Tag: treadmill

January Recap

Yesterday was a glorious rest day. It was a longer than usual work day, so that plus my tiredness from Monday and Tuesday turned into a rest day. I won’t lie, it was pretty nice. I still played nice with my foam roller but other than that no running or running shoes. I did end up going up and down a ladder a ridiculous number of times at work. We finally took down the last of the Christmas decorations; the garland strung around the exposed beams in the ceiling. That turned out to be more of a workout than I had planned. 🙂

My plan called for 6 miles yesterday but just like the 8 on Tuesday, I made adjustments. I swapped yesterday’s run and today’s rest day. I was still not feeling it this evening so I ran 5 and called it done. I think that a plan needs to be adaptable to the runner. I could have forced myself to run the last 3 on Tuesday and the last 1 today but they would have been crappy miles. I would rather have quality over quantity. Which is kind of contradictory as I am trying to up my mileage, but I want to do it smartly.

Tonight started out a little stiff but just over a mile in, it finally eased up. I wanted to keep it easy tonight but my feet must have disagreed- I kept punching the treadmill! 😦 Oops. I made sure to keep my breathing even and if I felt like I was getting huffy, I would slow down. I took advantage of those moments to drink water without spilling it all over myself. 🙂 NikeC showed up at some point and texted me that I had outrun everyone around me. When I showed up, the treadmills were mostly full but I found one near the door surrounded by people who were just arriving and jumped on. 2 miles in they were all gone. Did I smell or something?

I finished out my 5 and walked a cool down. I then stretched before cleaning my machine. Yes, I stretch on the treadmill; those bars sure are handy. 🙂 I chatted a bit with NikeC before heading out. She’s running Surf City this weekend, woo hoo!!! She’s gonna rock it, I know. I then headed home for a nice warm shower and my roller. I was also able to catch up on Supernatural while working on this post. I was only distracted a few times. 🙂

Back to upping my miles, I decided to try doing a monthly recap. That way I can see and share what I’ve done- what worked and what didn’t. Tonight was my last run for January, so here goes-

77 miles?! Sweet, especially considering I took 8 consecutive days off when I was sick. Looking at those numbers makes me proud but it also shows me why I am tired. I went from a 30 mile month (granted it was December) to just shy of 80. I would like to stay around this number of monthly miles but I am rethinking some things, got to work out the kinks. I think I had a few good ideas while running tonight but any great epiphany had while running should always be slept on first. Right?

Tomorrow is Friday, woo hoo!!!! How was everyone’s weeks?

How did your resolutions/ goals go for January?

Who are you rooting for on Sunday?

Tired miles and a foam roller

I am so thankful that tomorrow is Wednesday. Tomorrow will be a longer day at work, so I will be taking a rest day. Woo hoo! I love running but I am kind of sore and achy. Sundays long run took a little more out of me than I thought. I have been very close to my foam roller these past few days. 🙂

Yesterday’s run was scheduled to be 5 miles. I woke up tired, and it took hours to perk up. Ok, I admit, a second soda did wonders for my perkiness. My left calf felt extremely tight all day. I wore my lowest heels hoping it would help. When work was done for the day, I changed into my gear and headed for the gym.

The gym was super busy when I got there but I found a treadmill and after a small warm-up and some earphone troubles, started running. Oh the tight calf was not my friend, not by a long shot. I kept trekking along, after a little over a mile, it loosened up a bit. I told myself I could stop at 3. At 3,I felt ok so I pushed on for another mile. I finished mile 4 and walked a cool down and stretched some before leaving. I was heading to a cold smoothie, a hot shower and my foam roller. I just had a little issue to fix first.

On the seriously irritating side, when I was getting out of my car before the gym, I noticed my left, front tire was flat. What?!! I was just at the tire place on Friday and they said they fixed it. Maybe that irritation helped get me to mile 4. What’s a girl to do when the same tire goes flat twice in 2 weeks? I won’t lie, I called my pops. I can change a tire but I have problems with the jack placement. Plus he has all the fancy tools. My dad changed it and using a flash light, we found the nail and drew a circle around it for the tire shop. 🙂 Then I threw it in the trunk and today was spent driving around on the donut. Not cool. I was driving a little slower than usual but still at the speed limit but so many people passed me. Slow down, people!

After how stiff I was yesterday, I was thinking of taking today off. I was able to make another tire appointment for 4:30 so I could get my tire fixed and firmly express my irritation that it wasn’t done the first time. The tire shop is just a 5 minute drive from the gym. I figured I was already going to be there so why waste the opportunity? So I changed into my running gear before leaving work. At the tire shop, they apologized numerous times and promised that it was fixed now. So I headed to the gym.

