A little bit of sore...

.. is a good thing.  Monday i took thie night off to watch football. My team, the Green Bay Packers are now in the Superbowl. I can't tell you how excited i got watching it - on my own - i bet i was the only house on my street screaming with joy on monday night.  Oh what a wonderful feeling.

Tuesday i went to the spin class. Got there in plenty of time this time, then find out they have changed the times and its at 6:30 not 6pm.  I was a bit pissed off as its an hour class and i wanted to work hard.  I didn't think if i ran i would do as well in the class.  I got on the TM but decided no as soon as it started moving.  I ended up rowing for 10 minutes = 1850m then did upper body weights and got on my bike for 5 minutes before class started.  The hour class flew by just like the 45 minute one.  I must go to it more often. Over all, a great work out.

I semi planned going to the gym on Wednesday, but something stopped me, not sure, i wasn't motivated and it didn't even bother me. But i planned an early night so i could go swimming before work this morning.  I got there 5 minutes after it opened, had my cozzy on already, got my hat on and floats in hand hoping to get a lane with no problems.  Not so, it was busy already!  I joined a guy who said he was just doing drills, perfect, as so was i.  As i was getting in, to share the lane, a girl swam in to the middle and started doing breast stroke. I think its the same damn girl as before.  She is haunting me.  Again, so many lanes where folks are doing BS and she chooses this one.  Grr

So i thought with all my swimming paraphernalia that i would feel like a bit of an idiot.  Flippers, pull bouy and float, a bottle of water, its quite the pool side gear pile.  Well, i was happy to see that there were 2 other folks with stuff too.  The guy in my lane and one who turned up just a bit too late to grab a lane, and so courteously went in the jacuzzi for a while.  Folks left at 7am and it got quiet again.  I must remember that.  But that does then leave me less time to swim if i go later, think i'll just deal.

And tonight i went to the gym too.  I wanted to run and set the TM for a hill programme of 45 minutes.  A gradual incline then 4% for 25 minutes. Now that hurt.  But i didn't slow or reduce the incline. It was an exercise of the mind too tonight.  I then did the same upper body weights routine at Tuesday. All in all, a kick ass work out day.  For only 2 days on my DM account its 3.5 hours of exercise.

And tonight, i gave myself a mini facial, don't want to face to think i only care about my body.

Wipe the dust off…

unpack and set up the unused bike trainer.

Today was the first time i used my bike trainer properly since i bought it. It wouldn’t have happened if i had never done a spin class, or if i didn’t have a dvd to follow.  Before attending a spin class i hated stationary cycling. I would never use the stationary bikes in the gym and when i first got the trainer, it was because i had been cycling a lot and thought as i had a good base then i would be able to use it and not hate it. I was totally wrong. I still hated the trainer. It sat unused in the spare room for a year. It got packed up and shipped here.

Thankfully, i tried the spin class and fell in love.  It’s such a great workout and I find it a lot of fun too.  Brutal fun, if there is such a thing.  So i decided that i should get the trainer out and see if i like it. This time, i set up the laptop with the dvd i got with my Triathlon220 magazine. It’s a ride through Orange County of 18 miles, a 54 minute workout. Its focus was hill endurance and efficiency.

I got all set up yesterday and this morning was the day. Lets see if i can stick this out, and enjoying it would be a bonus. It would also have to be a necessity if I am to do it more than once.  I have to enjoy my exercise.  54 minutes later, a pool of sweat on the floor, burning thighs and over all euphoria at accomplishing a brutal spinning session the verdict – Score!  I LOVED it!  And yeah, i felt those hills.

Best of all, no drive home, i could take me shirt off to mop the floor with and immediately hop in the shower.

Please ignore the patio furniture wrapped in brown paper and cling film in the garden.  One day, when it’s closer the the days of using it, it will get unwrapped.  Just imagine, your whole house wrapped like that. That is what we had to contend with.  The reason i have a total of 4 trips to the recycling plant with a car that looks like this:

Slowly Getting Faster.

I had a day off on Monday after the race so on Tuesday i was raring to go.  Decided before i set off, for once, what i was doing, where i was going.  Decided that with the new info on how fast i can actually run, that i should start pushing it more, up my usual easy pace to get more out of myself. Make those junk miles in to quality miles. That way i can keep getting better.

So i ran my usual route up the Mount, down then up QMR which is just over 3 miles.  Knocked an average of 30sec/m off my usual time. 3.34m in 29:23 avg pace 9:03 Just a month ago i did a tempo on the same route at a 9:33 pace.

Today i just did my first real hill workout in forever.  I used the Mount again, its nice and quiet up there.  Its a mile warm up up to the hill then I ran 4 hill repeats and managed to stay pretty close together with the times. 1:33, 1:38 1:30, 1:34.  Recovery was about 1:50/2:00 jog down. I'm going to add one more repeat every week. I then added a couple of miles on after for good measure, or rather, as i didn't think i was going to feel that 4 hill repeats was enough of a work out, but i was wrong. Just the mile home would have been fine, but no i went the other way and ended up doing 4.5 miles in total.

