Goal achieved!

So after a week or two of setbacks... physical ailments, some side effects from the diet, yadda yadda yadda.... I got 10 reps of 90lbs!!!!!! Two weeks ago, I could barely do 6 reps.Today, I did 10 without a spotter. I am 90% sure it was the lack of carbs in my diet later in the day that was being more of a detriment to my strength than I may have realized. SO, I have made the mental note that in order to perform at my highest level, I simply have to keep the carbs high. Successful day!

A new adventure...

Starting January 2, 2010, I will be starting a plan that will (hopefully) prepare me for a fitness bikini competition in late April or early May. I used to say that I would never do this, that I wouldn't have the willpower or I could just workout enough to maintain my weight. However, things have worked out to where really, if I am going to try a competition, now would be the perfect time to do it. I am lifting really hard at the moment, training for the Arnold Classic Pump and Run on March 7th, so I am already working towards increasing my muscle mass and trying to lean up for the 5k. So... why not? I'm going to give it a shot. If I don't do well, I won't try it again... and I'll try a triathlon instead. At least I will be able to say that I tried it.

Taper week

Monday before the Saturday race: I am ready to get it all overwith. Nerves are starting to kick in, second-guessing my training, regretting the wine that I drank over the weekend... I guess it's too late to go back on anything now and just be confident in what I've done so far. I KNOW I'm in a better place this year than last year, so hopefully that removes the concern that I will end up walking at some point during the race. IF I don't have to walk at all, that alone should shave 10 minutes off my time.

I would love to qualify, don't get me wrong. After I finished my last LONG run (21 miles), I realized that qualifying would be great, but it's not a realistic goal. Last year I walked all of Mile 18 and interval walk-jogged the rest of the way through 26.2. The more REALISTIC goal for me is to try and RUN the entire way. Hopefully that will put me somewhere around 3:45... and IF I can find the strength in the last 1/3 of the race to push myself, that should be just enough effort to get me to 3:40. We will see...

Back to the grind

So apparently even though I ran both at the beach AND at Dale Hollow Lake, the fact that I really haven't lifted in two weeks plus apparent lack of hydration really made today's 15 miles a killer. Here's me today just after I finished up. I did manage to keep a good pace to finish in 2:17, but it was all I could do to not puke my guts up afterwards :(

I can't believe there's only one 20-miler left, the rest is all shorter stuff to taper down to the big day. At this point I just want to get it overwith...

Cramming it all in

This week marks the start of two weeks of inconsistency: leaving Wednesday afternoon for the beach until Sunday night, then the following Wednesday we leave for Tennessee to the lake until that following Tuesday night. Needless to say, it's pretty unrealistic to think I'm going to get every scheduled run in as planned out by the FIRST program.

The past two weeks I've been substituting the speed workout for a run with Rocco. After all, running with Rocco did prep me to place in the overall female winner category in a recent 5k race here, so I figure continuing this method can't hurt. The problem with "Rocco runs" is I don't get a very good warmup, so I'm trying to stretch a lot on Monday nights. I have to hit the ground running, literally, when I run with him. The obedience training is a secondary goal at this point, don't judge my dog-discipline skills in this blog :)

Tomorrow I plan to split up an 18-mile long run into two segments. Wednesday, if I'm lucky, I will get in the tempo run before we leave.

7/2 "20"-miler

So yesterday I was slated for a 20-mile long run. The weather couldn't have been more perfect, so I had that going for me. HOWEVER, after teaching my ninth Pilates class of the week that morning before the run, I had a gut feeling that the run was not going to be as good as the previous week. There's a reason why people say go with your gut... it's usually right.

I bought a fuel belt that morning to try and experiment with something other than leaving my water bottle along the running path behind random inanimate objects. Needless to say, I had something to keep my mind occupied the first half of the run purely based on the awkwardness with which I was trying to simultaneously run and adjust my belt. To add, I used Gatorade instead of Accelerade (HUGE mistake) and ended up with upset stomach through mile 17. It was then that I decided to finish my run indoors...

It was a pretty terrible run in general, but a few major lessons were learned:
1- Gatorade (undiluted) is not conducive to fueling my runs
2- The fuel belt is more comfortable with bottles distributed around my waist, not all packed around my lower back
3- Run earlier in the morning. Even at 10:45am on an overcast day it got REALLY humid by mile 14 or so.

Now a week of off-scheduling, not sure when I will fit my runs in but of course I will be bringing a set of clothes, socks, sports bra and shoes wherever we go. Happy Anniversary to us! :)

Week 2 Run 2: Tempo

So today's workout was a tempo run: 1 mile easy, 4 miles at 7:50, one mile easy. I think all the extra group exercise I am teaching this week is catching up with me because the first mile and a half of the tempo pace was pretty rough. Even though the 7:50 pace isn't all that fast, it definitely felt like it. The good thing that is consistently happening with all of my workouts thus far is that by the end of the run, I feel like I can keep going longer and faster. By the time I hit the fourth mile of the tempo pace, I felt fresh and strong, albeit somewhat tired.

I find it challenging not to sprint through the end of runs or run a faster pace at the end of a workout if can sense some extra "energy". I have to keep reminding myself that training will only get harder and I should enjoy the "slower" pace now because in several weeks, it's going to suck.

I think my breakfast was problematic this morning as well. I've been eating mostly Ezekiel 4:19 products for bread, tortillas, pitas, etc. These are great for the rest of the day, but for fast-release carbs, this is not so good. I felt pretty lethargic at the beginning of my run even with the usual black coffee serving. I've had better luck with regular english muffins in the past so I think, for the sake of immediate energy, I will take the lesser quality grains and make up the nutritional void later.

Still loving the Accelerade supplement that I chug immediately after the workout. I've been lifting legs after every running workout and thus far (knock on wood), I have yet to experience severe DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness). I think after today's quality workout I earn a nice class of cab sauv :)