The first day of classes

So I'm seriously starting to freak out about the races I have coming up because I have not been working out nearly as much as I should be. Races are a blessing and a curse because they are so much fun, but the lead time can be stressful (a blessing in disguise, I suppose, because it gets my butt off the couch).

Anyways, due to my schedule it's looking like I'm going to have to go the gym at 8 AM on MWF. I have an 8 AM class on Tuesday/Thursday so it would be nice to maintain a consistent schedule (we'll see if I can pull it off). I've also decided to bike to and from school as much as I can. This morning was day one and my bike basket broke and my bike chain slipped. Not only did it add several minutes to my bike time (making me almost late to the gym), but my stuff spilled into the street and a nice gentleman had to help me pick it up. I was very thankful for that kind stranger. Anyways, the ride to the gym took about half an hour and the ride home took around 24 minutes. We'll see if I can get that time below 20 (no I'm not competitive!).

The workout today was pretty awesome. We started with a crossfit warmup, which I won't go into, and then overhead press (5 x 40 pounds, 5 x 45 pounds, and 6 x55 pounds). My trainer gave me some excellent tips to improve my overhead press. As I got tired, my back started to arch so he told tighten my abs and squeeze my butt. He said something like "protect yourself like a prisoner in a shower." A bit crass, but it definitely helped. After that, we worked on form for the olympic squat (aptly timed, given some of the more recent posts). It's amazing how much form really matters. I love my gym because we focus on different aspects of form each week. Little things like grip, bar placement, and timing. It seriously makes a difference.

Then came the workout. The workout was in two parts. The first part was the baseline. The baseline consists of a 400m run, 40 air squats, 30 situps, 20 pushups and 10 pullups for time. My previous time was 5:32 and I got it down to just over 4:50. a 40 second improvement! I was happy with that, though I felt like crap. The second part was one minute each of burpees, sumo deadlift high pulls, american swings (16 pound kettlebell), push press (45 pound bar), and double unders for max reps. I lost count of how many reps I did at about the halfway point, but it was a killer workout.

We closed with 3x10 overhead press at half maximum and 3x10 sets of up GHD sit ups. It was a good day at the gym! :)

I'm going to try and run 13 miles this weekend and I'm planning to run 7.8 on Thursday with a group of people. I'll try to squeeze some other runs in as well. We'll see!

My new running buddy!!

His name is Cutter. He is a 1.5 year old coonhound mix and he is full of love and a whole lot of energy. He doesn't like to eat dry dog food, so it's looking like we are going to have to get him wet food or cook him people food (my vote is for the latter as it is healthier and cheaper). He paces and paces a lot as he has more energy than he knows what to do with, so I decided to take him for his first run tonight (we got him yesterday). I decided to start him out easy, so I took him on the 2ish mile baseline loop and ran it slow. He was, without any doubt, the best dog I have ever run with. It was as if he was born to be my running buddy. He ran to my port (left) side and just behind me. He had no problem keeping pace and, with the exception of the occasional lamp post or fire hydrant, never pulled or went off course. What's more, since returning from our run he has been calmer, less anxious, and he ate his dog food (I had to do a lot of coaxing). I think we are going to be good together! :)

If You Don’t Squat, You’re Not Training

One of the main reasons why I wanted a personal trainer was to learn proper form while lifting.  I have low back and knee issues that have kept me from previously trying any serious lifting on my own.  I deal with pain on a fairly regular basis especially with increased workouts so I have been squeamish about anything that would put extra force on my back and joints.  I voiced my concerns to my trainer and explained my issues in detail and his reaction was surprising.  He didn’t seem to worry at all.  He explained to me that with proper form, I shouldn’t aggravate any of my knee or back issues.

We spent a fair amount of time going over proper form for squatting.  Perfecting your form for squatting is a must before you move on to weighted squats, deadlifts, and cleans.  Squatting seems like a pretty straight forward exercise, but it can lead to injuries if not done properly.  

Why squat?

Squatting is a whole body exercise.  It works your legs, abs, back, and arms (if using a bar).  Benefits of squatting include: building muscle, gaining strength, gaining flexibility, and strengthening your knees (when done correctly!!).

