As a followup to my last post, my training has gone really well over all. I did do the planned swim and strength workout on Sunday, Jan. 22, including the PT stuff to strengthen my glutes (walking lunges, step ups, and one legged leg press), but once again, my quads and glutes were trashed for 2-3 days afterward and I had to adapt my run on the Monday.
I had a hectic week with appointments on my usual run days (Tues/Thurs) so I switched things up and planned to run Mon/Wed instead.
Here are how things went:
Mon (23) - 3km treadmill, 3 km elliptical (adapted due to soreness)
Tue (24) - Rest day
Wed (25) - Great run - hilly 6.8km in 45 min, snowy/icey in spots, but decent pace
Thu (26) - Trainer - 29.6km in 1:02 - much better pace. 30 min 80rpm, 30 min 90 rpm
Fri (27) - Busy day - no time to train
Sat (28) - Long run in the snow, 14.5k, 1:45
Sun (29) - Gym (pool busy) - Rowing 30 min 5.6 km, strength machines
On Sunday's strength workout, I tried something different. I cut back to two sets of 12 rep of the leg machines, and in a couple of cases, cut back one notch on the weight. I did the PT exercises as well, but also cut down on the number. Subsequently, I was able to run, relatively pain free on Monday. I think I will continue with this reduction of those specific exercises until I build up a little more strength.
This current week is a very hectic one at school. I will not be able to train every day but I will endeavour to get my runs in. When I ran on Monday, I went a little longer so I could hit 100km for the month, for the first time, and I made it! 101 km for the month of January! I felt pretty good on the run, and had a pretty good pace once again.
I didn't get my training in today, but I do plan to run tomorrow again. I'm not sure if I'll get anything done on Friday, but everything should be back to normal on the weekend. I guess I'll just consider this a 'rest' week. :)
Mon (30) - 63 min. run, 9.4 km
Tue (31) - rest day (too busy)
Wed (1) - full stretch and some strength and PT work at home
And the rest of the week?
Thu (2) - I plan to run 45 min
Fri (3) - 1 hr on trainer or nothing
Sat (4) - 1:45-1:50 - 15km, 6:49 pace
Sun (5) - Swim and weights
So now that I've managed to hit a 100km running month, let's see if I can do that every month until May.
Weight/Diet
My weight has fluctuated a bit but seems to moving in the right direction, however slowly. More interestingly though, I pulled out my measuring tape and found I've lost at least an inch on the waist, hips, upper thighs etc so I am definitely feeling 'slimmer' even if the scale isn't showing big changes. This positive trend will help motivate me. I am really finding it tough to keep updating Sparkpeople with my meal info so I can track my calories, for more than a day or two, but I will continue to try.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Weekly Update
Training
I had a pretty successful week of training and got all my workouts in, with a few minor adjustments. It was a miserable week of weather with a severe cold snap that gave us highs of -14C to -18C (0F), wind, and snow, and a wind chill of -30C. Needless to say, I did my two weekday runs on the treadmill.
Mon - Trainer for 60 min
Tues - Treadmill for 45 min and 3X12 reps on 7 upper body machines.
Wed - Unplanned rest day - tired. Decided to ride trainer on Friday.
Thur - Treadmill 45 min and 3X12 upper body weights again
Fri - Trainer 60 min
Sat - 90 minute run outside
Today - I'm heading to the gym in a while to swim and do all weights.
By yesterday, the cold snap had broken and although we had a dump of snow on Friday night, I drove down to Gyro Park to run along Abbott and the boardwalk. It was pretty messy and slow going until I hit the bike/walk path which had been ploughed and then it was easier, although a little slippery which slowed my overall pace. The air temperature was a balmy 0C so the run itself was quite lovely.
Since the previous week's run had only been an hour (instead of the planned 75 min), I was making a fairly big jump so ran easy and took planned one minute walk breaks every 20 minutes or so. In addition, I had to walk frequently when moving back and forth from the road to sidewalk in some sections where the sidewalks had not been cleared.
My Newtons are pretty useless in snow because of poor traction and open mesh in the uppers so I wore my Pearl Izumi Peak XC trail shoes. They have much better traction and are very comfortable but my shins are a little sore today because I haven't worn these shoes for a long time and my legs don't like switching shoes very much. I'm hoping that I'll feel fine for my short runs this week. If not, I'll only do one mid-week run.
This upcoming week has some challenges that will force me to move my workouts around somewhat because I have after-school appointments on Tuesday and Thursday which are my usual running days. I'm going to try to move my runs to Mon/Wed but I'll to wait and see how my legs feel on Monday. If they're still sore, I may do the elliptical instead and only run on Wednesday. Tuesday will have to be my rest day because I'm busy all day right up until I get home at 9:30pm. Other that than, I plan to ride the trainer for an hour 2 nights this week and hit the gym for upper body work once of twice.
