60 mins on the Elliptical + Chalean Extreme Burn 1

2 mins drill from The Belly Off Diet Book by Jeff Csatari this is actually a very good book once you get past the title, love the simplicity of the program you can always get a decent workout in as little as 2 mins, no excuse not to workout and absolutely great for runners.

2 mins drill
Jumping Jack 30secs
Prisoners Squat 30 secs
High Knee Skips 30 secs
Pushups 30secs
Crunches 30 secs
Mountain Climbers 30secs
Bodyweight Thrusters

Dynamic Flexibility

Tempo
1 mile at recovery pace
1x2miles @ 10k pace
Alternate 0.1 @ 10K and 0.1@1 mile pace for 1 mile
Total of 4 miles

I was really suppose to run 2x3k @ 10K pace but just wasn't feeling it so changed the workout to what makes me happy, this is suppose to be fun not a chore.

100 Bodyweight Workout (1 round as a finisher)
Prisoners Squat 20 reps
Pushups 20 reps
Jump Rope 20 reps
Chinups 5 reps
Forward Lunges 20 reps
Close Grip Pushups 15 reps

Picked up the orthotics today, so far the right foot feels good, suppose to get use to them before running in them but the left is killing my toes, they are going numb so I need to take them back for an adjustment.

Today:
Dynamic Flexibility

Mixed Intervals
1 mile @ recovery pace
2k@HM pace/ 1min recovery
1 mile @ 10K pace/ 1 min recovery
1k@ 5k pace/1min recovery
800 meters @ 3k pace
ran to 5 miles @ base pace

Chalean Extreme Push 2 ship warmup

Namaste Yoga Songbird Series 20 mins

Yesterday

3 miles @ base pace, was suppose to run 6 miles but wasn't feeling great so stopped at 3.
Chalean Extreme Burn 2 - skip warmup

Sunday:
Rest day, my sister's wedding lots to do

Saturday
Rest Day, a friends daughter's funeral, died all of a sudden, basically dropped dead after teaching a class just 31 years old. I was just emotionally and physically spent.

50 mins on the elliptical followed with Chalean Extreme Lean 3 skipped the warmup, use mainly 15# dumbbells really should have used 20# but still having twinges in my shoulders. The goal is to finish November strong using Chalean Extreme system and then use December as a recovery month while I go through Physical Therapy.

Dynamic Flexibility

1 mile @ recovery pace
2x3k @ 10k pace with 120 sec rest (was suppose to be 90 sec)
1 mile @ base pace

Total 6 miles @ 9:22 pace if I factor in the stop to tie shoe and stretch then it is a 10 min pace

Barry's Bootcamp Lower Body Beginners

Robert Sherman Cycle Challenge on Spin Bike - Warm up + Speed Ride and Core Conditioning

Dave Dearth Rock and Roll Total Body Workout

Kettlebell Workout (12kg)

Hand to Hand Swing-10
1 hand swing (L) - 10
1 hand Swing (R) - 10
Repeat 2 more times and finish with an extra Hand to hand Swing to make it 100 Swings total

Bottoms up - 10/side
Clean and Press - 10/side
Windmill - 10/side

Flex your Power from Oxygen Magazine 07/09 - 12 reps using blue supreme pilates band

Warrior 2 with triceps extension
Side Plank with lateral Raise
Boat Pose with shoulder press
Warrior 1 lunge with pulldown
Chair pose with biceps curl
Warrior three with mid back row
Bridge pose with glute activator

Wonderful workout today, just love it when things come together, getting to bed on time seems to be part of the secret.

Had a banana before my workout this morning;

Dynamic Flexibility

1 mile @ recovery pace
1x2k @ HM pace/90 sec rocovery
1x1mile @ 10k pace/90 sec recovery
1x1k @ 5k pace/90 sec recovery
1X800m @ 3k pace
the rest to 8 miles 10k pace to recovery pace

8 miles - 10:14 average pace

Barry's Bootcamp Mission Specialist Lower Body Advanced - 12 mins

Yesterday

4 miles - 10:05 avg pace
Dave Dearth Rock and Roll Total Body Workout, this is a nice gem work the total body in 20 mins, starting out with the multiple pushups fatigue the whole body making the rest of the workout intense, started out with 15# weights but dropped down to 12# except for the single hand workout.

Workout accident today, accidentally release the band from my right foot while doing the last workout on Barry's LB, so the plastic handle hit me hard on the top of my lip on the right drawing blood, added ice afterward but it is still quite painful there doesn't seem to be any damage to the tooth.

4 miles recovery to base pace
Core Secrets Stability Ball Full Body Workout-not sure how effective this workout was suppose to be, it was boring, didn't feel challenge or workout when done, so this is going into the donation pile.