If you do squats with poor form, you run the risk of injuring your knees, as well as your low back and neck.  Do not do half-squats.  Your knees are their strongest in a fully flexed or extended position.  Half-squats will put a lot of unwanted pressure on your knees, adding to any problems you currently have, or creating a new one. Half-squats also only work to strengthen your quads, not your glutes or hamstrings.  This will lead to muscle imbalances and injuries.  Any time that you are lifting, you should be going through the full range of motion. 

Squatting

Practice.  Practice.  Practice.  If you do something a thousand times, your likely to start getting it right.  Do squats without a bar or weights until you perfect your form.  As you start adding more weight, small imperfections in your technique will become amplified and can lead to more serious injuries.  I found this video that goes through the proper technique for squatting without weight.  I’m with this guy up until the end.  He says not to go below parallel (meaning not to drop your hip joint lower than your knee joint) if you have knee problems.  Proper squatting is parallel or lower. 

It is only after you have perfected your form that you should start adding weight to your squats.  This video is a good example.  Push through the heels!!

I use to shy away from doing squats because of my knee problems.  I am currently able to squat 150lbs and I have had no knee pain associated with lifting since I have started weight training.  My knees actually feel stronger and better wince I have started lifting.  I’m sure that this can be attributed to the strengthening of my leg muscles which in turn help to stabilize my knees.  However, I have been running less since I have started lifting which is another factor.  My running time has actually decreased but my legs feel stronger when I run.  Hills are easier to manage and I no longer feel like my legs are tiring and causing me to have to stop.  I was never a fast runner and I certainly am not a long distance runner, so the decrease in run time for me is not a big deal.  I’m really happy with the strength that I have gained over the last few weeks through squatting.  My posture also seems to have benefited as well as my confidence.  I’m pretty sure that I could snap someone in half just by using my legs and that gives me this bad ass feeling of awesomeness.  Go get yourself some.

Running apps and smoothies

Two exciting things today that are indirectly workout related:

First, I was at the verizon store because my stupid phone (really, I love my phone) wouldn't charge. Of course, the moment the guy at the store plugged my phone in it started charging without a problem. I asked him if he would be willing to let it sit there and charge for a while and he agreed. Meanwhile I was looking around the store and found something very interesting. Motorola has released a fitness tracker called MOTOACTV. I was drooling over it. It is a GPS watch, heart monitor, pedometer, odometer, you name it. You can wear it as a watch, it has a clip, and you can even strap it to your bike to monitor your speed and whatever else bikers monitor. You can store music on it and it will learn what songs you best respond to and you can program call kinds of workouts which it will coach you through.

It was close to $300 in the store, but I was able to find it for a little over $100 on amazon. As I drove home, I was all but certain that I was going to buy it. It occurred to me, though, that I could find an app for my phone that might be able to effectively do the same things as the MOTOACTV. I was sort of disappointed by that realization, but decided it would be reasonable to look for such an app and give it a try before I spend way to much money on a device that does the same thing (though it is designed soley for that purpose, is sleeker and much lighter than my phone). Because I was not spending $100 I decided I could justify purchasing an app, as opposed to finding a free one, so I ended up spending $5.00 on Endomondo sports tracker. I didn't have much time to try it out, so I used it while I was driving to the gym. It was able to track my route and monitor my speed and distance. All without having to do really anything to set it up. I haven't had a chance to really explore it's capabilities, but it has ever different kind of sport imaginable as an option (including weightlifting!). It is also compatible with a heat monitor which I will probably purchase eventually. I still have a lot to learn, but for 5 bucks I think I got my moneys worth.

Now for the smoothie portion of this blog post. As I was driving home, I had an interesting idea for a smoothie recipe (now, hear me out!):

1 scoop vanilla protein powder
5-8 fresh strawberries
1 package strawberry greek yogurt
.5 can cherry coke zero

So sue me, I have a diet coke addiction. I must say that the smoothie was delicious. It was fizzy and refreshing. My only complaint was that it wasn't cold enough (the coke was room temperature) and it wasn't thick enough. Next time, I might try putting a banana in to see if that helps. I think I will start using this recipe for my AM smoothie, as the caffeine would be a helpful pick me up! :)

A Needed Change

There are so many things that I have learned about myself and about training over the last few months.  It felt awkward to just start blogging in the middle of my journey so I decided to post on some general ideas before I get into specific workouts and weekly updates on my training.  It will give a better picture of what I have been through on my way to met my training goals.  Plus...I don't know how to do those awesome flashback dream sequences, so you're just going to have to put up with this.

