Half Marathon Training Week #1

Well...

Pros:   *Hit all key workouts (minus 11 miler).  *Bought new running shoes. (Brooks Ghost 6. Hands down most expensive - $110 - but also best shoes I've had in a LONG time. Goodbye Asics...Point of interest: I wear a 7.5 in Asics and an 8 in Brooks.)

Cons:  *Missed 50% of my "extra" stuff (like yoga. Surprise!).  *Missed my 11 miler (I was ok with this. Had a time crunch and it was super hot/humid out. I still worked out that did and did a quick trial run with my new shoes.)

...

Total Mileage: 31.4   (1 junk, unaccounted for, mile)


Mon:  * Bike: 60 min
             
           *Stretching portion of Yoga X / Tree / Royal Dancer / Leg Extensions
                       4 x (20) Froggers, (20) Standing Inner Thigh Lifts,  (30) Side Lying Clams


Tues:  * 6 Mile Progression Run
                       9:00 / 8:45 / 8:40 / 8:20 / 7:43 / 7:32


Wed:  * 5.66 Mile Easy Run
                       (46:07)


Thur:  * 8.2 Mile Run
                        (1:10:51)

                        Was supposed to be "hills", but couldn't get to the park. Paced Scott the last mile for the 5k he was running. It was a 7:40. Not bad after 7.2 miles. :)

            * HIIT ("Tuesday") Circuit
            * Core Circuit


Fri:   * Bike: 35 min


Sat:  * w-up: 1 mile / c-down: 1 mile
            6 x 400  
                    1:51 / 1:46 / 1:40 / 1:42 / 1:40 /1:34
            3 x 800
                     3:21 / 3:24 / 3:14

          * 2 Mile Easy Run
                     (17:30)
                      6 Rounds: KB Swings (25) / Goblet Squats (15) / Tri Extension (17) / Pushup (10)


Sun:  * Eliptical: 60 min

          * 2.15 Mile (shoe trial) Run
                      (16:07)

...

Didn't start getting sore until Sunday. KB swings definitely are the BEST hamstring exercise. Was consistant with BCAAs & fueling after (tho did most runs on no fuel) workouts. Next week, need to do yoga at least once and at least 2 FULL strength circuits. Also need to get in my 11 miler. Yay. :P
                        

Athletes should play with their food.

Decided to do some experimenting today with both when and what I fuel my body with. The last couple days were a little off-track. Chipotle...Pizza...Doghouse...Pinot Grigio...graham crackers...yeaaah. Fun, but definitely off-track. I don't eat "perfectly clean", but my body is accustomed to healthy food and when I go a little overboard, I can tell immediately. It's a blessing and a curse.

Anyways, today was the day to pull myself together, and I decided why not mix things up a little. Really pay attention to what I'm fueling with. Also, be aware of when I'm eating. Sometimes, I'm ravenous but make myself wait an extra hour or so just because I feel like whatever time it is isn't the "right time" to be eating lunch etc. But also, sometimes, I find myself snacking when I know for damn sure that I'm really just bored/stressed/lazy/ or super dehydrated. I also haven't been using all the supplements I have to my advantage recently. I'm blessed my husband works at The Vitamin Shoppe. I've got a lot of cool, free shit. Gotta use it!

This is a detailed log of my workouts, eating, and vitamins/supplements - also, what time I ate them. I'm curious, but also I'd like to be able to look back at this for reference purposes during later weeks of my Half Marathon training.

...

(Edited: this was written 08.16.13)

5:10 -  Water


5:24-6:35 -  8.2 mile run (1:10:51)

                      BCAAs post run in 20 oz water


7:45 -  1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar in 6 oz water / low-carb, sugar free Rockstar


8:00 -  2 Over easy eggs, 1/2 chopped small avocado, 1/2 med. apple, salsa
             Multivitamin


10:30 -  1.5 cups salad mix, 4 oz chopped chicken, 2 T sunflower seeds, 1 T Balsamic Vin.
               1 Caffeine free energy pill


1:10 -  4 oz chopped chicken
            1 c kale, 3 mushrooms, 1/2 chopped apple, 1 slice turkey bacon sauteed in 1/2  
             Tbsp. coconut oil, 1 Caffeine free energy pill


1:30 -  1/2 preworkout packet mixed with 12 oz water


1:50-2:55 -  HIIT Circuit / Core Circuit
                     BCAAs post workout in 20 oz water


4:00 -  Shared a smoothie with Micah.
            6 oz unsweetened almond milk, 1 c spinach, 1 Tbsp mint choc. protein powder, 1 
            scoop vanilla protein powder, 5 frozen strawberries, 1/2 frozen banana


6:30 -  1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar in 6 oz water


7:00 -  2/3 c. Quinoa (cooked in chicken broth)
            3 oz. Tofu sauteed in 1 tsp sesame oil
            Sauteed green pepper/onion/broccoli in spray
            sauce (split bt/twn 2) - 1 tbsp soy vey, 1 tbsp lite soy sauce, chicken broth, 1 tbsp 
            cornstarch    

Mind over Matter

It's scientifically proven that the gluteus maximus is the largest muscle in the body.