On my way home i heard lots of cheering as i passed a school sports day, i saw the runners making it around the route and had an over whelming urge to join in.  I think it was the screaming and cheering, i really wanted to participate.  Since the Race for Life i have found that i really want to race more, i love that feeling, all those other runners around me, all running for a goal, each one different but all doing the same thing.  Wish there were more around here i could participate in.

Oh yeah, i was in the local paper from the Race for Life.  Thankfully i'm not in focus!

On the right in my pink. Glad i was wearing it.

Three in the morning.

Nope, that was not what time i got up, that would be 6.50AM.  I missed the end of the Canada vs Sweden Curling by one end, i just couldn't keep my eyes open, but thats besides the point. I'm stoked Sweden won, i used to live there and it holds a special place in my heart. I love Swedes.

No, it was merely a reference to the 3 miles i ran this morning. To duplicate my post from DM " I ran my heart out. The there-and-back is straight but hilly; shallow long hills in both directions. It got to the point, on the return half way up the long hill, i've got my arms swinging like a marching band drummer on speed, i'm huffing and puffing hard; i have no breath left for that quick exhalation needed to do a farmers blow, therefore leaving me with snot and cold-wind tears running down both sides of my face. Pretty huh? Great run though - still the pace won't be accurate coz of the map. But it had to be close to a 10 minute mile. Finished up with some strength stuff."

Then: "Went through the basics, lunges, reverse lunges (1st for these, saw them in a magazine last month, then Kerri mentioned them so i thought why not?), a load of arm stuff. i like the: stand, flex hips to 45 and do triceps extensions a lot more than any other way, i had forgotten about it till today. scissors with the ball, ab crunches and calf raises. 

And Stretch...

Oh yeah, i finished with cold bath water running down my clave's for a few minutes, before and after i showered. I think it helped as i noticed a difference from one leg to the other before i did the right side."

So i wanted to see how much difference there was between the up and down hill within mile 2. Surprisingly little difference, but i did allow myself a 45 seconds stop-clock breather at the turn point. But the return is all up hill, a shallow one, but still a hill.

So i'm pleased.

I did good today.

I am now on a bit of a drive to loose weight, as i have actually put weight on. You see i wasn't concentrating on that in the hopes it would naturally fall of with the increase in exercise. But why should it be easy, huh? Also, a girl, any girl has a limited amount of motivation or will power, if you will. I didn't think i could concentrate and put forth enough effort to tackle and achieve two goals. So i put it all in to the exercise. Now that that comes easy, since my attitude has one-eightied and the will-power tank is full, i think i can tackle the weight. I have a good start because i am exercising already, now i need to look at what i consume and portion control. I have a good idea but...

Since working out i have gained 2lbs. I know that isn't a lot, and that is an average of many weigh-in's, but consider that with the last 82 miles i ran, 14 total hours worth of exercise, over 28 work outs, i have GAINED 2 freaking pounds!

I know its muscle weight, or at least i hope so, but it really irks me that i've gone up and i don't feel like i have lost any size, which i probably haven't. In fact, i noticed that my boots were tighter on my clave's. Thats just not cool dude! So, I can't just do these easy runs, as much as i enjoy them, and unfortunately it was an easy habit to slip in to. I know i have to do runs like today, hard runs, hills and speed work.  And i know i will enjoy them all more when i can run faster and further than i do now.

Oh i almost forgot.  When i got home I had a text from Bryan.  He said "Seeing you running made me buy only one doughnut instead of two. Thanks."

<3 it!

Later!

Road ID and Hill Workout.

Road ID

Recently I have been seeing everyone talk about Road ID which i personally think are a necessity. Last year for my friends birthday in June i bought her one.  I also bought myself and my mum one. I didnt go the expensive official Road ID way, i am always in the look out for a cheaper way of doing things, and i really didn't like the idea of having to put on a wrist band every time i want to run. Well i wasn't running then, but cyclists need them too But anyways...

These little beauties only cost me $4 a piece. You can have more lines of info, i just didn't have much else to put on it. You can choose colour, shape etc. They are actually made for pet tags, and yes, as you can see they can get scratched, i'm not sure how that happened, but i assume my bike. So i'm sure they would hold up just fine for runners. I don't feel it on my shoe. Its just perfect. Though next time, i will get the 1.5" instead of the 2" as it sure would have fit every thing on just fine.

I put Name, Hubbys cell phone, parents home phone, Blood type, My celiac disease status and insurance company.

Here is where i got mine from, but i'm sure you could get it done any where they do pet tags.

Hills

Yesterday was my first dedicated hill workout.  I warmed up for 1/2 mile till i found a hill, then ran up it at almost full speed. It was a 30 second run, arms flying, quick leg turnover.  And then a gentle 1.20 jogging descend.  The hill wasn't that steep and was a block in length.  I think i did it about 17 times, i lost count so just divided the time/loop in to the 30 mins i did it for.  Again, its my lungs that prevent me from going faster and longer.  My legs hurt just going from sitting to standing after Wednesdays strength training, and every step once i was running was sore on my adductor's.  But once i started the hill session, it got better, or rather i was concentrating on other things so it went away in my mind.  Yet at the end it wasn't my legs that were feeling it, but my lungs.   

So i am actually looking forward to my next hill session.  I am going to find a steeper hill though, see if i can get my legs to hurt. - Is that the idea?