AOS Providence

Did AOS Providence this morning but took out the 1 min rest, I still feel I got enough rest because Anthony went through each workout in detail at the beginning so that was enough for a rest break about 15-20secs. The workout is really very well put together basically upper lower body so even with limited rest you will be fine. I then added 10 mins of Baptiste Boot camp yoga flow.

Speed

Today did 5 mile run suppose to be 4x1600 but did 6x800 with 400 recovery, had to move the incline to 2%, treadmill was sluggish at 1% incline definitely getting ready for a new one. Noticed pain in my left shin and calf stopped after 2 miles to stretch it out and I was fine for awhile. After my run did some yoga burn and After running stretching from the Bob Anderson Stretching Book. Stick to Tempo run on Thursday.

Got the book First Marathons by Gail Waesche Kislevitz from the library, that's what am reading now.

Edited to add:
It was a beautiful day today after work since I left early (got there early too) so I can get my son to his private music lesson (plays upright bass). Since I had all my gear in the car, did a quick change and went for a quick 2 mile run, it was indeed a beautiful fall day for a run. I thought the road will be quite since I know it had no side walk but boy was I wrong, it was extremely busy and I had to keep getting on the grass ( consider it a trail run) to avoid being hit, some of the drivers were nice and yield or slow down but others were ready to run me off. Got chase by 1 dog lucking his invincible fence zap hard enough for him to turn back. It was a nice rolling hill run.

Catching Up

Didn't get in my 10 miles on Saturday, had to get my hair done at 9am, this is a 6 hour process, I was planning to run before I left but I was tired so slept in and called Saturday a rest day.

Sunday-woke up and did a quick 3 miles before church, know I wasn't getting much in after that since my youngest has lots of test this week and that was going to be a test in patience.

Monday - Did AOS Providence and yoga Burn, used 25# DB for some of the workout since handling the kettlebell with Slippery hands was dangerous.


Since there is a greater chance of not getting to do the Miami race, it is a 7;30am race and am going to be about 1 hr 30 mins away, my in laws may not understand why I want to get up at 5:30am to go run, so I am going to put the Fall Classic back on the schedule and if I get to do Miami okay if not I will also be okay with it and just go for a race in the neighborhood.

Running

Running gives me a sense of controlling my own life.
I feel I'm doing something for myself, not depending on
anyone else to do it for me. I like the finiteness of my runs,
the fact that they have a clear beginning and end: I set a
goal and I achieve it. I like the fact, too, that there's a real
difficulty in running; when you have to push yourself to finish
a run, you feel wonderful afterward.
A good run makes you feel sort of holy.-Nancy Gerstein

Strength

Woke up late today, due to having to stay up late with my oldest, the high school football game was moved to Thursday night so it can be televised on Fox Sport (not sure why they think that is important on a school night) he didn't start his homework until 10:30am when he got back since he is part of the matching band.

I know I may not be able to get a workout in later tonight so I did a quick strength workout from the workoutz, did back, biceps, legs, abs, shoulder and triceps, only did one round instead of two and then added the EZ shaper tabata for my legs, my butt is still on fire from it.

I woke up fine today even though I push the speed on the run yesterday, which means I am capable of more since I wasn't terribly winded and I had no water or preworkout meal I just ran. It was a wonderful feeling yesteday when I looked at my Garmin and saw that my fastest mile was actually 9.o9 pace, when I started outdoors earlier thsi year, I was running a 12.30 pace, so this means my training is paying off and this middle age body can still kick it.

Suprised my son

Didn't get to workout this morning so decided to run home from the library and have my son drive the car home since I have clothes and shoe in the car. Took a shorter route since my son had to leave in less than 30mins, he said he will probably be gone by the time I got home, well I ran my fastest going at an average 9.29 pace and got home with 2 mins to spare, I was so proud of my self and he was shocked, then I got on the treadmill and did another 4 miles since I really had 6 on tap for today. I then rounded everything off with Janis Saffell Dynamic stretch, not sure how I feel about yet.