I started taking classes at the local YMCA a few months ago after moving to a new area.  I would go a few times a week and either run on the treadmill or prance on the elliptical.  I wasn’t really seeing any benefit or improvement in my fitness.  I seemed to have hit wall and couldn’t progress.  I was also getting bored with working out alone and not really knowing how to vary my workouts. 

I was always skeptical about paying someone to stand around and tell me what to do at the gym.  I’m smart.  I’m sure I could figure this out.  I mean…if those meatheads can figure it out surely I must be able to.  I can pick up weights.  I can make intimidating looks in the big mirror.  I can grunt.  Then I looked at the meathead.  Studied him and his fellow comrades.  I didn’t want to look like that.  They all looked like upside-down triangles.  Like a turned over Christmas tree…with tiny…ornaments.  *sigh* Back to prancing on the elliptical it was for me. (If you are confused about what exactly a meathead is please click here)

I then decided to come to some of the classes that were offered at my Y in the evenings.  I don’t normally like working out in groups because I am always self-conscious about how I am performing compared to the other people in the class.  The classes turned out to be pretty fun.  It was always the same small core group of women that would be there for each and every class.  I was able to see improvement after just a few weeks, which was really motivating after having been seemingly stuck in one place for such a long time.  I also found myself unable to slack off or cheat while in class because I knew the trainer would call me out on it.  I didn’t really know this guy all that well, and I shouldn’t have cared all that much about what he thought.  For whatever reason though, I was afraid to let him down and felt like I had to push myself when I was there.  It was as if he could read my mind and knew that I really wasn’t giving it my all.  Like a trainer with Jedi mind powers….

I  also really respected the fact that in spite of him having classes that were exclusively comprised of women, he didn’t treat us like it.  He corrected our form, pushed us to keep going, called us out for quitting before he knew we had reached our end point, and didn’t pay any attention to complaining.  It wasn’t that he was putting us down for being weak little women,  he wanted to give us a quality workout and to show us that we were capable of these things and improving each week.

That’s when it clicked.  He was the one.  The one that I needed to help me push myself.  The one to help me develop a new workout program and to set me on the right track in my fitness journey.  He was going to be my Jedi…errrr…trainer.

I learned that you really need to find someone that you trust and feel comfortable around when searching for a personal trainer.  You’re going to have be honest with them about your goals, your body, and what you are feeling physically, mentally and emotionally.  They need to be supportive of you but also firm.  Tough love.  If a trainer is really into his job and wants to be there, you will be able to tell very easily.  You are not just extra money in their pocket.  As much as you are invested in paying for a personal trainer, they need to be invested in you as a client.  Honestly, I don’t pay him to stand around a look pretty (I’m not sure that anyone would), I pay him to be that jerk that makes me curse when I try and roll myself out of bed the next day.

Just another manic Wednesday

Today's workout:

my warm up - mile run

50 wallballs (14 pounds)

40 hollow body rocks (arms by my side)

30 burpees (I f-ing hate burpees)

20 tuck crunch

10 sit to stand

Time: 9:27

Skill: 2 max false grip holds (I should have done better with this but it took me too long to figure it out)

I really liked this WOD because it was mostly core, which is one of my strengths. I kept up with everyone through the wall balls and rocks, fell a little behind on the burpees and then blasted by on the tuck crunches and sit to stands. I was generally pleased with my performance. 

Lately, we have been doing quite a lot of hollow body gymnastics work at the gym which it has been incredibly helpful for me. Working on hallow body really helps you to get in the habit of engaging core muscles that need to be engaged during various movements. For example, the kip portion of a kipping pull up requires you to engage your abs at the appropriate time in order to be effective. After today's WOD I did some work on my kipping pull-up and was able to, for the first time, do two or three at a time repeatedly. I'm really excited about this because I've never been able to complete pull-ups without using a band for assistance. During future workouts, I might start trying to do the pull-ups, or some of the pull-ups, without bands. I feel confident that, with practice, I'll be able to string more of them together without stopping!! 

