Today was a pretty good day. I didn't get my morning run in, but I did get in a 30ish minute bike ride to class. I had an interesting time at crossfit this afternoon. First of all, the strength workout was weighted squats. My one rep max is 125 lb. and todays workout required that I do two sets of 5 with 75 lbs. on the first set and 85 lbs. on the second set. Then I was supposed to do a fail set with 95 pounds (a fail set is, as it's name implies, a set where you keep doing reps until you feel like you are going to fail on the nex rep). For some reason I could not do my sets. I mean I could do them, but they felt terrible. I was having trouble getting low enough and my weight kept shifting to the front of my feet. I gave up after two sets, took off a lot of the weight and tried to work on form. Even with a lot less weight I felt sloppy, so I stopped to avoid injury or bad habit formation. It was really strange. I think I'm just really tight from yesterday's workout.
Then there was the WOD. The WOD was:
21-15-9
Front Rack Lunges (same as the video only we step forward instead of backward)
Pull ups (I had to use a band)
Time: 8:18
That is a terrible time! I got it for two reasons. First, nearing the end of my first set of lunges (the set of 21) I fell backwards into the rack. When you do a lunge, it's important to keep your back straight while lowering your knee to the ground and bringing it back up. Once your knee is as straight as it's going to get and you are standing up right, you bring your feet back together. Because I was getting tired, I guess, I stepped back as I was standing up. This caused me to lose my center of gravity while my mass shifted backwards. The result is a big and awkwardly located bruise. The second reason for the terrible time is much simpler. I suck at pull ups.
In other news, I have a half marathon coming up this weekend. I'm kind of freaked out because I haven't been running that much lately. Also my exercise routine has been stop and go. We'll see how it goes. My thought is that I'll be quite pleased if I finish around 2:30 and satisfied so long as I'm under 3 hours. If I'm over 3 hours, I'm going to be quite unhappy with myself.
Also, I'm thinking of deferring my marathon registration for a year. Time is flying by and I don't feel I have probably acclimated my legs to that kind of distance running. A lot of this decision will be based on my performance this weekend. I have until the Friday following this race to decide.
Showing posts with label halfmarathon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label halfmarathon. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Monday, August 13, 2012
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!!
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!!
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