10% Rule

Going thru my training journal I wonder about the 10% rule, when I strength train I keep my weight the same until it starts getting easy and I either increase the rep or up the weight, most of my strength routine are design for about a 4 weeks period. With the 10% rule I feel that my body is not getting a chance to adjust to the new distance before a 10% change the next week or two. I will like to focus on improving my speed since I feel I am capable of running faster that I do, this will be design like my strength training, holding the speed and distance steady until it gets easy then increase both speed or distance by 10%, all this will be done on the treadmill with the weekend long run outside. I feel I can track speed and distance better on the treadmill and how long it is taking me to reach failure, this will be the training plan for October, currently no race plan but I did find a 5 mile race in NY on thanksgiving day , spending TG with in laws.

Spinning this morning with Coach Troy, Spinerval Ultra Core Conditioning. I love this workout because of all the 1 legged leg drills, for the last abs blast routine I did plank variations.

I miss having a treadmill in the house and really need to start back looking for one, am just not a gym person. I love waking up and getting my workout in instead of doing it after work and if I have the extra energy or time after work then I don't mind a second workout.

Back to The Body Sculpting Bible for Women

I took last week from the BSBW program but back to it this week, since I am reducing my running am hoping this will be a good time to get some muscle definition.

1 min jump rope
1 min running in place with high knee
1 min rest
Repeat 3x

Superset
kettlebell double Arm Row-16kg - 15
Pushup-15
Mountain Climber -16
1 min rest
Repeat

Dumbbell Shoulder Press - 20kg-15
Standing Calf Raise- 20kg-15
Mountain Climber - 16
1 min rest
Repeat

Dumbbell Curl -20kg -15
Overhead Extension 20kg KB failure for round 1 was 12, round 2 was 10
Mountain Climber-16
1 min rest
Repeat

Dumbbell Squat - 20kg 15
Stiff legged deadlift - 20kg -15
Mountain climber - 16
1 min rest
Repeat

5 pul-lups

Thorough stretch

Akron Marathon Relay

The whole purpose of Akron was just to have a goal after my 30 day injury break, my initial intention was to run the Marathon, with only one marathon under my belt with injury I wasn't sure I was ready for another one, so plan B Half Marathon but then my Business Director wanted to run and suggested a relay, I think I was already organizing a team before she finish her sentence, so the Emerald Flyers were born, since we were all middle/back of the pack runners and felt better with a name like Flyers.
Woke up at 5:30am, got dresses and ate my usual breakfast of toast and peanut butter, got to downtown Akron around 6:45am and parked at the library (parked in the same place last year but forgot where when I was done so walked all the way back to the start and retraced my step, that was really no fun.) It really was a perfect day in Ohio for a race and the crowd was out in full force.


Got to the start line at 6:50:21am and try to find my team.The front of the pack with everyone patiently waiting, off they went promptly at 7am. After the start I walked across to High street to see where everyone was for pacing, found Cindy, Bob, Mike, Brett, Kim and Debbie, then ran right back to the start to see the 2008 USA Women's 8K Championship, while watching them warming up and getting ready for the start spend sometime with the mascot's that were all to ready to pose for pictures.




After the start, went over to the Canal Park stadium for the 8K finish

The US record is 25 mins, watch that go by by but watch Sara Slatterry come in in 25:54 was too busy yelling and screaming and forgot to take picture, yelling and screaming to get her in in under 26 mins what an incredible finish for her. After I calm down I did remember the camera and took some pictures of some of these incredible women, I missed the first couple of women since they all came in within a minute
Jill Steffens 27:18

Erin Nehus
Carrie Messner-Vickers
Tara Storage (OH)
Lucinda Hall

Melissa Converse (OH)
Kara Storage (Tara's Twin - OH)

Tori BotticelliBecky Michael (OH)
Jessica Textoris
Catherine Fenster (OH)

I missed seeing Paige come in, since my cell went off and it was my second leg team mate, telling me she was no where near the area since all the roads were closed, so we had to figure out a way to get her to the leg 2 exchange area before the Dick (leg 1) person gets there but I did see Erin Nehus and Frank Vergara proposal
That's Katherine Switzer (first woman to officially enter and run the Boston Marathon)

Okay it was time to get to my exchange point, saw so many people and many I didn't even know remember me as the 50K lady or BR volunteer, okay so robbing a bank is out of the question. At this location I was also busy yelling and clapping I forgot to take pictures

