Monday, April 30, 2012

Final Week of Half Marathon Training

I was going to title this “Final Week of Running” but one thing I’ve learned is that I need to keep at running. At least one run a week to keep my body used to the idea. I continue to have mixed feelings. I love running, but my pace is almost painfully slow… maybe it is better to not know the pace! Realistically, I probably am faster than in the past; I just didn’t have a voice telling me my pace every mile.

Saturday’s long run was fabulous. I was planning on going out on Friday, but pushed it back to Saturday due to rain. When I headed out on Saturday I was fairly concerned with the wind, light rain, and 47 degree temperature. After about ½ mile the rain stopped and I started to warm up. Around the midway point I hit a super populated area of the trails and it apparently motivated me! I started at a good (for me) pace, which slowed until I got around people, then it increased pretty significantly. I’m curious what that means for my half marathon, where I will be surrounded by about 9,999 other runners. I certainly don’t plan on a personal best, but I plan on feeling good. Saturday’s run ended after 10.5 miles with the confidence that I could have done another 3 miles without much difficulty. And nothing feels quite as glorious as a long hot shower after a long cold run.

This week’s frustration came on Sunday when my husband did his long run. He hasn’t been running much, and I don’t believe he’s done a single mile in the past week. But, his pace was over 2 minutes per mile faster than mine. That’s just not fair! I can’t even imagine what he’d be capable of if he trained properly. Anyhow, my frustration is out of jealousy and I’m pretty excited to see if he can get a personal best next Sunday.

Next Monday I plan on doing the fit test for Insanity. It’s a 60 Day program that I’ve heard is pretty killer. The hubby and I plan on tackling it together!

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Third Week of Running

Blogging about running has little interest for me. Yet, while I’m running I find a million thoughts running through my head. There’s something about pounding out miles that frees the mind to wander, wonder, and worship.

The first week I could really feel my legs. Every run made the mornings a little tighter. Stretching and foam rolling helped.

The second week I increased mileage slightly and focused on increasing distance. With one rainy day my second week was two 6+ mile runs, two 2 mile runs, and P.A.P. Upper from P90X2. The DVD sure made my core sore! Funny how you think of running as being overall fitness; but it’s not. It takes running to improve running, but it takes other total body routines to improve the total body. Seems obvious when written.

Week three has me again increasing mileage and working on distance runs. The common marathon training mindset is to take an off week or light week the week of the race. Since my training is only 4 weeks long I won’t be doing that. I plan on my “long run” for week 4 being the half marathon. This week I’ll be shooting for 9 or 10 miles on Friday. This morning’s 6.5 miles felt really good and I think I could have gone longer, but my still-slow pace only allows a max of 7 miles before I need to get ready for work. Friday’s long run is courtesy of Arbor Day. Yay, Nebraska!

Thursday, April 12, 2012

I was Running…

This week I began training for the half marathon on 5/6. As of today I have 24 days until I will be running 13.1 miles. Happily, that fact isn’t scary. I don’t know that I will get a PR (Personal Record) but I should finish easily. And compared to last year it will be easy: I won’t be 5 months pregnant and I don’t plan on having the stomach flu. My hope is to feel good about myself at the finish.

You may be wondering if P90X2 got me ready to run. I was wondering that when I started the week. I had hoped for faster times, though perhaps the problem with always knowing times is that I enjoy the slow long runs a little less. When my husband used P90X to get ready for a marathon he was able to cut about a minute per mile from his time. I have not had that result. But, in fairness, he had been running prior to P90X. I figure that it’s been about a year and a half since I’ve really run. P90X2 certainly got me in better overall shape and helped me lose weight that I wouldn’t want to run with.

This week is about getting my legs used to the motion again. And figuring out routes, pace, etc:

  • Monday I went out for 3 miles and discovered that the neighborhood sidewalks are often pretty dark at 5am. There was a mostly full moon, but the light in the park isn’t on at that time. It also seems that the areas with the fewest streetlights are the areas with the most cracks and uneven surfaces. No, I didn’t fall. Or even trip. But, I was a little timid on trying any sort of speed. I was also pretty cold at the start of the run but decided that I dressed appropriately around the ½ mile point.
  • Tuesday I decided to go further and utilize some well-lit trails. So I ran 4.5 miles. I hadn’t run this route before but knew that it was hilly. And it was colder than Monday. Again it turned out that I dressed pretty well but my legs definitely noticed that it was the second day in a row of running. I had stated that it had been about a year and a half since I’ve run. During that “off” time there were a couple three mile loops completed, but I can honestly say that I didn’t do two days in a row. And I didn’t go more than 3 miles (I’m not including longer walks, such as last year’s half marathon). Tuesday night I foam rolled.
  • Wednesday I wanted to try a short-fast run. Turns out a “fast” fun on really tired legs isn’t possible. The route I chose also didn’t help. I wanted to do two miles but I didn’t want to use my usual two mile loop due to the darkness and unevenness of the neighborhood sidewalks. So I decided to do an out and back along a main road with lights and good sidewalks. The problem with the route is that it’s down a giant hill and back up a hill; then you turn around. Essentially I felt like I was trying to do speed work and hill repeats at the same time. Still, my pace was faster than the previous two days. I foam rolled both before and after the run. I also did Ab Ripper X2. I want to mix in some Beachbody DVDs when my legs need a break or on short run days; so this was my first attempt at that. I thought about the original Ab Ripper X but didn’t think my legs would appreciate that one. Phase 3 of P90X2 never had Ab Ripper (due to all the core work in the P.A.P. routines) and I was surprised at how well I did. As a side note, I really notice that the stronger my core is the more prone I am to side aches while running; I do not like this correlation and need to figure out how to work through this.
  • Thursday, today, I wanted to go back to bed. But I didn’t. The forecast called for rain but nothing was falling yet and temps were actually warmer than the previous days. So I decided on a “long” slow run. For me long was 5 miles and it was certainly slow. Somehow my iPhone switched to a mode where it told me pace every mile; maybe this is part of the MapMyRun update. It was kind of nice and I would really appreciate it on a speed day, but today it just reminded me that I am slow. The nice parts were that I knew when I hit 5 miles (amazingly right at the driveway, though I did some weird loops to get there) and I was motivated to finish faster than I started. Still working on dressing for the early morning runs. It was pretty windy a couple of times and the last mile I took off the gloves.

