3.1 miles - Phew!

Yeah, I didn't get my second Insanity workout in last night. My legs just felt too tired.

My friend, Kelly, asked me what's the fastest I've ever run a 5K. Having never done a 5K race or 3.1 miles exactly on the treadmill, I had no idea. So out of curiousity, even though today was supposed to be my easy run, I figured let's see how fast I can do it.

I did my one mile warm-up at 5.7. I've discovered that a warm-up is a must for me. I have tried running "fast" from the start, but always wind up burning out and walking after just a mile or two. Not cool.

After I did the warm-up mile, I reset the treadmill. I figured I'd aim for negative splits, Mile 1 at 6.1 (9:50/mile), Mile 2 at 6.2 (9:41/mile) and Mile 3 at 6.3 (9:31/mile). I was feeling tired towards the middle of Mile 2 so I figured I would just maintain that pace into Mile 3. I was feeling better towards the end of Mile 3, so I bumped it up to 6.3 at 2.75 miles. Then I kept upping it because I wanted to finish in under 30 minutes. My last speed ending up being 7.5 (8:00/mile). But I finished in under 30 minutes! 29:58!

I wonder if I could have done it faster if I did this run yesterday when I was feeling good.

Running in a skirt - Woo-hoo!

The family and I went to to the snow on Sunday and came back Monday night. So I missed an Insanity workout. We stopped by some stores on our way back. Woo-hoo! Nike outlet! I found a cute skirt/capri thingie in addition to a bunch of other crap I had to have. I can't run in short shorts. My thighs are too big and rub together. So I figured this skirt/capri hybrid would be perfect for making me feel like a girly girl on my runs. The husband saw it and laughed.

Anyway, I figured I would do an Insanity workout this morning and another one this evening to catch up. I had some free time this afternoon and also decided to hit the gym and go for a run. What better time to test out my skirt/capri thingamabob?

When I tried it on the night before and ran around my room it felt odd, like I was wearing an apron. But whatever. The outlet was hours away and so I had to make use of it as this puppy wasn't going to be returned.

Now I had no set plan for my run at the gym. I figured 3 miles minimum, the speed would be determined by how I felt. And I felt great! It must have been the 4 chocolate chip cookies I ate beforehand. But I was feeling full of energy and in love with running. This time, the smile on my face was from sheer happiness from running.. I did a warm-up mile at 5.7 (10:31/mile). At Mile 2, I figured, "What the hell, let's do a tempo run!" I was feeling that good. So I did the next 3 miles at 6.1 (9:50/mile). And I felt good the entire time. Actually, it felt kind of easy and slow. But I figured I better keep pace so I don't tire out. Then I did the last cool-down mile back at 5.7 (10:31/mile). 5 miles knocked out like nothing! I think I should eat chocolate chip cookies before every run! Or maybe it was the skirt!

This morning I did Insanity's Cardio Power and Resistance. I still have to do Plyo tonight. When I was looking on my phone for my photo of me in my skirt, I discovered some pics my five-year old had taken of me while working out this morning. Hehe.

Globe jumps, I think. Looks like I need to sink a bit deeper into my squats.

That's cute. V push-ups. Yeah, I know, my room's a mess.

I am actually quite pleased with the minimal muffin top in this pic. Trust me. It looks really bad most times.

Sigh. I don't know how I'm going to do Plyo tonight. My legs feel shot.

10 Mile Run Fail - Check, 5 Mile Run Fail - Check

Yeah, my gloves, jacket and iPod you see? On the floor instead of on my person during a run.

My schedule called for my long run today, you know with tomorrow being Christmas and all, I figured I better do my long run today so I could spend Christmas morning with the family. For some reason, I just was not looking forward to the 10 miles I had planned. I don't know why. I normally love my long runs.

Since it wasn't raining I figured I'd take to the streets for my 10 miles. I've been avoiding the roads to give my foot a break and have only done a few quick 3 milers on the streets since my foot has gotten better. I normally hit the trails for my long runs, but it's been raining and I discovered that running in mud is no fun. The mud quickly sticks to the bottom of your shoes and keeps building so eventually it's like you're running in heels. It's not fun having to stop every few feet to kick off the mud.