I believe it. My butt is decent sized.

However, I believe that a person's mind/self-discipline/will-power whatever the hell you want to call it is also a muscle, and probably the most important to running. Use it, it gets stronger. More powerful. Let it atrophy? You're litterally not going to get anywhere.

This is day #2 of round #2 training for half marathon #2 this year. (That's a lot of damn "2"s...) I want to beat my 1:46:07 current PR so I'm actually taking my training plan seriously this time around. This is a huge deal since I don't like being told what to do. Not in person. Not on the phone. Not via exercise video. (Sometimes, I suck it up to get my not so namaste p90x yoga on.) Especially not via impersonal written out training plan on the computer created by someone I've never met, though, assume they are smarter than me. It's a good plan. I have every intention of mostly following it. The major problem I have with it is the abundance of "easy runs". (This is how the "not following the plan" Pandora's Box gets opened...) Three, FOUR if you count the LSD every Sunday, of FIVE running days are designated "easy". What the fuck. I want to run fast yo. Not junk mileage. That many easy runs sound like junk. So, I got on doing things my way "tweaking" things ASAP. I took the Tuesday easy run and turned it into a speedwork wild card day. One of the things I'm good at is maintaining a consistant difficult pace. Exhibit A: the half in May where I basically clung to an 8:00 min/mi the entire race. I'm thankful this somes naturally to me. It's a great skill and comes in handy. However, one of the blogs I read has been talking about practicing progression running. It's the concept of starting out easy and running each mile faster so you don't gas out. It's crazy to my I only want to run fast brain, but your overall time actually ends up faster. And because you have more in the tank later in the run, you can push even harder than if you were just maintaining a semi-challenging pace. I'm basically the only person in the world who doesn't own a Garmin, so I rarely watch my mile splits. I thought that it'd be a good idea to start incorporating progression runs into my training in order to become more intune with my pacing. And why not sooner than later? :) I really didn't know what pace to start at, but since I tend to need more warm up time before running fast in the early morning, I decided to just let my body settle into the first mile and go from there. Eh, logical?


I don't know what was wrong with me this morning. Ok. Maybe I do. It might have been heading to bed after 11:00. It might have been the fight. It might have been the 1/2 bottle of Pinot Noir I drank. Red wine make me sleepy when I drink it at night, and blurry when I wake up in the morning. Doesn't matter if it's one glass or a box. Eww. Boxed red wine. #baddrinkingideas

I digress.

Even though the morning was beautiful, weather chill, and it was still dark, I didn't feel like myself. I warmed up and went through the motions of running the first mile. It was a 9:00 flat. Ick. I knew I was supposed to start slow, but it really annoyed me. I don't run 9:00 miles. Not even when I'm running 15. Ahh, Pride, why you gotta try an derail me? The second mile was 8:45. 15 seconds faster than the first. I should have high-five myself. After all, it's not like I had any clue what I was doing. By the 3rd, I wanted to quit. It was another 5 seconds faster. I wasn't really working hard. I might have been a tad bored. I definitely didn't feel like working harder. which is the kinda the whole point of a progression run. The thought crossed my mind that I could just settle in and do the last 3 "easy" like the plan called for. I think this is hilarious because I was already pissed at how "slow" I was running. Why on earth would I want to "settle in" and let myself possibly run "slower"? Because my brain can be stupid and lazy. Today, mostly lazy. I didn't want to think. I didn't want to have to do math on my fingers mental math. (Yes, I did use my fingers. No, I don't care. You do what works. Fingers work.) I didn't want to have to exert myself. Because, you know what? Deep down, I knew I was not running to my potential. I am getting fast, and the problem with running fast is you know you're capable of it. And you kinda maybe dread the "work" even though you know you can do it. 

I did it. All 6 miles. And I did them properly - progressively faster. I'm honestly really proud of myself. I'm proud of my self-discipline. I'm proud that I can allow myself to think things like, "I want to quit", and then turn around and work harder. On occaision, I have quit/cut a run short, but this is usually because my thighs are rubbing of humidity. NOT because I wimp out. My brother's girlfriend says we're badass bitches. Represent.

6 miles: (50:00)

9:00
8:45
8:40
8:20
7:43
7:32

Want to know the secret to the 2 sub-8 min/miles? Listening to BrokeNCYDE's "Booty Call" and A$AP's (ft. Drake, 2Chainz, Kendrick Lamar) "Fuckin Problem" on repeat ad nauseum. That's right. Those gems got me through. My new birthday shirt says: "Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It." That shit's for real. I don't fuck around. :-P