Ever since the Safari Park half marathon, I have had no desire to run. At all. I don't think I have run during the week (Tuesday-Saturday) once in the last two weeks. Which is abnormal for me. I ran my 6 mile training run (the shortest one yet) on Monday. I have just been so extremely busy. Jeff and I are more than a year away from our desired wedding date (we haven't even set a date in stone!) and I feel like we are completely engulfed in wedding planning. I am not going to lie, I love it. I love planning, as most of my close family and friends know. I am not complaining. But it's not very conducive to a solid running schedule. And on top of that, I have been lazy.
I thought that after taking a vacation I would be totally ready to get back into the full swing of things. The opposite is true. I want to continue the vacation! Ugh. It's frustrating. I have still been spinning and doing yoga and occasionally lifting. But I really need to concentrate on running. The Rock n Roll full marathon is in a little over 2 months and I have yet to do more than 16 miles.
Tomorrow is supposed to be my first 20 mile training run. I am feeling optimistic. This morning was the first morning I have woken up at a reasonable time, 6:45 AM (late for me but still pretty early), and actually have not wanted to keep sleeping for another hour. I don't care how long it takes me to finish my 20 miles tomorrow, I am determined to do it. I think I will stick to Balboa Park. I haven't run there in quite a while, and after visiting the Prado (as a potential wedding venue), I realized that I miss it.
Tonight I am going out with the girls to the gaslamp for the first time in at least six months, which I am stoked about. But again, I don't know how conducive it will be to my running date tomorrow... I guess we will see! When I am determined, I can make myself do something no matter how painful (sometimes a bad thing).
I think the hardest part about training for this marathon is not the mental grit I need to finish my training runs, or the physical toll the runs take on my body, but being able to fit the training runs into my busy schedule. I don't want to give up any other part of my life. I love hanging out with Jeff and Toby and my friends, so I have to make them a priority. Hence why I tend to run at 5 in the morning (not ideal, needless to say). I like feeling busy, but this is a little much. I think it will be worth it though. I may feel differently after running 20 miles tomorrow...
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Best week EVER
So many things happened this past week I don't know where to start. Well okay, yes I do...
Jeff proposed!! On our first night on the cruise, he popped the question! I am so excited, I keep catching myself looking at my new shiny ring...
We had an awesome time in Cabo- we snorkeled, parasailed, shopped, drank, and just enjoyed the sunshine. We met some great people on the cruise, we got extremely lucky. Shout out to the Boyds, we are so lucky to have met you!
Another shout out to Samantha, I am so sad we couldn't celebrate our birthdays together this year but I was definitely thinking of you and I hope you had a drink for me!
Back to focusing on running (if I must)...
Yesterday, March 13th was not only my friend Sarah's birthday but also the San Diego Safari Park (formerly the Wild Animal Park) half marathon. I didn't do much in terms of training this past week since we were on the cruise. I ran once for a mile on the cruise ship and then got worried that I would either barf or spaz out and fall off the treadmill because of the way the ship was rocking. Saturday, Najia the Ninja had a JT-filled 90-minute spin class as a birthday celebration for me and Sarah, which was awesome. So that was a good jump-start to my weekend.
Going into the race, I was not mentally or physically prepared. Physically, I was sore from spinning, and I got 5 hours of sleep. Why they decided to have a 7 AM race on the first day of daylight savings time is beyond me. We had to get up at 5 AM (it's good that we did because traffic was bad on the one lane road getting into the park). Plus I may or may not have stayed up till 11 the night before reading the bridal magazines Jeff's mom got me... Mentally, my only thought about the race was that I wanted to finish. I didn't care about my time, I just wanted to have a good run and be done with it. Sarah and our other friend Ashley and I had a joint birthday celebration planned for after the race, so that's pretty much all I was thinking about.
As it turned out, not caring worked quite well. I beat my previous best time (or as they call it in the running world, personal record) by about half a minute. The course was really hilly so I am still not sure how I did that but I got a time of 2:03:21. Yay! I think it helped that we passed the rhinos and the cheetahs coming into the finish... the cheetah was staring me down haha. I would definitely do that race again, it was probably the most fun half marathon I have run so far. It definitely helped that Jeff was there to cheer me on at multiple points during the race, it made me really happy. I think I was just so excited about being engaged that I wanted to finish and see him!