The night before I checked over my old 10 mile route on mapmyrun.com to refresh my memory and let the husband know I'd leave it up on the computer so he would know where to look for my body if I never made it home. I charged my iPod and put out my clothes. I was excited that I'd get to wear my new gloves.

Come 7 am, I did not want to get out of bed. I checked the weather. It was a brisk 44°. Sigh. Ate half a Clif bar, got dressed, shoved a GU in my pocket and headed out. I live in a cul-de-sac. At the bottom of a hill. So right away, it's a hill I have to tackle. That's always fun when your legs feel like lead. Not. Towards the top of the hill I checked my pace - 13:46. Jesus!

Now the good thing about climbing a hill, is that when you get to the top you get to go downhill! Hooray! Pace - 9:00. Downhills always make me feel fast (Yeah, I know, shut it. Fast for me). Hehe.

I was just not feeling this run. After just the first mile, I thought to myself, "God, I have 9 more miles!" When my Garmin showed 2.5 miles, I figured, "F--- this s---! 5 miles is good enough!" So I turned around and headed home. Now around the area I was at, they had opened a new walking path. I figured I would hop on it and see where it led. Might as well have a little adventure. It led me through open fields, which was a nice change. It looked like eventually they would build houses here. And then I was behind some houses in a neighborhood adjacent to mine. And I knew these trails were a shortcut to my house. Score!

My newly planned 5 mile run (formerly 10 mile run), became 3.65 miles. Ah, well. It's more than most people do. Sometimes you just don't feel it. This morning was one of those times. It was all mental. I knew my body could handle it. My legs and lungs didn't feel tired. My brain, however, kept saying, "Let's go home!" Okay, brain, okay.

Smile, you're stupid

Yesterday was supposed to be my easy day - a short easy 3 mile run and Insanity's Cardio Recovery. However, with my shortened work hours and getting off an hour earlier than normal, I figured, "Eh, why not do a little bit of strength training, too?" I figured a half hour of weights before my run wouldn't kill me.

Now, I hate doing weights. HATE. It's boring and repetitive and did I say boring already? The plus side of doing weights is that I get to hang out on the main floor of the gym a lot longer and get to peep out all the cuties, which is precisely what I did. Hehe. When I was done, I didn't see my favorite cutie, Hottie Trainer. Boo. So I kind of looked around and there he was. I felt kind of stupid since it was pretty obvious, but he gave me a big smile, which I sheepishly returned before running away to the treadmills. Jeez, why can't I ever be cool?

My easy 3 miles went well. I ran most of it with a giant smile on my face. I was feeling good, happy that my legs could run, just feeling rather fortunate. Oh, and I was also smiling because I felt rather stupid being caught looking for Hottie Trainer.

Kind of a tempo run

Since I failed miserably last week on my planned tempo run, I figured I'd try again last night. After throwing on my work-out clothes and walking out the locker room, I saw Hottie Trainer. He smiled and waved at me, which always puts a little extra pep in my step.Alright, good sign.

I felt strong with the warm up mile at 5.5 (11:00 minute/mile) and was just pretty glad I was able to run one mile without stopping, unlike last week. I had read an article recently that said the ideal leg turnover pace was 180 per minute, or 90 per leg. To count your turnover, you count every time one foot hits the ground for 15 seconds, then multiply that number by 4. I counted 17 at this pace. That's only 68. Boo. Maybe my faster pace would be better.

I then upped it to 6.1 (9:50 minute/mile) and planned on staying at that speed for the next two miles. Again, I counted my turnover. 19 at this pace. That's still only 76. I need to get that 15 second turnover pace closer to 22 or 23. So somehow, I need to add 3 or 4 more steps in 15 seconds.

