The End of Workout Wednesdays

It’s not as drastic as it sounds.  I need to switch to a Monday through Sunday week like normal people.  Right now my long runs are smack dab in the middle of the week and, for whatever reason, I can’t wrap my head around planning that way.  Particularly, with the race on a Sunday…everything is building up to that.  To make that switch, this post is half of a workout wednesday post and next Sunday I’ll post a full week.

Even though I won’t write about it all, these were my goals for the week and the ones I finished are crossed off.  It wasn’t the best showing.

• Thursday – Run 4 miles
• Friday – PT + stretching
• Saturday – PT + Abs + Arms
• Sunday – Run 2 miles
• Monday – PT + stretching
• Tuesday – Run 1 mile
• Wednesday – PT + Abs + Arms
• And finally, go to the school ID office to get my alumni ID so that I can finally get into the gym to do other cardio besides running.

WEEKLY SUMMARY

• Pull Ups = 2
• 2 workouts;  48 minutes cardio;  4.06 miles running
• PT = 1

DAILY RECAP

• Thursday 5/21 – 4.06 mile run, 48:30 minutes – Again, the GPS is funky.  This route maps to 4.06 miles, but I’ve run it twice (once last summer) and it has GPS’d to 4.31 and 4.4 miles.  I’m going with 4.06 since I don’t think my running pattern was zig zagging all over the place like the GPS line.  Also, I found my IT band.  Holy hell.  It started hurting at the beginning of mile 4 and that last mile was torture.  It felt like I had a wooden hip.
• Friday 5/22 – PT + Stretch + Foam Rolling – Stretched out my hips and hamstrings.  Foam rolled EVERYTHING.  IT band hurt with the foam rolling, but it hurt equally on both sides.  Thursday only my right side was bothering me during the run.  So it seems okay.

WEEKLY GOALS

• Run 2x – I don’t think I ever even wrote it here, but one of my main goals was to hit 5 miles before the end of May.  That’s coming up this weekend.  I also want to do 1 short run before it to make sure my ankle feels okay.
• Yoga – Any of these sequences from Runner’s World.
• Strength – Runner’s Strength Workout
• PT 4x

You may have noticed a running theme, here.  My sole goal and focus for the next 6 weeks is the half marathon.  Screw weight loss, six packs, size 2 jeans, jacked arms.  I. just. want. to. run.  I need to focus all my extracurricular exercise on helping me run.  So, probably no pull up challenge for awhile.

Full disclosure, I’m having some pain on the underside of my right ankle.  (I sound like a broken record! – but this time it’s the right, not the left, so that’s new)  Here’s hoping it’s just a little inflammation and not a tear.  All of these goals are contingent on it feeling 100%.

Now that I’m hitting some distances, I also need to be careful with increasing.  The standard rule is don’t increase more than 10% per week.  That can be a little confusing when you’re starting at 0 and I haven’t been following the rule.  I’ve been increasing my long run by ~30% and my overall mileage by ~20%.  BUT, my weekly mileage still is really low.  That has been purposeful.  If I’m going to run the half, I can’t follow the 10% rule, but I have been trying to keep my other runs really short to compensate for increasing that long run so quickly.  None of this makes the long run easy and I’m definitely not doing a good job of conditioning myself to exercise for 3 hours straight.  Next month I’m going to have to start focusing on endurance – probably by adding in some heavy cross training that won’t increase my odds of injury.

