Workouts this week: March 5

Sunday: Reluctant run
I couldn't decide whether or not to run today. I put it off and put it off and looked for every excuse NOT to run. But did anyway.

I ran hills at the botanical garden. (Meaning I ran the hilly trails. I didn't actually run hills like we did in high school. Ugh!) And I actually had a good run!

Despite being the third day in a row I've run. (I never do this.) I ran a minute faster on this route than last time. I walked twice (instead of 6 times). I felt so much stronger. That hill up from the river is brutal and I went from a 14 minute pace to a 9 minute pace. I walked a few steps at the very top (it never ends) and then once more. But that one big hills is it. Can I run it even faster next time? It just felt so much better than last time. I'm glad I ran. And it's kind of awesome that I CAN run three days in a row. THANKS LEGS.

Monday: Pilates
It's spring break in my college town so no Ramsey classes for me. The students are gone. So I went to noon pilates. Which was probably good for me. My quads are tired. I'm tired. I died in the class. I couldn't hold my plank (and I have been neglecting my abs). I needed to do some abs. And I needed an easy day.

Bathroom selfie. Thought this mirror made me look young. 

Skipped my evening run. Went and got curry at a cheap sushi place instead. (Cheat day!) Saw the university swim coach there. Haha

Tuesday: Lunch run through campus
I NEVER run on pavement. Ever. I had horrible shin splits as a teen and always attributed this to running on the pavement. Now I run on the trails or track. And that's it.

HOWEVER, I signed up for a 6.5 mile run on pavement. I wanted to be able to see if I could do it. So I ran three miles of that course on my lunch break (the other 3.5 miles of the course is in the ghetto and isn't safe to run by myself.) I've never actually run through campus before. Even though I've been on campus for over a decade.

The run wasn't easy, but I persisted and had some pretty good times. And since I train so much on hills, I got all sorts of Strava speed records. Which was nice. So I should be prepared to do the race April 1 (really, really worried about the temperature though since I don't do cold.)

Wednesday: trampoline park
There was no gymnastics this week because of spring break so a bunch of us went to the trampoline park. Super fun. I was so tired by the end of the hard. I kept moving for a solid 54 minutes before dying. I did flips and handsprings, back bounces, the ninja course. And then I was completely worn out.

Bonus: Ran into a friend I used to work with.

Thursday: Long run

I've been following an online plan to get in shape for a 6.5 mile race (I used a 10k program). And that race has you training up to an 8 mile run for the race. I like the idea of running longer than the race calls for so you can definitely do it. I usually do my long runs on Monday or Tuesday but there were storms Tuesday and the weather was nice today. I went out and the goal was to run 7.5 or 8 miles depending on how I felt. I was a little slower today than normal—sore quads and I definitely wore myself out at the trampoline park the day before.

I ran my normal route for the first two miles and then tried to find this Strava segment I've attempted to find before (and finally got it today, wahoo!). So I did that .5 segment (total 3.5 miles), back up to the top of the lake (4 miles) and then I did the Lake Herrick loop segment (1.8 mile, 6 mile total), back up the hill all the way to the top of the segment (7 miles), back down to the gate and back to the top of the lake and it was 8.3 miles on Strava 8.09 on my watch. (I keep the run on my watch since Strava for Apple watch is too slow to tell me the distance).

It was my longest run to date. I didn't walk a step. I felt amazing for being strong enough to do that. (I felt strong enough that I could gradually bump my mileage up to do a half if I wanted.) I actually researched halves in May or June. Let me get through my next races and see how I feel.

Friday: Pilates
More pilates today. This class is so hard. I am so bad at pilates (which maybe means I need to do it.) I came home from work and walked the dog.

Saturday: Trail run

I ran the 5k route at Sandy Creek park twice. I wanted to run the course once more but needed to get some mileage in—so we ran the course twice. I also tried to roll my ankle twice. The first time I was looking at Matt and not the ground. My foot went one way and my body went another. It hurt. And then on mile 4 or so I was feeling good thinking about how strong I was for doing this hard course twice and I rolled it again. It hurt the rest of the day :( I iced it twice and kept it raised. It was fine the next day. I also got a blood blister on that same spot. I drained it.

