Rest Day

Sore. Stiff. Hammies and hip flexors especially. Ouch.

Dan told me this week to not do any training on Friday or Saturday (two days before the big race), not even an aerobics class or gym workout. Wow, that is going to be a different feeling.

It feels odd thinking that this week I am supposed to take it easy, and not due to laziness, but because I am supposed to be the freshest I can be for Sunday. Most of the time if I miss trainings or workouts it's either laziness (e.g. sleeping in, can't be bothered) or busy-ness (e.g. worked late). This week it's all in the plan.

I'm actually looking forward to a week of less training! Heh heh, laziness kicking in slightly already.

The best part: next week I have every incentive to get right back into it because The Great Train Race is only 5 weeks after this race. Last year, after my first race (8km - how short that distance seems in comparison to this coming weekend!) I slacked off big time and it took almost 3 weeks before I got back into things. Not this time!

Running Group

Running Group met at Freeway Reserve in Mulgrave today for speed work. After yesterday's long run with Katie, today's training session was set to be a killer.

However perhaps I have improved my strength... it actually wasn't too bad. The hammies were already sore after the warm up, but my cardiovascular fitness is definitely improving with each speed work session.

Running Group is going so well, we had 12 people come today, and of those twelve it appears that about 10 are committed to regular attendance, which is fantastic! Of the other two, one is definitely committed to every speed work session, also wonderful.

The warm up exercise is becoming a favourite of mine - we job around the oval in single file, 5m between each person. The person at the back of the line sprints to the front of the line, and every person does that when they are at the back of the line. A great exercise which goes quickly because you're so focussed on staying the right distance behind the person in front of you, and yet it builds a bit of teamwork, being a group exercise.

Interval sprints could have been a killer but Brett only made us do 3 sets.

Hill sprints are probably my least favourite, but again I think I am getting better at these. They are hard work but the results are starting to show already. We did 15 of these (sprint to top, walk down, sprint to top, etc).

We ended with a bit of strength work - push ups, sit ups, squats, calf raises, back extensions, lunging jumps. Each exercise was at a station, jogs between each station, last station was a sprint. We did three sets with a partner. That was fun.

Definitely gonna pay for this one tomorrow, I am sore tonight already!

Finally feel ready for R4K! (sort of)

Katie and I went for a long run this evening. Dan told me that if I can do 12km then I will definitely be fine for 15km. So tonight we ran 12km, or thereabouts.

I am now the proud owner of a piece of string that is 11km long (not actually 11km - just in accordance with the Melways). I made it myself!

I used it to find us a route to run that would make up 12km. Wanted to avoid major roads, thus avoiding the hecklers and honkers - they always do it so suddenly that it makes me jump which is embarrassing. I found a nice little route running beside a little river that I didn't even know existed until now! The route started at a park on Eley Rd, and took us across Station St and then diagonally towards Warrigal Rd, crossing Burwood Hwy, Highbury Rd and High Street Rd in the process. Turned around at Warrigal and came back.

The run was quite easy, probably because Katie and I had a great time chatting about all sorts of things along the way.

We stretched well afterward, but I still the legs might be sore tomorrow, which means I'm going to be killed during tomorrow's Running Group because we're doing sprint work.

Well, tonight it the last night of Daylight Saving. Looking forward to the extra hour's sleep! And also looking forward to the coming week... even though I will miss the daylight during the evening hours, at least it won't still look like midnight at 6:30-7:00am!

Another Gym Session

Final weights session for the week. I've managed three this week, 30-45 min in total each. Now just gotta get that to be four 30min sessions.

Today's session focussed on triceps, biceps, abs. I know I've mentioned before that I have weak biceps. That still applies. But I'm doing the EZ-bar curls with 2.5kg on (15.5kg total including bar) and can't even do 3 sets of 6 reps so maybe that'll encourage my motor neurons to develop and my biceps to grow a little. Heh heh... can you tell I've been learning stuff?