Anyhow, four days in and I’ve run 14.5 miles. Not bad for week one. The length of tomorrow’s run will be greatly influenced by if it continues to rain and what that does to the temperature. Worst case, I’ll do P.A.P. Upper to give my legs a rest. Best case, who knows?

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Day 90! P90X2 Results...

Numbers are in! There are some that I am a little disappointed in and others that I'm surprised at. So here's the run down, with a little commentary:
  • Lost 15 lbs and 4 inches... I'll take it! A more concerted effort at healthy eating would've helped these numbers. But, it's more than I lost with P90X and I'm that much closer to my goals.
  • Lost 4.5% body fat... Same response as above.
  • Vertical leap improved by almost 3 inches... This was one that really surprised me. I guess Plyocide knows what it's doing. I would think that this may improve running some...
  • Can do 1/2 pull up... I was really hoping for a full pull up. But, this is 1/2 pull up more than I've ever been able to do before. We're looking to install a pull up bar and then I'd like to get the P90X Pull-up Assist band... I think actually doing the motion instead of the band modifications may improve my chances here.
  • Push ups increased from 20 to 34... This was another exciting one for me. I no longer find myself dropping to my knees to complete the push up reps... that's pretty huge!
  • In and Outs (an ab move) increased from 100 to 137... mixed thoughts on this one. It's kind of an easy move for me... so I feel silly doing it to exhaustion because it takes so long. When I stopped it was because my legs were worn out (cruel to have wall sit before this).
  • Wall sit improved by exactly double the length of time. That was only 3:06 before I gave in, so I'd still like to be able to improve here... but, I want to walk tomorrow and start my running on Monday.
  • Bicep curls improved by about 15 reps... this is one where I really need to increase weight for the test so that I'm not doing a ton before exhaustion. But, I used the heaviest weights we had. I didn't want to switch to bands since I used weights for the pre-test.
And for the before/after pictures:
Day 1
Day 90
Day 1
Day 90

So, I'd say that I'm happy. I can see results and feel pretty good about what I was able to achieve in a mere 90 days! Next up, training for the 5/6/12 Half Marathon in Lincoln. Then on to Insanity.

If you want more information about the program I used, or other Beachbody products, check out https://sites.google.com/a/stovesfitness.com/stovesfitness/. You can contact me through that site and I'd love to help you with your journey...

Day 89: Last P90X2 workout!!

I made it! Tomorrow is results day: fit test, measurements, and pictures.

Today I want to reflect on the non-numbers results and revelations:

  • I learned that there is a reason workouts are in the order they are. Once again I messed with the schedule this week and that left me working my arms three days in a row. My deltoids are still screaming at me.
  • I learned what deltoids were when I looked at a muscle diagram to find out what was so sore.
  • You would think that I would have learned to do workouts in the order they come. Some weeks I’m really good at that. Other times I find that I change the order for convenience and the next day is when regret sets in. That was the case this week, when I changed the order due to workout length.
  • At the start of P90X2 I found that I was rarely sore. This changed as time went on. I don’t know if the change was due to workouts getting more intense in the later phases or due to my slacking on foam rolling. Maybe some of both.
  • Balance has greatly improved.
  • There are some really fun “seem impossible” moves.
  • Testing my limits is pretty fun. And challenging. And sometimes the results are funny.
  • Push-ups may be my biggest improvement. I no longer do any on my knees. I can get my hands off the ground; though clapping is “something I presently struggle with.”
  • I can fit in all my pre-pregnancy pants. Some are still a little tight but others are a little loose. With no more pregnancies in my future I look forward to getting rid of my “in between” pants for good.
  • I’ve said “9 months on, 9 months off” … so I still have about 6 weeks to get to my goal fitness. That’ll be a little after ½ marathon time.
  • I look forward to starting my ½ marathon training next week. Should be fun to see how P90X2 has affected my running.
  • After the ½ marathon I plan on doing Insanity. It scares me less than it used to. I still think the program looks killer but I look forward to the shorter workout times.

Well, enough for now… more later…

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

The Last Week!

I would have thought that I would be better at blogging this week. Nope. I’m using spare time to sleep because my daughter isn’t. But, I have been getting the morning workouts done. Sadly 4:30 doesn’t seem as early when I’ve been up for hours.

A funny thing has happened. I’m starting to really like P.A.P. It still kills me and I’ve been blown away by how much work my core is getting, but I’m starting to really enjoy the routines. I really think that once I transition to my ½ marathon training I’ll use P.A.P. Upper to keep up on my core/arm strength. Lower really won’t be an option while running distances, at least not if I still want to walk!

Today was Yoga and I was amazed at how it went. Balance wasn’t my strong point today, but it was better than last week. As is the case, I found myself thinking that I should spend more time intermittently trying Crane. Today’s “yay” moment was that I pushed through Chaturanga every time. I’ve been gradually improving, but to be able to float through on each try was pretty amazing. There is a reason that Yoga is the one routine done in every phase of P90X2.

Two more workouts!! P.A.P. Upper on Thurs. P.A.P. Lower on Fri. Then the fit test, measurements, and pictures on Saturday!