Workouts 06/25 - 07/01

I had a pretty good workout week.

Monday - Did the You are your own Gym Week 7, Day 3 workout.  It was arms/pulling intervals.  I will admit that I'm not hitting these workouts 4 days a week - more like when I can/do.  I'm also completely skipping the Yayog Day 4 workouts which are core but are nowhere near as challenging or beneficial as the core workout I've been doing.

Monday - Pre-dawn runner's core workout.  This workout is so hard but so good.  I have trouble doing the planks partially because I need more core strength and partially because my feet/toes are not strong enough.  And I really want to build up the strength and balance to do the unilateral bird dogs without the modification.

Tuesday - 4.15 miles in 49 minutes (11:48 mm) plus the walking warm up/down. I stayed in zone two and just used the watch. 

Wednesday - Pre-dawn runner's core workout.  A good workout.

Thursday - 4.016 miles in 48 minutes (12:06 mm) plus walking warm up/down.  I bit warmer than it has been. I did a warm up and then ran 4 hill repeats (such as they are near my house).  When I wasn't on the hills I did 2:00/1:00.

Saturday - Long Slow Hot Run at Brushy Creek Regional Trail.  13.8 miles in 3:03 (13:15 mm).  I felt like it's been a long time since I've done a long run so I got up at 5:30 Saturday with the intention of a 2:30 - 3:00 run.  It was 75 out when I started and 85 when I finished and I could feel it.  I ran a 1:00/1:00 and felt pretty awesome for the first 8-10 miles but knew I was slowing at the end due to the weather.  Still, I'm really glad to get some good miles in.  Also, by the Galloway formula the pace for this run should have been between 15:06 and 16:06. 

Sunday - 4.0 in 1:00 walk in the rain. I left the house and it started to rain so I went back for a ziplock for my iPod but then walked more. It was lovely.

Sunday - Did the pre-dawn runner's core workout again.


Other notes on the week:
Thursday - I donated a double unit of blood platelets.  It has been longer than I would like but I've just been struggling with scheduling the time.  My last donation took a very long time because my platelet count was "low".  This time my count was 333 which was high enough that I did the double in 73.  The phlebotomist did such a smooth stick I could literally not feel the needle.  I did feel like I had a hard time with the anticoagulant (or coagulant I can never remember) and it making me feel really physically jittery the rest of the day.

I made a comment on the Salty Running site and got a note that my comment was the comment of the week. 

Workouts 06/04 - 06/10

Tuesday - 3.95 in 50 minutes (12:39) plus walking warm up/down. Good morning run. I did a bit of speedplay and concentrated on my core.

Tuesday - You are your own Gym - Week 7, Day 1 - It was back to ladders with arms/pushing exercises. Compared to the supersets, it was a lot more work.

Thursday - I skipped my run because I had a very disturbing dream and felt all off kilter when my alarm went off. I did You are your own Gym - Week 7, Day 2 - Legs supersets but a good workout.

Thursday - I did the pre-dawn runner's core workout and made it through the 30 minutes for the first time. That is a hard workout. There were some minutes that I had to stop early.

Friday - 4.41 miles in 50 minutes (11:18) plus walking warm up/down. I'm really stressed at work and having trouble sleeping and heart palpitations. This isn't the first time but it's the most intense in a very long time. I decided to do my run but to make sure I didn't have an unreasonable HR so I set the watch to beep when I was lower than 130 or above 170 (really it should have been 174). When it beeped too high, I walked for a 1:00 to 1:15. Then I ran again. At the beginning I could run 2-3 minutes and by the end 6-8.

Saturday - I got in about 15 minutes of core work while the family was across the street with the new neighbors and I was cooking dinner.

Sunday - LSR. 10:12 in 2:00 (11:51). My fastest LSR ever. Even if I suppose that the Nike+ was off, it might have only been 9.5 or 9.3. At those distances my pace was still 12:54 which is pretty good. I got very hungry and ate a protein bar early and then 2 gels later. It all felt very sugary to me but still was a great run. I also did my walking warm up/down and when I got home took ChocolateDaughter out for .5 miles (in less than 7 minutes).