It was kinda cool to actually be able to see my arm muscles working. I have to admit - and I know most guys don't find buff girls attractive, but to have arms and shoulders like Michelle Bridges (the female trainer on The Biggest Loser) would be really cool.

Maybe when I've been in the industry for 25 years and working out as long as her I will.

Weights Session

Today's session was good. Even though I am aiming for four 30min weights sessions per week, I guess that requires a gradual change from the old habit of two 60min sessions weekly. A 60min session stills feels like more of a session and less of a rush... however I am planning ahead.

An ideal workout week to me would look like morning runs, then work, then a weights session after work, stopping by the gym on the way home. I feel like I could manage 4 visits for 30min each, because 30mins seems less daunting and potentially tiring than 1hr at the gym after a long day at work.

I can't really be bothered writing down my weights lifted, sets and reps anymore. I'll just note down any noticeable improvements or increases in weight. Besides, I am actually writhing this post 2 days after the session so I can't remember all the details anymore.

Focus today was on legs (squats, 45 degree leg press), lats, and shoulders. Also a fair bit of ab work. Have upped weight on squats to 40kg (60kg in total including bar) which I seem to be handling fine.

Usual Route

James came with me this morning. Did the usual route - forwards. About 5.5km in total.

I don't feel ready for Run for the Kids

I've been so tired lately - feel like I'm always trying to catch up on my sleep. Probably doesn't help that most nights I am either returning home after class which ends around 9:30-10pm, which means most mornings I hit my alarm clock and sleep in instead of getting up for a run.

This Sunday marks the end of daylight saving, so there will be even less incentive as 6:00am gets darker and darker by the day as we approach winter.

*sigh* I miss the long daylights of summer already.

I had planned to go for a run this morning before work, and a weights session at the gym after work on my way home. Did neither. Didn't study either. Right now it's past 11pm and I'm still awake. Okay I'm going to bed - got another long day tomorrow... work all day followed by class after work til 10pm. I will try to get up for a run in the morning but not sure how that's going to go.

I don't feel at all ready for Run for the Kids at this point. Less than two weeks to go, and next week I'm supposed to be taking it easy to let the legs be as fresh as possible on 1 April, which means I only really have a week left to train hard.

Weights Session before work

I started work a little later today - 10am. So it gave me time to head into the gym for a quick 30min session.

Upper body:

• BB bench press - 35kg - 12, 11, 9. My reps are up, I'm pretty happy about that. If I have another good session next time, I think I'll be able to up my weight without a spotter.
• DB incline bench close - 2x10kg - 3x10. Think I need to up my weight here for sure, try 12.5kg next time
• EZ bar bicep curls - 15.5kg - 3x6. These are really hard. My biceps are so weak!
• Didn't have time to do DB bicep curls. Ran out of time, didn't want to be late for work.

Abs:

• SB curls, feet against wall - 3x16
• Incline sit ups - 3x10
• SB leg raises - 1x10 - no time to do the other two sets
  

Aerobics Class - HiLo

For those who are wondering, yes I rocked up to church almost 1 hour late so that I could attend this class.

This particular class is taught by a woman who only teaches the Sunday morning classes at my gym. She is not just an aerobics instructor, she also teaches aerobics instructor courses (i.e. she is an aerobics instructor instructor!).

I wanted to check out one of her classes before signing up for an instructor course with her. Unfortunately she was not there, and won't be for the next week or two so I'll have to head back to that class in 2-3 week's time. However I stayed for the class anyway seeing as I was already there.

It was a good class - my fitness level has increased dramatically since I started running... I don't even get out of breath anymore in an aerobics class even when I go as hard as I can. Which is great - it means one day when I am teaching classes I'll be able to go hard and still call out instructions without being out of breath.

Run

Went for a brief run, distance wasn't too far, however I included some sprint work into my run, 10 laps of a short stretch of grass in a park.

Long Weights Session

I had a fair bit of catch up work to do today. Am supposed to be training 20-30 mins four days a week, but because I had only been in one other day this week, today I completed about 2.5 days' worth of sessions.