I can't wait until Sarah plans my bachelorette race. Yes, I said race. In addition to my parties (plural, because I know that will be the case), we are going to run a race to celebrate. I don't know how long of a race, that's up to her as long as it's not a full marathon!
Did I mention yet that I can barely move today? Not only was I the most sore I have ever been after a race, I worked out with Angela. And as I've explained, I always feel like jelly afterward. We did mostly upper body, but with Angela, upper body workouts are always lower body workouts too. But that's fine because other than laundry, I will spending my afternoon cuddling with our dog Toby and catching up on all the shows I missed (currently it's The Bachelor: Women Tell All). Sounds like the perfect end to a vacation to me :-)
Jeff proposed!! On our first night on the cruise, he popped the question! I am so excited, I keep catching myself looking at my new shiny ring...
We had an awesome time in Cabo- we snorkeled, parasailed, shopped, drank, and just enjoyed the sunshine. We met some great people on the cruise, we got extremely lucky. Shout out to the Boyds, we are so lucky to have met you!
Another shout out to Samantha, I am so sad we couldn't celebrate our birthdays together this year but I was definitely thinking of you and I hope you had a drink for me!
Back to focusing on running (if I must)...
Yesterday, March 13th was not only my friend Sarah's birthday but also the San Diego Safari Park (formerly the Wild Animal Park) half marathon. I didn't do much in terms of training this past week since we were on the cruise. I ran once for a mile on the cruise ship and then got worried that I would either barf or spaz out and fall off the treadmill because of the way the ship was rocking. Saturday, Najia the Ninja had a JT-filled 90-minute spin class as a birthday celebration for me and Sarah, which was awesome. So that was a good jump-start to my weekend.
Going into the race, I was not mentally or physically prepared. Physically, I was sore from spinning, and I got 5 hours of sleep. Why they decided to have a 7 AM race on the first day of daylight savings time is beyond me. We had to get up at 5 AM (it's good that we did because traffic was bad on the one lane road getting into the park). Plus I may or may not have stayed up till 11 the night before reading the bridal magazines Jeff's mom got me... Mentally, my only thought about the race was that I wanted to finish. I didn't care about my time, I just wanted to have a good run and be done with it. Sarah and our other friend Ashley and I had a joint birthday celebration planned for after the race, so that's pretty much all I was thinking about.
As it turned out, not caring worked quite well. I beat my previous best time (or as they call it in the running world, personal record) by about half a minute. The course was really hilly so I am still not sure how I did that but I got a time of 2:03:21. Yay! I think it helped that we passed the rhinos and the cheetahs coming into the finish... the cheetah was staring me down haha. I would definitely do that race again, it was probably the most fun half marathon I have run so far. It definitely helped that Jeff was there to cheer me on at multiple points during the race, it made me really happy. I think I was just so excited about being engaged that I wanted to finish and see him!
I can't wait until Sarah plans my bachelorette race. Yes, I said race. In addition to my parties (plural, because I know that will be the case), we are going to run a race to celebrate. I don't know how long of a race, that's up to her as long as it's not a full marathon!
Did I mention yet that I can barely move today? Not only was I the most sore I have ever been after a race, I worked out with Angela. And as I've explained, I always feel like jelly afterward. We did mostly upper body, but with Angela, upper body workouts are always lower body workouts too. But that's fine because other than laundry, I will spending my afternoon cuddling with our dog Toby and catching up on all the shows I missed (currently it's The Bachelor: Women Tell All). Sounds like the perfect end to a vacation to me :-)
Friday, March 4, 2011
Final Countdown
T-minus less than 2 days until my cruise to Cabo San Lucas. This week has been... taxing to say the least. I am in dire need of a vacation.
So you know how I said in my last post my goal was to run 6 miles the next morning? Yeah... that didn't quite happen. But I did run 5 miles. And considering I had no desire to get out of bed that morning at all, I think that's pretty good. I realized after my run though that my leg muscles were really tight. Tighter than they've been in a long time, despite all my stretching and foam rolling. I think it's because after my race injury, all I could do was yoga... so I did yoga (regular and hot) pretty much every day for a week. I haven't had a chance to do it in a couple weeks, and I think my body was used to having that extra time to stretch. So I decided to go to Carol P's class last night while Jeff lifted weights.
