horrible nausea day for me. I honestly was ok with that because I should have been nauseous all week and it was only minor. But Friday was one of the epic bad nausea days so I knew I had to use the bike to make sure that I was being kind to myself and that I wouldn’t make the situation worse.
This workout was a power day and it would have been an amazing day to work on my running. We had short push paces followed by base paces and that’s exactly the thing I need to practice my running form and endurance. But on the bike I just focused on trying to keep moving. I wasn’t always increasing my resistance the way that I normally would, but I tried to do it when I could. It was not my best bike day for sure, but I also have learned that doing whatever I can on my bad nausea days is all I can ask for sometimes.
On the floor the first block was timed exercises with lunges and rolling burpees. I did modified burpees using the bench for my hands instead of the ground which helps. We also had a rowing block where we had to count how many pulls it took us to get to 100 meters. I’m getting pretty good and going slow with my rowing to get the count down and even with feeling pretty sick I was still able to do a good job with it. And then we had skater lunges as well as lunges to overhead presses with weights. Those were a bit tough with the nausea, but I just took it slowly and took breaks when I needed to.
Fortunately by Saturday I was feeling a bit better. Still nauseous, but not anything close to what I was feeling on Friday. But when I learned it was a partner workout, I was a bit nervous. I didn’t want to have a partner relying on me when I didn’t feel my best. So I told the coach that if we had an odd number in class that I really wanted to be working alone. And we did have an odd number so I was solo for the partner workout.
The partner workout was for the entire class. The idea was one person was either on the treadmill or rower and the other was on the floor. And the person on the cardio side was the person who controlled the switch. We had assignments for the treadmill or rower and then the floor was one long block. On the floor we had bench sit ups to squats, high rows on the straps, burpees, plank jacks, toe reaches, bicycle crunches, hop overs, crunches with heel touches, over/under static crunches, and running men. The first exercise started at 10 reps and they went up by 10 ending with 100 running men.
Since I didn’t have a partner to switch with, my coach told me to do 3 floor exercises each time except to do the 100 running men on their own. Because I was doing that, I was on the floor a little longer than the people in the partner groups, but that was fine with me. I really just wanted to focus on doing the work and doing the best I could. With the burpees, plank jacks, and running men I used the bench for my hands instead of the floor. But that also meant I was able to do the burpees with jumping my feet back and forth instead of walking them back.
With the cardio side, I focused on just doing the rowing without a break. It was tough since the first time on the rower was a 1,000 meter row, but I did it. I did feel a bit nauseous at the end of the rowing, but I think that was more to do with being tired and less to do with the nausea I normally have. And on the treadmill, I focused on my run/walk intervals. I had been doing 30 seconds running/1 minute running but I decided to test things and bump it up a little. So I did 45 seconds running/1 minute walking and it was going pretty well. I did the full treadmill assignments instead of cutting them in half for power walkers, but again since I didn’t have a partner I wasn’t too worried about taking too much time.
Considering that this was supposed to be a bad nausea week, I really lucked out. I only had 1 day where it truly affected my workout and I continued to make progress in my running. As much as I want to test myself this week and see what I can do, I also know that this slow progress is exactly what my body needs and will allow me to get back to where I was eventually.
Last week I blogged about how I finally got back on the treadmill after 7 weeks of only using the bike during my workouts. That was a huge accomplishment for me not only because I knew my endurance would be lower than before but because I was terrified that walking would be so difficult for me. I didn’t want to feel disappointed or frustrated with myself and I knew that was going to happen. I would have to take time making progress and I’m not the most patient person. But this past week of workouts, I made progress that I wasn’t expecting to happen for a while.
Monday’s workout was a power switch day, so I was excited to try to see what I could do on the treadmill. We were never on the treadmill for more than 5 minutes so it was a good day to work on my speed and not feel too overwhelmed. But we switched so much that I was exhausted because the workout was crazy!