Barb looking strong

Elizabeth bringing her team in ( I have to say she is one of the most cheerful runner I know, and I
love the fact that she doesn't just finish and leave but hang around to bring/cheer anybody she can in. I believe she went back to get somebody since I saw her on my way in)

My race went fine, first 2 miles were hard until my left leg found it's rhythm
M1: 10:33 181bpm
M2: 10:43 167BPM
M3:10:34 166BPM
M4: 11:18 164BPM
M5:11:01 164BPM
M6: 10:22 165 BPM
M7: 9:38 166BPM
M8 (.62 MILES) 12:10 170BPM slowed to talk to a girl that was having problems, especially since she was a marathoner it really wasn't the time to fade.

1:21:40 Team Finish 4:34

After my race found my team and waited for Kim and Mike to come in missed Cindy and Bob since they were right behind me and forgot to take a picture of Debbie since I was so excited to see that she did, what an incredible woman, to find out more about Debbie read Cindy's blog

Kim and Mike

My team + Jerry Marathoner (a coworker) Christy, Sara, Jerry, Me, Dick and his wife Laurie in front of him.

After the race, soak in tub, took a nap then had to get ready for a twin Bar mitzvah celebration at the Signature of Solon banquet hall. 3 Cosmos later along with a steak dinner I was having a blast on the dance floor and finally crawl into bed at midnight

Easy workout today, pulled out Bodybar below the belt with Keli Roberts and did a quick lower body workout. Went around 1pm to the Akron Marathon expo to pickup race number and left work on time for a change.
Slight twinge on my left leg which worries me but we will see how tomorrow goes.

Sunday: Took a rest day but did house cleaning since that has been a neglected avenue.

Monday: 3 Mile Run, I love my mizuno wave inspire 4 seems to be working better for me except for the fact that my right big toe always feel like it is running right on asphalt, I have tried thicker socks with no luck so I may have to get a better insert for it. Visit to Chiro for ART

Tuesday: IClimb Core Conditioning using the stepper, I love this workout, really a good total body workout not just core. Bought a PT band for my knee actually help.

Today:
AM: Spinerval Hillacious - 1 hour of hill training on the spinning bike + upper body workout using resistance band.
PM: 20 mins on the elliptical + 3 miles on the treadmill using cc2 revised, this is my last run before Akron, since it takes about 2 days for my left leg to fully recover from a run.

With the Akron Relay a week away I know I needed to try for 7 miles to see how my leg will feel and what adjustment I needed to make to be able to finish the race, so today got up not as early as I wanted and went out for a 7 miles run. I started out with Runner-core type warm up and loosen things up as much as possible, walked 0.25 miles and then started out running, decided to run to Signature this time since I was getting sick of my neighborhood. Met some friends walking their dog while running, with one asking the question, "How did you get here?" I slowed down a bit because I can still feel that I do not have complete range of motion on my left leg, did a thorough stretch afterward then shower and went to volunteer at the concession stand for the JV and Varsity soccer game, did a good job resisting the hot dog because there was no calorie value on the box.
Spend the rest of the day hanging out with the kids, after we got back and dinner, did Yogamazing yoga for Butt and thigh to continue to remove the kinks.

Mile 1: 11:14 162bpm
Mile2: 11:01 156bpm
Mile3: 11:06 158bpm
Mile4: 11:56 157bpm
Mile 5: 10:58 161bpm
Mile 6: 11:10 163bpm
Mile 7: 11:02 165bpm

Am planning to schedule an ART session with the Chiro Dr. hopefully for Tuesday.

Yesterday was a quit trip to Connecticut to see a customer, had a 7:30am flight and was so proud of myself that I was able to get up at 4:30am to get in a workout before leaving for the airport. Flying back and forth in one of those small planes made for a very long day.