Workouts 5/28 - 6/03

I had a relatively crummy workout week last week. Geez. I just couldn't get myself out the door to even try. I believe it was a combination of stress (job) and tired (?) and sad (dog). Hopefully this week will be better. Last week: Monday - 6.0 miles 1:10 (11:39 mm) plus the walking warm up/down.It was Memorial day so I got to take my second daylight run in a row. I just ran on the sidewalks/streets in the neighborhood but it was quite nice. I did a 1:00/1:00 but maintained a nice pace.

Monday - You are your own Gym Week 5 Day 4 and Week 6 Day 1. I did the core workout from the week before and then the Arms/Pushing supersets from Week 6.

Tuesday - You are your own Gym Week 6 Day 2 - Legs, Supersets. Such a good workout.

Saturday - 3.9 in 1:03 walk. The entire family walked to the park and then played and then home. ChocolateDaughter rode her balance bike.

Sunday - Long Slow Hot Run of 9.5 in 2:15 (14:12 mm) plus the walking warm up/down. I'm not sure why this run was like this. I felt ok, just hot and sluggish. My first mile I covered just over 4.5 which is about normal for a LSR but then it just dropped and dropped. I'm going to blame the weather and the rest of the week. At a 1:00/1:00 ratio it was slow.

Sunday - You are your own Gym Week 6 Day 3 - Arms Pulling Supersets. A good workout although I do let me ins rather than pullups. I just can bring myself to try to do a pullup on the door.

The biggest news of the week is that I signed up for the Austin LiveSTRONG half-marathon for the 3rd straight year on Friday. I'd like to raise > $1500 this year to fight cancer and support those living with it. I'd also like to run a 2:35 or better half-marathon.

Workouts 5/21 - 5/27

Monday - You are your own Gym Week 5, Day 2. Legs Supersets. This workout was much harder than the ones before it.

Tuesday - 3.5 miles 47 minutes (13:25) plus walking warm up/down. I felt rather sluggish but did it anyway.

Wednesday - Yayog Week 5, Day 3. Arms/pulling supersets. A good workout but I couldn't bring myself to try the pull-ups on the top of the door.

Thursday - 3.4 miles 40 minutes (11:45) plus walking warm up/down. I ran up and around campus including hitting a seam in the pavement and falling and cutting my palm. Then I went around the track for a while. It was quite hot. Thursday - 2.8 miles 48 minutes walk.

Sunday - 6.25 miles in 1:20 (12:48) plus walking warm up/down. Trail run at Walnut Creek Park. A very good and fun but sad run. We had to put our dog to sleep on Friday and this run constantly reminded me of her and how much she loved this trail and swimming in the creek.

The month has 3 more days and I should hit 100 miles after one more run. It will be my 3rd 100 mile month this year.

Workouts 5/14 - 5/20

Monday - 1.75 in 32 minute walk. I went for a lunch hour (half-hour) walk. It was quite lovely.

Monday - You are your own Gym Week 4, Day 1. Basically Arms Interval training (12 of each push exercise). The program is the same as Week 3 Day 1. Then I did 18 minutes of the core workout at the Pre-Dawn Runner's site. It's a hard core workout but I know it would help me if I can do it consistently.

Tuesday - 4.1 miles in 47 minutes (11:27 mm) plus the walking warm up/down. A really nice run right after it rained. The streets were wet but the air was clear.

Tuesday - Yayog Week 4, Day 2. Legs intervals. A really good workout. With the exception of the one-legged romanian deadlifts, these are all very doable exercises for me.

Wednesday - Yayog Week 4, Day 3. Arms (pulling) intervals. A good workout. I didn't quite finish it because I got an important phone call after 11 of the 12 sets but still very good.

Thursday - 3.9 miles in 47 (12:03 mm) plus walking warm up/down. It was warm out 77-82 but mostly I just felt really tired. I got it done and sort of shrugged that any run is better than no run.

Saturday - 4.78 mile walk in 1:13. Lovely morning for a walk. As I was coming home after 3, the family met me so we went a bit further. The only bad thing is that my feet started to get a bit hot-spotty from walking further than I intended in my Vibrams on concrete. Always lovely to walk/run with the family though.

Sunday - 12.1 miles in 2:35 (12:48) including walking warm up/down. What a great run. I wore my new shoes for the first 4 miles and last 4 miles. It felt really great. By the formula my long runs should be around 14:30 but since I'm just running 10-12 on the weekends, I'm working to go faster than that.

Sunday - Yayog Week 5, Day 1. Arms/Supersets. This is a short workout. It's basically 6 sets of 2 exercises.

