Posts tagged: appearance

Training Week 12

By , January 10, 2010 7:43 am

Ugh, this is way too long. Trying to work on that! If you decide to skim, make sure you check out my wipe-out story in the January 9 section (and I always appreciate your feedback on my questions in bold!).

Day 78 | January 4, 2010: strength

I had nightmares on Sunday about how busy the gym would be Monday (due to New Years Resolution-ers). How sad is that? It was unusually crowded. There were a lot of new faces, and a lot of randomness (meandering from machine to machine) but I only had to adjust my routine a bit.

I ended up using the new machines on Monday, and had to up the weight a bit on them (the weight was in different increments than the old machines). Yep. I had shaky arms afterward. Loved it!

Ha ha. I heard a funny conversation in the locker room while I was changing to go work out. One woman was getting ready to leave and another woman came in and recognized her. “Oh!” said the women who was walking in, “You’re starting the new year off right!”

“Actually,” the other woman said, “I have been doing this since October!” (Then she talked about one of the trainers and how great the program is that she set up for her and how it “saved her life.” Yeah. She said that.)

I bet that woman who had just finished her workout was feeling pretty good about herself, being able to say she had been working out since October. The other woman did say this was her “first workout.” Hope she can stick with it!

Biangular Lat Row: 15 @ 30 lb, 15 @ 50 lb, 15 @ 50 lb
Lateral Raise: 15 @ 25 lb, 15 @ 37.5 lb, 15 @ 37.5 lb
Biangular Chest Press: 15 @ 30 lb, 15 @ 50 lb, 15 @ 50 lb
Shoulder Press: 15 @ 20 lb, 15 @ 20 lb, 15 @ 20 lb
Lat Pulldowns: 15 @ 45 lb, 15 @ 60 lb, 15 @ 60 lb
Pectoral Fly: 15 @ 45 lb, 15 @ 60 lb, 15 @ 60 lb
Arm Curl: 15 @ 25 lb, 15 @ 25 lb, 15 @ 25 lb
Seated Leg Press: 15 @ 70 lb, 15 @ 70 lb, 15 @ 90 lb
Leg Extension: 15 @ 30 lb, 15 @ 45 lb, 15 @ 45 lb
Leg Curl: 15 @ 30 lb, 15 @ 40 lb, 15 @ 20 lb
Hip Abduction: 3 x 15 @ 115 lb
Hip Adduction: 3 x 15 @ 55 lb
Woodchop: 15 each side at 30 lb
V Bar Pushdowns: 3 x15 @ 30 lb

Day 79 | January 5, 2010: 6 m run + cross

I don’t know what it is about running on the office treadmill in the morning, but it has been going really well for me. I think I am a morning runner.

I headed back down to the gym at lunch time for some biking. A coworker saw me taking my jewelry off (to lock at my desk) and said, “Are you going to the gym? Weren’t you there this morning?!” (Why yes, I was, remember, you said to me “Your motivation sickens me, Kim!”). Ha. She was only teasing me, but hey, I told her, I have nothing better to do at lunch time…

The only problem is that I am starting to get really hungry. And it’s hard not to eat everything in sight!

Distance: 6.0 | Time: 59:34 | 1: 10:21 | 2: 10:11 | 3: 10:00 | 4: 9:50 | 5: 9:41 | 6: 9:31
Bike Time: 45:00 | Distance: 8.22 (Set on “Ozark Trails”)

Day 80 | January 6, 2010: strength

What is your opinion on strength workouts – should you target areas, like “upper body” or “lower body” per day, or do entire body strength workouts?

I fit in what I can – strength 2-3 times a week, so I focus on whole body (like below). But I overheard this guy telling another guy in the gym about how disappointed he was when his son came home for Christmas and he found out that the son’s college track coach had them doing entire body workouts in the weight room. I was surprised he was so upset (I’m so nosy, I know!).

Biangular Lat Row: 15 @ 30 lb, 15 @ 50 lb, 15 @ 50 lb
Lateral Raise: 15 @ 25 lb, 15 @ 37.5 lb, 15 @ 37.5 lb
Biangular Chest Press: 15 @ 30 lb, 15 @ 50 lb, 15 @ 50 lb
Shoulder Press: 15 @ 20 lb, 15 @ 20 lb, 15 @ 20 lb
Lat Pulldowns: 15 @ 45 lb, 15 @ 60 lb, 15 @ 60 lb
Pectoral Fly: 15 @ 45 lb, 15 @ 60 lb, 15 @ 60 lb
Arm Curl: 15 @ 25 lb, 15 @ 25 lb, 15 @ 25 lb
Seated Leg Press: 15 @ 70 lb, 15 @ 70 lb, 15 @ 90 lb
Leg Extension: 15 @ 30 lb, 15 @ 45 lb, 15 @ 45 lb
Leg Curl: 15 @ 30 lb, 15 @ 40 lb, 15 @ 20 lb

Day 81 | January 7, 2010: 6 m run

I had another great 6-miler on the office treadmill (well, great until the last 7 minutes when I had to poo like no other). I get there early, turn on NBC and read the captions while I run and listen to music. Ha, it would be so cool if there was a station I could turn out to read blogs! Would you tune in? The only problem would be leaving comments.