AOS Providence

Did Art of Strength Providence today for the first time, really enjoyed it and was able to do all the rounds including the snatch test.

Warmup
Round 1: Swings - 35lbs drop to 26#
Round2: Cleans -35#
Round 3: Chest Press-35 drop to 26
Round 4: Squat/Sumo Deadlift-35#
Round 5: One legged deadlift-35
Round 6: Windmills to -squat-35#
Round 7: Clean & Press-35
Round 8: Flip & Squat-35
Round 9: Lunges-15#
Round 10: Triple Crush-35, was very sweaty my hands were slippery
Round 11 Sling shot figure 8-15
Round 12: Seated Press-35
Round 13: One arm row-35
Round 14: Abs-35, slippery hands
Round 15: 3 mins snatch test

Tabata and Easy Shaper:
I bought an easy shaper pro years ago from QVC and I also bought heavier bands but never use them. I have been looking for something to do to increase the strength on my leg that doesn't involve squat or lunges just to give my knees a break. I went to the rec center last week and did leg press and other leg machine but yesteday I noticed my easy shaper in the corner and decide to do a leg press tabata, I slap on the heavy band and got the gymboss. 1 leg fast right, 2 legs recovery, 1 leg fast left , (8x) I was extremely sore when done and my knees were fine. I have to view the lower body DVD and see what other leg workout I can do in a tabata format.

Tuesday's Workout

Yesterday was speed work, did 6x400@7mph - 1% incline on the treadmill, recovery at 6x400@5mph-1% incline. It felt great I was able to hold the speed.

Today made the decision not to run the Fall Classic HM on November 18 and just concentrate on the Thanksgiving Turkey trot and work on coming in under 1 hour.

Cleveland CF Blackjack in Hell Workout

Got up late today so did an evening workout instead, did last Thursday's CF Cleveland WOD called 21 mins of Suck or Blackjack in Hell

2 mins jump rope (191)
1 min max reps squat (66#-25)
30 secs rest

2 mins jump rope (216)
1 min max reps pushup (23)
30 secs rest

2 mins jump rope (210)
1 min max reps jump pullup (10)
30 secs rest

2 mins jump rope (210)
1 min max reps Box jump 20" (15)
30 secs rest

2 mins jump rope (230)
1 min max reps SumoDL Highpull (66#-15)
30 secs rest

2 mins jump rope (216)
1 min max reps Standing Press (66#-16)
30 secs rest

Then I added on a bunch of band leg and upper body workout in reps of 12.

Sunny Fall Day

It really was a beautiful fall day, we had a high of 79, my youngest and I went to an outdoor mall just to walk around and people watch.

I woke up this morning with no aches, soreness or pain from the race yesterday, so I did a 40 mins yoga routine from Baron Baptiste Bootcamp - Hip Opener and Core Sequence.

The focus from now till the next race will still be using the First Training program and using kettle bells for strength. For kettlebells I will be using Art of Strength Providence DVD and some past workout from Dave Whitley's blog.

Stomp the Grapes & Phedippidation Worldwide Half Marathon

The weather was perfect with temperature between 54 - 59F during the race but the wind was brutal especially on the way back, gusting at 14 - 16mph. I wore my Brooks Skort, under Armour short sleeve shirt and Adrenaline 6.

Woke up at 6:30am since this is a late start (9am) did the normal morning rituals then had a slice of toast and 24oz of Accelerade, got my up and ready since he is taking the PSAT test today starting at 8:30am. I left the house about 7:05am since I was about an hour thirty minutes away, got there at 8:33am and got in line right away for the potty since there was a long line already, did my stuff then went to pick up my timing chip and long sleeve shirt, took the shirt back to the car then started warming up and walking to the start and before I knew it we were off.