Strength Work
I've been pretty dedicated to using the new machines at the gym for the past 5-6 weeks and I've been showing some progress and starting to feel stronger. I've been able to increase the weight on all of the machines at least once since I started. The struggle has been with the lower body workouts. I found that if I do lower body weight training on the same day that I run, I am sore for several days after and have trouble doing my next run. If I do lower body weights on alternate days, I'm still sore the next day and it affects my run (and no, the weights are not too heavy).
I tried something different this week - since I was the the gym for the treadmill anyway, I did all of the upper body machines right after my run so that I was at least getting strength work in. Today, my plan is to do all the machines after my swim as usual, which includes the single and double leg press, walking lunges, step ups, and leg extensions. Since my legs are a little sore from my run yesterday, I'm hoping today's workout doesn't further impact my upcoming runs. I keep hoping I will get to a point where I will have built up my strength enough that a workout will not have a serious affect on my running. It just goes to show how weak I am in some areas of my hips/glutes.
Diet
My diet sucked this week. I was too busy/lazy to record my calories and subsequently my diet suffered. I tried to eat reasonable portions and stay away from crap but there were several times when I made bad choices. All it takes is an extra 100-200 calories a day to mess up my weight loss plan and I suspect when I weigh in tomorrow, I'll be up a half pound, instead of down a full pound.
Therefore, I'm committed to counting calories all week, and in addition, I'm going to cut back my cals another 100 per day to 1500 since it looks like even with training 45-60 minutes a day, 1600 calories is maintenance, not weight loss. Eating only 1500 calories a day will be hard for me but I can do it.
For the past 2 weeks, I've planned out the week day dinners and have done all my shoppoing and food prep on Sunday. I've found this has REALLY helped keep my organized and on track. I've been recording what we have for dinner each night on my iCloud calendar so now it's nice to look back to get ideas for the upcoming week.
And so another week begins - I hope your training is going well!
I had a pretty successful week of training and got all my workouts in, with a few minor adjustments. It was a miserable week of weather with a severe cold snap that gave us highs of -14C to -18C (0F), wind, and snow, and a wind chill of -30C. Needless to say, I did my two weekday runs on the treadmill.
Mon - Trainer for 60 min
Tues - Treadmill for 45 min and 3X12 reps on 7 upper body machines.
Wed - Unplanned rest day - tired. Decided to ride trainer on Friday.
Thur - Treadmill 45 min and 3X12 upper body weights again
Fri - Trainer 60 min
Sat - 90 minute run outside
Today - I'm heading to the gym in a while to swim and do all weights.
By yesterday, the cold snap had broken and although we had a dump of snow on Friday night, I drove down to Gyro Park to run along Abbott and the boardwalk. It was pretty messy and slow going until I hit the bike/walk path which had been ploughed and then it was easier, although a little slippery which slowed my overall pace. The air temperature was a balmy 0C so the run itself was quite lovely.Since the previous week's run had only been an hour (instead of the planned 75 min), I was making a fairly big jump so ran easy and took planned one minute walk breaks every 20 minutes or so. In addition, I had to walk frequently when moving back and forth from the road to sidewalk in some sections where the sidewalks had not been cleared.
My Newtons are pretty useless in snow because of poor traction and open mesh in the uppers so I wore my Pearl Izumi Peak XC trail shoes. They have much better traction and are very comfortable but my shins are a little sore today because I haven't worn these shoes for a long time and my legs don't like switching shoes very much. I'm hoping that I'll feel fine for my short runs this week. If not, I'll only do one mid-week run.
This upcoming week has some challenges that will force me to move my workouts around somewhat because I have after-school appointments on Tuesday and Thursday which are my usual running days. I'm going to try to move my runs to Mon/Wed but I'll to wait and see how my legs feel on Monday. If they're still sore, I may do the elliptical instead and only run on Wednesday. Tuesday will have to be my rest day because I'm busy all day right up until I get home at 9:30pm. Other that than, I plan to ride the trainer for an hour 2 nights this week and hit the gym for upper body work once of twice.
Strength Work
I've been pretty dedicated to using the new machines at the gym for the past 5-6 weeks and I've been showing some progress and starting to feel stronger. I've been able to increase the weight on all of the machines at least once since I started. The struggle has been with the lower body workouts. I found that if I do lower body weight training on the same day that I run, I am sore for several days after and have trouble doing my next run. If I do lower body weights on alternate days, I'm still sore the next day and it affects my run (and no, the weights are not too heavy).