Upper body:

• Chin-ups - 2, 2x1.5 - one of my personal goals for this year is to be able to complete a full set of 8-12 chin ups. As you can see I have a long way to go given I'm averaging at only 1.5 so far (or round that down to 1)
• "Floor" chin-ups - these are a way easier version - 3x10
• Lat pull-downs - 90 (I think that's pounds?) - 8, 2x6
• DB clean & press - 2x15p - 3x8
• BB shoulder raises (? can't remember what this one's called) - 15kg, 8 then17.5kg, 2x8
• SB tricep dips - 3x10
• tricep push-downs - 40 - 8, 2x6

It's nice to be getting some shoulder work into my program... maybe it'll buff me up a little so my arms don't look so skinny :)

Lower body:

• Squats - bar+35kg (55kg) - 2x10, then bar+37.5kg - 1x10. I think next time I will up this to 40kg, see how I go.
• 45degree leg press - 100kg - 3x10. These were pretty easy, upping to 120kg next time.

Abs:

• SB bridge - 30s, 2x45s - wow these are much more difficult than the standard one on the floor. By 20s I was already shaking!
• SB curls - 3x10

At the moment my workouts are taking a little longer than usual. Still trying to figure out what weights to use - high enough to get me a little fatigued but not so high that I kill myself dropping something on my neck or pull a muscle.

Distances

Okay so I finally got around to measuring the distances for my runs.

Here they are:

1. Run on 8/03/07 - 7.4km
2. Run on 9/03/07 - 7.5km
3. My "usual route" - 5.6km
   

You can imagine how disappointed I was to find these distances out - particularly because I thought maybe the second run was closer to 9km.

So that just gave me an incentive to do a long one today. James is so wonderful, he came too! You will know how wonderful in a minute when I disclose the distance.

Route: from our house, right at Burwood Hwy, right at Station St, right at Canterbury Rd, right at Blackburn Rd, right at Burwood Hwy and back to our house.

Total distance = 10km! YAY.

Finally hit the double digit mark. Now how am I going to get this distance closer to 15km? I am starting to realise 15 km is a very far distance. Short of doing a 7.5km route twice, I am running out of ideas for how to construct a circular route 15km long.

Slept in, rushed for a run

I overslept half an hour this morning. So I only had just enough time to squeeze in my "usual" run before I had to prepare and head over to work. Actually, I was 5 minutes late to work... which I wouldn't have been if I hadn't slept in!

A usual run for me means going from my house to Burwood Hwy, then doing a big almost rectangular shape route going along Burwood Hwy, Blackburn Rd, Eley Rd, Holland Rd, Fulton Rd, Middleborough Rd, back to Burwood Hwy and home.

Sometimes I do that route backwards - today was one of those days. The two directions have their various advantages and disadvantages in that the hills vary. When doing it backwards I am faced with Holland and Blackburn Hills (not their real names, but my nicknames for them) at the end of my run which helps me training my anaerobic fitness.

It was a good run... I think I might even be getting slightly faster. Anaerobic fitness is definitely improving, for sure.

Weights Session - starting new program

This week I start my first round of the new weights program. The gym was not as busy as I expected tonight.

The gym instructor told me that in order to achieve my bench press strength goal, I should be using more weight on the bar than I have been up to now and getting someone to spot me, in order to encourage my muscles to adapt to the extra weight and grow stronger.

But what can I say? I am a bit of a scaredy cat. The weights room is often dominated by males and I have a hard time acquainting myself with strangers who are friends of friends, let alone approaching a complete male stranger, panting, sweaty and all, to ask him to spot little me for a set of reps.