The run was a few seconds faster than last time and I did the first 5k without walking. I was pretty tired the second time. So I'm ready for the race this weekend. If only the race was at noon. It's at 8 a.m. and I'll be lucky if it's 40 degrees. I never run when it's below 58 or so. So I'm not sure what I'll do. My body hates cold weather. PLEASE BE WARM NEXT SUNDAY.

Workouts this week: 2-26

Sunday: Bodypump + Yoga
I was so tired from my speed work yesterday but went to class today (even though I wanted a nap). I kept my weight pretty low (my last semester weight) and even lowered my weight for lunges and still died! I increased weight for shoulders since it was the end of class. It always kills me. But maybe a class with low weight is better than napping on the couch.

My quads were super sore from the run yesterday so I went to the back weight room in search of a foam roller or something. I found this plate machine a teacher told me about last year. It works like a foam roller, you sit or lie on it according to what's sore and it vibrates and massages your muscles. I did 60 seconds on it and my quads did feel a lot better. Hooray! Maybe my favorite new machine.

I went to yoga. The classroom was COLD. I kept my long sleeve shirt on the entire time. I also went straight to downward dog almost every time and skipped the pushups. I didn't have it in me.

Monday: OFF
I went home and made tacos. I ran out of black beans! so I tried to make some in the instant pot (I had dried beans). It took about 40 minutes, but by then I was too hungry so I ate kidney beans. Then I had a huge vat of black beans. So first adventure in the instant pot. The lid is hard to take on and off. I wasn't impressed. Thinking the Instant Pot was a waste of $100.

Tuesday: Long run
The goal was to run 7 miles. I've got a 6.5 mile race coming up and the training calls for up to 8 mile runs. It makes sense to be able to do a longer distance. 7 miles was on the docket this week, so I at least wanted to get a 10k in tonight. The weather was good and I felt good after two days off running. I felt strong running. Normal time. About 8.5 minute miles. But it was all uphills tonight. I didn't get the usual downhills. I didn't walk a single step until after mile 5 when I died. I walked for about a minute up a steep hill and then ran some more. I wanted to get 7 in so I was nearing the end at 6.75 so I added some length and ended up finishing at 7.2. Starve said 7.4. That is my longest run to date. I ran for 63 minutes. And felt good afterwards.

I did have a blood blister on the bottom of my right foot and a blister on one of my left toes. But that's normal. I always have 2-3 blisters and usually 9 toenails (I've got a black one now.) I wear the expensive Balega socks and $100 Asics. So it's just my feet. I used to blister a lot in high school too. So does my sister. It just shows I'm tough. I kinda like my calluses and have no intention of smoothing out my feet. I earned my battle scars.

Wednesday: Gymnastics
It was a smaller gymnastics class today. I played on bars. I learned a new track. I think it was called a basket swing. You hook your knee and swing yourself up over the bar. And repeat. I got this on maybe my third try. And felt like maybe I'm good at bars. I got my handstand forward roll by myself.

I also tried to remember how to do an assisted kip with my feet in the band. I didn't remember how to do it though. So I put my feet in the band and flipped around the bar and scared the coach to death. Thankfully I held on so I didn't fall on my head. Oops.

Thursday: Off
I was supposed to run today. It was cold. I was tired. I had to work late. It didn't happen. I did a little bit of stationary bike, but still felt guilty. I think I needed the day off.

Friday: Trail 5k
We ran the 5k trail race route again. It's a hard course. I had to walk on one hill. I ran 8:42s. Which is 12 seconds a mile faster than last time. So I'll take it. (I would have liked to run more miles but Matt had somewhere to be.)