I am a little frustrated with myself for not doing a 3 -5 mile run today. Doing the one miler was kind of rough. I think my body was too sore and my back was too sore from the WOD yesterday to really propel myself effectively. The nice thing about crossfit is that, even if you don't run, you did still something that was pretty damn difficult!!

Lower back pain

As suspected I feel like I broke my lower back after last night's attempt at a 215 deadlift. I guess I'll take it as more evidence that I did something wrong.

GOAL FOR TODAY: 5 mile run, advil, WOD ...I should probably do some work as well... :/

Running Plan (11 weeks out!)

I've never been particularly good at organizing and following a set training plan, but as the marathon draws near I'm started to think that I should. As I mentioned in the previous post, I've been reading a book on marathon training which suggests the following training schedule for novice runners:

Week	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
1	rest	3 miles	3 miles	3 miles	rest	6 miles	cross
2	rest	3 miles	3 miles	3 miles	rest	7 miles	cross
3	rest	3 miles	4 miles	3 miles	rest	5 miles	cross
4	rest	3 miles	4 miles	3 miles	rest	9 miles	cross
5	rest	3 miles	5 miles	3 miles	rest	10 miles	cross
6	rest	3 miles	5 miles	3 miles	rest	7 miles	cross
7	rest	3 miles	6 miles	3 miles	rest	12 miles	cross
8	rest	3 miles	6 miles	3 miles	rest	13 miles	cross
9	rest	3 miles	7 miles	4 miles	rest	10 miles	cross
10	rest	3 miles	7 miles	4 miles	rest	15 miles	cross
11	rest	4 miles	8 miles	4 miles	rest	16 miles	cross
12	rest	4 miles	8 miles	5 miles	rest	12 miles	cross
13	rest	4 miles	9 miles	5 miles	rest	18 miles	cross
14	rest	5 miles	9 miles	5 miles	rest	14 miles	cross
15	rest	5 miles	10 miles	5 miles	rest	20 miles	cross
16	rest	5 miles	8 miles	4 miles	rest	12 miles	cross
17	rest	4 miles	6 miles	3 miles	rest	8 miles	cross
18	rest	3 miles	4 miles	2 miles	rest	rest	race

This week would correspond to week 8 on the schedule, which means I haven't done too bad. My actual schedule will be slightly different because I usually crossfit on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. My plan moving forward is to sacrifice crossit on Saturday for a long run and I'd like to try and do yoga on Sundays (offered at my gym). As I typed up this schedule I noticed that it contradicts the notion that one can train for a marathon without going much over 30 miles in a week. I guess there isn't much one can do when the long runs start to approach 20 miles. 

Tuesday night WOD

Today's workout was rough. First of all, I went in intending to increase my deadlift one rep max from 200 to atleast 215. I was fine lifting 205, but nearly broke my back trying to lift 215. Needless to say, it didn't happen for me tonight. My trainer pointed out, and I agree, that I started the lift with my chest two far forward which doomed me from the start. He argued that I would have had no problem lifting the weight if I had been lifting properly. He's probably right, but my back was sore and I was in an early onset bad mood.

Once that was finished, I had to do tonight's WOD (workout of the day). It was a 21/15/9 (on the first round you do each exercise 21 times, second round you do each exercise 15 times, etc.) consisting of hollow body push ups, bar facing burpees and 45 lb clean squats (85 lbs. was recommended but I was a wimp). Hollow body push ups are like regular push ups except you end in a hollow body position where your back is arched and your abs are engaged. What we did was very similar to this video only we started with a regular plank and pushed up into the hollow body position (he is in the hollow body position throughout the entire movement). Also note that crossfit push ups are a bit different, and in my opinion much more difficult, than a regular push up (This video shows several different types of push ups, the one we traditionally do is the one with the hands and elbows in tight, it's shown about 21 seconds into the video). The second exercise was a bar facing burpee (the ones in this video look terrible but you get the idea). These are just regular burpees only you jump over a bar after each one. The final exercise in the set was a squat clean. I was frustrated because my trainer insisted on modifying it after my interesting deadlift performance. At first he wouldn't let me do the squat, but I refused to omit that because my squats are only starting to get good. I really wanted the practice, so he decided I shouldn't start from the floor. That was fine with me.