Carol P. can do the splits. That might not sound too impressive, I mean she is a yoga teacher. But she is also 60 years old. How many 60 year olds can say they can do the splits? I have a couple fave yoga teachers at 24 hr fitness and she is one of them. She likes to do "yoga fit" which I really enjoy. I get a little bit bored in the type of yoga that's just breathing and stretching. I need a little bit of a challenge. So throw some pushups, lunges, and crunches in there and I'm all over it. I also love hot yoga, but I used up my trial period at Corepower during my post-injury yoga kick.
Carol decided to focus on core yesterday. I didn't think I would be too sore; I do a lot of core strengthening exercises with Angela. But as the day went on today, I could feel the soreness penetrating more and more. Especially in my obliques (or as I call them, side abs). I love that feeling. Najia also kicked our asses again in spinning this morning, and surprisingly spinning is a really good core workout. I don't love seated climbs, but they do target the abs.
I need to feel like I have been good about working out this week before the cruise, because I know that once we get on the ship all bets are off. I will try to work out a couple of the days, and Jeff and I are going to go running Sunday morning before the cruise, but really I need to have some fun. It's tough for me to let myself take a break, but I have finally convinced myself that I really need one.
My training schedule says that I am supposed to run 4 miles tomorrow. That's not very much in the scheme of things, but I have to work earlier than normal. Not only that but it is also my 25th birthday. I'm thinking I wouldn't mind just sleeping in a little bit and forgetting about all of the bad things I am going to indulge in in the next week...
Before I end this post, I must give a shout out to my sister Katie. Not because she demanded that she be blogged about (she did), but because she is the best sister (and best friend) in the world. And she just turned 23, happy birthday to her!
So you know how I said in my last post my goal was to run 6 miles the next morning? Yeah... that didn't quite happen. But I did run 5 miles. And considering I had no desire to get out of bed that morning at all, I think that's pretty good. I realized after my run though that my leg muscles were really tight. Tighter than they've been in a long time, despite all my stretching and foam rolling. I think it's because after my race injury, all I could do was yoga... so I did yoga (regular and hot) pretty much every day for a week. I haven't had a chance to do it in a couple weeks, and I think my body was used to having that extra time to stretch. So I decided to go to Carol P's class last night while Jeff lifted weights.
Carol P. can do the splits. That might not sound too impressive, I mean she is a yoga teacher. But she is also 60 years old. How many 60 year olds can say they can do the splits? I have a couple fave yoga teachers at 24 hr fitness and she is one of them. She likes to do "yoga fit" which I really enjoy. I get a little bit bored in the type of yoga that's just breathing and stretching. I need a little bit of a challenge. So throw some pushups, lunges, and crunches in there and I'm all over it. I also love hot yoga, but I used up my trial period at Corepower during my post-injury yoga kick.
Carol decided to focus on core yesterday. I didn't think I would be too sore; I do a lot of core strengthening exercises with Angela. But as the day went on today, I could feel the soreness penetrating more and more. Especially in my obliques (or as I call them, side abs). I love that feeling. Najia also kicked our asses again in spinning this morning, and surprisingly spinning is a really good core workout. I don't love seated climbs, but they do target the abs.
I need to feel like I have been good about working out this week before the cruise, because I know that once we get on the ship all bets are off. I will try to work out a couple of the days, and Jeff and I are going to go running Sunday morning before the cruise, but really I need to have some fun. It's tough for me to let myself take a break, but I have finally convinced myself that I really need one.
My training schedule says that I am supposed to run 4 miles tomorrow. That's not very much in the scheme of things, but I have to work earlier than normal. Not only that but it is also my 25th birthday. I'm thinking I wouldn't mind just sleeping in a little bit and forgetting about all of the bad things I am going to indulge in in the next week...
Before I end this post, I must give a shout out to my sister Katie. Not because she demanded that she be blogged about (she did), but because she is the best sister (and best friend) in the world. And she just turned 23, happy birthday to her!
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Najia the Ninja
I have already told you about Angela, now let me introduce you to Najia the Ninja.
Najia is my favorite spinning (indoor cycling) teacher. She is awesome. I spin twice a week (Wednesdays and Fridays) at 6 AM. Sometimes I lift weights and/or foam roll before class. So yes I get up between 5 and 5:30 AM depending on the day. I know this sounds a little bit crazy, but honestly it's 10 times better than working out after a 9 hour work day plus an hour (or more) commute each way. Working out in the morning gives me energy for the rest of the day. You may roll your eyes at that but it's true. But yes I do love my coffee, too.