Saturday: Speed work
I did some speed work at the indoor track. It was pretty cold today. And I need to get some speed work in. I tried to run 3 miles at race pace (or 8 minute miles), I ran 23:19. Which is awesome. (I run faster indoors than on hills). Then I needed to get to 15 miles this week so I ran 3 800s at 8 minute mile pace. And that was it.

There was a giant gymnastics meet at the gym today. So I got to watch gymnasts while running my laps. That was fun. They were all so cute and happy. (This means there were lots of kids and parents on the track. Sigh)

Totals:
Three days running. 15 miles
BodyPump
Yoga
Gymnastics
Two days off

Workouts this week Feb. 19

Sunday: Run + Yoga
It was too pretty not to run today. So around lunchtime we headed out to Sandy Creek park to try out the route for the trail 5K we'll be running next month.

We went to the park, bought an annual pass, and asked the attendant about the course. She didn't have a clue. So Matt (the Eagle Scout) took the paper trail with us on the trek. The middle of the trail wasn't obvious. Some of it wasn't even marked or obviously a trail. We ran through a lot of leaves (and I was silently hoping not to roll an ankle in a hole I couldn't see) and stopped about four times to consult the paper. Mile two was downhill and fun (but treacherous). Also there was some steep hills in the first two miles. I kept having to stop to walk :( We finished the trail and it looked remarkably like the route we were supposed to take. (Thanks Eagle Scout husband!). Yay Matt.

Matt actually wanted to do it again. I was dead and didn't. I told him I'd wait while he ran, but we went home instead.

Yoga
I skipped BodyPump and just went to yoga.

Monday: Rest
Took today off. So I could get an off day. Went to the pet store for cat food at lunch. After work I went to the grocery store and then we took Mojo on a walk. He walks a 30 minute mile pace. !!!

I did some scouting on the Chick Fil-A half. It's in about six weeks. What did I get myself into? The course just looks so big. Do I run that far?!

Tuesday: strength + run
I missed BodyPump last week, so I tried to get a strength class in this week. I didn't have to be at work until 8:30 on Tuesday so I tried the 7 a.m. Body Pump. Ugh. It kicked my butt. Like it always does. I didn't even try to up my weight. I just tried to survive. And of course died in lunges. I packed up a few minutes early (SORRY!) because I had to hike up the hill to a meeting. iPhone said 1/2 mile up a hill would take me 15 minutes. It took me 10 in heels. Carrying a laptop. I think I walked the same speed as the East West bus that came up right behind me. I made my meeting on time!

After work I went for a run. I was surprised my legs weren't dead from BodyPump. (Maybe it hadn't set in yet?) I think it was a good run. (Minus a pit stop in the middle. I should drink more water so I don't have GI issues). I tried running some new trails. I got 6.5 miles in. I was happy with my splits. I've had a lot of icky runs lately so this was really nice.

Wednesday: Gymnastics

A lot of people came to gymnastics this week. There wasn't a lot of room on the floor, so I played on the bars. This isn't my best pullover, cast, hip circle, but it's better than last week.

Thursday: Sick Day Run

I had some stomach issues so stayed home from work and slept most of the day. I needed to get in a run, so I went to the botanical gardens by my house and ran 5 miles that evening. (I thought running MIGHT help me feel better? Sometimes it does.) It just reminded me that I need to get better at hills. HOW DO YOU GET BETTER AT HILLS?

I used to run cross country. We ran hills twice a week. I run hills during my trails now and I guess that's not enough. I don't really want to run hills. Maybe I should practice these hills more. Sigh.

Otherwise it was a good run. I got some Strava medals and a course record for running down to the river. Yay! Now I just need a few more. I should run out here more (but don't because of the hills).

Friday: Yoga
I love Friday yoga. Played around with headstands some.