There was a 25 minute cap and I finished in just over 22 minutes. I was kind of pissed that it took me that long, but out of five people only three finished. Also, I was the only girl in the group and I finished second so I guess that's something to be proud of.

As for running, I didn't do any of that today and I should have. I conquered an 11 mile run this past weekend and I plan to undertake a 13 miler this Saturday. That being said, I haven't decided how to lay out my mileage for the balance of the week. I'm thinking a longer run tomorrow (maybe 8 miles), a track workout on Thursday, and a shorter/easier run on Friday (3 - 5 miles). I want to keep my weekly mileage above 20 and steadily progress towards 30 as I train for the marathon in October. I've been reading a book on marathon training which has some interesting suggestions regarding weekly mileage. Among other things, the author argues that an individual can easily train for a marathon without exceeding 30 miles per week. Hopefully he is right because I don't see myself going much over that. He also argues that the longest training run should not exceed 20 miles. I'll create a second post with more information about my ever evolving training plan.

Long Time no See

It's been a while since we've seen a post, so I've decided it's time to make a new one. A lot has happened since the last time I posted, so I'll try to catch everyone up. First, Kait and I ran a nine mile loop around our neighborhood. This was exciting for two reasons. First, this is by far the farthest Kait has ever run and it's the furthest non-race run I had done up to that point. It was also the furthest I had run since recovering from an injury. The run provided a much needed morale boost for the both of us!

A few days after that run, I participated in my first triathlon. The event consisted of a .5 mile swim, a 13 mile bike ride, and a 3 mile run (or a 5k, I'm not really sure). Other than crossfit and running, I hadn't really trained for this race. I don't bike much and I don't swim much, but I figured I would do decently enough. I wasn't hoping to win or anything. I was completely wrong. This race totally and completely kicked my ass!! I can honestly say that I have never done anything so challenging in my entire life. It made my first half marathon look like a walk in the park.

First of all, it was a miracle I didn't drown. I realized I was doomed in the swim about five minutes in, at which point I decided to shift my goal from finishing the triathlon to finishing the swim portion of the triathlon. I couldn't swim in a straight line to save my life and, as a result, kept swimming into the kayaks position along the way to rescue drowning idiots who randomly decide to do a triathlon. By the time I finished, everyone else was several minutes into the bike ride and every volunteer with a boat in the water was circling me and cheering me on. It was a humbling experience.

Once I made it out of the water, I tried to make up some time by keeping my transition as brief as possible. Most likely my second mistake. I threw on a shirt, shoes, socks and helmet and took off within three minutes of finishing the swim. The bike ride was fine for the first five miles and miserably difficult for the second 8. Haha....by the time I was done with my bike ride, the slowest runners were more than a mile into the 5k.

My second transition was even shorter than my first. I threw off my helmet, dropped my bike, grabbed my water belt and took off. That was the roughest three miles I have ever run. I literally had nothing in the tank. The only redeeming aspect of the run was that I passed one person and saw a few people that weren't too far in front of me.

All in all, I finished second to last. My boyfriend, who did the triathlon with me and did remarkably well, was there to hug me, as was my friend who ended up finishing forth in her age bracket (she's a beast). I have to say that my biggest fear going in to this race, like most races, was coming in last. Now that it's happened, I have to say that it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. As challenging as that race was, I was so grateful just to finish. I realized pretty early on that I was going to be last, so, for me, it was a mental game from the get-go. I had to consciously challenge myself to think positive, do the best I can and remember to have fun. I made sure to smile at every volunteer, keep my head held high and finish the race, however slow, with as much pride as I could muster. It was a positive experience that I would trade for a faster time in a million years (maybe..)!

I've already registered for another triathlon in mid-September, the Pocono challenge, with my former high school chemistry teacher. We'll be doing it as a team and there is no swim (instead there is a 10 mile paddle down a river). In preparation I've started biking to and from work more frequently (which is fairly challenging after crossfit). I don't know how much it will help, but it's a start. I've also registered for another half marathon, the Harrisburg Half, on September 9th in an attempt to train from the marine corps marathon on October 27th! So many races!!