Back to the point. I love spinning. Sarah introduced it to me right before our first half marathon last summer. I am not going to lie, I was skeptical. Indoor cycling? And I can't even read my tabloids while doing it? I wasn't so sure... but then I took one of Najia's classes. I think it was a combination of Najia's energy and the jelly-like feeling in my legs after the class; I loved it. I started going more frequently, and eventually I just started signing myself up for the next couple months at a time (you can do that at 24-hour fitness for $1/class... or if you are friends with the front desk guy you can do it for less than that ;-)).
A few weeks in, Najia started asking me if I was going to get spinning shoes. I wasn't sure, they were kind of expensive. But everyone, including Sarah who got a pair, told me it makes all the difference in the world. The special spinning shoes are cleats and actually clip into the pedals, whereas my running shoes had to fit under the straps. You have less cushion with the clip-ins, which makes your leg muscles work harder and more efficiently. So I invested in some shoes. And WOW what a difference. It not only helped for stability on the bike, but I could feel my legs, and the rest of my body, working harder.
According to my training schedule, I am supposed to run 8 miles on Wednesdays, but that's a lot when I also run 6 miles Tuesdays and Thursdays. So I switch out that mid-week run with spinning. It's great cross training because it works all of the lower body muscle groups in a different way than running does. Plus it's become something Jeff and I do together, which keeps us both motivated to go. Right now a big bonus of spinning is that it's indoors, and the temperature outside at 5 AM is not very conducive to running in early March.
Tomorrow I will suck it up and run my 6 miles before work. I didn't run Tuesday because I was so incredibly sore, so I am in need of a good run. I think I may need a little foam rolling action before bed, my hamstrings are still sore from my workout 2 days ago. But mostly I just need sleep. I have been a little bit stressed, but sleeping and running are two of the things that help most. So if sleeping doesn't do it, I will make sure my run takes care of it in the morning!
Najia is my favorite spinning (indoor cycling) teacher. She is awesome. I spin twice a week (Wednesdays and Fridays) at 6 AM. Sometimes I lift weights and/or foam roll before class. So yes I get up between 5 and 5:30 AM depending on the day. I know this sounds a little bit crazy, but honestly it's 10 times better than working out after a 9 hour work day plus an hour (or more) commute each way. Working out in the morning gives me energy for the rest of the day. You may roll your eyes at that but it's true. But yes I do love my coffee, too.
Back to the point. I love spinning. Sarah introduced it to me right before our first half marathon last summer. I am not going to lie, I was skeptical. Indoor cycling? And I can't even read my tabloids while doing it? I wasn't so sure... but then I took one of Najia's classes. I think it was a combination of Najia's energy and the jelly-like feeling in my legs after the class; I loved it. I started going more frequently, and eventually I just started signing myself up for the next couple months at a time (you can do that at 24-hour fitness for $1/class... or if you are friends with the front desk guy you can do it for less than that ;-)).
A few weeks in, Najia started asking me if I was going to get spinning shoes. I wasn't sure, they were kind of expensive. But everyone, including Sarah who got a pair, told me it makes all the difference in the world. The special spinning shoes are cleats and actually clip into the pedals, whereas my running shoes had to fit under the straps. You have less cushion with the clip-ins, which makes your leg muscles work harder and more efficiently. So I invested in some shoes. And WOW what a difference. It not only helped for stability on the bike, but I could feel my legs, and the rest of my body, working harder.
According to my training schedule, I am supposed to run 8 miles on Wednesdays, but that's a lot when I also run 6 miles Tuesdays and Thursdays. So I switch out that mid-week run with spinning. It's great cross training because it works all of the lower body muscle groups in a different way than running does. Plus it's become something Jeff and I do together, which keeps us both motivated to go. Right now a big bonus of spinning is that it's indoors, and the temperature outside at 5 AM is not very conducive to running in early March.
Tomorrow I will suck it up and run my 6 miles before work. I didn't run Tuesday because I was so incredibly sore, so I am in need of a good run. I think I may need a little foam rolling action before bed, my hamstrings are still sore from my workout 2 days ago. But mostly I just need sleep. I have been a little bit stressed, but sleeping and running are two of the things that help most. So if sleeping doesn't do it, I will make sure my run takes care of it in the morning!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
So... sore...