Anyway, I was feeling pretty good running 6.1 for the second mile. And then I started getting tired in the middle of the third mile. I kept yelling at myself in my head, "Finish strong! Finish strong!" Pretty soon that turned into just, "Finish! Just finish!" I made a deal with myself. If I could just finish out the third mile at 6.1, I wouldn't even have to run the last cool-down mile. Yep, that worked. Done.

12/20/10 Weigh-in: 122.0, 18.9%

I will do a more thorough post on my weight issues some other time. However, since my work hours have been cut for the next couple of weeks and I'm only working 4 hours today and I've already wasted 2 of those hours piddling around on the internet and I have a TON of work today, here are today's quick stats:

Weight: 122.0 (122.2, 122.0, 122.0)
Body fat %: 18.9% (18.8%, 18.9%, 18.9%)

I'm a bit OCD when it comes to weighing myself and MUST weigh myself three times in case one of the readings in inaccurate or something.

I use a Tanita scale. And I'm around 5'3/5'4 in case you were curious.

God, I guess I better tackle my in-box...

Insanity - Week 2 Fit Test - Results

I started Insanity back in October, but then I got sick and had to take a break. These are my Fit Test results from 10/03/10, 10/17/10, 11/07/10 and 12/05/10, 12/19/10 when I started back up again.

Switch Kicks - 48.5 - 50 - 51 - 55 - 62

Power Jacks - 42 - 47 - 46 - 50 - 52

Power Knees - 86 - 104 - 110 - 112 - 120

Power Jumps - 31 - 35 - 37 - 41 - 38

Globe Jumps - 8 - 10 - 11 - 11.75 - 12

Suicide Jumps - 15 - 19 - 17 - 18 - 19

Push-up Jacks - 20 - 30 - 27 - 40 - 45

Low Plank Obliques - 22 - 35 - 40 - 40 - 45

I got better in everything except for Power Jumps. Those suck ass. And I think I might have been cheating on my Push-up Jacks and not going down as far as I could with the push-ups.

My foot was feeling much better when I woke up this morning. No pain at all. However, I can feel it starting to hurt again. Ugh!

Oh, God, please not plantar fasciitis!

Today was my 9 mile long run. Since it was rainy today, I hit the gym. I decided to use my Brooks Glycerin since the salesperson at the store told me I should use them for my long runs. All my other running shoes were a size 8.5, my regular size. However, when I went to the local running store to get professionally fitted after my foot got better, the salesperson told me you should get your running shoes a half to a full size bigger. Who knew? I already have big feet to begin with. It kind of sucked having to get shoes even bigger. Ah, well.

Anyway, I've been using the Glycerins with a Superfeet insole. I didn't like the insoles very much. They felt uncomfortable. So I only used the Glycerins for some of my shorter runs. Well, today, I pulled out the Superfeet insoles and just put the original insoles back in. Much better.

At the gym, shortly into the first mile I could tell it was going to be a good run. You know how sometimes you just get that feeling? You feel strong and like you can run forever. As I ran, I watched the guy in front of me on his treadmill. Sometimes I like to imagine that I'm pacing people in a race. I thought it was pretty interesting that he was drinking a Pepsi.

I had brought a GU (espresso flavor, yummy by the way) to take after 5 miles. I remember feeling super tired from last week's 8 mile run when I ate nothing during the entire run. However, I started to feel a tad bit tired after 4 miles and figured it was best to take the GU then. Great idea! I felt re-energized. I only stopped after another 2 miles to take a drink of my water because I was thirsty as hell. (We haven't been grocery shopping in a while and had zero water at home.) And I finished the rest of my run feeling strong. (Well, except for a little of the last mile when I felt like my lungs were struggling. My legs still felt strong, though.)

Most of the run was at 5.5, except for Miles 3 and 4, which were done at 5.7. And the very last tenth of a mile I did at 6.0. I figured slow and steady was best for today's run.

Now, though, the arch of my left foot is feeling a little bit sore. Argh! I've been stretching it, and I've got a bottle of water in the freezer so I can roll my foot over it once it's frozen. I plan on doing a bunch of calf stretches and exercises tonight to try to make it better. That would really suck if I got injured again.