When I was on the treadmill, I used my slower speed for my base pace and my normal speed for my push and all out paces with the inclines all being my normal inclines. It was a bit tough at times to keep the speed up, but it was feeling easier than it had before so I know there was progress. It was very limited treadmill time compared to other switch days because even though this was a 2 group class we were using the treadmill, rowers, and floor sections.
When I was on the rower, it was always the same thing with rounds of 30 second all out rows with 15 seconds of recovery. I know my rowing wasn’t my best, but it was nice knowing that all the rowing was going to be 30 seconds because that goes by so quickly.
But the craziest section to me was when we were on the floor. We had a mix of timed exercises and counting the reps but they were equally hard. In the timed sections we always had just one thing to do. One block was squats with front presses using the medicine ball. Another block was skater lunges. And the last timed block was frogger squats. The timed work was always 30 seconds of work with 15 seconds of recovery but the recovery felt like nothing! In the other blocks we had things like chest presses, push-ups, and sit-ups.
About halfway through this workout, I felt like I was done. I thought it was just me from being so tired from the heat. But I asked a friend who was working out at the station next to me and he agreed that this workout was one of the tougher ones we had done. I think the combination of the quick switches, power moves, and lack of rest really made this hard. But I was glad I did it and as always felt so accomplished when class was done.
Wednesday’s workout was an endurance day and was supposed to be a workout to prepare us for when we have a 12 minute distance run again. I’m nowhere near ready to do a distance run, so I knew this workout was going to be more of a focus of just trying to get my endurance back.
The first block on the treadmill was a 5 1/2 minute distance run, a 90 second recovery, and another 5 1/2 minute distance run. We were supposed to be in a push pace during the distance run sections, and I did have my incline at the push incline I normally use. But I just knew that I couldn’t do my normal speed for that amount of time yet so I just did the entire thing at my slower speed. I was a bit disappointed in myself because I probably should have at least tried, but I could just feel it in my body that I was not going to be able to do it. The second treadmill block was 3 rounds of 1 minute push paces and 90 second base paces with an all out pace at the end. Again, I did my inclines like normal but used the slower speed.
On the floor, the first block was split up with a row in the middle. We had rounds of bridge rows and tricep extensions on the straps first and then a 300 meter row. Then we had ab dolly knee tuck and rollouts after. And the second block started with a 600 meter row and then we had more ab dolly work and swimmers. My floor work wasn’t my strongest, but I think that was because none of it involved weights and that’s when I’ve been doing my best. But I need to learn how to push myself more with body weight work too.
Friday was where I made my huge progress. I saw that the workout was going to have lots of 30 second all out paces. This format was similar to what the workout was like the first time I tried running. It was a little different with some of the all out paces being after a push pace, but there were plenty of all out paces that were right before and after a walking recovery. Even though I just got back to the treadmill, I thought this would be the perfect chance to test out running. I was a bit terrified that I was pushing myself too much, but I told myself that I could always stop running if it didn’t feel right.
There were 3 blocks and they all started with a 2 minute push pace followed by a 30 second all out which I walked at my slower speed. Then we had 3 different 30 second all outs sandwiched between the walking. And I decided to go for it and run. I ran at my old running speed and was surprised how it didn’t feel as difficult to get back to running as it did to get back to walking. The third 30 second all out each block was tough because I was getting tired, but not anything like I thought it would be.
I couldn’t believe that I was running again. I hadn’t really run at all since the end of last year and I was only back on the treadmill for a week and a half before trying running. And I really wasn’t expecting to be able to do this for at least a month or so. But I guess when I’m coming back to something I had done before, it was easier than when I started the first time.
After the running on the treadmill, I was ready to move to the floor. The workout was a Friday the 13th theme so all the floor moves were either 13 or 26 reps. It was one long block with adding on exercises to start and then taking away exercises after that. And each round had a 30 second all out row as well. The exercises were hop overs, triceps with weights, bench sit-ups to squats, and burpees. The hop overs were tough and my legs were feeling like bricks. And I knew there was no way I could do 13 burpees. So I decided to do modified burpees with putting my hands on the end of the bench instead of the ground. And with having that extra leverage with not being totally parallel to the ground, I was able to hop my feet out and back instead of stepping back! That was another thing I wasn’t expecting to be able to do.