I tried something different this week - since I was the the gym for the treadmill anyway, I did all of the upper body machines right after my run so that I was at least getting strength work in. Today, my plan is to do all the machines after my swim as usual, which includes the single and double leg press, walking lunges, step ups, and leg extensions. Since my legs are a little sore from my run yesterday, I'm hoping today's workout doesn't further impact my upcoming runs. I keep hoping I will get to a point where I will have built up my strength enough that a workout will not have a serious affect on my running. It just goes to show how weak I am in some areas of my hips/glutes.
Diet
My diet sucked this week. I was too busy/lazy to record my calories and subsequently my diet suffered. I tried to eat reasonable portions and stay away from crap but there were several times when I made bad choices. All it takes is an extra 100-200 calories a day to mess up my weight loss plan and I suspect when I weigh in tomorrow, I'll be up a half pound, instead of down a full pound.
Therefore, I'm committed to counting calories all week, and in addition, I'm going to cut back my cals another 100 per day to 1500 since it looks like even with training 45-60 minutes a day, 1600 calories is maintenance, not weight loss. Eating only 1500 calories a day will be hard for me but I can do it.
For the past 2 weeks, I've planned out the week day dinners and have done all my shoppoing and food prep on Sunday. I've found this has REALLY helped keep my organized and on track. I've been recording what we have for dinner each night on my iCloud calendar so now it's nice to look back to get ideas for the upcoming week.
And so another week begins - I hope your training is going well!
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Sugoi Versa Jacket Review
This video I snagged from the Sugoi website, shows how easily the sleeves come off and then pop into the back pocket.
So often, I head out for a run feeling chilly and then only 15 minutes in, I'm wishing I'd worn a vest instead. With this jacket, I am able to quickly pull the sleeves off and tuck them into my back pocket while I run. Other times, I've headed out in the vest and then slipped the sleeves on when I reached the wind by the lake. Either way, they work great!
Another thing I love about the jacket is that it has two pockets in front and one bigger one (cycling style) in the back. I find this great for running and cycling. (I love pockets...)
They really pay attention to details at Sugoi as well. Here are a few more features of the jacket.
* Mesh ventilation for maximum airflow
* Reverse coil separating zip with guard
* 2 comfortable front zip pockets
* 1 zip back pocket
* Dual adjustable shockcord
* Contrast elastic bound armhole
* 3M Reflective piping on front, side and back for added visibility
I've been wearing this jacket through an entire set of seasons now and have found it useful for many situations, even light rain or snow. My only request now is that they make the next version with the back a little longer for cycling. When I mentioned this to Sugoi, they happily told me they'd take the suggestion to their designers.
At $120 (Canadian), I think this versatile jacket is a great buy, and now my only problem is trying to decide what colour my next one will be. :)
Monday, January 16, 2012
Marathon Mindset
I was recently reading an article that erin337 had posted on her facebook page about the importance of being emotionally ready to run a marathon. Here's a link to the entire article called "Why You Should Fear the Marathon."
In the article, writer Tess Zevenbergen writes:
"Not only is running 42.2 km (26.1 miles) physically and mentally taxing, it requires one to dig deep and pull out of themselves everything they possibly can. The tricky thing is, if you don’t believe you can do it, you probably won’t."
Then she goes on to describe the physical and mental challenges of running a marathon. But it's that line "If you don't believe you can do it, you probably won't" that scares me. How can I convince my head that I really can run a marathon?
It's not that I don't think I have the stamina - I've certainly had my share of long, stressful, physically challenging days and I really can't imagine it being a whole lot more mentally challenging than my first half ironman a few years ago when I started the 21.1 km run knowing I was going to have to limp through the entire thing with an ITB that had locked up on the bike. But I suffered on and finished it, fighting a body that was screaming at me to pack it in for most of the last 3 hours of that seven and a half hour race. And with any luck, my marathon will be shorter, right? :)
I think I can do this. In fact, I pretty sure I can do this.
I'm really looking forward to the day when I can honestly say I KNOW I can do this.
*********************************
Here's a funny video of a guy who tells us what he's thinking at various points of his marathon.
In the article, writer Tess Zevenbergen writes:
"Not only is running 42.2 km (26.1 miles) physically and mentally taxing, it requires one to dig deep and pull out of themselves everything they possibly can. The tricky thing is, if you don’t believe you can do it, you probably won’t."
Then she goes on to describe the physical and mental challenges of running a marathon. But it's that line "If you don't believe you can do it, you probably won't" that scares me. How can I convince my head that I really can run a marathon?
It's not that I don't think I have the stamina - I've certainly had my share of long, stressful, physically challenging days and I really can't imagine it being a whole lot more mentally challenging than my first half ironman a few years ago when I started the 21.1 km run knowing I was going to have to limp through the entire thing with an ITB that had locked up on the bike. But I suffered on and finished it, fighting a body that was screaming at me to pack it in for most of the last 3 hours of that seven and a half hour race. And with any luck, my marathon will be shorter, right? :)
I think I can do this. In fact, I pretty sure I can do this.