The start point was between miles 11&12 on the way back and was downhill but uphill back, miles 1 and 6 were my fastest at 9:57, between mile 3 &4 and on the way back between miles 8&9 you can smell the bread baking coming from the Nickels factory I think. WE entered the Towpath around mile 6 and that was a nice run but I slowed a little around mile 7 (11:17 pace) there were some got size gravels and I was quite sure of my footing but I got more confident after a while and moved on.

I knew there was a hill at mile 10 but didn't know that the hill was from mile 10 to 13, and I was running again the wind I was moving forward 3 the wind was pushing back 1, I switch to run/walk strategic since it felt like a painful losing battle trying to push my way through the wind and up the hill.

I used one of my new water bottle and it worked great but I still got water from the water station only skipped the first one and walk through them. I ate 2 Gu triple berry flavor and was fine.

I was kind of disappointed in my time since I was expecting to finish about 2:10-2:15 but ended up at 2:20, I need to work on my pacing since my pace for this race was all over the place 9:57 - 11:33 and do more hill training. I wonder why I put myself through this (feeling the pain in my knees from the hills) but I turned around and checked out the course for the Fall Classic HM and felt better hopefully I can be faster at that since it is a flat course, this pain too shall pass.

The finish was nice, lots of food(subway, chips, crackers, cheese, banana, pretzels) and wine, it was very well organized and the volunteers did a wonderful job. Thanks

This was a small race, they are nice because you are not fighting the crowd for the first 3 miles but you basically run the whole race by yourself since there isn't that many people. I ran basically the whole race by myself unless when I pass someone and we comment for a second or two, I actually lost the trail luckily a cop was there and yell straight ahead, I was trying to keep someone in sight through out the race but in the towpath because it was winding I lot track of him for a while and was on my one.

Stomp the Grapes HM was my entry into the 2nd Annual Phedippidation World Wide Half

Day before race

Woke up and did Stott Pilates Total Body Sculpting Level 2 using Reebok Medium band, it was harder than I expected and worked the shoulder quite hard, so one that I definately need to use more often. Went to my sister graduation from nursing school today and probably ate stuff I shouldn't have eaten the day before a race. I am so proud of her and I was so happy seeing her up there getting her diploma. Having some aches in my back between the shoulder blade so will try to foam roll tonight to get the kink out.
Undated the playlist in my scandisk, to include the Blacklab download for the world wide half to make it official, oh well need to get off the computer and get ready for the race tomorrow, unfortunately am not going to get to bed early since I need to pick up my son from the football game.

Last Run before Stomp the Grapes

Did my last run today for Stomp the Grapes, 3 miles of hills at 5% to 10% this is because it seems there is a nice hill around mile 10 on the race course. Got my race number and packing pass in the mail tomorrow, so was happy about that.

My treadmill is beginning to act up refuse to go past 6mph without some pleading with this morning, will need to vacuum out and oil this weekend, I have had it now for about 7 years so it has held up pretty good.

I also added the Super 7 Elasticity to my workout this morning, I am liking the effect of the workout on my flexibility, need to record it before it goes off ON Demand on the 31st.

Ordered 2 Nathan QuickDraw water bottle from running warehouse and got them today, they look nice and feel comfortable, I really need to start carrying water on my long runs instead of going 2+ hours with none.

Knee Pain be gone

I went back to serious focus strength training after my last race, even though I ran faster and didn't have has much pain I noticed a difference in my legs and knees, they are constantly creaking and it hurts every time I get up from a sitting position or climb the stairs at work or home. So I have been pretty consistent about doing the weight work and also reducing my run to 3 days of good quality runs instead of just having junk miles and also added back yoga. Today, I noticed no creaking or pain in my knees, before getting up from I was already anticipating the pain but got up and the pain was extremely dull.

Today did 3.2 mile 4x400 @7-7.3mph 1% incline, recovery 4x400@4mph 1% incline then I added hill work at 5% and 10%, concluded with 18 mins of yoga for your feet from yogamazing.

My last run is going to be a hill run since I know there are 2 hills on the course.