Then I went out to Edgewater Park to do a couple of 0.9miles loop with Kurt who is attempting to run 110 miles

Stepper -42 mins
CIA 2301 - Strength Toolbox with Mindy - tubing

Trip to the Dr. today for MRI review, not sure what is really causing a lot of possible things but nothing definite, so we decided to do multiple things to see if any works by reaccessing in 4 weeks. Get blood work done to check for multiple things including vitamin D deficiency (done), get fitted for orthotics since I have really flat feet and my PF is really tight (first phase done going back in 2 weeks), try about 3 session of the graston technique (need to schedule)

2 Miles @ Recovery pace
Barry's Bootcamp Mission Specialist Lower Body Beginner

Elliptical - 32 mins
Mark Verstegen Med Ball Workout-25 mins
Kathy Smith Matrix Core Condition - 10 mins
Kathy Smith Matrix Replenish - 10 mins

Perfect for working out all the kinks

No workout today, I feel fine just felt like taking a day off, went for the MRI on the right foot and am schedule to follow up with the doctor on Thursday.

October Recap

Total Miles : 113 Target:100 miles
Strength :16 (average time of 20 mins) Target:17
Stretch/Yoga:9 (average time of 12 mins) Target: 16

Really need to refocus on the yoga, should be hitting 20 mins on average, I can tell the difference when I stay on task.

Reflecting on the race yesterday, I continue to understand a little bit more about myself and running, what I have learn so far;

• Need a detailed training plan, set out monthly, or preferable to goal race
  
• Need a target pace and goal for each training run
• Need a time goal for each "A" race, no goal means no push
• Strength training the legs after a hard run, helps with me a faster recovery
• Eating before a hard/long training run or race is important for optimum performance
  
• Yoga & Dynamic Flexibility is essential
• Core work is also essential but doing functional core work using kettlebell or Mark Verstegen Core Performance routine seems to work better, end up with a total body routine.
• There is a big difference between running and racing, this is truly my first racing year but then this is only my 3rd year running.
• Running is an expensive sport, regardless of what people think, yes I can do without all the fancy stuff but they make running fun. Wonder if there is a company that will be interested in sponsoring a middle of the pack runner, at least people gets to see their logo.
  
• I really do love to run

Depending on what the doctor's says probably one or two more races for the season, then I plan to take all of December completely off from running before returning back to base training in January. Goal mileage for the year is 1000, currently at 910.

Spirit of Pittsburgh Half Marathon

We got to Pittsburgh around 5pm Saturday and since we took my husband car that had no GPS finding the expo site was interesting, I haven't used map quest in so long so the printed information was like Greek to me, took 30 mins to find a location that was 0.8 miles from where we exited the highway. By the time we got there the expo was packing up, nothing big, probably a good thing since I really don't need anything. Pick up the race package which was a super size Dick's back with lots of goodies in it, went to REI to see if they had any good sale bought nothing and headed off to the hotel. We actually found the hotel quite easily, we it was about 15 mins from the start so perfect, went down to Applebees for dinner, nothing else really by the hotel, I had an open steak sandwich on sour dough bread, not sure it was a good pre race dinner but just didn't feel like pasta. Got back to the hotel, they have adjusted all the clocks and then I called down for a 5:30am wake up call.

I slept pretty good but woke up at 12:30, 3:30 and 5:00 just to check the time and went back to sleep quite easily, got the wake up call and finally got out of bed at 5:45am. I got ready wearing my Nike sport bra (the one that came apart at my last HM, was able to sew it back, it is extremely comfortable and no bounce with the girls) Under Armour Protect this House blue top, Aerie fit capri, Mizuno Inspire wave 5 and my I love my MBT sock guy socks. I was surprise when my husband got out of bed to drive me to the race site, didn't stay, but small baby steps, got a cup of coffee from the hotel lobby on the way out.

At the race site, went straight to the porta-potties, afterward stayed in the tunnel to stay warm and did some stretches and ate my Powerbar Harvest Energy Double Chocolate Crisp bar (absolutely love this thing) , went back outside and got a free t-shirt from the Med Express tent, found a seat, took off warmup clothes since it was now about 15 mins to start time, down a Gu Roctane Blueberry Pomegranate gel with water, and check in my package. The race start on the other side, so I check in my package so I can run to and around the start instead of coming back, by the time I finish warming up I had to pee really bad, but there was only 5 mins to start and no potty on this site, so decided to hold it and then we were off. I stayed between the 1:55 and 2:00 pace group but as we rounded the corner we came to the empty rolls of potty so I decided this was as good a time to stop, by the time I came out I was behind the 2:00 pace team so since I started before them I will have to finish before them to be under 2 hrs. So I started the chase to stay with the 2:00 pace team with the plan of getting ahead with 5k to go.

I missed the first water stop since it was on the right and I was on the far left and we continue on down on E. Carson street, the next water stop before mile 3 was on the left so I took water from there (only 1/4 of a cup need more than that) , pace team didn't stop so had to speed up to keep them in site, we cross the first bridge (West End Bridge) unto Western Ave, the next water stop was between Western and Allegheny Ave since this was on the left, took water here too (again 1/4 of a cup) and again the pace team didn't stop or slow down. Finally caught up with the pace team at about mile 6.5 and stayed with them onto the 2nd bridge (31st Street Bridge) right at the top of the bridge was a water stop and now I really needed a good gulp of water because the Vanilla Bean Gu I took at mile 5 just didn't go down properly, so took one at the beginning and another at the end, again the pace team didn't stop and now I was really behind and would have to seriously pickup the pace to caught up let's not even talk of staying ahead.