After my huge progress on Friday, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect on Saturday. And when I saw it was a strength based run/row day I was still a bit unsure. But I decided that working on my running progress was going to be a priority to I didn’t do any of the incline work. We had 4 blocks that all started on the rower and then had a run for distance until time was called. The first row was 400 meters and each block went down 100 meters so we had more time on the treadmill each block. I went with my old interval training with 30 seconds of running and 1 minute of walking for my running plan. But because of the timing of everything, I usually ended up running for a bit longer at the end of each block. I even had a block where I ran for almost a minute! That was pushing it a bit much for me, but it just proved to me that my progress was going to be easier than I thought.
On the floor we had 2 blocks. The first block was lunges with weights, chest fly with weights, and ab work. I did both the lunges and chest fly work with 25lb weights which is higher than I was doing before. I figured I needed to make up for the strength work on the floor since I didn’t do it on the treadmill. And the second block had deadlifts, bicep curls, hip bridges, and side plank dips. For my deadlifts I used 30lb weights (instead of my usual 20lb), for my biceps I used 20lb weights (instead of my usual 15lb), and for my hip bridges I used one of the 30lb weights (I don’t really have a usual for this since I am newer to using weights for this move). I love how much stronger I am than I thought and it still makes me so happy when I get to walk over to the heavy weight rack to pick up heavy weights.
I honestly wasn’t expecting to have this much progress this past week. I thought the week before was the huge thing with getting back on the treadmill. But I guess I underestimated myself and I’m proving that I really can do it. I don’t know how long it will take me to get back to running like I was doing before. I’ve learned now not to set plans for myself. I am a bit worried about how I will feel running when I will be nauseous (which will probably be happening this week or next), but again I’m just going to listen to my body and do what feels right. My body was telling me I could run again when my brain was telling me not to. I’m glad I listened to my body.
Posted onMarch 21, 2018|Comments Off on Another Year Of Marathon Watching (or We Tried Our Best)
For the past few years, I’ve gone out to watch the runners for the LAMarathon. I have always enjoyed watching the runners and cheering them on, even if I didn’t know anyone running. This year, several of my friends were supposed to be running but had to back out for one reason or another. I knew I had 1 friend running and I wanted to be out there to support him. Plus, it always seems like I find out I had more friends running once I’m out there.
I’m usually at the same spot each year because it’s pretty close to my house and it’s easy to drive to. With all the street closures for the marathon, I like to minimize the issues I run into by driving to the marathon path. Plus, since it’s close I can get there early and not worry about how long it would take me to get back home.
This year, I was going to watch the marathon runners with a friend who wanted to go watch it from near the finish line. I had never done that before and figured it could be a fun adventure! Plus, we were both having a lazy morning and if I had gone to my usual place I would have missed my friend running by. So we made a plan to meet at the light rail station to head into Santa Monica. The end of the light rail was only a few blocks from the finish line, so we figured that would be the easiest way to get there.
And while it did end up being the easiest way to get there, it wasn’t that easy once we were in Santa Monica. The crowds were pretty crazy, especially compared to what I’m used to at the location I normally watch from. And there was a sea of people past the finish line lined up while the finishers walked through after collecting their medals.
I had been using the race tracker app to track my friend and he crossed the finish line pretty soon after we got to where we were watching. But then we realized that there was no requirement for him to walk all the way to where we were watching. I had no clue where he was meeting his family and we gave it about 20 minutes before we figured he must have left the race area before he got to where we were (I found out later that he left the race area 2 blocks before where we were).
We did enjoy watching the other finishers go by us and we both were amazed by how many of them seemed so casual for just finishing a marathon! There were some people who looked tired but so many others weren’t sweaty and I would have guessed they were waiting to start a marathon and not just done with one. I know I look so much more exhausted after doing a 5K than most of those marathon runners looked!