Today was Day 3 workout of Break-in 2

5 mins jump rope warm up

Two Arm Row - 16Kg KB 2x15
Incline Fly - 40# Bowflex 2x15
1 arm swing L, R 2x15

Bent over Lateral Raise 12# Db 2x15
Standing Calf raises 20# DB 2x15
Snatch 12kg KB 2x15

Hammer Curl 20# 2x15
Lying DB Extension 20# 2x15
Windmill 15# KB 2x5

Ballet Squat 20# 2x15
DB Lunge 20# 2x15
Mountain Climbers 2x15

Crunches on the ball
Knee raise
Misc Ab workout on the ball

Long day at work today and the fact that I was woken up at 1:25am to do some calculation for work did not help, so skipped the morning workout and got some much needed sleep. Got back from work tired and worn out, made dinner and contemplated not working out but put running shoes on and decided to go for 2, I felt great once I started and ended up with 3.5 miles and this time I was able to run the whole distance without walking breaks like Sunday

0.25 miles walking warmup + warm up from runner-core
Mile 1:10:25 151bpm
Mile 2: 10:35 157bpm
Mile 3: 10:24 155bpm
0.5 miles 10:15 164bpm
0.25 mile walking coodown + Runner-Core Cool down routine

Sunday - Got up early and got in a 4 miles run before church and then spend 3 hours weeding the garden before the high wind started.


Monday - Started Break-in Routine 2 of The Body Sculpting Bible for Women, was really suppose to do 1 for 2 weeks but moved on to 2 then will start with the 14 day program next week.

Break-in 2 (supersets)

5 mins jump rope

Two arm row - 16kg KB - 2x15
Dumbbell Press on Ball - 25# 2x15
1 min jump rope

DB Shoulder Press - 12#, 20# 2x15
Standing Calf raises 20# 2x15
1 min jump rope

Dumbbell Curl 20# 2x15
Overhead DB Extension 20# 2x15

Dumbbell Squat 25# 2x15
Stiff-legged Deadlift 25# 2x15

Knee raise
Crunches on Ball
Misc Abs workout on ball

Woke up early to get the kids and myself to our 8:30am eye appointment, this early appointments always sound so nice when I book them getting 2 teenage kids up that early on a Saturday morning is a chore. $500 later the kids have their glasses on order and I have a year's supply of contact, I couldn't believe it still cost that much after insurance . After the eye appointment, headed off to the Twinsburg library for their monthly book sale and then to the Northfield Fleet Store for their anniversary celebration where I pick up a pair of Saucony Grid Fastwitch, all this was done in the pouring rain.

Solon Marching Band Bash was today and I was volunteering to help with parking, it turned out nice since the rain stopped just in time for the show, we had the bands from Eastlake, Warrensville Heights, Garfield Heights, Mayfield and Hudson some of the schools canceled due to the fact that they already committed to another band show going on in Cleveland.

After the band bash got in a quite 30 mins mp3 kettlebell workout that was suppose to be easy from liftkettlebells.com but how can anything that ends with 30 sec, 60 sec and then back to 30 sec snatches on each side be considered easy. It was a very nice well put together workout.

Yesterday was a rest day, barely got in 12 hours of sleep between Wednesday night and Friday morning due to the problem at my manufacturing plant. To think I decided against being a doctor because I couldn't handle the late night calls but ended up in a Chemical plant that has me on call 24/7 oh what a joy.

This morning got up late after being on the phone with the plant all night and did a quick workout before going in.

Supersets
5 mins jump rope

Two arm row 2x15 - 25# DB
Dumbbell Fly on Ball 2x15 - 20# DB
1 min jump rope

Bent over lateral raise 2x15 - 12# DB
Standing calves raise 2x15 - 20# DB
1 min jump rope

Hammer Curl 2x15 - 20# DB
Lying DB Extension 2x15 DB
1 min jump rope

DB Squat - 2x15 - 20# DB
Stiff Legged Dead lift 2x15 - 20# DB

Ab wheel

My calves were sore when I woke up this morning not sure if it is from the run or calves workout.

Woohoo Ran 2 miles :)

Well, this required quite a bit of mental preparing, considered running this morning but skipped it, with the excuse that I will be late for my 8:30am meeting but packed my stuff and put in car. Considered lunch time excuse too busy, after work excuse got to get home to make dinner since my son leaves early for band(he has been feeding himself before band for the last 5 weeks) after dinner, got on the computer, check email, check blogs, download on itune. Three hours after I got home finally decided to get it over with, couldn't find Garmin, took 10 mins to find, changed top, kind of chilly outside and finally finally got out the door and I survived. Minimal pain in both leg but still some what limited mobility on left but I survived, there was no need to walk since the pain was minimal and for the first time I kept the same pace

Warm up: 0.25 mile walk
Mile 1: 10:20 HR: 163
Mile 2: 10:21 HR: 165
Cool down: 0.25 mile walk

Got back home, did a 10 min section from Kathy Smith Tummy Trimmer DVD from library and cooldown Stretches from Runner Core DVD.