P90X® versus Insanity®

(The video above has nothing to do with Insanity or P90X. I just came across it while looking for Insanity clips and loved this guy so much!)

My workout schedule for last night called for P90X's Chest & Back and Insanity's Cardio Power & Resistence. Yeah, I know I was supposed to take a break from double work-outs, but I feel like a slacker when I only do one.

Several months ago I suffered from serious gym burnout. After going to the gym regularly for a year, I couldn't stand it anymore. I hated the smell, I hated seeing all the same machines and equipment, I hated seeing the same ol' people. But I knew I still had to strength train. So P90X it was! I started doing it with the husband. Tony Horton cracked us up. That guy is pretty entertaining. The workouts were challenging and left me feeling sweaty and accomplished. However, since I was still running, I eventually phased P90X back out and started going back to the gym. It was just easier to hit the weights and then hop straight on the treadmill.

Then I hurt my foot around August or September (bursitis according to the doc). The podiatrist told me to lay off of running until it felt better. I tried the elliptical at the gym, but I freakin hate that machine. It's sooooooo boring. I think I lasted 20 minutes the first time. The next time I hopped on it, I didn't even last 3 minutes. I was watching a guy run in front of me on the treadmill, and I just got angry and jealous and left. I was going to go back to P90X, but a running friend recommended I try Insanity. He said he did it while his foot was injured. It didn't hurt his foot, and when he returned to running he was still as fast as before.

So I looked into it. I remember one person saying Insanity was like doing P90X's plyometric workout at six times the intensity every day for six days a week. Haha! Sold! Sounds like the challenge I needed. I showed the husband that review and he told me to have fun. Heh.

Insanity has you doing the Fit Test for the first day. Okay, tiring, but not so bad. You do several exercises and record how many reps you can do. I thought this was pretty neat as it has you do the Fit Test every two weeks so you can see how much you've improved. The second day called for Plyometric Cardio Circuit. Oh. My. Freakin. God. I was panting from the get-go. Sweat was spewing from every single pore of my body. I wanted to die. Intense would be an understatement in describing this workout. Every short 30 second water break was like mana from heaven. And well, except for Cardio Recovery, every single other Insanity workout was just as intense. You know the workouts are pretty damn hard-core when even the folks in the work-out and Shaun T, the host, himself, needs to take a break.

Insanity has you working out 6 days a week for a total of 9 weeks. The first 4 weeks cycles through five different workouts:

1) Fit Test
2) Plyometric Cardio Circuit
3) Cardio Power & Resistence
4) Cardio Recovery
5) Pure Cardio

Some days also incorporate a Cardio Abs workout in addition to whatever is scheduled for the day.

After the 4 weeks, you then do 1 week of Core Cardio & Balance to recover. You do this 6 days for the recovery week. This was slower, but had some killer shoulder endurance exercises.

Then it's on to the final 4 weeks. This phase cycles through four different workouts:

1) Max Interval Circuit
2) Max Interval Plyo
3) Max Cardio Conditioning
4) Max Recovery

It also incorporates the Fit Test and Cardio abs with some of the workouts. I only made it through the first 3 workouts listed above. I got really sick (super bad cold and cough) and had problems breathing. Plus, the cold had me super tired to be begin with.

When I finished the first four weeks of Insanity, I was feeling pretty damn good about myself. I was able to almost (hehe) keep up with the workouts. And then came Month 2. Jeez. I felt like a complete and utter weakling. If I thought the first month of Insanity was crazy hard, the second month was like three times more intense!

Anyway, like I said, I only made it 3 days into Month 2 of Insanity. I'm trying again, but right now I'm only two weeks into the first Month.

Where Insanity only takes 9 weeks to finish, P90X takes 13. P90X has you cycle through 6 different workouts for the first 3 weeks, then there's a recovery week with the "easier" workouts. Then it kinds of repeats that for the rest of the schedule.