After watching for about 30 minutes, we realized that it was just getting a bit too crowded for us and we weren’t going to see anyone we knew. As much as we wanted to keep cheering people on we knew it was time to go. We walked back toward the train station but decided that we wanted to do a bit more walking around. It was a really nice day out and I’m not in Santa Monica that often. We walked back and forth on the promenade and then went to the mall at the end of the promenade to get some lunch.
We had a nice relaxing lunch outside (it was way less crowded than it normally is in Santa Monica on a weekend and we were enjoying not feeing super packed in) before heading back to the train to go back home. There were so many marathon runners on the train with their medals and that was so cool to see. Hopefully none of them were too tired to get up from their seats when they got to their stop!
Even though this wasn’t what I was expecting with watching the marathon, it was a fun adventure. But I think I’ve decided that next year I’ll be back to watching from where I normally watch. Plus, my friend who watched with me was talking about maybe running the marathon next year and I want to make sure I’m in a spot where she can find me and I can have some awesome signs to cheer her on!
Posted onFebruary 6, 2018|Comments Off on Fitness and Nutrition (or Reminding Myself Of The Basics)
About 2 months ago, I shared how I was invited to be a part of the Runner’s Fit and Fueled course. I was so excited to be starting my year off the right way and to learn more about proper nutrition when it comes to fitness. I have studied nutrition a lot (many people with eating disorders know a ton about nutrition and food) but I was worried about how I would do when my fitness level was likely lower than what the others in the group were at.
But now that the official course time is over, I can say that I had nothing to worry about! The others in our private Facebook group were very supportive and most of the focus was on nutrition and not fitness. That was a big relief because I didn’t want to feel like I couldn’t do what was being taught because of my fitness level.
And I had every intention of doing this 4 week course exactly as it was set out and reading each of the lessons and watching the videos as soon as they came out. But of course, best intentions don’t always happen that way. Life took over and I wasn’t able to do the 4 week course when it was all released. I was feeling a bit frustrated because I wanted to do this as my first month of the year, but if I had done that I wouldn’t have been able to give it my full attention and I knew that I needed to do that.
Fortunately, this course wasn’t restricted to just the 4 weeks that it was happening. The Facebook group is still there and I can view any of the videos whenever I want. And I know that I will be wanting to go back to the videos a few times because I know that things will connect with me at different times. And I have all the handouts downloaded on my computer as well. And I have a feeling those handouts are going to be something I use for a while.
What I loved about the way this was taught was something I wasn’t expecting. Because this is a course for runners, there are days that are your hard run days and days that are your easy run days. And of course you also have rest days. And the nutrition was broken down into what to eat for each of those days to maximize what you are doing. For example, what to eat before and after a long run to help your body work at its most efficient. Or what to eat on a rest day to not mess up all the hard work that you put into things on the other days.
While I don’t necessarily have hard or easy run days, I do have days where I have a workout and days when I don’t. And I can look at workout days as hard days and days off as easy or rest days. Each of those types of days has sample meal plans to use with different options. And as someone who struggles with meal planning, this is an amazing resource for me! Some of the things in the meal plan are things I already eat, some are things I have eaten in the past and kind of forgotten about, and others are things I wouldn’t think of as a meal option. So I’ve been going through the meal plans and seeing the best way to implement them in my life.
While the plan has some elements of carb cycling, it’s not necessarily that. It’s more about eating what will make your body work the most efficient way possible and making sure that all your nutrition needs are met. There are so many diet ideas out right now and I’ve been checking out a few of them. But it’s been overwhelming. The Runner’s Fit and Fueled course seems to be more about the idea of getting back to good and wholesome foods and not fitting into a certain diet plan or hitting certain macros each day.
I know that I’m going to keep referring back to everything in this course for a while. While it may seem like basic nutritional information, for me it was almost a reminder that sometimes a meal plan doesn’t need to be something crazy or elaborate. It can just be filled with good options that will help you work out and keep you full. I don’t need to stress about getting into a certain mindset or tracking things like crazy. I just need to get back to basics and make sure that I pay attention to what my body is saying.