The schedule today had called for an 8 mile progression run but that was not going to happen. My initial plan was for a minimum of 3 miles and see how I felt after that. 3 turned into nice steady 5 miler. When I was running I thought I was doing a 5 mile progression. A 1 mile warm up, 3 miles at increasing pace and a 1 mile cool down. While I was running, I felt like I was doing that, however my splits told me differently. Oops! Steady but not faster, oh well, I’ll take it! Obviously, I’m still a little tired, but it felt like a better run. Afterwards was another date with my foam roller. And maybe some pizza. 🙂

Sadly, the ear buds I have been using for the last few years died. They were just the ones that came with my iPhone 4 a few years ago but I liked them the best. Even over the ridiculously expensive Yurbuds I purchased but rarely ever wear. My new iPhone came with ear buds but they are different and I haven’t tried them out yet. Guess I will be now!

On the upshot, I am really loving my daily lunches! Not as pretty as Pinterest but seriously who has the money and space for all those plastic containers?

We’re almost halfway through the week, how is everyone doing?

Any calf massage ideas?

A Wave Rider Interval

As Monday was a holiday, I was able to get in a good 5 mile run outdoors instead of having to head into the gym. Prior to that I went to lunch with my mom and then helped her prune a bunch of oleanders. We do this every year and we always use a ladder in ways we shouldn’t while holding shears. This year was no different. I always crack jokes that it’s a great arm workout. Apparently a little too great, between that and puppy pulling on Sunday and Monday, my arms are so sore! Hmm, maybe I should check out the other equipment available at the gym, not just the treadmill.

My training plan called for 5 miles on Monday. I headed out early afternoon so I could get the miles in and then go get the puppy for walk attempt #2. The first part of my route takes me past a cemetery and I run if no ones there but if people are visiting close to the side, I walk. For some reason my mind thinks that more respectful. 🙂 This day someone was blowing the roads in the cemetery and next to it with a motorized golf cart looking blower thing. I ran into a dust storm! I came to a hacking, coughing halt from all the dust I aspirated in. My boss happened to call right then and I answered since I wasn’t running anyway, she thought I was dying sick again. I had to convince her it was just the dust! I ended up walking the first 1/2 mile, so I started off slow.

Even once I got going, I could tell I was tired. Both my legs and my breathing felt labored. The plan was 5 miles with 4 easy and the 5th faster. My 4th was faster than mile 5, oops. My legs felt heavy, and my stomach was telling me that lunch had been a little too big. By the end of the run, I could feel that I had a cranky toe as well. Sure enough, it was a little bloody. Ahhh, the joys of running. 🙂

I then picked up the pup and drug her down the driveway. Actually she trotted right down and halfway down the block before she realized what was going on. Then she just plopped flat on the sidewalk. With some coaxing and strong arming, we managed to walk a mile in 22 minutes. Yikes!!! I think people find us amusing. There was a man standing on his deck at one point laughing as we passed. Or as I drug her past. We then walked past a bigger version of her and she wasn’t sure how to process that; it was so funny. At the mile point, we turned around and took a slightly shorter route home. Same as the day before, the second we were headed back, she was the model of a perfect puppy behavior. We made the .84 mile back in 11 minutes. And yes, I timed it this time. 🙂

My reward for the almost 7 miles? A super yummy homemade smoothie-

Today called for a 3.75 mile interval workout. I knew it would after work and on the treadmill but I was ok with that because I still needed to actually run in my new Wave Riders! I also had a new armband to test out. I hate armbands as they usually make me bleed but I need one for the gym. Plus since switching to the iPhone 5s, all my old ones had the earphone jack in the wrong spot. I picked up a new one when I was at Sports Authority a few weeks ago.

The shoes felt amazing while driving but kind of awkward while walking. It made me a little nervous. I don’t usually run 4 days in a row, so even though I was going to follow the interval that Nike laid out, I wasn’t going to push it. Plus I wasn’t sure how the shoes would feel. I ran a mile warmup- 2 minute walk then 6.2 for the rest. Interval 1 was .75 of a mile at 6.6, then a .25 of 5.5. This was followed by a planned .75 at 6.6. I did all this then upped it to 7.1 for .25, not on the plan but I just felt like it. Then is was a cool down of .75 at 6.00. I shut Nike off at 3.75 and slowed the treadmill to 4 and walked until 4 miles or 40 minutes, whichever came first. They came at the same time, sweet!!!! The intervals were very smooth, now if I can just up the pace, I can hopefully break 2:00 this spring!

The shoes felt pretty good actually, I need to get in a few more miles to really try them out. Some street miles too. The armband held up well too. No bleeding so far, woo hoo!!! It could have fit a little snugger, though.

Tomorrow is hump day and a rest day!!!!

How is everyone’s week going so far?

The Difference in Numbers

It’s almost Friday!!!!

