Today was supposed to be 8 miles but my sister was not feeling well and needed to rest. And I missed a run doing other things. We just got back from vacation on Friday night and quite honestly, I didn't mind taking a day off. Although, as usual, I sort of regret not running now that its the end of the day. Oh well. Back at CrossFit tomorrow. I'll just have to work harder.
So, I think I may change our training plan to something like this:
Aug 4th 8 miles
Aug 11th 8 miles
Aug 18th 9 miles
Aug 25th 10 miles
Sept 1st 8 miles
Sept 8th 12 miles
Sept 15th 6 miles
Sept 21st Race day!
With the option to make adjustments as we need them, of course. I'm not worried. We will likely only miss one more Sunday together. I'll be out of town on the 18th. I'll have to figure out a run while I"m traveling. But, I think I can manage that. :-)
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Friday, July 19, 2013
Training - so far so good
We are on track with our half marathon training! Ok, it's only been two weeks but still. That's important. Got in 7 miles last Sunday. The plan calls for 5 miles this weekend. We'll be running on Saturday. I leave for vacation on Sunday. (Yay!) Our next race is the Heart and Sole 10K in Boulder on August 25th.
CrossFit is going well. We have an app now to track our workouts. This week I added pre-app workouts from my calendar. Wow! I really am getting stronger! :-)
CrossFit is going well. We have an app now to track our workouts. This week I added pre-app workouts from my calendar. Wow! I really am getting stronger! :-)
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Rest Day
My sister is officially registered for the Prairie Dog Half Marathon. It was a birthday gift from our brother. So, it's on!
This weekend we took a rest day. Her granddaughter's first birthday was today so the celebrations were going on. No running for us this morning. It was probably a good thing though because my hip was unhappy for some reason. Squats were uncomfortable for sure. Weird. It's such a fundamental thing to do and I felt so strong during that 200 squat WOD. Maybe it was the 6 mile run the Sunday after that did me in. Oh well. It's much better today after taking an extra day off.
Here is our tentative training schedule (based on the Arvada Running Club's plan):
July 14th 7 miles
July 21st 5 miles
July 28th 8 miles
Aug 4th 9 miles
Aug 11th 10 miles
Aug 18th 11 miles
Aug 25th 12 miles
Sept 1st 8 miles
Sept 8th 14 miles
Sept 15th 6 miles
Sept 21st Race day!
We'll adjust as we go.
This weekend we took a rest day. Her granddaughter's first birthday was today so the celebrations were going on. No running for us this morning. It was probably a good thing though because my hip was unhappy for some reason. Squats were uncomfortable for sure. Weird. It's such a fundamental thing to do and I felt so strong during that 200 squat WOD. Maybe it was the 6 mile run the Sunday after that did me in. Oh well. It's much better today after taking an extra day off.
Here is our tentative training schedule (based on the Arvada Running Club's plan):
July 14th 7 miles
July 21st 5 miles
July 28th 8 miles
Aug 4th 9 miles
Aug 11th 10 miles
Aug 18th 11 miles
Aug 25th 12 miles
Sept 1st 8 miles
Sept 8th 14 miles
Sept 15th 6 miles
Sept 21st Race day!
We'll adjust as we go.
Friday, June 28, 2013
Squats!
Today's WOD was 4 rounds for time - 400 meter run and 50 squats. It's a simple workout and I was looking forward to the simplicity of it. Meditative in a way. I haven't had much time to meditate lately with all of our summer visitors. Not that I'm complaining. I've enjoyed every second of every visit. I just haven't had much downtime to recharge. Running used to be that for me. When I first started running I ran by myself. I had the "I'm not a real runner" complex and didn't feel worthy of company. But, that wore off pretty quickly. Misery loves company or so they say. CrossFit is not usually a meditative type of exercise although much of it is mental - you against yourself. But, when you are simply trying to finish a workout and not pass out, it's hard to reflect on life. That usually happens after the workout when I think to myself, "I just did that!"