Last night after I did P90X's Chest & Back workout, I didn't even break a sweat. Now don't get me wrong. It's a great workout! I so welcomed Tony Horton's workout. You get breaks galore and never do you feel like you want to die. I love P90X's strength workouts. They're great and Tony Horton makes me laugh.

When I did P90X's Legs & Back workout for the first time, I did it with the husband. He had to quit after the first half. I pressed on and he was amazed asking me how come I didn't feel like dying. Hehe. Keep in mind that I was regularly hitting the gym 3 times a week to strength train, running 20 - 30 miles a week, and taking a couple of group exercise classes. But even with that base, Insanity had me feeling like an exercise newbie.

P90X is great if you want to get strong. I could never keep up with its Ab Ripper X. And Yoga X made me sweat big time. I know! Yoga!

However, for me, cardio and endurance is my priority, hence, I'm following the Insanity schedule. However, because I do want to maintain my strength, I'm also incorporating the P90X strength training workouts into my schedule. They're fun and a nice breather before the Insanity workouts. And I like the eye-candy on Insanity. Shaun T is fine as hell (I could give a damn if he's gay). And there's another cutie named Jimmy who is in some of the workouts. Yum. Wait, what were we talking about again?

Running clothes outside of running

I very rarely wear my running/work out clothes outside of running or the gym. The only exception is my running jackets. (Oh, and the one time I wore my black running tights and black long-sleeve running shirt on Halloween for my cat costume at my kids' school. My regular black leggings were too sheer and no one needs to see my ass. But I digress.) I'll buy a jacket thinking, "Oh, this will keep me warm when I run on cold days." And then I'll like the jacket so much that I'll wear it as a regular jacket and never want to ruin it with my sweat. To date, three "running" jackets have been converted to regular jackets and have never seen the light of day during a run. Today I'm wearing number four.

I tried really hard to get a good picture of me in my jacket.

This one looks okay, except it looks like I have a little pot belly.

Snuck back to the work bathroom again later in an attempt to take a better picture.

Tried a different angle. I just look like a dumb-ass modeling a phone facing the wrong way.

Ah, well, anyway, that's me. Hi!

Went to the gym last night. Yesterday's work-out schedule called for an easy 3 mile run and then Insanity® Cardio Recovery. I told myself if I could just run one full mile, I'd already be doing better than I did on Monday. I did the first mile at an easy 5.5 (11:00/mile). Then the second mile I upped it a bit to 5.7 (10:26/mile). I tried to convince myself that I could do that last mile at 6.0 (10:00/mile).

Thank God that's when my friend, Steph came by! Without any hesitation I slowed the treadmill down to a walk. Steph told me I didn't have to do that. (Oh, yes, I did!) We talked for a bit and then she went off to do her cardio on the elliptical since her foot was still sore.

Okay, back to my last mile. I started back at an easy 5.5. After a tenth of a mile, upped it to 5.7. Then after a quarter of a mile, I put it to 6.0. See, this isn't so bad. I can do this! I felt so good, that when the display read 0.75 miles, I upped the speed to 6.5 (9:14/mile) to run the last quarter mile. And I did it! Hooray me!

Steph came back when I was done with my last mile and hopped on the treadmill next to me. I think she saw me in all my bad-assness running that last fast (haha) quarter mile and wanted to run, too. She put her treadmill to 5.5 and was easily still talking to me as she ran. I would have been unable to speak, much less look to my side running at that speed. That girl's got it. Me? I was just happy that I finished that last mile in under 10 minutes.

34th Annual Holiday Run & Walk For Health - 3 Mile - Race Report

I hurt my foot back around September and took about a two month break from running to let it get better. I figured the 3 mile race on December 11, 2010 in the 34th Annual Holiday Run & Walk For Health would be an easy race to get back into the swing of things. Plus, it had a Santa Dash for the kids, and my 6 year old has been wanting to do a race.

