A Week of Workouts - May 16, 2016
Another week in paradise! This week has been rather unremarkable, other than the tail end of some work travel and the tail end of my son's illness. Looks like everyone survived both.
Monday - 5.6 @ 8:36 with my husband at the Corps of Engineers spillway park. After we were done, we made some videos on a flat stretch to check our running form.
Tuesday - An hour of running stairs, with about 3,200 stairs (I think that math is right). I had a really, really tough work day that started very early. By the time I was home, I only had slightly over an hour before my husband had to leave for work in the evening. Our neighborhood has a stretch of eight flights of exterior stairs, so I ran them for an hour with a heart rate monitor on. Unless plans change, I want to run the Peavine Falls race again this summer, and I need to be in shape for hills.
This workout was TOUGH, and it did crazy things to my heart rate. Allow me to present...heart rate data for going up and down the same eight flights of stairs 32 times:
Wednesday - 4 @ 8:00 on the treadmill. Then a quick weights workout including:
Barbell Rows 50# 10x20
Incline Press 25# 10x10
We also discovered another bird nest, and this one is an Eastern Phoebe:
Thursday - 5 @ 9:02 around my hilly neighborhood. I guess insane hills are the new normal. The GAP for this run was actually 7:40, which is not anything I normally see on just an easy midweek run.
Friday - An hour of hot yoga. My son was still out sick from school, and resting at home, so I tried a new yoga class. It was earlier in the day and incredibly tough. In fact, it's the only yoga class I've been in (maybe ever???) where men outnumbered women by a solid margin. Most of them were cyclists...talking about cycling, wearing cycling jerseys, etc. It was one of those classes where the instructor says things like, "now kick up into a handstand and then fold down gracefully to balance your knees on your upper arms" and EVERYONE DOES IT LIKE NBD! My ass was thoroughly kicked.
Saturday - 15.1 @ 8:37 on the track club long run. This run felt amazing and strong. No complaints. I ran the first nine miles or so with my friends Kevin and Andrea. They turned back right around the time we got to the dirt trails, so I just popped my headphones in and cruised north to catch the rest of the group up on the mountain. I swear, miles 9 through 13 felt easy and effortless, like I was out for a light jog. The sun wasn't up above the trees yet, and the trails were damp and quiet and cool. When I reached the end of the trails, I figured WHY NOT? and added another loop through beautiful Mountain Brook before heading back. Afterward, I felt so peaceful and alert. I got breakfast and a huge, strong cup of coffee with my friends, and we sat around for quite a while chatting. I wish every Saturday long run could have such a calming effect on me!
Sunday - 4 @ 9:40 around my neighborhood. Oddly enough, I woke up very early and felt the need to run. The weather had cooled off a lot (like from 90 degrees down to 60 degrees) and I was very excited about it. Also, my legs had that heavy, swollen, almost itchy feeling that they get when they need a shakeout. Probably because Saturday's long run was my longest run since before Christmas.
Also, real talk: I am enjoying that fact that I am currently maintaining a higher body weight and more muscle mass and still knocking out some speedy runs. (Okay, not a LOT a lot more weight, but significant for this ectomorph and enough that it should have slowed me down some.) I think it really helps that I've maintained the same body composition, and continued to get leaner while focusing on the muscles used for running. Hopefully, I'm making myself 1) tough as hell, and 2) injury proof. But I digress...
Oh, and Sunday afternoon I was able to make it to Ashtanga yoga, by a freak stroke of luck. Sundays are my husband's Mondays, because he works very hard from dawn to dusk. He got a bit of a reprieve, so I made it to my favorite yoga practice to round out the week.
As another aside (and to make a record for future reference), I woke up Sunday with a weird lump on the front of my right ankle. It seems to be in the tendon? It was a little painful, and even creaky/squeaky to the touch on Sunday, but seems better and less inflamed now. I'm thinking it's just another tendon issue on my "bad" right foot. At any rate, it doesn't hurt when I run. But I'm watching it.
Totals - 35 miles of running, including two hilly runs, tempo on the treadmill, a long run, and a recovery run. A stairs workout. One weight training session. Two yoga classes.