Distance: 6.0 | Time: 59:34 | 1: 10:21 | 2: 10:11 | 3: 10:00 | 4: 9:50 | 5: 9:41 | 6: 9:31

Day 82 | January 8, 2010: cross

This post is getting WAY too long, so I am not going to say much about this uneventful hour bike ride (okay, except that I read a copy of Health and liked it – I might get a subscription).

Bike Time: 1:00:00 | Distance: 10.88 (Set on “Ozark Trails”)

Day 83 | January 9, 2010: 8 m run

Saturday should have been our half marathon in Disney World. I thought I would feel really sad that we were unable to race it (we had already paid the race fee – over $200 for the both of us), but when I saw the weather, I was happy we stayed home.

That snapshot of the weather was taken at 8:20 AM ET, at least 30 minutes to an hour after we would have been finished running – so it would have been even colder when we started running. The whole point of going to Disney was to have a fun, warm vacation in January. Guess this wasn’t the weekend for that (someone from my office went – I will have to ask them how it was)!

Ha, of course, I write that, then I am about to tell you how I ran 8 miles in this instead:

Well, I expect that kind of weather here! I couldn’t take another treadmill run. And even though we got a lot of snow this week, the sidewalks were mostly clear in my part of the neighborhood.

Can you tell I am smiling?

I didn’t feel cold at all when I was running. It was a comfortable and fun eight miles. Even with this:

Now, my pants didn’t look like that when I left the house. I was coming up to a turn right before the 7 mile mark. There was a huge patch of ice at the turn, and every time I  had passed it before, a dog barked at me from inside a nearby house. It had startled me the first few times, so this time, I mentally prepared for it. When the dog didn’t bark, I kind of turned to look at the house, and slipped, landing on my left knee. I got back up to keep running and noticed I tore through my outer pants AND my tights! A very hardcore fall! But I didn’t feel too sore when it happened. Strange! It will definitely bruise this week.

I had two Orange Shot Bloks (first time trying them) at about 4.5 miles. Of course, being brilliant (see slipping, above), I left them outside on our porch and they FROZE. So, there was some chewing involved. I may have actually liked them better that way! I didn’t notice a surge in energy, but didn’t run that much farther anyway.

I listened to a Vegetarian Food for Thought podcast while running. I know that vegetarian topics might not be interesting to everyone, but I really enjoyed it and recommend checking it out. There are about 100 free episodes, I think. I listened to one called “The Compassionate Kitchen: Eating Healthy in the Recession” and liked the style of it and the tips for saving money during the “recession.” I have been getting sick of listening to music and miss having someone to talk to, so this keeps me stimulated.

Ha, isn’t it funny how much dirty clothes you end up with after a cold weather run?

Distance: 8.0 | Time: 1:17:30 | 1: 9:51 | 2: 9:51 | 3: 9:49 | 4: 9:45 | 5: 9:41 | 6: 9:40 | 7: 9:40 | 8: 9:10

Day 84 | January 10, 2010: cross

I decided to take a bit of a rest day and just did Level 2 of The 30 Day Shred with 2 pound weights.

Week Summary: 20.00 miles

I felt really good this week – sore, but in a good way. Hmm, I do need to ask though, have you ever had soreness in the outside muscle of your lower leg? (In the area circled in red in the picture below – not sure why I decided to take a picture of MY leg, then circle it, instead of using some random leg on the internet.)

My right leg has been sore there for about two weeks. I can’t figure out what it is (online). I started to ice it a bit Friday night. It starts at the top of the leg and kind of runs down to my ankle.

I saw a few other things on the internet this week I thought I would share:

How flexible are your hamstrings? I’ve feared mine are very tight since I visited the doctor in September and they confirmed it. I saw this article on the Runner’s World website that says hamstrings are one of runner’s tightest muscle groups, and gives a stretch to follow to make them more flexible.

