So I just got back from a nice 3.6 run. I call this type of workout "grilled cheese". Not just because I follow up the run with one - but because I find comfort and fun in both grilled cheese, and this type of training run.
I was just going out to run 2 miles as that is what is on tap for today. Well... as I was running, I decied to play around with intensity, speed, cadence, hills, and hydration. SCORE! This was the most fun 3+miler I have had in a long time. I got in my 2 miles, plus some cadence drills UP HILL.
I fueled up this morning with a shake made with Carnation Instant Breakfast, 1/2 C of blueberries, and 1/2C of FF Milk, blended with ice. YUMMY! I then mixed up my waterbottle of Accelerade (fruit punch flavored), fired up the iPod to Phedippidations, and took off.
At the mile mark I was like - oh crap I have to turn around already? - but then I thought, why not see how far I can push myself. So I ran out another .71 miles then turned around. On the way back is nothing but hills - both up and down - so I worked on my down-hill cadences, as well as my up-hill sprints. Every up hill I ran at a 9:30pace. We are talking a 9:30 pace UP hill. For a half of a mile. Straight. ;)
Once I rounded the corner that leads me back to home, I decided to play with cadence once more. Amazing - I ran a solid sub-10 minute mile and felt wonderful. And of course once I hit the hills I upped it to 9:30. Then I slowed down on the last down hill, and gradually came to a walk, walking back home.
SWEET.
I felt good with the Accelerade. It is easy on my stomach, and I feel like I am getting hydrated as well as fueled. I don't care much about my overall pace - I just had fun out there. ;) It is good to have fun and get in good mileage. Awesome.
The remainder of the day is work, and then when Mike gets home from work - dinner and then the gym. We have started to eat dinner first then workout later at the gym. Personally, I like this much better because most people are gone by 9 or 10PM, and also we are fueled and not starving. Plus I am no longer getting home at 9PM and then eating, only to rush off to bed. It is nice and relaxing.
Last night I did chest and tris. It was nice because now we are spending far more time in the "Temple of Testosterone" (AKA the free-weight room) and less time on machines. I am finally feeling the workouts, and suprisingly, when I went to the pec deck to work on thegeneral overall chest- my strength had increased from doing 3 reps of 12 at 62.5lbs.... to 3 sets of 12 at 112.5lbs.... all in 1 week. What the.... oh. Right. I am actually getting stronger. I am just not so keen on gaining mass, so I am going to plateau off my weight for a while and maybe increase reps instead.
Tonight is back and bi's. Again, plenty of time will be spent in the free weight room. I am no longer scared of it. I am embracing it as yet another part of strength training. Also - by mixing up the workouts we do for the different muscle group pairings each time we work out, we are assuring that we will not get burnt out.
Doing the typical machines every third day started to be a drag. Yeah you see progress, but still with the free-weights you can really work and isolate muscles in a more varied manner than by machines alone. PLus you can feel the difference between isolation and mass0building exercises. Somehow on the machines I never really feel that. Maybe I aid too much with other parts of my body on the machines - whereas with free weights it is all... well you.
I am feeling stronger and getting sooo geared up for the Freep this year. That bridge will be nothng to me! ;)
Enough bablling off to work!
~})i({ RG
Showing posts with label kicking ass and taking names. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kicking ass and taking names. Show all posts
Jun 6, 2007
First mini-goal nearly acomplished!
I am officially at 19lbs lost since April 1st. My mini-goal was to be at 20lbs gone by the start of June, but I jut missed that - by just a few days.
That is motivation to me. I managed to shed 20lbs by simply altering my state of mind. I do not deprive myself, I eat smart. I am more conscious of my decisions now. I am eating whole foods, not produced foods, and foods with very high nutritional value. I eat a lot of veggies every day. And it is showing! I am staying OP and not having a problem with it this time. I may finally bust through this 27-point plateau.
My next mini goal - 20lbs by 8/11/07.
There are two reasons for this. First off, 8/11 is my 29th birthday. And I tell you - I am ending my 20's in better shape, and mental clarity, that I started them. Which is hard for me to grasp because I was skinny back then. But health is not size. Health is holistic. The 2nd reason I want to loose my next block of 20lbs by mid-August is because 8/12 is the Chicago Distance Classic.