I'm really looking forward to the day when I can honestly say I KNOW I can do this.
*********************************
Here's a funny video of a guy who tells us what he's thinking at various points of his marathon.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Tri-Ripped
Hi all,
I just want to take a moment to write a short post about Ben Greenfield's latest product - Tri-Ripped (and if you haven't checked out his podcast, look for it on itunes - lots of interesting interviews and training and nutrition information). Ben offered me a copy to review and gave me the opportunity to be an affiliate, so if you are interested in the program, click through my site to get more info and/or order it and you will also be helping to support the Kelownagurl Media Empire (as Chad from the Candotri Podcast likes to call it, haha...)
I've taken a look at the digital version of Greenfield's program, which is about 290 pages long, and from what I can see, it looks pretty complete with an 8 month triathlon training program that includes the sport specific strength workouts to help you look as good as you feel. He has lots of good colour photos of all the exercises in the back of the book, and also throws in a booklet with supplement info, a training log, and a CD with some audio info. What seems to be missing is a video although he provides links to facebook support and youtube videos.
This is definitely a vanity program, and is certainly not for everyone (particularly beginners), but if you want to look a little more 'ripped', it might be be something to check out. I don't know how the price compares to other, similar programs, and at $97 for the digital version, it's a bit pricey IMO. But if money is no object and you're looking for something new to try for 2012, check it out.
Here's how Ben describes his program.
"So how is Tri-Ripped any different than popular fitness programs like GymJones, Crossfit, P90X, Beach Body Insanity and other trendy workouts that some triathletes are ineffectively trying to use and meld with triathlon training?
The answer is simple: those programs were designed for the general fitness enthusiast - and then somebody realized they could make money by selling these programs to triathletes, so they twisted, torqued and warped the program in a failed attempt to make it somehow work with triathlon training.
But in the end, every single one of these popular fitness programs started for the average gymgoer, not the triathlete.
In contrast, Tri-Ripped was written by a seasoned triathlete, for triathletes. It started with the pure premise that you are a triathlete, you will be swimming, cycling and running, and if you want to have a nice body, your program needs to combine triathlon training with a unique style of cross-training that can make you sexy as hell.
So rather than “fighting” a program like Crossfit, or Beach Body, or anything else, and frustratingly trying to “make it work” for your swimming, cycling and running, you can now simply waltz straight to Tri-Ripped and have it all beautifully laid out for you and ready for you to dive right in with zero guesswork."
So there ya go - I have not tried any of the workouts yet, but I am going to play around with it a bit and see what I think. I'll let you know.
If you want more info, click on one of the links below. Have fun!
Tri-Ripped Hard Copy or Digital Version
I've taken a look at the digital version of Greenfield's program, which is about 290 pages long, and from what I can see, it looks pretty complete with an 8 month triathlon training program that includes the sport specific strength workouts to help you look as good as you feel. He has lots of good colour photos of all the exercises in the back of the book, and also throws in a booklet with supplement info, a training log, and a CD with some audio info. What seems to be missing is a video although he provides links to facebook support and youtube videos.
This is definitely a vanity program, and is certainly not for everyone (particularly beginners), but if you want to look a little more 'ripped', it might be be something to check out. I don't know how the price compares to other, similar programs, and at $97 for the digital version, it's a bit pricey IMO. But if money is no object and you're looking for something new to try for 2012, check it out.
Here's how Ben describes his program.
"So how is Tri-Ripped any different than popular fitness programs like GymJones, Crossfit, P90X, Beach Body Insanity and other trendy workouts that some triathletes are ineffectively trying to use and meld with triathlon training?
The answer is simple: those programs were designed for the general fitness enthusiast - and then somebody realized they could make money by selling these programs to triathletes, so they twisted, torqued and warped the program in a failed attempt to make it somehow work with triathlon training.
But in the end, every single one of these popular fitness programs started for the average gymgoer, not the triathlete.
In contrast, Tri-Ripped was written by a seasoned triathlete, for triathletes. It started with the pure premise that you are a triathlete, you will be swimming, cycling and running, and if you want to have a nice body, your program needs to combine triathlon training with a unique style of cross-training that can make you sexy as hell.
So rather than “fighting” a program like Crossfit, or Beach Body, or anything else, and frustratingly trying to “make it work” for your swimming, cycling and running, you can now simply waltz straight to Tri-Ripped and have it all beautifully laid out for you and ready for you to dive right in with zero guesswork."
So there ya go - I have not tried any of the workouts yet, but I am going to play around with it a bit and see what I think. I'll let you know.
If you want more info, click on one of the links below. Have fun!
Tri-Ripped Hard Copy or Digital Version
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