Does anyone participate in the forums on the Runner’s World website? I don’t follow them, but saw this thread (in their newsletter) asking about running blogs for inspiration – you night want to share yours!

Training Week 11

By , January 3, 2010 12:08 pm

Day 71 | December 28, 2009: cross

I walked 4 miles on our treadmill at home. Our treadmill has been getting squeakier and squeakier. I hope nothing is wrong with it!

Distance: 4.0 | Time: 1:00:00 | 1: 15:00 | 2: 15:00 | 3: 15:00 | 4: 15:00

Day 72 | December 29, 2009: cross + strength

Tuesday was my first day back in the office and I felt TIRED, like “How did I make it into the office?” tired. I was already planning on doing an abbreviated version of my workout and then I got to the gym and three of the machines I use were gone (they are being replaced). I took that as a sign to make the workout short and sweet!

Lateral Raise: 15 @ 25 lb, 15 @ 37.5 lb, 15 @ 37.5 lb
Shoulder Press: 15 @ 20 lb, 15 @ 20 lb, 15 @ 20 lb
Lat Pulldowns: 15 @ 45 lb, 15 @ 60 lb, 15 @ 60 lb
Pectoral Fly: 15 @ 30 lb, 15 @ 45 lb, 15 @ 45 lb
Arm Curl: 15 @ 25 lb, 15 @ 25 lb, 15 @ 25 lb
Leg Extension: 15 @ 30 lb, 15 @ 45 lb, 15 @ 45 lb
Leg Curl: 15 @ 30 lb, 15 @ 40 lb, 15 @ 20 lb
Hip Abduction: 3 x 15 @ 115 lb
Hip Adduction: 3 x 15 @ 55 lb

I fit in a 2 mile walk when I got home. It should have been a run, but I am kind of sick of our treadmill… and it’s only the beginning of winter! I think I prefer the treadmill at work.

Distance: 2.0 | Time: 30:00 | 1: 15:00 | 2: 15:00

Day 73 | December 30, 2009: 6 m run

I ran 6 miles on the treadmill at work. I was half conscious when I started running and accidentally set my pace for 6.2 mph instead of 5.8. Oops. After I realized it (it took me a whole mile!) I decided to stick with it.

Distance: 6.0 | Time: 57:28 | 1: 9:41 | 2: 9:41 | 3: 9:41 | 4: 9:31 | 5: 9:31 | 6: 9:23

Day 74 | December 31, 2009: cross

Ugh, I had every intention of doing a strength workout, especially since I wouldn’t be back at the office until Monday, but I just… didn’t. I wasn’t feeling it. My back kind of hurt (total lame excuse) and I felt like an easy bike ride instead.

Bike Time: 45:00 | Distance: 8.24 (Set on “Random Hills”)

Day 75 | January 1, 2010: 5 m run

I ran 5 miles on the treadmill at home while watching a show on TLC called “Obese and Pregnant.” It was really interesting and actually kept me intrigued during the entire run. Has anyone else seen it?

Distance: 5.0 | Time: 50:03 | 1: 10:21 | 2: 10:11 | 3: 10:00 | 4: 9:50 | 5: 9:41

Day 76 | January 2, 2010: cross

Saturday was a very lazy day… a “stay in your pajamas until 4:00” sort of day! I would have liked to do more than a 3 mile walk, but meh, I was stuck inside with the stupid treadmill (high of 10° or something).

Distance: 3.0 | Time: 45:00 | 1: 15:00 | 2: 15:00 | 3: 15:00

Day 77 | January 3, 2010: 3 m run + 1 m walk

I think running inside is killing my running mojo. Do you ever feel like that? I intended to take a long run outside but got up and saw this:

Ugh. So I got on the treadmill, but just couldn’t take it. I ran 3 miles (perfectly timed to what I had left to watch of The Godfather: Part II) then walked 1.

I am just going to hope I can run outside next week.

Distance: 4.0 | Time: 45:31 | 1: 10:21 | 2: 10:11 | 3: 10:00 | 4: 15:00

Week Summary: 24:00 miles (includes 10 miles of walking)

This was not my best week. Sure, I got my workouts in, but I felt lazy. I didn’t feel it. I think this super cold weather is making me feel crappy (And it doesn’t help that I have a super sick husband. Poor thing! Hope he doesn’t pass it on to me). I’ll just keep doing what I can…

I added a little ticker on the right to keep track of my running mileage for 2010. My plan was 1000 miles. Then I saw this 1,010 in 2010 challenge and thought, why not? Anyone else in? (current participants listed here) You can track the miles however you want – running, walking, swimming, biking, elliptical, etc. I am just going to track my running miles.

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