Metabo journal

Ran on the track at the field house. I meant to run yesterday but got held up at work. Today I didn't make it to the gym until 2 hours after I wanted to, so I am a little worried that I won't be able to sleep tonight. I was pretty hungry before running but amazingly enough I had one of the best runs in a long time. The time wasn't too fast (65:18), but I felt like a new different set of muscles were firing. I also felt great during my 1 x 60 sec plank- no shaking or quivering at all. Followed up the run with 50 ball crunches, 25 bicycles, and 50 each side leg lifts.

Again the second run of a back to back felt unexpectedly good, no knee problems. I actually ran faster than I had intended to (42:18) but it wasn't uncomfortable. Followed up the run with 50 crunches, 50 each side leg lifts, 1x60 sec plank. I think the side leg lifts are helping with the previous knee pain and the planks are preventing any lower back discomfort.

Tried to get in a longer run tonight (1:11:05) so that I have an easy run to complete my 20 miles this week. Definitely I have felt more fatigued over the last 2 weeks since I decided to up the training volume. Hopefully my body will adjust soon. I've been reading some about workout routines and there is a big push for interval training instead of longer, medium paced distances. I will try to incorporate the intervals in my shorter run tomorrow. 

As an aside, I saw a girl at the gym wearing a Texas Tech rugby shirt- the second time I've seen someone here in SLC wearing TTU. I asked her about it and it turns out that she and her boyfriend went to school there. Even though I didn't go to school there, there is something strangely comforting about the familiarity.

As a second aside, my mom and dad have started working out on the Wii fit along with doing some resistance training. I have to say that I'm very proud of them, and I wish I could be there to watch them do the Wii games- especially since I know my dad has a new boxing game. My brother and I played Wii boxing at Christmas and frankly I'm surprised that nothing was damaged in the process!

Finished my 20 miles this week in Pocatello, where Arby and I ran around the residential areas. Basically my legs and muscles are tired.

I tried to run intervals today, which is why the distance is lower than normal. I ran at 6.0 for 5', 7.0 1', 6.0 2', and 7.5 1'. After that I ran at 6.0 to complete the 3 miles. Overall the run didn't feel great- pretty tired. I followed up with 70 crunches, 50 each side leg lifts, and 4 x 200 modified leg extensions.

Hiked through the snowy foothills with Arby. I didn't meet my goal of running 20 miles this week because I felt like I was fighting off a cold for most of the week.

Ran at the field house tonight on the track. I wasn't concerned about time, just finishing the distance. Overall the run felt good- no knee pain, but I could feel my hip muscles working.

Today's run felt crummy! Pains everywhere (shoulder, side, stomach) and too many people on the track. Followed up with 25 bicycle crunches, 75 regular crunches, 50 each side leg lifts, 1 min plank.

Ran 2.15 miles on the track (20:22) and followed it up with 1 easy mile on an incline on the treadmill. Everything felt great! I really felt my hamstrings working during the uphill mile. Followed up the run with 3 x 10 (50 lbs) rowing machine, 20 each obliques (50 lbs), 1 x 1 min plank.

 This afternoon I took Mirabelle to see a new veterinarian, who very frankly shared her opinion that kitty needs to lose weight. Right now Mirabelle weighs 15 lbs and she needs to weigh 11. She also has a kitty version of the muffin-top since there is a spare tire around where she should have a waist. So to help her lose weight I started her on an exercising program that we'll blog about here too! Tonight I got her to run 10 laps across the living room before she got tired of chasing the laser pointer...it's a good start.

Wait, wait- I got her to run 13.5 laps. 

I ran outside today in shorts, which felt great! Starting at home, I ran to Liberty park and did a few laps on the wood chip path. It was a little difficult since there were pine needles on top of the wood chips and I couldn't get as solid footing as I am used to. It was a decent run in the end, finished in 63 minutes.

 Mirabelle ran 12 laps around the living room and took a long nap afterward. 

A second crummy day of running. I cut it short because I have been pretty tired lately and I didn't want to over do it. Followed up with 12 push-ups, 50 crunches, and 50 each side leg lifts.

I decided to switch it up today after some advice from Phoenix. Monday and Tuesday were 2 especially crappy workouts so I decided to do some interval work today. I ran sets of 2 normal speed laps followed by 1 faster lap for 2 miles (5 intervals) and finished with 1 regular mile. The amazingly fast Chinese runner was there today (he once wore a China running jersey), and I  swear he runs at least twice as fast as I do. He was a quarter of a lap ahead of me on one of my fast laps, and I tried to catch him but I'm pretty sure I was only matching his pace. Anyway the run today felt much better than the last two workouts. Followed up with 25 each obliques (45 lbs), 10+30 sec+10 each side leg lifts, 50 crunches, 17 push-ups, and a 1 min plank.

 I have set my goal for the past 4-5 weeks to run 20 miles per week, but I'm not sure that it is the right goal for me. I have fallen into a routine of repetitive slow-medium paced runs to try to get the miles in. I think I should do some more cross training coupled with one longer run a week. This might not add up to 20 miles each week, which is ok.