6 Minutes Circuit

Strength Day:

6 mins jump rope, single and double
6 mins circuit, did everything through one time rest 1 mins te repeat 3x
Super 7 Eleasticity - This is an awesome workout on Sportskool to improve flexibility.

5 days till Stomp the Grapes, I need to review the course online and print out on mapqust hao to get there. I never even knew ther was a place Navarre, OH

Rest Day

Sunday:

Rest day, but ended up spending time cleaning the house and doing laundry. I also did algebra homework with my 12 year old, ordered a new foam mattress from overstock and then trie to book the flight for Hawaii and Las Vegas for the holiday.

Commitment

Today was a 6.26 mile run, what a difference a week makes, last week it was so hot I ended up doing my 8 miles on the treadmill. Today it was so cold, I wore running tights, short, sleeveless top, long sleeve, wind jacket, light gloves, and ear muff. Okay, may be I did get slightly warm by mile 2 , I wasn't willing to take anything off. This was probably one of my fastest long run, it was a comfortable run, I didn't feel like I push too hard so I think the speed work/tempo and the every other day run is working better for me. I had no gel on this run and wasn't probably fuel either since I was being lazy (shame on me for that), had a banana and a glass of water. I ended the workout with 10 mins core work and 10 mins yoga.

I spent all day off and on, watching the Ironman Kona I am amaze at what level we are willing to push our body, the upper middle packers are coming in now, after 10 hours of swimming/biking and running. Even after all that time on their feet, the one thing I am noticing is the pure joy on their faces and the smiles, they trained hard for this day, pushed their body to the limit and made the commitment and the sacrifice to earn the right to be at Kona and the cross the finish line.

The time and effort I put into my training is all mine, what commitment I make to it is all mine. I define the goals and design the training.

10:22 hours later #966 just came in running with his kids Priceless

Friday's Workout

Too the day off today to spend sometimes with the kids since they have the day of from school and my oldest is going away on a 4 days tip to Boston. Decided to do my weight workout from the On Demand TV show, found that Mark Verstegen of Core Performance has some workout stuff at Sportskool Fitness so 1 did 3 of did workout, I really like the elasticity workout it was a lot of sport drills to loosen up the joints, so I did Super 7 Elasticity, Super7 Strength and Core Strength 1.

I found a cool run for Oct 28 Zombie Run , hopefully I will get to do it since it is on a Sunday and I will be changing everybodies plan.

Tempo Run

Today was a 3 mile tempo run, I was suppose to do the 3 miles at 6.1mph at 1% incline but my left knee was hurting so I changed it to 3x1200 meters at 6.1mph and then 3x400 meters at 4.0 mph just to give it a rest. I added 15 mins of yoga, am hoping I can keep up with my yoga practice I really miss it.

One of the ladies at my group check-in at videofitness asked the question about thinking I was just a recreationa/fitness runner but I seem to be entering more and more races and now thinking of trail ultra.

My reply to her below:

I have always love running, did all my runs on the treadmill this was my
first year running outside my house, and I find that I love it, I am incredible
slow, for the life of me can't understand how my legs can go any faster but I
keep trying. Running is a whole new world to me, I go walking or running when I
am waiting for my son to finish football practice, I take them to Border's and
go running at the near by National Park (never even knew it was there) or they
bike while I run. Turning 40 this year an alarm went off that said I need to
start doing for me and somewhere in my description of wife, mother, daugther,
employee, Engineer .... there should also be Elizabeth and she love to
run. :love:

My family also believe am going through a phase, I don't know how long this will last but for now, I am enjoying it and my husband is slowly getting back to running at least he has consistently run 5 days a week now for 7 weeks, more for health reasons but he is doing it.

Mailing out my race form for the Winter Buckeye Trail Fun Run 50K today and I found a couple of training plans online.

Life

There has been so much of life going on tha I haven't had the time to log on and blog.

Friday: Did the 6 minutes circuit series, I realy like the workout since the reps are short I can really heavy up and I added weight to all the BW workout.