Workouts 05/07 - 05/13

I had another good workout week:

Monday - You Are your own Gym, Week 3 Day 1 - This arm workout was different. Rather than ladders (1 then 2 then 3 etc. for 7:30) this was intervals so you tried to do 12 reps 3x. It was 4 different arms "push" exercises.

Tuesday - Yayog, Week 3, Day 2 - Legs intervals. Very good and hard workout.

Wednesday - 4.0 miles, 46 minutes (11:30 mm) plus the walking warm up/down. Lovely run in the rain. Stiff to start but really got smooth toward the middle/end.

Wednesday - Yayog, Week 3, Day 3 - Arms (pull) intervals. Some new exercises and a good workout.

Friday - 11.15 miles 2:16 (12:11 mm) including walking warm up/down. Had no pre-run food available so I just went out with 3 gels in my pack. Had a fantastic run. Perhaps my best run ever. Did a 1:00/1:00 ratio but much faster than my usual LSRs. This pace may be better than my pace at the Austin 10/20 where I ran 2:30/1:00 and 2:00/1:00. I wouldn't trust the distance but I measured using both Nike+ and GPS. At about 9 miles I got chased by dogs and one jumped up and scratched me. I'm glad he didn't bite and that I didn't fall down (he was big!).

Friday - Yayog, Week 3, Day 4 - Core Intervals. A good workout and not that hard although it felt good.

Saturday - 4.25 miles 50 minutes (11:45) plus walking warm up/down. A nice recovery run. Ran through a lot of mud but very fun run.

Exercise 4/30 - 5/06

Another good workout week this week:

Monday - You are your own GYM (Yayog) Week 2, Day 1 - Arms Ladders. A repeat of the workouts from the week before but I've added strength. On the modified pull-ups I got up to 4 3 different times.
Monday - Lunch time (half-hour) walk of 1.72 miles in 27 minutes.

Tuesday - I switched my hours again so I'm back to my early morning running. Upside: cooler, very little auto exhaust, and I don't have to pack a bag and take two showers a day. Downside: running in the dark and no long break during my work day. 3.77 miles in 47 minutes (12:28) plus the walking warm up/down. I did a 2:00/1:00 ratio because my legs were still a bit tight.

Wednesday - Yayog Week 2, Day 2 - Legs, Ladders. A good workout and I did a few crunches and a plank as well.

Thursday - 5.17 in 59 minutes (11:26) plus walking warm up/down. I did some gliders and really concentrated on my pace. Great run.
Thursday - Yayog Week 2, Day 3 - Arms Ladders. I did the first 2 exercises while cooking dinner and the last two after eating. I got as high as 7 on one set of pull-ups and 6 on the next.

Friday - Yayog Week 2, Day 4 - Legs ladders. Very good strong workout. I was going to walk at lunch but work got a bit too crazy.

Sunday - 10.14 miles 2:09 (12:43). I planned to go for a run at Walnut Creek but the rain made that unwise so I just ran on the sidewalks and streets from home and back. Nike+ distance may be up to half-mile high but should be close. I was sore in my lower back and legs for most of the first 6-7 miles in that way that you are sore if you sleep wrong. Ran a good part in light rain which was lovely. 1:00/1:00 ratio and this includes walking warm up/down.
Sunday - Yayog Week 3, Day 1 - Arms. Strength training. Rather than ladders this workout has you do 3 sets of 4 exercises either 6-12 reps or to exhaustion. I had to modify the first (push-ups) because my toe is really sore after my run. Other than that, I was able to do all 12 reps of all but one set. I have to admit that I think the time provided (3 minutes per set) is excessive. I put away my laundry, got out my work clothes for Monday, and still started most of the sets early.