If you are interested in doing this course (and I recommend it for anyone who has a regular fitness routine), there will be another round starting on March 5th. I feel like this course really did help me get into a better mindset about what I want to do with food and how I feel about fueling myself. And I hope that if any of you are looking to learn more about nutrition and how it affects how you work out that you will sign up! And you can use the promo code BOMBSHELL to get $5 off!
This past week of workouts wasn’t that eventful of one. That’s actually kind of a victory for me since having things be routine is a pretty big milestone for me. It’s nice that even with some setbacks and struggles, the workouts felt so normal to me. Technically this was a 5 workout week, but the 5th workout was something special so that will be in tomorrow’s post.
My workout on Monday was endurance, strength, and power based. It was a 3 group class and we had 2 blocks on each side. I ended up walking for all of the treadmill work. It was going to rain and when it rains my hip hurts. It’s an annoying fact of my life, but I also know there is nothing I can do to fix it so I try to make the best of it. The first block was a long push pace and then a push pace to all out pace. And the second block was 1 minute or 30 second all out paces but we had to increase the incline each time. If we didn’t have the inclines I probably would have run, but I know I’m not ready to run on inclines right now. So I started at 6% incline and bumped it up .5% for each of the all out paces.
Next I was on the rower where the first block was a 1,000 meter row to start. My time was pretty slow (it was longer than the goal time for the class) but I also wasn’t as focused on the rower as I have been in the past. After that row we had lunges and then sets of 250 meter rows until the block was done. The next block was 500 meter rows (I got a slightly better time than half of my 1,000 meter row) and then 100 meter sprints. I was excited for the sprints because I know I can go pretty hard on those. I really wanted to get my time under 18 seconds but I wasn’t able to get it under 19 seconds that day. And on the floor the first block was chest presses on the straps, chest flys on the ground, and plank taps. The second block was bicep curls, plank rows, and torso rotations.
Wednesday was a strength day without switching between blocks. Since it was strength that meant we had hills on the treadmills and I wasn’t going to run it. It was also my first class with a slightly different plan for my medications so my heart rate was a bit odd. Each of the blocks on the treadmill were a similar pattern with a push pace (it was on a flat incline for runners), then a push pace on a hill, and ending with a push pace to an all out pace on a hill. While I didn’t get my inclines as high as recommended for power walkers, I did get it to be between 6-10% for the hill sections. I did struggle a bit with some dizziness (and I’ll probably have that for a few weeks as my medication adjusts), but I took my time when I needed it and felt pretty great when we were done on the treadmill.
On the floor we had 2 blocks. The first block started with a 250 meter row (I did it in under a minute) and then we had seated shoulder presses to stands and leg raises. The last block was a longer block and it started with deadlifts, low rows, and lunges. After 3 rounds of those we moved onto a core blast that was scissor abs and crunches. I wasn’t using heavier weights than normal on the floor, but I was able to use my regular weights which was good considering I was struggling on the treadmill.
Friday’s class was a mix of endurance, strength, and power. I had a couple of friends in class with me so that always makes the workout better! I was still struggling a bit with my heart rate so I stuck with walking everything. For the endurance block on the treadmill we had longer push paces. On the strength block we had increasing inclines for each segment and I was able to keep things between 6-10% again. And the last block was on the rower which was a nice change of pace. It was 30 seconds of a push pace, 30 seconds of an all out pace, and 30 seconds of recovery for 4 rounds.
On the floor, the first block was lunge jacks (I did them as regular lunges), roll outs on the straps, and plank work. The second block was single arm clean to presses with weights, lunges, and knee tucks on the bench (I did the knee tucks instead of any modifications). And the last block was on the same pattern as the rower. We had 3 rounds of 30 seconds of skater lunges and running man. And then the last minute was a plank hold. This class seemed tough to me because of my heart rate issues, but my friends agreed that this seemed like a really tough (but really awesome) class!