Saturday: Speed work

I always dread speed work. I try to avoid it. I spend forever stretching to put it off. The dread is probably worse than the running. Today was speed work at the track. I was hoping my mile time had come done, so I went to the track with the intention of doing mile repeats (which I haven't done in forever). But that first warmup 400 killed me. Ugh. (I haven't run at the outdoor track in FOREVER)

I ran a mile. And it was quite windy. The winds were 15 mph and were really bad on the back half of the track. It was like running in a wind tunnel. My mile was 7:14. Which I think I've run a 7:15 inside. I was hoping fore more than a second off my personal best. But I'll take it.

I decided to do an 8x400 workout, since that's what was in the Hal Higdon plan for the 10k I'm running in 6 weeks. So I did that and ran pretty consistently around 1:40 with a 200 meter walk in between. I ran a cool down mile just to up my miles. My legs weren't happy. I ran an 8:14, which is good for dead legs. (My quads were so tired after this workout!)

8 angle pose. With some awful form. 

Did you know weather.com has a Running Forecaster?

I can't say it's much more useful than the hourly weather tool, but still kinda cool.

SaveSave

Workouts this week: Feb. 12

Sunday: Yoga
After my epically difficult trail run I made Sunday a recovery day. I skipped weight lifting and just went to yoga.

Bill was our sub. I hadn't had him before. He taught a good class with some poses I hadn't done before. (I'm blanking on the names a day later.) I like learning new poses. Vinyasa is always such a fast class. Always moving. I know this but wouldn't have minded a slower class. Just a little more time between poses.

Monday: Trail run

The weather was gorgeous today:. 67 and sunny. My goal was to try that Strava segment and see if I could best the time (okay, see if I could finally get credit for the segment). I felt great today (weather!) and bested the women's course record by 21 seconds. I ran 2 miles in 15:42, which I'm quite pleased with. That's a really hilly two miles—including the horrible 1/2 mile in the middle of the course. (I'd like to run sub 15 for two, but that's probably going to be on the track or a flat surface.) I was pretty pleased with that two miles, but it was too pretty to quit so I took a 20 second break, and ran again. After 4 miles I felt like I should run more, so I kept going and ran 5.78. Which I thought my legs would be too dead for after Saturday, but I felt good. I felt strong. Yay.
Although as soon as I finished the sun set, it got dark and cooled off quickly so I was sweaty and that made me really cold. Brr.

Strava vs. Apple watch
Strava: 5.78 miles run, 8:33 average pace, 774 calories burned, splits: 7:59, 7:46, 8:58, 8:43, 9:07, 8:54
Apple Watch: 5.6 miles run, 8:46 average pace, 504 calories burned, splits: 8:09, 7:52, 9:09, 9:02, 9:33, 9:03

Tuesday: OFF

Wednesday: Gymnastics
Worked on pullovers on the bar. So hard! Also bruised my hip bones.

Thursday: Run
It was cold so I did speed work inside. I dread doing speed work. I like going fast. And it's not THAT hard since I can take a lot of breaks. I just dread speed workouts. And would rather run timed miles than 800s. 800s are the worst. Only one near collision today. Some guy tried to duck inside while I was already inside, and quite tired and braindead. We didn't collide, but he scared me.

Ran consistent 3:40s.

Friday: Yoga
I like my Friday end of the workweek yoga ritual.

Saturday: Slow, awful run
I was going to run Saturday. But then it was cold and rainy all day. I gave up on running and ate two bowls of soup. As soon as I did this the sun appeared and the weather turned gorgeous. Argh. I haven't missed a Saturday run in awhile, so.....I tried.

And running an hour after eating two bowls of soup isn't the best idea.

Also, I don't run well in this temperature. I am super sensitive to the cold—being cold makes me feel like I have the flu. I'm not anemic, just really sensitive. And 56 degrees is too cold for me to be comfortable running. I ran. But it was a hard run. And everything hurt. My muscles weren't warm enough. My feet and ankles felt funny for the first three miles. My calves were tight most of the run. My hip and knee started hurting at the end of the run. And I did stretch.

