Week 30 - 5 Weeks to M Day!

It's week 30! I am getting excited and I am really looking forward to this marathon. I am feeling really good and I am appreciating all the lessons that running is teaching me, patience being the top one and learning to seek peace in uncomfortable situations.

These lessons are helping me navigate my life outside of running and I am becoming a better person. My gym sessions are becoming therapeutic and my stress is even more manageable. The gifts of just becoming more active are amazing and I am a more happier person.

Last week's wrap-up:

Wednesday's  5 miler

Thursday's 50 minute tempo run 

I love this piece of equipment. I used this to do back rows - I was suppose to do back extensions yet this equipment was calling my name, great for the back and alleviates back flap hanging over bra! :)   

So last weekend was jammed backed with pre celebrating my 5th year anniversary and my dearest friend visiting from New York. So what did not get done was any workouts from Friday to Sunday....I know....So Monday I ended up doing Saturday's 10 mile pace workout on the treadmill.

3.78 +  6.25 = 10 MILES!

8 x hills workout will be done by tonight, Wednesday as I missed doing my hills on Friday. There was no outside running last week which is attributed to me not wanting to leave my bed in the mornings...with the cooler mornings which I love seem along with the pitch darkness; waking up early was hard for me last week. Hopefully I have that out of my system and will be up with the birds this week.

Week 30 workout is below with my edits and  DIVA HALF MARATHON is this Saturday!!!!!!

Week 30 looks like this:

Monday 9.21               5 Miles Made up 10 mile pace run

Tuesday 9.22               8X800  Will do Friday - worked all day and night ahhhh

Wednesday 9.23         5 Miles and 8x Hills - "Double Duty Day"

Thursday 9.24            5 Mile Pace

Friday 9.25                 REST 8x800 No rest for the weary!

Saturday 9.26             DIVA HALF MARATHON

Sunday 9.27               6 Miles

Its the second week for the weight training routine I posted on my last blog. Looking forward to my chest and shoulder workouts which I missed last week. I am happy with the abs, back, arms and legs workouts so far. 

Looking forward to the DIVA Half Marathon this Saturday in Leesburg, Virginia! Along with celebrating my official 5th Year Wedding Anniversary on Friday. I will enjoy the expo (will be looking for cool running stuff to use on M-Day as running vendors clamor for my attention) and pick up my race number - 522! I will be in the first wave and goal is to start steady and end fast and strong!

I am going to get serious with my playlist now and will spend a lot of time strategically placing my songs in order to my marathon ride! Do you use music to motivate yourself in anyway? I like to start in middle, nothing to fast or to slow, then in the middle of my run have more mellow music to keep me study. Toward the end when I need to pick things up and finish strong is when Jay Z and Eminem come out...yes I like Eminen!

Here's to BQ'ing in 2015,

Yvonne

Wknd Wrap Up - Finally on a Track and Week 29 - 6 weeks to go!

Finally found a track. Happy that I found it (high school about a mile from my house) yet sad that I did not find it sooner! Procrastination does not pay. I had a great workout and completed 6 800 meter (2 times around the track) repeats with these times 3:52, 3:51, 3:51, 3:52, 3:51, 3:48. Excited that my last lap was my fast at 3 minutes and 48 seconds.

5 miles done on Wednesday

I missed my 45 tempo run...this hurt to miss as you know how much I LOVE tempo runs yet body just could not..so Thursday was a REST day.

I made up the 4 miles missed on Monday on Friday and my body felt better.

Saturday was a 6 mile pace run which I did at a tiny bit over 8 min/mile on treadmill, my fastest 6 miler yet.

My long run of 12 miles was done today as Sunday I the did my track workout.  I used the  Nike+ app on my phone as my watch fell apart again, still working yet bands separated from watch - going to MacGyver it again and hoping I can find a permanent fix to keeping it together. The Nike+ app was great but with my phone also playing my music, my battery will die within 2 hours so this setup would not be great for marathon.


12 miles this morning as I wanted to get that long run in and the weather was perfect. Getting out at 5:30am this morning was interesting as it was pitch dark, Fall is coming in with a  vengeance this year. Spent the first 2 miles with my flashlight app on as well to see the road.  

12 miles started of slow, did the hilly Matthew Henson trail at beginning then the neutral trail after mile 6. I was dragging though and finished at a 10:26 min/mile pace in 2 hours and 6 mins.

