Where's the Beach?

More Intervals Originally it was supposed to have been about 66 degrees today and sunny. Instead, it was heavy fog, mist, and about 36 degrees when I woke up. While I know I couldn't have done a long run today, I had still hoped to get outside for a medium-distance run at the very least. But that just wasn't happening. After having a mini-meltdown about not knowing what other workout I could do, I packed up the laptop and headed to the gym. I briefly thought about shoulders and chest today, but my biceps are pretty sore from yesterday, so that wouldn't have made for an ideal lifting session. My next thought was to try to do 2 maybe 3 miles tops on the treadmill depending on my foot situation. Then I could set up the laptop in the cardio room and do some boxing or kickboxing. So, I hopped on the treadmill and stared out into the solid wall of white clouds. I must say that can be very disorienting. Usually I get to look out over the river, today, no view at all. I had ...

Intervals & Weights  Today was another sunny, mild day here. It was not easy making myself go to the gym rather than run outside. But, I really needed/wanted to get the rest of my weight workouts done today as I had originally planned. I also wanted to do some intervals. Intervals are easier to do on the treadmill, or for me anyway. When I'm outside, it's harder to focus on speed rather than just enjoying the fresh air and sunshine. Though, with my handy dandy new Garmin, I can actually keep track of pace finally. So maybe I can do my speedwork more correctly rather than going balls to the wall with the first interval then not being able to finish out the rest. Anyway, I wasn't planning on killing myself with intervals then doing weights. Just wanted to get in the speedwork. I started with 1 mile at a 9:22 min mile at 1% incline as my warmup before doing the following intervals: #1 - 1 x 3 min intervals of 8:20 min mile with 9:31 min mile recovery #2 - 2 x 2 min...

Run & Legs I was off work today, actually off work until next Tuesday, so that meant I was able to sleep in a bit. But I did need to get my workout done earlier rather than later. So I hit the gym by 8:30. It was pretty much dead other than one other person on the treadmill. Love it when it's quiet and I don't have to fight for a fan or "my" treadmill. I wasn't exactly keen on a treadmill run, but sometimes you just have to get yourself going. I started with 1 mile warm up at a 9:22 min mile then 4 sets of intervals at 1 min with 1.5 min recovery (I guess that's really 1 min and 30 seconds) at an 8 min mile and 9:31 min mile then finished out the remainder to round out to 3 miles. I decided to go ahead and work full legs today rather than split them up. I went with supersets of 3x8 unless noted. Barbell squats - warmup set of 10 SS#1 Barbell squats Stiff-legged deadlifts SS#2 Step ups (with dumbbells) Plie squat with low end pulse - using ...

Intervals & Legs Today was sort of a weird one. Tomorrow we have a huge annual holiday meeting. My division typically helps put together a funny skit for the meeting. This morning I was asked to help out with something and ended up having to go to the first rehearsal where they were going to just block it out. So that took up an hour and a half. Next we had our division potluck. Then right after that I had a meeting. So much back-to-back, definitely no time to take a break and hit the pavement or gym like I'm used to doing midday. But, the day went super quickly at least. The skies were, again, threatening rain. I kept checking the radar hoping it might hold off long enough for a run outside. It of course didn't rain the whole time I was at work. The minute I walked out the door? Yep, rain. Good thing I had gone ahead and decided on the gym after checking the radar one last time. I went with 4 miles on the treadmill then legs (focusing on quads). I started with 2 miles...

Interval Running & Weights Well rather than just moan and complain about today (it's been "that" kind of day from the start), I'll just get right down to my workout. I had wanted to run outside. It was supposed to be partly sunny and close to 60 degrees. Instead, it was insanely foggy (like heavy mist) and in the mid-40's. Gotta love an accurate forecast right? Thankfully, I'm a planner. I was prepared with clothes for the gym. I guess I should clarify what that means. I had my capri running pants and top for outside running, but for the gym, I need minimal clothing. I can't stand to be over-heated and my gym is hot as hell. So, I made sure I also had shorts and a tank also packed. I tried to get myself psyched up for intervals on the treadmill. I mean, it was "just" 4 miles. No biggy right? Ugh. Tough 4 miles. My mind was just absolutely not in the game today. Very little sleep, tough morning, depressing weather, not really wanting to t...

Intervals, Legs, Triceps  Today I decided to do some intervals on the treadmill then hit legs and triceps. For the run, I started with two miles at a 9:13 min mile pace then I did a drop type of intervals (not sure what you'd call it exactly and not sure I'm going to make any sense explaining). I went with 8:34 min mile for the speed part and 9:31 min mile for recovery. I started with 2 minute intervals (2 fast, 2 recovery), then dropped in 30 second increments down to 30 second intervals. 2:00:2:00 1:30:1:30 1:00:1:00 .30:.30 So a total of 10 minutes worth of intervals. I went ahead and finished out the last .3 mile at an 8:57 pace to round out the mileage to 3.5. I thought this was a good interval run to do before legs because the amount and time of intervals was much shorter than what I did Tuesday or what I did last week. I wanted to get in speed work, but didn't want to completely fatigue my legs before weights. As I did  last week, I wanted to focus on t...

Intervals & Weights  All I want to know is what has happened to our weather. Our averages are in the 50's this time of year. This morning the windchill was 29 degrees. If I wanted it to be 29 degrees, I'd move farther north thankyouverymuch. Not only was it frigid, it was gray. I know that there will come a point when I'll get out and run in this weather out of necessity (and for sanity reasons), but not ready to go there just yet. So, I took my run indoors along with biceps and back. I started with a warm up of 1 mile at a 9:13 min mile pace then moved into intervals* (my only saving grace for treadmill runs). 4 x 2 minute intervals: 8:34 and 9:31 min miles 4 x 1 minute intervals: 8:34 and 9:31 min miles I finished out the remainder  of the run (about .8 mile) starting at 9:13 and gradually increasing pace every couple of minutes to finish the last 1 minute at 8:34. Total miles: 4.5 * Just to clarify - 2 mins at half marathon goal pace followed up 2 minu...