I wore insulated tights (and was never too hot). I wore a short sleeve shirt and a cheap Old Navy long sleeve. (The sleeves were slightly too short, which is ridiculous because I'm short). The sleeves were uncomfortable for the whole run. I finally tied the shirt around my waist after mile 2. I wore a neck warmer and a headband. I didn't do a hat, because sometimes the sweat gets trapped in the hat and makes my head cold.

It was a crappy, crappy run. Maybe better than nothing? It stinks that I can't run in this temperature. Isn't this the temperature marathoners prefer?

Workouts this week: Feb. 5

From Monday's sunset trail run

I've been working out six days a week for a while now. I think I really want to scale back to five days a week. I'd like more time for myself. To be home. To do laundry. Clean out my car. I just need more time.

I've been really tired this week. I don't know if I'm doing too much, coming down with an illness or just not getting enough sleep. I think that's one of the reasons I want to cut back on working out.

Sunday: BodyPump + Yoga
My quads were sore today so I went easy with leg weights (lunges) but tried increasing my arm weight. I tried increasing for biceps at the end and DIED.

This was also SuperBowl Sunday and our state's team was in the Super Bowl so yoga attendance was down. And MY FAVORITE YOGA TEACHER was subbing. That was awesome. She taught vinyasa and I probably challenged myself a little more than I do with the other teacher.

Monday: 4 mile run
Run at the IM Fields. Tried the Strava route again. Maybe I'm going the wrong direction on the route. I will try it ONE MORE TIME. My legs were sore. This run was a tiny bit slower than the other day, but I probably shouldn't worry about 7 seconds a mile.

Tuesday: Yoga
I felt like more yoga today. We used blocks a lot. It was a good class and I needed it.

Wednesday: Gymnastics
I was tired but went to gymnastics anyway. I did some pullovers and back hip circles on the bars, which was fun.

Thursday: Off
Off. I was supposed to run. But I needed a day off. It was too cold to run outside (and super windy) and I didn't really want to go to the indoor track. I also had some work to deal with from 5-6:30. So if I only run twice this week, oh well. I usually do this once or month or so.

Friday: Yoga
Yoga. Very easy yoga class. I forgot to turn the workout on my Apple Watch. Oh well. I went to bed at 9:30 p.m. That's how tired I was. I woke up at 6:45 a.m. and felt a lot better.

Saturday: Sandy Creek Run
I went back to the epic 6.5 mile trail around Lake Chapman at Sandy Creek park. It was just as bad as I remember and I don't think I walked any less than last time. I didn't fall though, so that's good. My times were dead on with last time. I paused my watch midway to catch my breath, but it didn't pause so Boo. My times were weird. Strava said I was faster on the route, by a minute. But it also said my pace was 24 seconds a mile slower. I'm confused.

There are at least three creeks to cross in the first three miles. I got mud on my shoes, which I am every unhappy about. I walked a lot. I took Matt and he tweaked his ankles some. I'm hoping they don't bruise tomorrow. He says the course is tougher than we are and doesn't want to go back. (I really do want to go back! I need to get my times down.)

**Update: On Monday, Matt texted me that we should definitely try the course again. Because we have to do better. Also, I'm not nearly as beat up as I was last time. I died on the route and for about a week after. I had a great run two days later, so maybe I'm tougher for doing the run? Or I needed a light week?

Workouts this week: Week of Jan. 29

Sunday: Bodypump + Yoga

Dose of weight lifting followed by an hour of yoga.

In yoga, I did the easy option of everything. Went straight to downward dog or child's pose.

A girl complimented me on my arms after BodyPump. It totally made my day. I do like my somewhat beastly arms. They're muscular (without looking like I take steroids). I think I look strong. And I've been working on them for four years. :)

Monday: Off
Scheduled off day. Went home and relaxed.

Tuesday: Trail Run
Tried a new trail. Didn't die. Have some nice bruises to show for it. More about it here.

Wednesday: Rest
I was tired. I listened to my body and went home and slept for two hours. And had no trouble falling asleep that night. I needed the rest.

