Half-Marathon Training Week 3

I lost all motivation last week. I ran twice and did strength training once. Pretty much failed on all of my goals.

Monday- Ran 3 1/2 intervals
Tuesday- 30 minutes of strength training
Thursday- Ran 3 1/2 miles on hills (1.0-3.0 incline)

It's a good thing the week ends and a new one begins.

On to week 4.

Half-Marathon Training Week 2

The beginning of half training is always the easiest. I typically don't start until I'm at least in good enough shape to run 4-5 miles easily, so the first couple of weeks is a cakewalk. But still a cakewalk I have to do, and that's the hardest part. I'm a little behind this week, but I'm going to try and post this as part of Wishcake's Work-It-Out Weekends to do a weekly update on training.

I did well this week or at least well enough.

Monday- I started it out with 30 minutes of Wii Fit strength training/yoga. Then I ran three miles doing intervals. I like to run a quarter mile at increasingly faster speeds in sets of four So today I started out by running the first set at 5.5, 5.8, and 6.0 and then continued to increase per set. So I ended up running this.

Walked 1/2 mile
5.5, 5.8, 6.0, 6.2
5.5, 5.8, 6.0, 6.2
5.5, 5.8, (each 1/4 mile), 6.2, 6.5, 6.7, 7.0 (each 1/10 mile).
Walked 1/2 mile

Tuesday- Tuesday I ran (and partially walked) hills. I did a 60 min hill workout on the treadmill with a max incline of 6.0 and max speed of 5.8. I probably ran (between 5-5.8) about 3 of the 4.5 miles, and by the end I was beat. Hills are great, but they kill me.

Wednesday- Got in at least my 30 minutes of cardio playing 90-120 minutes of Raving Rabbids, a new Wii game I bought for Richie. It's got things in there where you have to play instruments with the Wii remotes, dance, and do silly things like ride a motorcycle. I was sweating heavily by the end.

Thursday- Ran 4 miles at an easy pace (5.8 on treadmill) and felt great. I definitely could've kept going, which is always a good sign.

Overall I ran 10 miles this week and walked (on an incline) around 2 1/2 for a total of 12.5 miles. That's not a ton, but it's definitely better than before. Only ten more weeks.

My goals for this week are:
Drink at least 64 oz of water (I've been really dehydrated) a day.
Get in 3-4 runs.
Run at least one five-miler.
Go to one spinning class.
30 minutes on the Wii Fit 2-3 times.
Lose 1 lb for weigh-in on Saturday.

Mixing Things Up

The past two days have been great because I've done something other than just straight running. Yesterday I did a hill running program for 30 minutes (ran 3 miles) where it took me up and down hills. Today I walked hills and did arm weights (curls, tricep pushbacks, shoulder presses, etc.) while I was walking. And it felt great.

I'm getting there. I getting to the point where exercise feels good again. I'm going to go to a spinning class tomorrow and run four miles on Saturday. And then I'm going to go get my eyebrows waxed. That's what Jillian from Biggest Loser does after she reaches a goal. My goal was to get in all of my training this week, and I've done it so far. I've worked out for at least 30 minutes every day this week and can definitely tell in my energy levels and spirits. Now maybe I should get some sleep.

Yesterday Led to Today Which Leads to Tomorrow

I thought about running three times yesterday, and the last thought was, "I'll run tomorrow." Never a good one. While I was laying in bed about to go to sleep I noticed a running log/journal I bought at a bookstore last summer. I opened it up and saw three pages filled out. One the week of July 28, 2008, one the week of September 9, 2008, and one for November 14, 2008.

Apparently I'm a quitter. Sad huh. No more.

So I may not write in an actual running log, but I'm planning on writing here. Keeping track of how I'm feeling about running and my progress. Starting with today.

I didn't run yesterday and I felt horrible about it. My calves were incredibly sore from the Wii Fit (did high knees and jumping jacks during the running games) and basketball game on Saturday, and I just couldn't find any motivation to go. So instead I ate a peanut butter cookie and watched two hours of TV.

Today was better. It actually worked out perfect because I couldn't tape American Idol at home. I watched Idol while I ran (90210 and Biggest Loser were recording on my TiVo) and ran three miles. It's been over two weeks since I've run, and I couldn't definitely tell. My body hurt, but I went through with it. My training schedule said three miles, and I went three miles.

I made it through today. Tomorrow will be a better one.