And Saturday’s workout was one that I wasn’t planning on going too crazy. It was the second day of what would end up being 4 workouts in a row (Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday). I originally thought I’d go on the bike, but I decided to use the treadmill and modify where I needed to. And I’m so glad I stuck with the treadmill! It was a 3 group class and the beginning of class was a round of 4 minutes at each section. On the treadmill it was a 4 minute run for distance. I thought maybe I’d do intervals with walking, but I decided just to run and see what happened.
I stuck with 4.5 mph because 4 minutes of running was more than I had done in a while. And it was difficult and I really thought about switching to a walk. But I just kept thinking how I was 1/4 of the way done, 1/3 of the way done, 1/2 of the way done and so on. I just watched the clock and decided to try to do the entire thing as a run. I had in my head that it would be amazing to get to .3 miles in 4 minutes and I saw that I was going to be close. So I bumped up my speed for the last 10 seconds and managed to hit my target perfectly!
On the floor, we had 4 minutes of bicep curls using weights, bicep curls using straps, tricep kickbacks using weights, and tricep work on the straps. That was a really tough 4 minutes since it felt like my arms never got a break! And on the rower, it was a 4 minute row for distance. While our coach said we should try for 1,000 meters, I knew that I couldn’t do that. So I set my goal at 850 meters which seemed pretty conservative to me. But when I missed it by 1 meter, it really made me mad! I knew I could have done better for a few seconds to get there but I didn’t do it and it showed.
The next round was about 10 minutes on everything. On the treadmill, it was longer push paces and I stuck to walking. My heart rate was having trouble recovering during the base paces like it normally would so I didn’t want to overdo anything. The second block on the floor was incline chest presses, upright rows with weights, toe touches, and weighted torso rotations. It was a tougher block, but it seemed much easier to me than the shorter block. And the last block on the rower was an 800 meter row followed by squats and then a 400 meter row. I got my 800 meter row in under 4 minutes and my 400 meter row under 2 minutes so I was happy. Getting a good row in at the very end of class isn’t easy!
Like I said, this was actually a 5 workout week. But I will be writing about that last workout tomorrow. But for the first 4 workouts of the week, I think I did pretty amazing!
Posted onDecember 26, 2017|Comments Off on Holiday Workouts (or Getting Some Confidence Back)
This past week of workouts ended up being one of the better ones I’ve had lately. I didn’t expect that at all, but I love when my workouts end up surprising me and I have some great accomplishment! Things didn’t really get awesome until the end of the week, but the entire week was still a good one.
Monday’s workout was a 2 group workout instead of the 3 group that we usually have on Mondays. There was a focus on endurance, strength, and power but for me I did most of the treadmill work the same way. I did my normal walking speed and my base pace incline was 4% and my push pace and all out pace inclines were at 6%. The endurance block was longer push paces with the pushes increasing throughout the block. The strength block was supposed to be hills, but I just used my 2 inclines. And the power block was 6 rounds of 30 second all out paces and 30 second walking recoveries. That last block was so tempting to try to run, but I chickened out because I knew I’d be going to San Diego right after my workout and I didn’t want to be in pain if running was going to hurt my toe.
On the floor, we started with upper cuts with weights, Y raises on the straps, and heel touch abs. The next block was upright rows with weights, bicep curls with weights, and skaters. I’m getting a lot better with the skaters and that surprises me since so much of it has to do with balance on one leg. I struggle with most single leg stuff, but somehow I’m not having as much trouble with the skaters as I do with the other stuff. And the last block was decreasing rows starting at 400 meters and going down 100 meters each round. And between each row we had frogger squats. None of my rows were amazing times, but they were all pretty decent and within the range I like to be in.