Thursday: 4 mile trail run
Ran at the IM Fields today. It's always hard to get over there after work before the sun goes down. Traffic is brutal. I tried a different route to drive over there and it might have been slower. (I think I could run over there faster).

I ran 4 miles. The goal was just 2 since I was so tired after Tuesday, but my legs always feel better after mile 2. So I did 4.

My goal was to do a saved Strava segment, but even though I did the segment, I didn't get credit for it. My GPS threw a weird signal and shows me starting in the middle of the lake (when I made sure to stand in the exact spot the segment started. I had it open.) That was kind of annoying

Friday: Lunch pilates

Third Friday gymnastics meet in a row. So that means I can't go to yoga. (Miss you YOGA). So I go to lunch pilates.

I prefer yoga. But today the class was in a new building on campus—that I hadn't been in before. Was pretty cool. So nice to get out to another part of campus.

Saturday: Speed work at the indoor track
Did 8x800s at the indoor track. They were nice and consistent.
3:40, 3:37, 3:42, 3:40, 3:41, 3:45, 3:44, 3:33. I can run all day if I can take breaks. Why can't my 5k time be that fast?

 I rewarded myself with chicken and waffles afterwards. (I couldn't finish. It was too much)

Sandy Creek Park: Lakeside Trail

I decided to try a new trail—the trails at Sandy Creek Park. I've been meaning to try them for a while. (Did them after work on a warm day.)

I decided to try the long one—Lakeside Trail. (It's 6.5 miles + walking back to your car) I'm tough, right? Haha. I definitely bit off more than I could chew.

Sign #1: I brought mismatching grey Belega socks to run in. They have slightly different padding. Oh well.

Sign #2: Getting texts driving to my run about work drama. Ugh. And all the more reason to run.

Sign #3: Falling and skinning my knee within the first quarter mile. The trail wasn't especially bad. I just fell. And got dirt all over my arm and shirt. I can't remember the last time I fell running a trail. And I fell again mile three or four. TWICE. I fell twice. But I didn't sprain anything. I was pretty worried about putting a hole in my Lululemon crops :( But I didn't. And I survived.

Fall #1. Scraped my knee. Was happy to walk away intact.

I skinned my other knee with fall number 2.

Knee. Two days later. Black and sore. 

I just didn't have 6 miles in me today. My legs felt tired in the first mile. The trail was NOT EASY. It wasn't as bad as the White Trail. But I needed to stop and walk a lot. And my ankles kept trying to trip me. They do this on occasion when I need to stop running.

I haven't had to walk this much in a year. MY SLOWEST RUN IN A YEAR. I should have quit after mile 3 but it's a loop. I had to make it back. And I wanted to finish. So lots of walking. Which is fine. I was scouting a new trail.

I wanted to run 7 miles today. But that didn't happen.

That said I did like the trail.

The trail is REALLY WELL MARKED. Way better than the botanical garden. I got confused about 3-4 times. The first time was at the beginning of the course. But if in doubt—GO LEFT. And the next few times I should looked around until I figured out which way to go (usually left). One time there were actually purple signs that I think said WRONG WAY. I figured it out in a few seconds. I just needed to stop and look around. So easy to find your way. I completed the trail I wanted to (unlike the white trail, which I didn't.)

It was pretty. Pretty views of the lake. The trail was well maintained.

On the downside:

Hills. A little hillier than the IM Fields, but not AS BAD as the Botanical Garden. And definitely some steep, narrow parts.

Mud. There were a few jumps across streams and mud puddles that took some figuring out how to maneuver. Maybe 3-4 of them that you couldn't just leap over. You had to run through or jump and run. Totally fine. Wasn't expecting it. Don't wear new white shoes.

I saw 3 people on the trail while I was running. So not too many people. (Good and bad?)

I'm trying not to feel too bad about this run. It wasn't great. But I was trying a new course and it's okay to have a slow day!

I'd definitely run this course again. I need to get my time down!!