Running has gotten easier with this first nearly-20 gone. I know what it feels like to run 20lbs lighter than this even. And it feels good. And that race is just 10-weeks away. I need to keep up with the 2lb a week loss. But you know what? If I get down 17-18 lbs by then I will feel good. ;) I will still feel accomplished.
My last goal for major weight loss is to be down a third 20lbs - yes for a total of 60 - by Christmas Eve. I want to give myself plenty of time to shed that weight, as I have lost THIS 20 lbs before. And I have lost the NEXT 20lbs before. I have never lost that last 20lbs.
That last 20lbs will put me close to target weight range. And that is something that I have not been since, oh, high school? I was not fat in the latter days of high school - in fact I was a size 6. But I still weighed 15lbs out of the range for my build. I honestly carry weight REALLY well.
So after that last 20 I have a few straggler pounds to loose. 14 to be exact. If I can shed those last 14 lbs by June 1st 2008, then I will have lot a total 0f 74lbs. And I will have accomplished something I really had my mind set that I would never be able to.
I am only just over a quarter of the way there - but I know that I can do it.
If you are wondering why I have aggressive goals up front, but have put more time into the last 20, and then a lot more time into that last 14lbs - the reasoning is this. I expect to hit plateaus. I expect to hit some bumps in the road. And the simple truth is the more you loose, the harder is to loose. I have a LOT to loose, so right now it is cake as my body was not meant to be this heavy. So it likes shedding the weight. But once I break the 40lb mark - we are entering territory my body has not been in in a decade. I am preparing myself for it to be resistant!
Heck if I kept on with 2lbs loss every single week without fail from here until Christmas I will loose 75lbs this year alone. It is possible - but highly unlikely that my body will do that.
Here is to a beautiful day out there. I will be running my 2-miles at lunch today I think. If nto run it, then I will be walking the 3.4 miles instead. ;)
Have a great one!
~ })i({
That is motivation to me. I managed to shed 20lbs by simply altering my state of mind. I do not deprive myself, I eat smart. I am more conscious of my decisions now. I am eating whole foods, not produced foods, and foods with very high nutritional value. I eat a lot of veggies every day. And it is showing! I am staying OP and not having a problem with it this time. I may finally bust through this 27-point plateau.
My next mini goal - 20lbs by 8/11/07.
There are two reasons for this. First off, 8/11 is my 29th birthday. And I tell you - I am ending my 20's in better shape, and mental clarity, that I started them. Which is hard for me to grasp because I was skinny back then. But health is not size. Health is holistic. The 2nd reason I want to loose my next block of 20lbs by mid-August is because 8/12 is the Chicago Distance Classic.
Running has gotten easier with this first nearly-20 gone. I know what it feels like to run 20lbs lighter than this even. And it feels good. And that race is just 10-weeks away. I need to keep up with the 2lb a week loss. But you know what? If I get down 17-18 lbs by then I will feel good. ;) I will still feel accomplished.
My last goal for major weight loss is to be down a third 20lbs - yes for a total of 60 - by Christmas Eve. I want to give myself plenty of time to shed that weight, as I have lost THIS 20 lbs before. And I have lost the NEXT 20lbs before. I have never lost that last 20lbs.
That last 20lbs will put me close to target weight range. And that is something that I have not been since, oh, high school? I was not fat in the latter days of high school - in fact I was a size 6. But I still weighed 15lbs out of the range for my build. I honestly carry weight REALLY well.
So after that last 20 I have a few straggler pounds to loose. 14 to be exact. If I can shed those last 14 lbs by June 1st 2008, then I will have lot a total 0f 74lbs. And I will have accomplished something I really had my mind set that I would never be able to.
I am only just over a quarter of the way there - but I know that I can do it.
If you are wondering why I have aggressive goals up front, but have put more time into the last 20, and then a lot more time into that last 14lbs - the reasoning is this. I expect to hit plateaus. I expect to hit some bumps in the road. And the simple truth is the more you loose, the harder is to loose. I have a LOT to loose, so right now it is cake as my body was not meant to be this heavy. So it likes shedding the weight. But once I break the 40lb mark - we are entering territory my body has not been in in a decade. I am preparing myself for it to be resistant!
Heck if I kept on with 2lbs loss every single week without fail from here until Christmas I will loose 75lbs this year alone. It is possible - but highly unlikely that my body will do that.
Here is to a beautiful day out there. I will be running my 2-miles at lunch today I think. If nto run it, then I will be walking the 3.4 miles instead. ;)
Have a great one!
~ })i({
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