New workout routine for this week and next. Leg Raises felt better yesterday and love doing bicycle twist. Follow along and join the fun :)



	PICKING IT UP		Increase sets
	Day 1	Cardio	30 minutes	Increased Intensity*
	Start cardio then lower abs, then obliques, then upper abs (30 sec rest between sets)			Sets	Reps
		Upper Abs	Bicycle Twist	3	20-25
		Lower Abs	Leg Raises	3	20-25
		Obliques	Oblique Crunch	3	20-25
	Day 2			Sets	Reps
	Start with squats, then a back workout, and continue alternating	Legs	Squats	3	15-20
			Leg Ext.	3	15-20
			Hamstring Curl	3	15-20
		Back	Back Extentions	3	15-20
			Front Pulldown	3	15-20
	Day 3	Cardio	30 minutes
	Start cardio then lower abs, then obliques, then upper abs (30 sec rest between sets)			Sets	Reps
		Upper Abs	Bicycle Twist	3	20-25
		Lower Abs	Leg Raises	3	20-25
		Oblique	Oblique Crunch	3	20-25
	Day 4	REST
	Day 5			Sets	Reps
	Do overhead ext. first, then alternating curls, then lunges. Then EZ bar curl then then bench dips	Biceps	EZ Bar Curl	3	15-20
			Alternating Curls	3	15-20
		Triceps	Overhead Extensions	3	15-20
			Kickbacks	3	15-20
		Legs	Standing Lunges	3	15-20
	Day 6	Cardio	30 minutes	Increased Intensity
	Start cardio then lower abs, then obliques, then upper abs (30 sec rest between sets)			Sets	Reps
		Upper Abs	Bicycle Twist	3	20-25
		Lower Abs	Leg Raises	3	20-25
		Oblique	Oblique Crunch	3	20-25
	Day 7			Sets	Reps
	First dumbbell bench press, then lateral raises, then dumbell flyes, bent over lateral raises	Chest	Bench Press (Dumbbells)	3	15-20
			Dumbell Bench Flyes	3	15-20
		Shoulders	Lateral Raises	3	15-20
			Bent Over Lateral Raises	3	15-20
	REPEAT A SECOND WEEK

  

Week 29 looks like this

  

Monday         9.14        4 miles (36:44 a bit over 9 min/mile)

Tuesday         9.15        7xHills (doing this workout on Friday as I will rest Sunday)

Wednesday    9.16        5 miles

Thursday        9.17       50 Tempo (5.75 miles goal) 5.75

Friday            9.18        Rest (doing 8xHills as miscalculated last time and owe myself a hill)

                                       (2.5 miles)

Saturday        9.19        10 mile pace

Sunday          9.20         20 miles (Resting this Sunday)

______________________________________________

Total                             27.25     

 

Next weekend is the DIVA HALF MARTHON, that its partly why I am not sweating a long run this weekend. My last 20 miler will be the race on October 3. I will also be celebrating in advance my 5th Wedding Anniversary this weekend with a ceremony and dinner with family and friends this Saturday so on Sunday running will be the last thing on my mind. My actually anniversary date is the 25th so will spend time at DIVA Expo getting my race number and then time with my best friend :)

 Are you celebrating anything exciting soon?

Here's to BQ'ing in 2015,

Yvonne

 

Recap and Week 28 - 7 Weeks to M-Day

Labor day weekend was great and on Monday I kicked of the day with my fourth 20 mile run of my training cycle!

On Sunday I woke up thinking "it's a holiday tomorrow", and I can sleep in and head to church instead of rushing my long run and thinking about getting ready for church the whole time.. ok just being completely lazy.

My handsome church date!

I ended up finishing the 20 miles a bit under 3 hours and 30 minutes at a  10:14 min/mile pace. I started off pretty slow as I did my hilly trail first and picked up speed closer to the end of the run. Yet I know this is not my optimal pace but happy to just get the 20 miles under my belt.

Though I have 2 more 20 milers scheduled I will just be doing 1 more on October 3rd. This will actually be a race in Spotsylvania, VA, The 13th Annual Stonewall Jackson Ambulance Run.

This will be a great opportunity to race 20 miles and the best indications of my pace as I have trouble motivating myself to run at pace on my long runs in fear I will burn out and not finish. I need to trust my body and accept the speed I know I have and the ability to make it to the end....no holding back!

On Saturday I had to go into work early so I ended up doing my 10 mile pace run on the treadmill....I know I said I also wouldn't to this yet desperate times called for this measure as I knew I would not get it done if I went home. I got to the gym about an  hour and half before closing and could not get to 10 miles, I ended up doing 8.42 miles at about a 9:30 min/mile pace. No luck in finding a treadmill that goes on after 60 mins so had to restart treadmill to get more mileage.

Wednesday 5 miler done on treadmill

Week 28 looks like this:
9.7. Monday          
9.8  Tuesday          6x800 (4miles)
9.9  Wednesday    5 miles
9.10 Thursday      45 minute tempo (5miles)
9.11 Friday           4 miles (Monday's.   
                                  skipped workout)
9.12 Saturday       6 mile pace
9.13. Sunday         12 miles
________________________________________
TOTAL                    36 miles

So 7 weeks until Marathon Sunday. Looking forward to the Pasta Dinner night bode and the expo where I will pick up race number. With Diva Half Marathon and the Stonewall Jackson 20 miler  I have lots to do before then. Sticking to calories counts an starting my weight training program this week as was not able to start last week. Ab workouts of leg raises and sit ups killed me as my go to crunches seemed way easier and doing a full sit up made me sweat!

If your following along hopefully day 1 do d not shock your abs. Looking forward to completing this week as planned!

Here's to BQ'ING in 2015
Yvonne