Saturday: Volunteered at the American Diabetic Association 4 mile walk which was suppose to start at 9am but didn't start till 10:30am, even though as voluteers we were told oto get there at 8am which we all dutifully did and just sat around for 2-1/2 hours . I guess runners are a different breed most of the walkers actually got there at 9am to sign up. I worked the 2nd water stop and boy was it a hot day which was another reason why I wish they would have started on time. Disappointed in the organization of the walk, it seems like a lot of the stuff was underestimated they ran out of lunch for most of the late walkers and there was nothing for the volunteers, but all in it it was for a good cause and a lot of people showed up to show their support. My intention was to run after the walk at a nearby park or in downtown but it was too hot to do either and I was already too tired from being in teh sun for an hour + so went back home too a nap and at 4pm it was still too hurt so I got on the treadmill and did my scheduled 8miles watching Rocky Balboa (very good movie, regardless of what the critic said and he used kettlebells) :) After my run, showered and went on a date night with my husband since both kids were out of teh house for the night.

Sunday: Was a rest day, which I throughly enjoyed watching the Sci Fi Channel.

Monday: 6 minutes Circuit with Jumprope warmup

Tuesday: 4 miles run which included 3x800 @6.6mph with 1% icline on the treadmill. I was quite amaze I could last that long at 6.6mph. Way to go me.

Wednesday: Today was 6 mins circuit, I changed things up instead of doing each circuit 3x then moving to the next I did the 3 circuit one time through with no break rest 1 min then repeat, my heartrate got to 145bpm by the end and drop to 111bmp during the rest.For my warmup I have been doing 6 mins of jump roping which include one legged jump rope. When I started last week I could only do 5 per leg before stopping, today I went to 30. The whole idea is that when running my legs are carrying my body weight one at a time for a long time, so jumping rope with one leg lifted simulate running at a faster pace which works my calves and shin harder so hopefully when I go back running at my slow pace my legs will be happier. I did notice the difference in my speedwork yesterday so I was encourage to challenge myself today.

Finish up with itread 22 climb with Mimi and Keith for more leg work.

I am presently considering doing an Ultra (50K=31miles) in January here in cold Ohio this will be on the trail.

Game Plan

Based on my last half result I took 5 mins off it and plug it into McMillan Training to see where I should be for training and the intention is to to start slowly increasing my pace and challenging myself more, I guess I need to get out of my comfort zone.

Today I did a 5 mile run using the the new 40 mins itread fastest pace was 6.5mph and I can't say I was struggling, my legs took a while to click in but I was fine by mile 2, also had some cramping on my left calf but was able to shake it off.

Added yoga for abs from yogamizing , hopefully since they I short I will be able to add 2 - 3 session of yoga to my week.

Moving On

Yesterday couldn't get up to do my workout in the morning so decided to do it while my son was at soccer, I stop at a new location in Twinsburg after doing a 0.62miles gravel trail 4 times got sick of it and went into the ungroomed grassy section, it was great although I had to be careful how I step and to slow down at the corner so as to avoid running into a horse, did 3.09 miles before my son called and said football was over, suppose to do 4, so got on the treadmill and did 1 while making dinner since I had to get my son to Bass class at 7:30pm. Pure determination made me do this workout, I had to take my running stuff to work and change at work, fit it in between dinner and running around lucky I love to work out in the morning.

Today did 4 circuits from the 6 minutes circuits beginners workout, went heavy with the weights using 25# and 35 kettlebells, workout details are at Buckeye outdoors.

Got my second pair of 35#KB today and AOS Providence, can't wait to try them.

Back in

Got up yesterday and felt fine,went to church and then came back and gave the house a thorough cleaning.

Today did a 2.5 mile walk with hills to get back into the swing of things, went back to Vertical runner today and exchanged the Beast for Adrenaline 7 and also bought a Brooks Skort and Trail Running socks that were on sale for 5o% off. I am thinking o f signing up for a HM trail run in January.