Countdown to half marathon = 6 weeks, 3 days

Workout Wednesday 5/20

WEEKLY SUMMARY

• Pull Ups = 3
• 5 workouts; 63 minutes cardio; 5.76 miles running
• PT = 2

DAILY RECAP

• Thursday 5/14 – 3.24 mi run, 36:13 min – There was a lot of walking during this run, but overall I was surprised at my time.  My best time on this route was 30 minutes, so coming back after 3 months off and hitting 36 (not that I should be trying for any sort of time) was impressive (to me, at least).  <— The FH calls these “Briana parentheses” because that’s how I talk. all. the. time.
• Sunday 5/17 – 1.26 mi run, 13:33 min – Meh, it was hot out.  I really wish I were running in the winter/fall.
• Monday 5/18 – Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred – I was supposed to go to the gym today – even brought all my stuff to work and changed in the work bathroom on my way out.  Then I remembered that I haven’t filled out my alumni form, so I don’t have gym access right now.  I chose 30 Day Shred when I got home because it has cardio intervals in it, which was the whole point of going to the gym – cross training.  I did the whole video!
• Tuesday 5/19 – 1.26 mi run, 13:33 min – MapMyRun says this one was actually 1.34 in distance, but it’s the same route that I did on Sunday.  I think my GPS was trying to find me at some point and added a bit of distance, because I cut the corners really close (thus, there’s no reason it should be longer than Sunday’s run).  SO, I’m “logging” it as 1.26.  Also, it’s amazing how a 1.2 mile run can feel as difficult as a 3.2 mile run I did a few days ago.  And by amazing, I mean frustrating.
• Wednesday 5/20 – Love Handles & Obliques Workout courtesy of My Goodness blog – Instead of picking 5 I’m just going to do 1 set of 12 of everything.  Yes, that’s future tense.  I’ll be working out when I get home from work, but I KNOW I won’t write this post after that, so here it is – preemptive props for me.

WEEKLY GOALS

• Thursday – Run 4 miles
• Friday – PT + stretching
• Saturday – PT + Abs + Arms
• Sunday – Run 2 miles
• Monday – PT + stretching
• Tuesday – Run 1 mile
• Wednesday – PT + Abs + Arms
• And finally, go to the school ID office to get my alumni ID so that I can finally get into the gym to do other cardio besides running.

Countdown to half marathon = 7 weeks, 3 days

Workout Wednesday 5/13

Last week I set some lofty goals for myself.  I even admitted that “they are ambitious (for me), especially as I am quickly approaching party mode.”  [eww, what kind of douchenozzle quotes herself?]  And I was right.  I had Friday off and the relaxation just continued throughout the weekend.  Given my late push the last few days, I’ve only actually missed doing cross training.  Because cross training sucks and is boring and requires packing a gym back and going to the gym.  Fuck cross training.  (not really – I need it to help improve my cardiovascular stamina, since I’m not supposed to run very far/long)

I had my ~ * last * ~ physical therapy appointment yesterday!  I know what you’re thinking – yeah, Briana, we’ve heard that before.  But, it’s summer, I know how to fix tendinitis, and I shouldn’t be spraining my ankle on any snow and ice.  Half marathon here I come!  Very slowly.  With lots of walking.  Seriously I have 2 months to increase from 2 miles (at a 12 pace) to 13.1 miles (hopefully still around a 12 pace – bahahahaha).  My therapist said to reduce my PT exercises to maintenance mode, so not on the days I run.  Run 3x per week, PT 4x per week.

WEEKLY SUMMARY

• Pull Ups = I haven’t done any pull ups this week, and I left the house this morning without seeing how many I can do, so we’ll guesstimate around 3.
• 4 workouts; 60 minutes cardio; 4.72 miles running
• PT = 4

DAILY RECAP

• Thursday 5/7 – 2.03 mi run, 24:02 min
• Monday 5/11 – 1.69 mi run, 20:44 min and 5 Simple Stretches
• Tuesday 5/12 – 1.0 mi run, 16:00 min – This run was at PT on the treadmill, following roughly a half walk, half run strategy.  When I’m outside I sort of just wing it and walk when I feel like I need to.  I know, that’s not following the Return to Running plan.
• Wednesday 5/13 – Half of Jillian Michaels 6 Week 6 Pack – Yes, I only did half of it.  I snoozed forever this morning and was running out of time.  And I haven’t done a Jillian Michaels workout in months.  She’s hard!

WEEKLY GOALS

All of these running tips are awesome!  Here’s my favorite:

Here are my goals for this week!

• PT daily for 4 days:
  • 2×15 single leg calf raises
  • 2×10 eccentric heel lower on step
  • 2×25 tracing a J with my toes, in and outs – green band
  • 2×30 second calf stretch
  • 2×15 hips out and back – increase to purple band band
  • 2×30 seconds balance exercise – stand one one foot on uneven surface (pillow)
• Thursday – 3.1 mile run + stretch
• Friday – Foam roll + stretch + push ups + pull ups
• Saturday – Home workout –> Glutes
• Sunday – ~1 mile run
• Monday – Gym –> bicycle 45 minutes
• Tuesday – ~1 mile run
• Wednesday – Home Workout –> Back and obliques

 

Workout Wednesday 5/6

WEEKLY SUMMARY

• Pull Ups = 4 in a row — UGH!  I guess all my sporadic pull ups did not help.  Blech.  I have no idea how I’m going to reach 10!  They also took out the assisted pull up machine at my gym.  Double blech.
• 6 workouts; 74 minutes cardio; 3.25 miles running
• PT = 6 — I’m so close to 7 out of 7, but there’s always one day where I just can’t bring myself to do anything.  Or I let myself run out of time.  It does make me feel a little bit ashamed that I haven’t accomplished doing this every day.  It’s like forgetting to take medicine; this is going to help me get better.