It really felt great. :)

Tuesday:
30 mins on the Stepper and Abs workout on the Ball

Wednesday:Breakin 1 Day 2 (superset)
20 mins on the Spin Bike using ICycle 8e

DB Squat - 2x15 20#
DB Lunges 2x15 20#
1 Arm KB Swing L,R 10-12Kg

Plie Squat 2x15 20#
Stiff Legged Deadlift - 2x15 20#
Hand to Hand KB Swing - 16kg

Calves Raise 2x15-20#
Upright Row -2x15 20#
Hand to Hand KB Swing - 16Kg

Calves Raise 2x15-20#
Tricep Kickback 2x15 - 20#
1 Arm KB Swing L,R 10 - 12KG

Day 1 BSB for Women

Breakin Routine 1 (Superset)

5 mins jumprope

KB Row - 35# 2x15
Push-up 2x15

1 min jump rope

DB Shoulder Press - 12# 2x20
Standing Calf Raise (2 legs) 12# 2x20

1 min jump rope

DB Curl - 15# 2x15
Overhead DB Extension - 12# 2x15

1 min Jump rope

KB Squat 35# 2x20
Stiff legged Deadlift 35# 2x20

1 min jump rope

September Goal

So for September I will be using the Body Sculpting Bible for women by James Villepigue and Hugo Rivera for strength and I will slowly go back to running with supplement from Jump roping, Spinning and Stepper.

Since Yvonne has backed out of the Race for the Cure, am not sure if I am doing it or not, knowing I was going to do it with her means I will keep my pace slow and not really be competing but I am not sure if I will stick with the rule of slow running on my own and I have been off too long to go fast without asking for injury.

Am still putting a team together for the Akron Marathon at work since my Director wants to do it, we are a slow team and I will be running the last leg, still waiting for them to give me their form by Wednesday, so there is still time for someone to back out.

15/21 + BuffMother Raise the Bar Workout Update

Yesterday was the last day of the 15/21 diet program and BuffMother Raise the bat workout program, at the beginning of the workout I use Dr John Berardi from Precision Nutrition Body Comp guide. Using a skin caliper 7 locations are measured 3x then using a measuring tape 8 locations are measured 3x, then a calculation is done to obtain body density, % body fat, Fat Mass and Lean Mass, so below is my result from the 3 weeks.


Skinfold Result using Calipers

Abdominal	-8.67
Triceps	-2.33
Chest	-1.00
Midaxillary (b/w armpit and hip)	-3.67
Subscapular (Shoulder blade)	-2.33
Suprailliac ((Just above the hip)	-2.00
Thigh	-2.33

Girth Measurement using Measuring Tape

Neck	-0.87
Shoulder	-0.90
Chest	-0.80
Upper Arm	0.23
Waist	-7.77
Hip	-4.47
Thigh	-2.63
Calf	-1.17

Weight -10.8
%Body Fat -3.5

I didn't follow the diet program as written mainly because it was designed for someone heavier than me and also a male, the food was a whole lot more than I normally consume so I adjusted the menu to fit me. From the diet I learn that measuring my food is really important and after work snacking is my weakest time, so I am finding ways to curb my after work hunger. I am really going to continue with the eating program in a modified way, breakfast/lunch is plenty of food for me but I will be adding extra fruit and vegetable, for dinner eating what the family eats but weigh it out.

I love the workout it was simple enough and easy to follow, I was able to add more to the workout as needed. My biggest surprise was the weight/inches I lost in my abs/waist.

My weight is holding steady and am not surprise, am 10# away for what I consider my goal weight, so it is going to be slow going from now on, my clothes fit so much better and I am actually seeing the making of a 6 pack somewhere. Final weigh in and measure will be Sunday am sure my teenage son is looking forward to that.

We spend Sunday in downtown Cleveland enjoying all the festivities they had, will post some pictures later decided to bypass the taste of Cleveland knowing that no good will come out of that one.

Late Sunday, I ended up with a lot of pain from my easy run on Saturday and probably all the walking, so I put in a call to the Dr. I feel like we are still missing something, am better but not really healing.

I am planning on doing the Race to Cure next weekend since I will be pacing Yvonne and am also probably going to do the 5 person relay for Akron.

Today's workout 35 mins on the stepper and Abs on the ball.