I had the virtual partner on my Garmin set to finish in 1:58:00 and now was about 1/2 a mile behind. Once we got onto Liberty Ave, pass mile 8, I lost GPS on my Garmin, I looked at it and I had my hands on my knee at a dead stop, I remember saying to myself, "Come on that is not fair, I am too moving" but nothing happened I still have my hands on my knees, so now no Garmin to see how I was doing and no 2:00 pace team in sight. What to do? It never occurred to me to quit.

Chase down the 2:00 pace team, now I already noticed a pattern they were not stopping for water, they do yell out when they are coming onto a water stop and any of the leaders stop if they need to but the rest keep moving to stay on pace and the leader that stopped sprint ahead to caught up. This is a great strategic if your pace is faster than 2:00 but for people just getting to 2:00 pace this was hard, it would have been great if they were going at a 9:05ish pace to build in water stops and so the runners can keep even pacing.

Anyway the chase began, I access my body, nothing hurt, I was running hard but was fine, and so I chased, bypassing the water at 9, 10.5 and 12, really didn't need it because I drank really good at mile 8. At the mile 12 water stop, I was about 400ft from the pace team on Second Ave which means were coming to the last bridge, so the goal was catch them before the Hot Metal Bridge and as they were making the turn I caught them but then the bridge had a slight incline, and I was already very tired but was able to just hang on and finally pass them as we made the turn back to E. Carson.

As we made the turn to the finish, I was trying to remember how long it took me to get to the start, but for the life of me even though I looked at it couldn't remember, was it over 1 min or under. I could see the clock ahead and it was already at 2:00:XX so I raced as hard as I could to prevent it from rolling to 2:01:00. The clock read 2:00:48 when I finished and I was hoping that was good enough to finally get me under 2hrs. Picked up my medal, EAS shake, water and space blanket, went though the food line were they had different bars, pretzels, candy, Gatorade, trail mix then off to pickup my checked package and look for the family.

It was a very well organized race, water stop were congested but the volunteers did a good job keeping us moving but the tables were just no long enough, no problem with traffic, roads were completely closed with cops all around. Will definitely do again.

My original idea of staying between the 1:55 and 2:00 pace group was a good one because staying with the 2:00 pace team not knowing their strategic had me using more energy than needed. Should have taken my hand held like I originally planed.

This had really been a great racing season.

Official time:

Bib# 1990
Overall 1042/2062
Age group 41/129
Gun time 2:00:57
Chip time 1:59:48
Pace 9:09

Garmin is not accurate but that is the info anyway

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 741 ft Location: Pittsburgh, PA Elev. Gain: +3 ft Date: 11/01/09 Up/Downhill: [+577/-574] Time: 06:31 AM Difficulty: 3.4 / 5.0 Weather: Fair 41 F temp; 67% humidity 41 F heat index; winds W 3 Performance Distance: 12.57 miles Time: 2:00:27 Speed: 6.3 mph Pace: 9' 35 /mi Heart Rate: 162 bpm (Avg) Calories: 1585 181 bpm (Peak) Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Heart Rate (bpm) Heart Rate Zones Zone Range (bpm) Time In Zone Distance In Zone Zone 5 184 - 204 0h 00m 0% 0.00 mi Zone 4 163 - 184 1h 21m 67% 9.32 mi Zone 3 143 - 163 0h 46m 38% 5.14 mi Zone 2 122 - 143 0h 02m 1% 0.20 mi Zone 1 102 - 122 0h 00m 0% 0.03 mi (none) out of range 0h 00m 0% 0.01 mi Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Heart Rate Elev Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 10' 09 +0' 34 5.9 -0.4 144 +7 ft 2 9' 31 -0' 04 6.3 +0.0 161 +13 ft 3 9' 39 +0' 04 6.2 -0.1 162 +33 ft 4 9' 15 -0' 20 6.5 +0.2 163 -46 ft 5 9' 31 -0' 04 6.3 +0.0 162 -13 ft 6 8' 54 -0' 41 6.7 +0.5 163 +13 ft 7 8' 42 -0' 53 6.9 +0.6 165 -13 ft 8 9' 24 -0' 11 6.4 +0.1 167 +13 ft 9 8' 56 -0' 39 6.7 +0.4 162 +10 ft 10 9' 26 -0' 09 6.4 +0.1 165 -4 ft 11 8' 03 -1' 32 7.5 +1.2 166 -10 ft 12 10' 17 +0' 42 5.8 -0.4 166 +13 ft end 8' 40 -0' 55 6.9 +0.7 171 -3 ft Versus average of 9' 35 min/mile

Split	Minutes per Mile Avg Speed	Beats per Minute Avg HR
Summary	09:34	163
1	09:38	148
2	08:59	161
3	08:50	163
4	09:10	163
5	09:04	162
6	08:56	163
7	08:51	165
8	09:14	166
9	08:56	163
10	09:23	165
11	11:45	165
12	09:00	169
13	14:55	172