Training does matter, a lot.

The past week was very busy. I took 3 days off from training to taper for the half marathon. Two of those days were spent traveling to and from Fargo. The girls really enjoyed touring NDSU and Nicki has pretty much decided thats where she is going. We drove up Thursday night and got to Fargo at 1:30 am Friday. Then up at 6 am to get ready and have breakfast. Then we drove back Friday afternoon. I got 6 hours of sleep Friday night. I don't function well with only 10 hours of sleep in a 48 hour period. Yes up at 5am Saturday to go to St. Cloud and run 13.1 miles. Oh joy! oh joy! What was I thinking? Lack of sleep and hours and hours of driving. This is the third year I have run this half marathon. In 2008 this was the first half marathon I ever ran.
Now my goal was to make sure I finished in under 3 hours. Last year I had done the marathon in 2:27, but I knew I was not up to running that fast.
I just realized a week went by and I did not finish this posting. I think I started it last Sunday or Monday. The end result was I could not keep up with Corrine and Jamie. Congratulations to them for an outstanding time! I believe it was 2:09. I couldn't even do the 5 and 1's. I actually dropped down to what I've been training at 3 and 1's. the results were not spectacular but better than I expected. I was 10 minutes slower than last year with way more walk breaks and two bathroom breaks. My time was 2:36.
Yesterday was sprint intervals with DS. I'm hoping to get my speed back up again. This morning my legs were certainly sore. I woke up at 5 and had to think really hard if I wanted to go run 10 miles. Yes I did. I was happy to join Roxie , Cheryl and Loren for a nice cold wet run through the park. The nice thing about out and back ...you have to go back so you have to finish.
At mile 8, my legs felt like lincoln logs. Good thing I had friends to keep running with!
I'm looking forward to strength training tomorrow, my legs usually feel better after I'm done.
Another busy week. My son Mike turns 20. Nicki has jewelry and maybe a clay project on display at Elk River High School Evening of the Arts. Minnetonka Half Marathon on Sunday.

Taper...How Can You Taper If You Never Peaked?

Busy , busy and more busy. Thank goodness spring sprung early. We are busy at work which is great after 3 months of 30 hour weeks. Training outside is doing great and the weather has been fantastic.
Saturday was interval training with Discover Strength. That one hour always feels like two. I actually like doing sprints but don't tell anyone! There is an exercise we do that is obnoxious. Its a exercise where we wear a harness and try to run while the trainer pulls back and is the resistance. Doesn't sound hard does it? Just pull the trainer along. Okay I'm 5 feet tall right? well Maurice is I think 6'8', almost two feet taller than me. I also think because I had done the exercise last week, he was tougher on me than on the newbies. I imagine it was a funny sight. After training I headed over to Highland Park to meet my Run Club buddies for breakfast. Damn it, I was too early! So I joined them doing the DamHill workout. A one mile run to the dam then up and down the hill 4 times and a one mile run back to Lifetime. It was worth it, I ran with Carla. She did a fantastic job that day. Her furthest run had been 6+ miles and I believe she did over 10 that day. After that, a bunch of us headed over to the Chatterbox for breakfast.It was good to see Jerel, Andy and Eric. I have not seen them in months, too bad Jen didn't make it . Corrine, Erica and Team Brackney plus people from other run clubs showed up. I think there was over 20 runners there.
Sunday Roxie and I went biking. A simple ride to Caribou for coffee. We zigged and we zagged and put on 12 miles, then stopped. Then we zigged and we zagged and I ended up with 23 miles on the bike that day.
I'm on track for the Liberty Olympic distance triathlon. I know I can swim for an hour/ 1 mile, I can bike 20+ miles and I can run 6 miles. I just need to put all 3 together.
Which means I'm halfway to the Chisago Lakes Half Iron distance triathlon. 70.3 miles. Woohoo!
I went to strength training Monday and last night we ran 6 miles. I keep forgetting the week before a Half marathon you are suppose to taper. Take it easy, relax. Of course I was also suppose to have some 8 and 10 mile "peak mileage" runs done too. Oops. So today and Thursday no exercising planned. Just two 10 hour work days. Friday I'm off, we will be in Fargo at NDSU doing a campus tour with the girls. Then back home. Up Saturday at 5:30 off to St.Cloud for the Earth Day half marathon. Sunday I'm sleeping in.

Back on Track

It feels good to be back on track. I have no "official" training plan for any of my endeavors, just winging it. the important thing is to do some type of Tri activity training every day. Monday is always strength training. I can't say enough good things about the trainers at Discover Strength and how important postive feedback is. Today I received a postcard from a trainer. Just highlights of my progress since November. The dreaded leg press... I have improved by over 30 lbs. One of my least favorites Adduction/Abduction (I call it the thigh master) increased over 20lbs. Then to tell me "these are truly impressive improvements". Wow made my day, and don't we all need a little boost to our self-esteem every now and then.
Tuesday we ran like the wind or should I say with the wind and then into it. 6.5 miles, a great run with Roxie and Cindy and a nice pace! We started kicking around the idea of going to New Orleans next year to run the Mardi Gras Rock-n-Roll half marathon.
Wedenesday was swim day. Into the pool for an hour. I had to ask what the length of the pool was and found out its 25 meters, so 64 laps equals one mile. Question is... is one length of the pool one lap? I did 70 so I swam a little more than a mile. Which is good considering the Chisago Lakes Half Iron is a 1.2 mile swim. it would be best to get a minimum of two swim workouts in a week. I am still considering swim lessons, maybe in May.
Looks like my training is back on track the best it can be.