Today, the 400M run seemed very very long. Try doing 50 squats and then running and you'll understand what I'm talking about. So, that gave me a little downtime.
I am still working on my overall mobility but squats are one area where I can see real improvement. And today, for some reason, something finally clicked and I was able to squat well. Even on the 200th one. I think what I was doing before was not thinking about standing from a squat. I was only thinking (and working) on the way down. Nicole, our fill in coach for today, had time, with only three of us there, to make me think more about the way up. I wasn't pushing my knees out on the way up, only the way down. Once I squatted, I relaxed before standing and wasn't holding my form or engaging my core throughout the movement.
Repeating the movement 200 times also helped I guess. ;-)
I didn't even have to use a target to get my full depth. Nicole also had us think about the movement in a slightly different way. She said to think about your toes being on a saucer and as you squat, try to rotate the saucer out. That helps to push your knees out and it also helped me stay in my heels. I have trouble keeping my weight in my heels. (I like to think it's because I'm more top heavy than others but...LOL.)
So, it was a very good day. And I'm looking forward to the weekend and some rest. Active rest like walking around the mall to stretch my legs. :-)
Here is a CrossFit video demo of proper squat technique with explanations about the various parts and some funny stuff at the end. And a link to a blog post about squatting properly. And here are some babies squatting.
Happy Friday y'all!
Today, the 400M run seemed very very long. Try doing 50 squats and then running and you'll understand what I'm talking about. So, that gave me a little downtime.
I am still working on my overall mobility but squats are one area where I can see real improvement. And today, for some reason, something finally clicked and I was able to squat well. Even on the 200th one. I think what I was doing before was not thinking about standing from a squat. I was only thinking (and working) on the way down. Nicole, our fill in coach for today, had time, with only three of us there, to make me think more about the way up. I wasn't pushing my knees out on the way up, only the way down. Once I squatted, I relaxed before standing and wasn't holding my form or engaging my core throughout the movement.
Repeating the movement 200 times also helped I guess. ;-)
I didn't even have to use a target to get my full depth. Nicole also had us think about the movement in a slightly different way. She said to think about your toes being on a saucer and as you squat, try to rotate the saucer out. That helps to push your knees out and it also helped me stay in my heels. I have trouble keeping my weight in my heels. (I like to think it's because I'm more top heavy than others but...LOL.)
So, it was a very good day. And I'm looking forward to the weekend and some rest. Active rest like walking around the mall to stretch my legs. :-)
Here is a CrossFit video demo of proper squat technique with explanations about the various parts and some funny stuff at the end. And a link to a blog post about squatting properly. And here are some babies squatting.
 |
| My grand niece and granddaughter. :-) |
Friday, June 21, 2013
Catching up on the blogging...
I'm not sure what happened but it's been a while since I've posted to the blogs. Nothing terrible has happened. Just the opposite really. We've had lots of family visiting, the granddaughter turned 1 year old, I'm still running and going to CrossFit. It's all good. I did a little traveling for a work related conference which kept me from my workouts last week and this week. In fact, it's been two weeks today since I've been to CrossFit Roots. I'm going this morning.
Soon I'll post a race recap of the Skirt Sports Half Marathon Relay that I did with my sister. Maybe I'll get her to write up her own race report. She rocked it! :-)
Soon I'll post a race recap of the Skirt Sports Half Marathon Relay that I did with my sister. Maybe I'll get her to write up her own race report. She rocked it! :-)
Sunday, May 19, 2013
CrossFit & Running
I feel like I'm really hitting my stride. Last week I doubled up on a couple of workouts. I missed Monday (for a meeting) so went on Tuesday instead. The WOD was 10 dumbbell clean and jerk, 1 pullup, 9 DB C&J, 2 PU, 8 DB C&J, 3 PU, until we laddered to 1 DB C&J, 10 PU. For time. And for once, I wasn't last. Pull ups have become my thing. I need to drop a band on the assist.