DAILY RECAP

• Thursday 4/30 – Love Handles & Lower Back + 5 pull ups – I had to choose 5 and I went with Swimmers, Plank Up Downs (these are the fucking worst), Superman, Knee Drop, Windmill Toe Touches.  Originally, I did the Around the World Obliques but those made my ankle twinge (I know that’s not a good descriptor, but it’s the only appropriate word).  Holy cow, my back was sore the next day.  Ow!
• Friday 5/1 – 1.22 mile Run, 15:30 minutes + 4 pull ups – It was outside and it was awesome!  I’m not supposed to run outside for awhile, something about stress on the ankle, blah, blah, blah.  Running outside > Treadmill.  My hamstrings are killing me.  But my ankle is fine, so far so good knock on wood and all that jazz.
• Saturday 5/2 – Rest Day
• Sunday 5/3 – 1.23 mile run, 15:54 minutes + 4 pull ups – Originally I was going to postpone this until Monday because my ankle was a little twinge-y on Friday, but Saturday and Sunday it felt fine, so I went.  Still so far so good.  This is promising.  I just have to hold myself back because now I want to run every day, and I think it will be a long time before I can do back to back days.
• Monday 5/4 – 1.5 rounds of Core Blast (w/o crunch kicks) + 5 pull ups, 4 chin ups – Okay, so I didn’t go beast mode today.  My foot hurt a little bit on start of the 2nd rep and I really wanted to paint my nails.  Sue me.
• Tuesday 5/5 – 20 min bicycle, 10 min elliptical, 13 min/0.8 miles treadmill – I am a little worried about my ankle.  It’s still not anything I would classify as pain, but it feels weird.  I’m worried that it’s the torn ligament that is hurting, as opposed to the tendinitis.  Tendinitis is really glorified inflammation.  A few days off, ice, physical therapy and back to running, but in shorter intervals than before.  A torn ligament, on the other hand, needs more time off and immobilization.  I assume I would be having more intense pain or pain more often if the sprain wasn’t fully healed, but I still eased off on this run and I’ll give myself 2 days off before my next.  I did go from 0 running to running every other day, albeit only 15 minutes each, but still.  Time for an elongated rest.
• Wednesday 5/6 – 5 Move Dumbbell Arm Workout – 4 sets of 10 — This is too easy to keep counting as a workout.  I’ll pair it with something else (abs?) moving forward.

WEEKLY GOALS

My approach to this working out endeavor has always been, doing something is better than doing nothing.  With that mindset, I don’t really strategize for what I will do, what I should do, what areas I should target, etc.  I just do something.  Doing something is an achievement, but I think I should pay more attention to what it is I am doing vs. should be doing.  My true target areas are back and shoulders and abs, and I almost never work on them.  My true goal has nothing to do with target areas.  My goal is running a half marathon in 2 months.  With that in mind, I will focus on running and exercises that help with running for the next 2 months.  After that, we’ll see.  For the wedding I’ll be all about back and shoulders, since 100 people will be staring at by back.  Now, if someone can cure bacne….lol.

After all that, here are my goals for the upcoming week.  They are ambitious (for me), especially as I am quickly approaching party mode.

• PT daily for 7 days:
  • 2×15 single leg calf raises
  • 2×10 eccentric heel lower on step
  • 2×25 tracing a J with my toes, in and outs – green band
  • 2×30 second calf stretch
  • 2×20 hips out and back – blue band
  • 2×30 seconds balance exercise – stand one one foot on uneven surface (pillow)
• Run 2 short runs (~1 mile) and 1 “long” run (~2 miles).
• 1x Crosstraining (cycling, elliptical, swimming)
• 1x Stretch and/or yoga
• 1x Ab workout
• Keep at those pull ups.  Even though my focus is running, I’m not throwing out my 10 in a row goal.