Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Got in weights and core in the morning and then an aerobic run along the water in the afternoon. Was feeling a bit under the weather but decided to head out anyway. Was glad I did because I ended up having a really nice run.

Core Class @ 00:30:00
Weights @ 00:30:00

5.5 Mile Run @ 00:50:00

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Did an out and back Tempo Run for Christmas.

5.5 Mile Run @ 00:51:17

WU @ 12:29
128a, 135m

3ish Mile Tempo @ 26:22
153a, 160m

CD @ 12:26
138a, 160m

Monday, December 24, 2007

Had a nice short work day and started the morning with Core and Weights.

Core Class @ 00:30:00
Weights @ 00:30:00

Got in a quick aerobic run around Greenlake in the middle of the day.

3.2 Mile Run @ 00:30:00

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Got in my long run along Lake Washington. I was definitely under-dressed for how cold and rainy it was and felt cold the entire time. The run kicked my ass and not in a good way.

13 Mile Run @ 02:10:00

Friday, December 21, 2007

Got in some core and weights during lunch. I also needed a run but just could not handle being out in the world (who knows...) and did a quick 3 miler on the treadmill.

10 Min Core
30 Min Weights

3 Mile Run @ 00:28:00

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Today was a special spin day because Tija, the owner of the gym I belong to planned an extra long holiday class. We started with 15 minutes of yoga and then went into 1 hour and 15 minutes of spin. I was looking forward to it all week -- how dorky am I...

It ended with red velvet cupcakes -- the kind that made me immediately forget how very badly I suffered the hour and half before.

Spin Class @ 01:15:00

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Missed the first bus to make it in to lift and barely squeezed in for Core class but I made it.

Core Class @ 00:30:00

I got in an interval workout today. The good news was that I was able to do it on the Greenlake track. The bad news is that I forgot my HR monitor and watch so I completely winged it. I was supposed to do a 1 x 800 @ 03:50, 4 x 2 Min hard, and 1 x 6 Min hard. I made some quick adjustments to make up for not having a watch and did the following.

1 x 800
4 x 400
6ish (guessed) hard run along the lake

5 Mile Run @ 00:55:00

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Swam with Katie at the Y and she patiently navigated a very sleepy confused me through all the bus/elevator/locker room maze to arrive at the pool a bit late. I started in the medium lane (of three speeds) and quickly moved to the slow when I could not keep up.

1750 Swim Practice @ 00:45:00

Our team had a holiday off-site at 12:30 so I could not go to my 12:30 spin class. So I put together a workout and headed down early to do it on the spin bike. Not a lot of fun, particularly since there was no music and the spin bikes do not have earphone jacks for the TV's. I made the workout with pretty short intervals so that helped. I got in a good session despite it all.

Spin @ 00:57:00

_____________________________________________________________

Spin Workout

5 Min WU
5 Min High Aerobic (alt 1 min sit/stand)
10 Min Hard Intervals (alt 1 min hard/ 1 min recovery)
5 Min High Aerobic (alt 1 min sit/stand)
10 Min 1 Right-Leg Drills (alt 1 min one leg/1 min both legs)
5 Min High Aerobic (alt 1 min sit/stand)
10 Min 1 Left -Leg Drills (alt 1 min right leg/1 min both legs)
5 Min High Aerobic (alt 1 min sit/stand)
2 Min Cool Down

Monday, December 17, 2007

Got in a quick weight session before core class this morning. Jon (pronounced Joan), who teaches this class appropriately named Abdominitrix was on a roll and let us know clearly that we were not to tattle on her for having music with swear words because she could make us suffer. And then proceeded to play music with swear words and make us suffer. Ouch.

Upper Weights @ 00:25:00
Core @ 00:30:00

Got in a short recovery run around Greenlake after work.

3.4 Mile Run @ 00:33:00

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Today, I ran the 12k's of Christmas and had a really good time. I planned to do it as an 8:30-8:45 pace tempo run. This has been an especially difficult week so I went into it not expecting too much. Katie came and ran it with me so I was glad for the company.

At the starting line, I got in between the 8:00 and 9:00 pace signs and tried to avoid the HUGE guy in front of me who was stretching without regard to anyone else around him. Then the gun went off and so did we. It climbs right away and the first mile was 8:41. Then Katie took off and I chased her for the next mile, that turned out to be 7:12. I pointed out to Katie that it was unacceptable although we did agree that if I still had the breath to bitch while running, it was probably okay. The third mile climbed again and I stopped for a sip of Gatorade and finished that in 8:06. More climbing for an 8:16 mile 4. Miles 5 and 6 picked up again with some descending and were a 7:22, 7:46 respectively. We caught up with a guy who was doing it for the first time hoping to make it under 60 minutes and that was the point when I learned that was Katie's top secret goal too.

So after a tiny bit of protest, I decided to go for it too and took off running a nice flat mile 7. I put it in my mind that if I could finish under 60, then everything, everyone would okay. That last mile was a 6:56 and I pushed it hard to the finish line. I am happy with the results and yes, it will all be okay.

12k Run @ 00:57:42
7:44 Pace

Oh, and something odd happened in the recovery area. This young guy started talking with me and said I was a really consistent runner. He said he chased me in this race -- and had also done the same at the Seattle Half. That was pretty wild.

Sunday, December 02, 2007

I picked Katie up this morning at 6:45 AM and we drove to Cougar Mountain for my first real trail run. I was pretty excited because it was so beautiful out there covered with a layer of snow that continued to fall.

The guys we met there were really nice and one told us that if we split up, they would leave fern arrows at all intersections so we would know where to go. And off we went, straight up a hill in a few good inches of snow. Within moments, I knew I was in trouble. They easily sailed up the hill, Katie right on their heels and I started to immediately to breathe hard and climb slower and slower. Katie waited for me at a flat spot and I caught up to her gasping for breath as the guys took off and we were on our own.

But we didn't care and had a really great time for the first hour and 50 minutes. It was just the right temperature and while it was more difficult because we were running through snow, I was very happy and loving it. It sure is very very very different than road running both mentally and physically. There were lots of trees and branches on the path weighed down by snow and we had to duck, leap and sometimes just slog around.

Then it started to rain about an hour and a half in and it started to get a bit harder as my feet got wet (for the first time, I was surprised it took that long) and the trails turned into little icy streams. We were both feeling tired (Katie had run 9 miles yesterday but I had no excuse) and were both ready to be DONE. Just when we said that, the end of the trail appeared right around the corner.

I am completely hooked.

10(?) Mile Trail Run @ 02:20:00

Saturday, December 01, 2007

The snow today was so beautiful! Took the day off as a rest day because Katie and I are headed to Cougar Mountain Sunday morning to join the Seattle Running Company's trail run.

I did get my first pair of trail running shoes and am excited to try them out tomorrow.