Tuesday night was also the 3rd Dash & Dine 5K for me and my sister. I've been sort of pacing her on this series. Her times have increased with each race. Knowing we were going to run walk the event, I didn't worry too much about doubling up the workouts that day. What I did worry a little about was the WOD the next day, Wednesday. That WOD was run a 5K for time. Well, I thought, this will be a good test of my running fitness.
On Tuesday, our finishing time was 42:17. That's about a six minute improvement since we started. On Wednesday, for the 5K time trial, I finished in 34:38. Wow! That's fast for me. It's especially fast considering how hit and miss my running training has been. This CrossFit stuff is pretty amazing. I am so all in!
Our half marathon relay is June 9th. :-)
Tuesday night was also the 3rd Dash & Dine 5K for me and my sister. I've been sort of pacing her on this series. Her times have increased with each race. Knowing we were going to run walk the event, I didn't worry too much about doubling up the workouts that day. What I did worry a little about was the WOD the next day, Wednesday. That WOD was run a 5K for time. Well, I thought, this will be a good test of my running fitness.
On Tuesday, our finishing time was 42:17. That's about a six minute improvement since we started. On Wednesday, for the 5K time trial, I finished in 34:38. Wow! That's fast for me. It's especially fast considering how hit and miss my running training has been. This CrossFit stuff is pretty amazing. I am so all in!
Our half marathon relay is June 9th. :-)
Thursday, May 9, 2013
CrossFit, Running, Vacation
Maybe not in that order. It's been a while since I've posted but it's all good. I went on vacation, where I did no running or CrossFitting or even stretching. Lots of eating, drinking, and visiting. Yay! Now, I am back home and focused, ready to make some fitness progress.
My sister and I are registered for the Skirt Sports Half Marathon Relay! I talked her into it. She's always quick to point out how I can easily make her do these things. The relay is split in half so we're building up, on our weekend long runs, to 6 miles. This weekend is the Westminster Women's Classic 5K. She is also doing the Mud Run the day before. She's also thinking about buying the Halloway walk/run timer watch.
CrossFit is really starting to gel in my mind now. I feel confident in my ability to successfully complete many of the moves. And by successful I mean struggle through with proper form. WODs are still pretty hard and they will likely always be hard if I keep pushing through to new weights I can lift, etc. But, I feel very good about knowing when I should back off from something and when I shouldn't. And I trust my coaches (well coach now that Tracie has moved :-( to Durango) to know this as well and give me proper instruction. So, I don't dread showing up. I don't dread getting injured. I don't dread any of it. I grin and bear it, suck it up, grit my teeth finish! And I love it!
Here's a photo my coach took yesterday. She loves my pushups and how I maintain my form throughout. Those were hard pushups! The workout was a 20 minute AMRAP of 5 pullups, 10 pushups, 15 air squats. I did 6 rounds plus 5 pullups. :-)
My sister and I are registered for the Skirt Sports Half Marathon Relay! I talked her into it. She's always quick to point out how I can easily make her do these things. The relay is split in half so we're building up, on our weekend long runs, to 6 miles. This weekend is the Westminster Women's Classic 5K. She is also doing the Mud Run the day before. She's also thinking about buying the Halloway walk/run timer watch.
CrossFit is really starting to gel in my mind now. I feel confident in my ability to successfully complete many of the moves. And by successful I mean struggle through with proper form. WODs are still pretty hard and they will likely always be hard if I keep pushing through to new weights I can lift, etc. But, I feel very good about knowing when I should back off from something and when I shouldn't. And I trust my coaches (well coach now that Tracie has moved :-( to Durango) to know this as well and give me proper instruction. So, I don't dread showing up. I don't dread getting injured. I don't dread any of it. I grin and bear it, suck it up, grit my teeth finish! And I love it!
Here's a photo my coach took yesterday. She loves my pushups and how I maintain my form throughout. Those were hard pushups! The workout was a 20 minute AMRAP of 5 pullups, 10 pushups, 15 air squats. I did 6 rounds plus 5 pullups. :-)
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