The results are in....

Well Spin class was exciting Wednesday. All 8 of us. I forgot it was "race day", the class I was going to skip. Well I hung in there and worked at the correct heart rate zones but it was tough. I had strength training Thursday so I missed Run Club and going to wine tasting after. Bummer.
Friday was the Body Pod testing. Four weeks of double strength workouts, calorie counting,and trying to increase my exercise level to over 6 hours a week. Unfortunately I also got busy at work , had two St. Patrick's Day themed races with beer and a class reunion party. These things do not help when trying to lose weight.
THE RESULTS ARE ( drum roll, please!)
3% drop in body fat
4.81 lbs of body fat changes to muscle
2lb loss in weight
I'm happy, I was worried I would see no change at all. I actually dropped into the Moderately Lean category. ( the high end...but who cares? right?)
Will I do it again? Yes. Still the most important lessons are: MORE EXERCISE, and HEALTHY FOODS!
Then to keep on track Saturday was interval training followed by swimming...my legs are still sore. Then I went to the Swarm Lacrosse game. I actually like to watch lacrosse and every now and then a fight breaks out. Not quite as good as hockey, but its a fun time.
Now its Monday which means strength training tonight, hopefully with a swim before.

Time Flies By...

I never was good at keeping diaries or journals. Pretty obvious since its been almost a week since my last post. Its getting busy at work, no leaving early anymore. Same scenario.Strength.Run.Spin.Strength. Found out I still had two body comp workouts left. Thursday was the damn leg press . I swear, Maurice jacked up the weight again. Then laughed...told me 12 reps then he would lighten the load so I could finish for 30 total.
Friday, couldn't workout, had to go play bar bingo at the legion. Bad choice.
Saturday, I was the smart one and stayed home. Someone else went out and drank wine.HAHAHA> Sunday we were running a 5k and an 8k.
St. Patrick's Day Human Race in St.Paul. You get to be "Superhuman" for running two races in a row! Despite the nasty cold wind, we did finish the double run. Only 26 people decided to do both out of the 1300.
It was okay, the shirt is okay. Next year I'm running the Get Lucky Triple 7 half marathon so I won't be doing this race again.
Strength trainnig tonight. Last week before Body Pod measurements. I think I'll skip the winetasting Thursday night. Wine hangovers suck and I don't want to screw up the hardwork I've done.

Back on Track. DETOUR AHEAD

Wow, been to busy to post lately. Thursday was a good day. I did two workouts a 30 minute run and my strength training. Friday I was feeling the effects of 30 reps on the leg press plus lunges. I wasn't up to spin class. I ran on the treadmill for 45 minutes then swam for 30 minutes.
Saturday we ran the "Get Lucky 7K" run. That was a terrific run to do. The sweatshirt and medal are spectacular! We then went to Keran's after and got our free lunch buffet and beer. I have a lot of good pictures from that posted on facebook. I felt my training was getting back on track.
BUT, DETOUR AHEAD!!! the Class of '81 had a pre-30 year reunion party Saturday night. I was so happy to see many of my friends and meet new ones! So many people, some I wish I could have spent more time talking to. I was there until 12:30...way past my bedtime. Sunday, man was I hurting. Stayed in my pajamas all day. Noelle called and asked if I wanted to go bike riding, ooohh nooo, I wasn't going anywhere or doing anything. I had way too much fun Saturday. Kind of wasted my Sunday.
Monday was back on track!! I did my last Body Comp Challenge workout at strength training. I will keep doing the normal strength training for sure through the month of April. The last week of this month we go back to the Body Pod to see how we did on the challenge. I hope that my body composition shows a change for the better.

Where Did the Week Go?

Its been an off week and I feel like a slacker in my training. To many other things have come up.
Strength training Monday night went well. Since I wasn't achy and sore for two days, I don't feel I worked hard enough. DO NOT TELL MY TRAINERS! I wonder what todays workout will bring.
Tuesday I ran with Roxie. It was cloudy and gloomy and my legs felt like lead. I didn't get my 6 miles in and I was disappointed in myself. Wednesday, I got off work early was going to do a bunch of stuff around the house. Had a major scare when I went to turn on the faucet and there was no water. Thank goodness I just needed to reset the circuit breaker. Found my high school yearbooks and was looking at them. Skipped spin class, but went with Cindy and picked up our race packets for this weekend. Things are looking up, Saturday should be a blast with the "Get Lucky 7K " run in the morning. Then a Pre-30 year class of 1981 reunion Saturday night!
Not getting in much training or running in this week. Life got in the way.