The schedule for Wednesday showed a 5 mile run. However, sleep on Tuesday night while better than Monday was the opposite of good. I was tired and my head hurt so I skipped the run and went for a rest day. Since running 2 days in a row, I was hoping a day off might. No dice. Again with the restless, crappy sleep. I barely managed to drag my tired butt out of bed this morning at 6:40. Why was this bad? I have leave for work by 7:15. If only I could find a way to channel that speed into running. 🙂

Work for the last week has been great all day and then chaos for the last 45 minutes. Is there some weird moon thing going on or something? Today was no different. I also spent over 30 minutes sitting in my car at lunch waiting for a car wash. Apparently I wasn’t the only one running errands on lunch. So now the outside matched the inside. Well, kind of. Now that it looks all shiny and clean, I can see just how badly I cleaned the inside windows. Seriously, I make them look worse after cleaning them.

After the last minute craziness at work, I changed and was ready to hit the gym. Tonight’s run called for an easy 3. However I ended up stuck behind a car going 20 miles under the speed limit who brake checked me every quarter mile. So much for a nice calming commute 😦 So I had some energy to burn by the time I finally made it to the gym. Once again I had the Garmin and Nike+ to track my miles. Combined with my fuel band on the other hand, I probably looked like the biggest gear nerd. The place was packed. It was the busiest I had seen it all week, I almost didn’t find a treadmill.

Once I found one, I started it up as well as all my gear. I admit I walked a minute of every mile. I ran 10 miles at race pace before walking in my last half marathon, but I can’t run one on the treadmill. What gives? Plus I still haven’t mastered drinking and running, ha! Ok, I’m not that bad but it’s a great excuse. 🙂 I hit 3 miles at just shy of 31 minutes and kept going. I actually sped up. I was tired and hot but feeling ok so I pushed on. 4.5 miles in 44:55 so I pushed stop on both the Garmin and Nike. I walked another quarter mile cool down.

Stat check: The treadmill read 4.5 miles in 44:55. Nike said 4.37 miles in 44:56 and the Garmin? Well, Garmin said 3.90 miles in 45:01. Hmmmm, what to believe. Other than the 60 seconds of walking each mile, I ran between 6.4 and 7.1, so I really want to believe the treadmill. I think the Garmin will only be used outside from now on. Once home, it was time for another smoothie. And hopefully some decent sleep very, very soon. Please? I rarely ever get in a run on Fridays, so I am looking forward to getting in my long run this weekend.

Oh, yesterday I received the medal from the only virtual race I did last year. I’m still not sure how I feel about those but I will admit that I did this one just for the medal. My inner nerd girl was jumping up and down-

How has everyone’s week been?

Any races this weekend?

Treadmill Tuesday

Totally random, but let’s start with this little snippet- Hell froze over!!

Sorry couldn’t help it, but that must be why I made it to the gym two days in a row 🙂 Can we say ugh squared to the treadmill? Maybe it’s because of the circulated air or the fact that you have run while staring at yourself in the mirror but running just seems so much harder.

Last night I slept horribly. First I couldn’t fall asleep and then I tossed and turned. For someone who used to be something of an insomniac, this is not cool. An unexpected bonus to commuting and the crazy insane schedule I had for the first 3-4 months of the year was finally sleeping a little better. I am hoping tonight is better and that last night was just a one off.

6 miles were on the plan for today but I knew that wasn’t likely when I woke up. While getting ready, I figured I could do a 2 mile walk while on lunch and then hit the gym for 3-4 miles after work. That seemed more feasible. As I was walking out the door to go to work, I received a text message. Someone called in sick. 😦 So I canceled the lunch walk with the intention of taking a shorter lunch and getting back to work. Best laid plans right?

We have a Comfy chair at work too, and I sat down after eating my lunch. Then I fell asleep… oops. I had even turned my jacket into a blanket. I woke up almost 40 minutes later. So much for a short lunch, it was just shy of regular. I jumped out of the chair, refilled my water bottle and ran out of the break room. FYI, I also spilled my water 3x today.

I was still tired and was debating even running but I knew I needed to go. Luckily ME emailed me around 4, so I asked her join me. Part of my gym membership is that I can take a guest whenever I want :). She wanted to go, so we planned to meet up as soon as I got back into town. Woo hoo for company! She’s just getting back into things after a nasty bout of strep and I was still tired, so short and sweet it was! 3 steady, solid miles, done! We hadn’t seen each other since before Christmas so we exchanged gifts in the parking lot after. We’re classy like that. 🙂 So, ME is super crafty and she made these adorable earrings for me-

I managed to finally get the Garmin to work on the treadmill. Well, kind of. As you can see in the picture, the mileage was off. Both Nike+ and the treadmill actually agreed for once. The Garmin however was lagging behind. Time for more research on how to get it calibrated properly, or at least as close as I can. I love Google.

I came home and rewarded myself with a nice cold strawberry banana smoothie. I may have killed the blender in the process, it was not a happy camper. Since it’s so heavy, will that count as strength training for the day? Probably not. 😦

How was everyone’s Tuesday?