Running April 16 - April 22

I'm continuing my running trends for April (in other words - sort of crap) and perhaps it will take the rest of the month to reset. I don't know... things just keep happening and I guess I'm not training for an event so I don't force myself to get out there. Monday - 6.63 miles in 2 hours walking. I've found that after a long event on Sunday it seems to really help my legs to do some walking on Monday. I've done that for both the Austin half-marathon and the Austin 10/20 and both seemed to really help. Monday morning the entire family headed out - kids on bikes, adults on feet - and walked toward the park. At the big street, we parted ways and I walked to the grocery store, got a few items and walked back meeting them again and back home. Then I took my car in to the shop in the afternoon and while they were working on it, I walked around the industrial park. Tuesday - 4.0 in 48 minutes (12:00 mm) plus .6 walking warm up/down. I went to the park and had a lovely beautiful run. While there I felt a little tired and realized I had done 27 miles in the 4 days including Tuesday. Thursday - 4.34 in 49 (11:17 mm) plus .6 walking warm up/down. I ran with a metronome to see how it affected my running and concentrated on swinging my elbows in time. 3:00/1:00. A very good run at the track. Friday - Should have been a long walk day or even a run day. I didn't run because I thought I would run on the weekend. And I only walked about 1.3 miles because it started raining on me and I was wearing work clothes. If I had run, I would have changed into workout clothes and not cared about the rain. No running or walking on the weekend at all. I don't remember the last weekend like that. Sunday - I did the You are your own Gym (Yayog) Week 1, Day 1 workout which was arms. I really like doing the Yayog workouts with the tablet app. My phone won't run the app but we downloaded it to the tablet. I can only use it when ChocolateWife is not though so I did my workout while she was at the accupuncturist. I'd like to actually adhere to the 4 workouts a week for the 10 week basic program and see what happens.

Training 3/19 - 3/25

Wow. 17 miles? That's a pretty low training week.

Tuesday - 4.25 miles 47 minutes (11:03/mm) plus .6 walking. I ran up and down the hills on the street near work. A good run. 2:00/1:00/

Thursday - 4.1 miles 49 minutes (11:57/mm) plus .6 walking. I ran over to the park. I was feeling quite sluggish so I ran 2:00/1:00.

Friday - I skipped it to have lunch with a friend who is working out of town.

Saturday - 7.39 miles 1:54 (15:39/mm) I should have run 10 x 800s but instead I decided to try a MAF test from the Phil Maffetone book The Big Book of Endurance Raining and Training. So far, I'd summarize his book as saying that most athletes are training at too high a HR. He wants you to train below his aerobic threshold rate or 180-age (136 in my case). So the MAF test is 5 miles at or below that rate and you time them and see what they are. For me it was 13:12, 15:24, 16:11, 14:07, 15:17 in other words terrible. I stuck with that HR throughout.

I posted a pretty detailed note on daily mile and actually got a Facebook message from a friend (and runner) cautioning me against giving too much credence to the theory and particularly against training slow. Her point: "training slow gives you muscle memory of running slow."

I doubt that I'm going to embark on his recommendation to run at or below that level for 4 months. It sounds very painful and slow. At the same time, it would probably be a good idea for me to schedule more zone 2 runs and pay attention to my HR rather than running in a higher zone so often.

Saturday - I finally got back to the You are Your own Gym (YaYoG) workout, doing Week 1, Day 3 (upper body Ladders).

Training 03/05 - 03/11

Tuesday - 4.55 in 50 minutes (10:59/mile) plus walking warm up/down. I ran over to the park and through it. The weather was gorgeous. 3:00/1:00 ratio.
Tuesday - You are Your own Gym (YAYOG) workout Week 1, Day 1. I finally started the YAYOG workouts again. I liked it back in November but then I had to return the book and then I got it for the holidays but I didn't want to start while training for the HM. The first day is basically arms. It was a good but hard workout.
Wednesday - Walking to/from lunch. YAYOG Week 1, Day 2. I used the Android app for my exercise which is nice. It tells you how long to exercise and rest. Legs.
Thursday - I could not run due to being in training and taking an hour (only lunch). I walked about 2 miles in 30 minutes.
Sunday - 7.0 miles 1:30. 50 degrees and raining for about half of the run. 9 x 800 repeats per the Galloway plan for a 10 mile race. My target was still 5:33 since I have not run another magic mile. Actual: 5:08, 5:12, 5:17, 5:17, 5:08, 5:15, 5:17, 5:23, 5:11. A very good run. The last 3 repeats felt easier than the first 3. I feel like I'm starting to get into a nice posture and rhythm in my running.

Last Week's Workouts

I had an ok week running last week.  I planned to skip Monday and run Tuesday but I woke up at 2:00 or 3:00 to the sound of thunder and lightening and pouring rain.  I think thunder and lightening combined with rain and darkness may be my running cutoff.  So... no run on Tuesday.  I think that makes 3-4 times since I cancelled my gym membership that I would have worked out at the gym but didn't/couldn't otherwise.  All-in-all I'd say that's a good decision.