Wednesday was a strength and endurance day. There were 2 blocks on the treadmill and 2 blocks on the floor and we switched between each block. Both of the treadmill blocks were similar with 4 rounds of 90 second push paces followed by 45 second base paces. Both blocks also ended with a 1 minute push pace to a 30 second all out. But in the first block we were supposed to increase the incline each round and on the second block we were supposed to start at a higher incline and decrease it each round. But I kept my same plan with just 4 and 6% inclines. I did try 8% for a bit but it felt a bit too high for me. It’s been a while since I’ve had the higher incline so I think I need to start working toward that.
On the floor the first block had single arm chest presses, bicep curls on the straps, plank low rows, and tricep pushups. The second block had tricep work, shoulders, double crunches, toe touches, and a 300 meter row. I tried to make up for my lack of strength (aka incline) work on the treadmill by going a little bit heavier on my weights on the floor. I hate that I feel like I’m not pushing myself, but I also know that recovering from an injury is always frustrating for me because I always mentally feel ready to be back to normal before I’m physically ready.
But after feeling a bit let down on Wednesday, I totally made up for it on Friday! First of all, I was very excited for this workout because I knew my coach, Bruce, would be wearing the Santa hat I got him 3 years ago. This was the 4th year of a Santa Bruce workout and I feel so happy seeing him wear the hat that I randomly got for him my first year at Orangetheory.
But the festive outfit was only the start to my awesome workout. We had a run/row endurance day which started with a 1 mile run. I knew that there was no way I would be getting a PR on my mile, but I decided to use this opportunity to see if I could get back into running. The goal was to do the mile with 2 minute run/1 minute walk intervals but I didn’t know if I could do that or maintain it for the entire mile. But I wanted to see what could happen so I went for it.
It wasn’t an easy or pretty mile, but I think I did pretty decent. I was able to keep the intervals for the entire time except at the end I just kept running instead of adding in any walking. And I bumped up the speed at the very end because I wanted to see if I could be close to 14 minutes. Of course, after seeing what I got I was kicking myself that I didn’t bump up the speed sooner or went a little faster.
But considering that I hadn’t run in about a month it was a huge accomplishment to do any running at all, let alone do run/walk intervals for the entire mile! This wasn’t a PR, but it was one of my faster mile times so I was pretty excited about that! After the mile run, we had a 400 meter row. I was still catching my breath when I was rowing, so it wasn’t the best time. And because my mile took so long, I only was working on the next treadmill interval (which I did as a walk) before it was time to switch to the floor.
The first block on the floor was goblet squats, hop overs, and seated knee tucks. And the second block was lunges, pullovers, pushups, high rows on the straps, and running men. It was a tough floor block because each move was hard and the blocks were long. But I was trying to do the best that I could after the longer run and I think I was pretty successful on the floor work too.
After a really successful Friday, my Saturday wasn’t as great. It was a combination of factors including having some pain which was likely caused by the running as well as only getting about 2 hours of sleep (when I hurt I don’t sleep as well). It was a 3 group workout which did help because I wasn’t anywhere for too long. Each section had 2 blocks and we switched between each block.
I started on the treadmill and realized that it wasn’t going to be the best option for me. So within a few minutes I stopped the treadmill and headed to the bike to do that for my cardio. When I’m on the bike, I’m not as focused on the intervals but instead just trying to be consistent with my cadence. I know I didn’t get as much of a cardio workout as I would have gotten on the treadmill, but I also knew that if I had been on the treadmill it would have caused me to be in a lot more pain so I’m glad I avoided that.
On the floor, the first block was plank work, squats, and burpees. And the second block was arm swings with weights, mountain climbers, and lunge hops on the straps. And on the rower the first block had all out rows with recoveries. And the second block was timed rows with squats using medicine balls between each row. I wanted my rowing to be great, but it just wasn’t my day for that. I know that my workouts suffer a lot when I’m tired, but sometimes it’s not my choice to be tired and I just have to do the best I can.
This week of workouts will be a bit weird with my schedule, but I’m still getting them in. I’m excited to know that I’ve really done amazing with my workouts in 2017 and can’t wait to see what the last few workouts of the year have in store for me!
Being A Marathon Supporter (or Cheering On My Cheering Buddy)