Everyone have a great week!
 |
| Working on a forward lean and stronger kickback. |
Monday - 5.6 @ 8:36 with my husband at the Corps of Engineers spillway park. After we were done, we made some videos on a flat stretch to check our running form.
 |
| Moves like Jagger. |
Tuesday - An hour of running stairs, with about 3,200 stairs (I think that math is right). I had a really, really tough work day that started very early. By the time I was home, I only had slightly over an hour before my husband had to leave for work in the evening. Our neighborhood has a stretch of eight flights of exterior stairs, so I ran them for an hour with a heart rate monitor on. Unless plans change, I want to run the Peavine Falls race again this summer, and I need to be in shape for hills.
This workout was TOUGH, and it did crazy things to my heart rate. Allow me to present...heart rate data for going up and down the same eight flights of stairs 32 times:
 |
| I think this means I am in good shape? |
Wednesday - 4 @ 8:00 on the treadmill. Then a quick weights workout including:
Barbell Rows 50# 10x20
Incline Press 25# 10x10
We also discovered another bird nest, and this one is an Eastern Phoebe:
 |
| Taken blindly with a cell phone held over my head. Skillz. |
Thursday - 5 @ 9:02 around my hilly neighborhood. I guess insane hills are the new normal. The GAP for this run was actually 7:40, which is not anything I normally see on just an easy midweek run.
Friday - An hour of hot yoga. My son was still out sick from school, and resting at home, so I tried a new yoga class. It was earlier in the day and incredibly tough. In fact, it's the only yoga class I've been in (maybe ever???) where men outnumbered women by a solid margin. Most of them were cyclists...talking about cycling, wearing cycling jerseys, etc. It was one of those classes where the instructor says things like, "now kick up into a handstand and then fold down gracefully to balance your knees on your upper arms" and EVERYONE DOES IT LIKE NBD! My ass was thoroughly kicked.
Saturday - 15.1 @ 8:37 on the track club long run. This run felt amazing and strong. No complaints. I ran the first nine miles or so with my friends Kevin and Andrea. They turned back right around the time we got to the dirt trails, so I just popped my headphones in and cruised north to catch the rest of the group up on the mountain. I swear, miles 9 through 13 felt easy and effortless, like I was out for a light jog. The sun wasn't up above the trees yet, and the trails were damp and quiet and cool. When I reached the end of the trails, I figured WHY NOT? and added another loop through beautiful Mountain Brook before heading back. Afterward, I felt so peaceful and alert. I got breakfast and a huge, strong cup of coffee with my friends, and we sat around for quite a while chatting. I wish every Saturday long run could have such a calming effect on me!
 | ||
| One of my favorite parts about our new place is the HUGE and very private master bath where I can do all my long run prep without disturbing anyone. |
Sunday - 4 @ 9:40 around my neighborhood. Oddly enough, I woke up very early and felt the need to run. The weather had cooled off a lot (like from 90 degrees down to 60 degrees) and I was very excited about it. Also, my legs had that heavy, swollen, almost itchy feeling that they get when they need a shakeout. Probably because Saturday's long run was my longest run since before Christmas.
Also, real talk: I am enjoying that fact that I am currently maintaining a higher body weight and more muscle mass and still knocking out some speedy runs. (Okay, not a LOT a lot more weight, but significant for this ectomorph and enough that it should have slowed me down some.) I think it really helps that I've maintained the same body composition, and continued to get leaner while focusing on the muscles used for running. Hopefully, I'm making myself 1) tough as hell, and 2) injury proof. But I digress...
Oh, and Sunday afternoon I was able to make it to Ashtanga yoga, by a freak stroke of luck. Sundays are my husband's Mondays, because he works very hard from dawn to dusk. He got a bit of a reprieve, so I made it to my favorite yoga practice to round out the week.
 |
| Sunday afternoon hangs. |
As another aside (and to make a record for future reference), I woke up Sunday with a weird lump on the front of my right ankle. It seems to be in the tendon? It was a little painful, and even creaky/squeaky to the touch on Sunday, but seems better and less inflamed now. I'm thinking it's just another tendon issue on my "bad" right foot. At any rate, it doesn't hurt when I run. But I'm watching it.
Totals - 35 miles of running, including two hilly runs, tempo on the treadmill, a long run, and a recovery run. A stairs workout. One weight training session. Two yoga classes.
Everyone have a great week!
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