I woke up around 7 am and had my usual breakfast of peanut butter toast and a protein shake. I woke the kids up around 8 and got them dressed since I wanted to leave the house at 8:30. The husband was a tad bit miffed when he realized he had to stay with us the whole time. He was thinking he'd go for the kids race and then head back home. He had no idea the kids race was after mine. Ah, well. We stopped by McDonald's on the way over there, and I got a couple of hash browns and a sausage McMuffin for the kids. Husband said he didn't want anything. The kids ate their hash browns, but not the sausage McMuffin, which the husband gladly consumed.

When it was time for the 3 mile race to start, I somehow got there last and was in the back of the crowd. Boo. I had to do a ton of weaving and sprinting just to get around a lot of people. The first part of the race had us running on muddy paths. Not fun. Most of the race went pretty smoothly. I was wearing a tight long-sleeved shirt as it was super cold that morning (maybe around 50°), but after a mile, I wished I had on something less constricting. I now understood why people wore tanks and arm warmers. There was a girl in black in front of me that I was pacing. But around a mile and half I passed her and never saw her again. Then there came a hill. I normally kick ass on hills, but just couldn't do this one and walked the top portion of it. Boo.

Towards the end of the race I was pacing an older lady. When I knew the end was near, I started my kick and I would have passed her, but I think she felt me there and used a car to block me. Hehe. Tricky old lady. Anyway, I finished feeling strong and even saw the husband and kids at the finish line waiting for me.

My official time was 29:29:48 (Average pace of 9:50/mile). I was 10th in my age group (out of 22) and 122nd overall (out of 296). My goal for this race was to run it in under 30 minutes. Hooray! Goal met.

My Garmin times (which said an average pace of 10:14/mile) was a tad bit off from the official chip time.

Mile 1 - 9:57
Mile 2 - 10:34
Mile 3 (.91 miles according to garmin) - 9:16

The kids did their Santa dash later on, and my daughter complained that it didn't feel like a race because it was too short. I guess I'll have to put her in the 1 mile race next year. Hehe.

And Yesterday Was Not A Good Day

Quick background: I've been running off and on for about the past 18 years (damn!), mostly off and with very little consistency. It's only been for about the past year that I've actually made it a regular habit to run several times a week.

After a recent race this weekend (34th Annual Holiday Run & Walk for Health - 3 mile. Race report coming soon.), I spoke with one of the moms whose 6 year old daughter ran the 1 mile race and actually placed first in her age group last year. Later on, I checked the results from last year, and this 6 year old, then 5, ran the 1 mile in 10:08! Not only that, but her sisters, then 8 and 10, ran it in 8:49 and 7:52 respectively. Dayam!

With that in my head, I vowed to do speedwork at the gym last night. I told a friend of mine about it and he said, "So you want to get faster so you can beat children? Heh. Good luck with that."

I was going to do a short tempo run. 1 mile at easy pace (11:00/mile), 2 miles at hard pace (10:00/mile), 1 mile at easy pace (11:00/mile).

I couldn't even run the first freakin mile! At the freakin easy pace! Talk about mental blocks. So for the next two miles I just did fartleks. I would do 1 minute of 7.0 (8:34/mile)or 7.5 (8:00/mile) alternating with 1 minute of walking to recover. Sometimes I would throw in an 8.0 (7:30/mile), but I never made it to a full minute with those, maybe 40 seconds. After a total of 3 miles on the treadmill, I figured that was enough and decided to end it with a nice easy mile at 5.5 (11:00/mile). Even that made me tired and I stopped at 3.5 miles.

Super disappointing run. Beaten by children.

Okay, in my defense, I think I've been taking on too much and am burning out. My previous days' schedule looked like this:

Friday - Rest Day
Saturday - 3 mile race, Insanity® Plyo
Sunday - 45 minutes of weights, hour spin class, Insanity® Cardio Power & Resistence

I'm thinking the double/triple workouts might be a tad too much. At least that's what I'm telling myself.

Sheesh. One freakin mile! I couldn't even run one freakin mile!