Workouts this week: Nov. 27

What I did this week.

Nov. 27: 5 mile trail run. It was 59 degrees and a little colder than I'd like. I wore my favorite purple came Lulu crops and a grey long sleeve. My plan was to run 4 miles, but I was feeling okay and the name of my Lulu shirt was the 5-mile long sleeve so I took that as a sign to run 5 miles. So I did. I got warm enough around mile 3 to shed the long sleeve and run in a tank. I saw a coworker taking pictures out on the trail during my third mile. Sadly, no action shots from him.

Nov. 28: BodyPump strength workout

Nov. 29: Yoga

Nov. 30: Gymnastics

Dec. 1: Off. (I skipped a run this week. I just wasn't feeling it)

Dec. 2: Yoga class

Dec. 3: Fried food plus running do not mix.

I went to lunch with my family and I was so excited about fish tacos and french fries.

I went to run this off a few hours later and it was an absolutely awful run. I had two things going against me.

First: the cold.
I have asthma. And cold weather triggers it (constricts the vessels in my lungs so I get less air in.) I take my inhaler before I run, but I never run well in the cold. (I'm also super cold natured and just plain hate the cold. (Anything lower than 70 is cold, lower than 60 is freezing, lower than 50 is arctic). Running in the 70s (or 80s without humidity) is fine for me. 60s is okay. Anything lower than 60 and I struggle. For this run, it was supposed to be about 58. It was 55. I wore crops and a long sleeve running shirt and a hat. I never warmed up enough to shed the long sleeve shirt like a did last week. And my breathing was more labored than usual. I hate running in the cold.

I was absolutely freezing when I finished the run. I just wanted soup and a hot bath. Matt on the other hand thrives on running in cold weather and was burning up hot after the run. He runs better in the cold. And he was faster than me. Which is fine.

Two: fried food
I seldom eat fried food. I probably have french fries once a month (or less). I had two fried fish tacos for lunch and french fries. It was awesome. Unfortunately, the tacos stayed near my collar bone for the entire run. I didn't know if it was heart burn or I was going to barf, but I was miserable. I was making the worst faces during the run. Fried food (especially when you seldom eat it) does not mix with running.

I ran. And that's what matters. Matt came along and was faster than me on this run. He can have the edge because he loves cold weather running and he didn't have fried food for lunch. He was a few seconds faster than me. Maybe he had a minute or me towards the end. I let him lead since I usually rabbit the first mile and he's usually pretty consistent. He ran a 7:37 first mile (or that's what I ran. He ran a 7:26) and then probably low 8's. I ran my usual times (despite wanting to barf the entire time) and always slower on the miles climbing hills. I ran almost 5 miles. My watch said I ran 4.65, but I did the exact same route last week and it said 4.75.

Workouts this week: Thanksgiving edition

Nov. 20
Off. Was tired

Nov. 21
Ran at the indoor track. I've been putting off speed work, because I hate it. And the indoor track is 8 laps to a mile, which is so boring
Mile 1: 7:40
Mile 2: 15:29
Mile 3: 23:05
I think I did 3.5 miles in 27:22, and then I ran a few 100m and 200m sprints for a cool down. Until I had nothing left.


Note: this is on a flat climate controlled track, so my times are different than on trails.

Also my apple watch is too stupid to know this. It's usually about 200 meters behind. So my Apple Watch likes to buzz me that I'm finished another mile, when I've finished lap nine and am on the back stretch of lap 10. It's kind of annoying. It makes me wonder if I'm THAT much faster on trails too.

Nov. 22
There are no classes at the student gym because the students are off, so I tried a free faculty and staff pilates class. I've been meaning to try this class for more than a month but could never make it. It's been so busy I often can't take lunch. I've brought clothes and meant to go many times, but just haven't. I made it a priority to go this day.

The class was maybe nine women. A few my age and a few older. It was a lot of ab work. No arms or legs. Just core work. Which everyone needs. It wasn't sweaty. I'd go again. I wanted to go the next day, but got busy with something at work.

Nov. 23
5.5 mile run. The weather was perfect and gorgeous. I felt strong and ran 5.5 miles and took this awesome picture.
THIS is why I run trails. It's just so pretty.

Nov. 24: THANKSGIVING
That morning I did 45 minutes on the exercise bike, with some arms thrown in while I ran. I made it a circuit and would do some abs every 8 or so minutes.

Lunch with my family.
Then I ran around the trails with my nieces. I hadn't planned on that, hence why I was in jeans and soft leather moccasins (which aren't that bad to run in.) I was giving my niece a piggyback ride and kept worry about my jeans slipping down. I wasn't wearing a belt. And I kept racing with my 6-year-old niece. This wore me out.

Nov. 25 Black Friday.
I hadn't planned on taking the day off, but I did. I went shopping in the morning and was lazy for the rest of the day.

Nov. 26
I should have run today, but can't run at my favorite place—because it's off limits due to football parking. I didn't want to run at botanical garden, so I did a mix of circuit training and exercise bike. I have this system where I ride the stationary bike (on fat burner mode) and do arm weights. Every mile I pause the bike and do 60 seconds of abs/arms. 10 pushups. And then so crunches, reverse crunches, toe touches and 10 V ups. When my arms are done, my 60 seconds was kettle bell swings, lunges and pull-ups. (5 with a band)

For bike arms, I do curls, triceps extensions,and a lot of the arms I've learned from barre and TRX—whatever I can remember.

It's a workout of my own invention. I like it.