So today I benched my usual weight instead of upping it per gym instructor's suggestion, all because I was a scaredy cat. If you go to my gym and I know you, would you consider meeting me once a week in the evening after work at the gym? We could spot for each other... :)

This evening's program:

• BB bench press - 35kg - 12, 10, 2x7
• DB bench close - 10kg pair - 8, 2x10
• EZ bar bicep curls - bar+2.5kg - 3x10 (I tried for bar+5kg, but there was no way I could lift that weight - I've always had relatively weak biceps compared to triceps, is that normal?)
• DB bicep curls - 15pounds - 3x10, last reps I let DB down as slowly as possible
  

Rest Day

I didn't end up going to Running Group today, wasn't feeling well. I was a little disappointed because I was looking forward to seeing if any of my results have improved since January. Oh, well... the next one is only about 2 months away. And we all know how quickly time flies.

Only 3 weeks to go until Run for the Kids... I'm getting nervous now, I am definitely under-prepared at this stage in the game.

Short Run

I was meant to go for another medium to long run this morning - desperately trying to get my kilometres up in time for 1st April. But I was tired from the last two days... plus I overslept half an hour and had to be at work by 9:30 today.

So instead I did a short one, took it easy. Have Running Group tomorrow anyway which includes a fitness test so maybe I should aim to have fresh-ish legs for a good result tomorrow.

Route: my house, away from Burwood Hwy across to Eley Rd, up Eley to Blackburn Rd, right at Blackburn, right at hwy, right at Holland, left at Eley, back to my house.

Good thing about the run - it included a couple of hills (which I will now nickname the Blackburn and Holland Hills). I am getting better at those hills, I remember the first time I ran up Blackburn Hill my lungs wanted to die... today was pretty good, but maybe I ran it too slow and that's why I felt no strain on the lungs. However, this time the legs were the limiting factor - might have something to do with the last two days' runs.

Thanks for the comments and encouragement both from Blogger and Multiply world. I may seem a little hardcore to you guys but it doesn't seem that way to me at all - I know I probably shouldn't compare myself to the train-twice-a-day community, but I do. Consider it an aspiration that I am working myself towards.

Long(ish) Run

Trying to increase my distances in preparation for Run for the Kids on 1 April. However it doesn't help that I have no idea what distances I'm running because I still haven't gotten around to measuring them in a Melways.

Today's route: from my house toward Burwood Hwy, right at hwy, right at Middleborough Rd, right at Canterbury Rd, right at Blackburn Rd, right at Burwood Hwy, back to my house.

A nice big square. It took me just under 1 hr, given that it was a moderate to slow jog, I would say that was nowhere near 10km because I doubt I was even doing a pace of 6:00. But then again I could surprise myself.

I'll try measure the distance sometime this weekend and edit it into this post.

Edit 15/03/07: The distance was 7.5km

New Weights Program

10:30am - met with Glen at the gym to get my new training program
I'm trying something new - rather than doing my weights program twice a week for over an hour each, I'm trying for 20-30 mins, 4 days a week. We'll see how this goes. Sometimes after a long day at work the idea of going to the gym for 1hr+ feels like a tiring prospect, whereas popping in for 30mins is much less daunting.

11:00am - 20 min resistance workout

• incline sit-ups, 3 sets, 10 reps
• s/b sit ups, feet against wall - 3 x 12reps
• s/b ab reverses - 3 x 10 reps
• calf raises, 10kg - 2 x10reps, 1 x 12 reps

How far have I gone?

One of these days I'll have saved up enough money to buy myself a flashy heart rate monitor complete with foot pod that measure my pace and distance. For now, I'll just say my pace was fairly moderate. I think my pace has improved over the last couple of weeks since picking the running back up - Run for the Kids in 4 weeks' time is certainly providing the motivation for me to keep up the training, particularly at a time in my life when I feel too busy to exercise.

Running route: my house to Burwood Hwy, left at hwy, left at Blackburn Rd, left at Eley Rd, right at Holland Rd, left at Fulton, left at Middleborough Rd, right at Eley Rd, left at Station St, left at Burwood Hwy all the way back to my house.

Distance: no idea, I think maybe 8-9km? I really need to measure it in the Melways.

Edit 15/03/07: The distance was actually 7.4km