I usually get sore after long runs, but this is the first time since maybe my first half marathon that I have been this sore 2 days later. It could have something to do with the fact that it was a longer run than I have ever attempted at one time. Or it could have something to do with my trainer Angela.
Let me just explain Angela to you. Angela is about 5'4", 110 lbs, short blonde hair. And she could also probably bench press Jeff while running a marathon. Okay that might be a slight exaggeration, but let's just say looks can be deceiving. She is an awesome trainer. My entire body feels like jelly after seeing her. I only see her once every two weeks now, but she always writes down our workouts for me to do on my own during the week. She is very good about creating workouts for me that are running-centric. Every exercise utilitizes multiple muscle groups, definitely including at least one leg group. About 99% of the exercises involve the glutes (that's what she said).
Here is what we did yesterday in case anyone cares (and I may be forgetting some things):
Weighted step ups (20 lb. dumbbell in each hand)
-8 on each side
Single arm power cleans (20 lb. dumbbell)- haha while I was doing this Angela whispered to me that the guy next to me was doing the same exercise with his trainer- with 10 lb weights!
-12-15 on each side
Single arm bent over rows (20 lb. dumbbell)
-15 on each side
Bosu ball (with flat side up) squat to overhead press (20 lbs in each hand)
-12 reps
Bosu ball (with flat side up) straight leg dead lifts (20 lbs in each hand)
-15 reps
Bosu ball (round side up) single leg bridge position skull crushers (10 lbs in each hand)
-8 on each side
Side plank with leg lifts
-12-15 on each side
Rowing machine plank to pike (feet on seat, hands on box)
-15 reps
Rowing machine moving plank (hands on seat, moving seat back and forth)
-45 seconds
I did most of those 3 times (didn't have time to do a couple of them a third time) and I was DONE. I wanted to not move for the rest of the day, but unfortunately I had a couple errands to do before the cruise. Not complaining! Oh and I got a facial with my fave aesthetician, Shelby. I am sad that she will be going on maternity leave, but happy for her.
Speaking of facials, I scheduled a hot stone massage for the day after my full marathon. So if anything during the race I can keep thinking "hot stone massage, hot stone massage, food, hot stone massage." That will be sure to keep me going!
Let me just explain Angela to you. Angela is about 5'4", 110 lbs, short blonde hair. And she could also probably bench press Jeff while running a marathon. Okay that might be a slight exaggeration, but let's just say looks can be deceiving. She is an awesome trainer. My entire body feels like jelly after seeing her. I only see her once every two weeks now, but she always writes down our workouts for me to do on my own during the week. She is very good about creating workouts for me that are running-centric. Every exercise utilitizes multiple muscle groups, definitely including at least one leg group. About 99% of the exercises involve the glutes (that's what she said).
Here is what we did yesterday in case anyone cares (and I may be forgetting some things):
Weighted step ups (20 lb. dumbbell in each hand)
-8 on each side
Single arm power cleans (20 lb. dumbbell)- haha while I was doing this Angela whispered to me that the guy next to me was doing the same exercise with his trainer- with 10 lb weights!
-12-15 on each side
Single arm bent over rows (20 lb. dumbbell)
-15 on each side
Bosu ball (with flat side up) squat to overhead press (20 lbs in each hand)
-12 reps
Bosu ball (with flat side up) straight leg dead lifts (20 lbs in each hand)
-15 reps
Bosu ball (round side up) single leg bridge position skull crushers (10 lbs in each hand)
-8 on each side
Side plank with leg lifts
-12-15 on each side
Rowing machine plank to pike (feet on seat, hands on box)
-15 reps
Rowing machine moving plank (hands on seat, moving seat back and forth)
-45 seconds
I did most of those 3 times (didn't have time to do a couple of them a third time) and I was DONE. I wanted to not move for the rest of the day, but unfortunately I had a couple errands to do before the cruise. Not complaining! Oh and I got a facial with my fave aesthetician, Shelby. I am sad that she will be going on maternity leave, but happy for her.
Speaking of facials, I scheduled a hot stone massage for the day after my full marathon. So if anything during the race I can keep thinking "hot stone massage, hot stone massage, food, hot stone massage." That will be sure to keep me going!
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