Tuesday - YaYoG Basic workout #1 - I started the YaYog  program with the first push/pull workout.  I will admit that I didn't understand about doing the ladders for a full 7.5 minutes and didn't do the last exercise because I couldn't figure out how to do it at the house but it was still a hard and good workout.
Wednesday - 7.1 miles 1:30 (12:40 mm). We got half a day off work so I ran in the afternoon.  The time includes warm-up and down. I ran 2:30/1:00 for most of the way and 1:1 for about 20 minutes at the end.  It was gorgeous out!
Wednesday - YaYoG Basic Workout #2 - Legs and core.  30 minutes. This workout was so hard. I was feeling it for days. 
Friday - 4.98 miles 1:05 (13:03 mm).  Includes warm up/down.  I felt really sluggish but was happy to be running.
Sunday - 10.3 miles 2:15 (13:06 mm).  Includes warm up/down.  1:1 ratio.  I started the day by telling ChocolateWife that I was considering taking a 2 week break from running before starting my training program.  Then got dressed and went out to run.  Tee hee.  It was 42 when I left the house and I was grateful to be wearing tights, long sleeve tech shirt, hat, and gloves. 

The miles were not what I like but it was a good week and I enjoyed my runs.  This week looks to be colder...

You Are your Own Gym Program

A few months ago the host of one of the running podcasts that I listen to and really enjoy mentioned the book You are Your own Gym (Yayog).  We're also friends on dailymile and he started posting his Yayog workouts.  I had been interested in adding some workouts that I could do at home if I get the kids to sleep or in short amounts of time.  I reserved the book at the library (which has a really great system for reserving books online and sending you an e-mail).  I was only 3rd or 4th on the list but apparently everyone who checks out the book wants to keep it for the full time because it took two months for me to move to the top of the list.  In that time, I really considered just buying the book but in case I didn't like it I didn't want to have a $13 book sitting around. 

I got it last Thursday or Friday and spent a few days just reading it.  The first few chapters are an explanation of the author's background and philosophy, nutrition, why you should resistance train, etc.  Then the book shows the exercises (I think more than 100 of them) with detailed explanations and pictures. Each exercise tells you if it's a 1-4 level (1 being beginner and 4 being expert) and giving modifications for making it easier and making it harder.  Wow.  Let me say that some of the exercises I can't imagine ever being able to do not to mention the "make it harder" variations.  The exercises are either done with just your body weight or are done with things you have sitting around your house like leaning on the door frame or using a coffee table. You do pull ups on the top of the door but I don't think I can reach the top of the door unless I stand on a chair.  A few ask you to pick up soup cans or phone books but most just use your body and house. 

His intent is that you can mix and match however you would like.  But the back of the book includes 4 10 week programs (basic through Master Class (or something like that - It's a military name)).  He gives minimums that a person should be able to do before starting the 3 non-basic programs.  The basic program is 4 days a week (and may become 5 days later). 

I started the Basic program on Monday.  The first two weeks are ladders - you set a timer for 7.5 minutes.  Do 1 rep of the exercise, do 2 reps, do 3 reps, etc. until you would not be able to do the next count, then come back down.  So 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, (would not be able to do 6) 4, 3, 2, 1.  If you finish before the time you start another ladder or just do 1, 1, 1 until the end of time.  Monday was push/pull so push-ups, let-me-ins (sort of pulling to standing on a doorknob), triceps dips, and an exercise that I couldn't figure out how to do given the things sitting around out house but now I have figured it out.  Tuesday was legs/core.  First was supposed to be step-back alternating lunges but I could not do a single one so I used the modification of already being in the lunge stance.  Then alternating Romanian Dead Leans or something like.  Possibly the most confusing exercise I've ever done.  I literally could not get my body to lean forward while putting the wrong hand forward.  I just saw a note in the Yayog forum that this is one of the hardest exercises to do.  Then squats.  Then swimmers (lay on your stomach and lift one leg and opposite arm, etc.)

So far I've "enjoyed" it if enjoying is breaking a serious sweat at 8:00 in the evening.  If someone else has the book reserved, I won't be able to renew it so I'll probably either buy it in a few weeks or put it at the top of my holiday wish list.