Ready for a vacation!

Whew! I made it back to my spinning class and it felt great. It has been a busy week though, so I only got in four workouts. I killed myself the end of the week by doing two speedy runs, one right after the other. Harsha came home early from work on Thursday, so I took advantage of the great weather and went for a run. Unfortunately, I got 3.4 miles into my run and had to find a bathroom. I walked to the cottonwood bathrooms, only to find they are closed for the winter. Then I made it up the hill to the rec center, where thankfully, I found a bathroom. It was a painful walk, that's for sure! I did finish the rest of my run, completing at 6.4 miles. Even with walking a mile, my average pace was 8:45, so I was pleased. Then Friday morning I did mile repeats with a couple girl friends.... I thought my legs were going to give out on me.

And I ran the longest distance I've ever done on Sunday - 14 miles. Yay!!! It was wonderful. We kept a reasonable 9:30 pace the entire time, except for the last quarter mile where we sped it up to 7:00 for a strong finish. It felt easy. My feet were tired, but my muscles didn't ache and I felt fine. I know we did 13.2 miles a couple Sunday's before, but I wasn't sure about that extra mile. Glad we did it, that's for sure.

So after all those workouts, I am so ready to go on vacation. I will be doing my ultimate conditioning class, running, and then the Incline... then I'll be on vacation and try to get a couple easy runs in on the beach. I am very excited about running on the beach.

37m Incline

What a gorgeous day! A girlfriend and I did the Incline this morning at 5:30 am. The temp was 37 degrees when we started, amazing! It was still really icy and snowy up there, however we still did it in 37 minutes. I am SO confident now that I can do it in under 30 minutes. I can't wait for all that ice and snow to melt so I can try it. We ran into some guys at the top who thought we were "animals" as they put it. We took that as a compliment. If the weather stays nice, Wednesday will now be my Incline day!!! Whew whooo!

The pain...

means progress, right? Oh my goodness! Thursday I did my regular Ultimate Conditioning class, but used heavier leg weights. I was so sore Friday I could barely walk. Sitting on the toilet was the worst, and of course, once I was sitting down, I didn't want to get back up. I tried to show Harsha which exercises did this to me and I couldn't even make my legs recreate the exercises. I guess this all means I am getting stronger, however I don't want to do that again. A little sore is fine. So sore I can barely move around, that is horrible. So needless to say, I took a rest day on Friday.

Earlier in the week I did some easy work outs. Because of the weather, I didn't run outside. My week total for running was barely 20 miles, and that is with a 9.27 mile run today. I did get a workout in at the gym using the elliptical, so that kind of counts as running. That was a 30 minute workout before lifting, so to make myself feel better, I'll say I did 24 miles this week.

Today we ran in Garden of the Gods. A couple weeks back, a gal joined us and decided she didn't want to continue the run after a couple miles. I felt awful. I want to make more running buddies and make others feel welcome to join us. I was so worried we ran her off. So having her rejoin us this morning was great. She did awesome too. Goes to show that we all have our off days.

So the run today was beautiful. The weather was so nice and I felt strong. I have been consistently strong lately. At the end of the run today, I felt like I could continue running for another 3 or 4 miles. And in Garden of the Gods, that is great! I'm starting to think up my goal for the Garden 10 mile, however I think I'll wait until the beginning of May to finalize that goal. I think I can make more progress in the next couple months. Right now, I think I can shave off a good 10 minutes from my time in 2005. I'll just keep at it.

This week, I want to do some quality workouts. I didn't do any speed type workouts last week, so that will be on the agenda. If the weather holds up, I would like to do the Incline again. I also signed up for a spin class tomorrow morning - get to try out the new spin shoes. Everyone says the shoes make a world of difference, so we'll see. I will do my usual strength training, but in my UC class I may use the lighter weights. I know I shouldn't be as sore the next time around, but I'm a little scared. It was really bad! HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

Seeing results!

What a great week! I have wonderful friends to work out with regularly and the weather has been beautiful! And to make it all better, I am seeing great results!

So let's start with the Incline. The weather was beautiful at 5:30 in the morning - a great 37 degrees! My Yak Traks were a must. About a third was very snowy/icy, with only toe ledges to go on. The other two thirds was icy, but we could still make out the railroad ties and get a whole foot up. With the conditions as they were, we were able to do it in under 45 minutes, which is awesome. My goal is to get back under 30 minutes, and I think I can do it now if the trail was dry. I feel pretty good about that. It was great to be back on the mountain again!

I've been lifting and toning as well. The muscle definition in my arms and legs is really starting to look good. It makes me feel SO good! I was spinning in a tank a couple days ago and my upper body is looking awesome. I love all the muscles! The veins are a little manly looking, but my breasts make it all look feminine. If my chest was flat, it might not look so good. I don't think my breasts are going to shrink anymore, but I'm still keeping my fingers crossed! We are getting close to 9 months of nursing, so I think they've adjusted down to what they will be - a great 34B.

And running. Well I did get some quality runs in. One relaxing short run (6 miles). I had a great speed session with a girlfriend on Friday. We kept our pace between 7:30 and 8:00, so I was pleased. Then yesterday, we did our long run. Between miles 4.5 and 7.5, our pace was between 11 and 12 because of the snow and ice. We were able to speed it up on the way back and the last .4 miles we tried to speed it up a little more (I'll admit it wasn't that fast, afterall we just did 12.6 miles). Our average pace for the 13.2 miles was a tad under 9:30 (total time 2:05) . It was a very relaxing run. Around mile 10, I started thinking about my dinner date at the Melting Pot and how I was going to pig out (It was a wonderful date too!! Love my husband!). So with my belly growling, I kept on running for three more miles and decided I need to figure out the best way to keep me energized while I run.

On the plate for this week:
- One spinning class
- One speed session
- A couple relaxing runs
- One longer strength run on Sunday with the ladies
- And of course, lifting/UC class

We'll see what the weather is like, I may trade in one of my relaxing runs for the Incline. But if I can't do the Incline, there is always the option of doing the stair machine workout at the gym. We'll just see how it all goes. When I see results, it makes me so much more motivated!

I've got a song in my bones

Yes, that is how I feel. The weather is beautiful!!! I have one of my daughters songs in my head "I have a song in my bones and it wants to come out" It's a fun song and describes how I felt on my runs the last couple days. I have so much energy, my bones are singing too!

I had some awesome workouts last week. My hip didn't bother me, except for the last mile on my longer run yesterday. I've been so full of energy that my runs have all been around an 8:45 mm pace. I really need to slow it down for training, but I have been having a great time. And I don't feel tired or sore following my runs, so it's ok to do for a short time. Of course I don't want to do it for long, otherwise I'll get an injury.

I missed my ultimate conditioning class last week, so I did my own version of it at home. Boy oh boy, was I sore! Yikes! The class is fun, but I work it harder here at home. I did 50 minutes of cross training/leg exercises, where as the class does overall body. That explains the soreness. I had lifted upper body on Wed, so Thur I did my legs. I alternated two minutes of jumping rope, walking lunges, and wall squats. In between the two minute repeats, I did various sets of other leg exercises - dead lifts, heel raises, leg lifts, etc. I might have to start doing that once a week in addition to my ultimate conditioning class.

I also made it back to my spin class. It's been a little over a month now since I made it to a class. The Y added a few new times, which makes it more convenient for me to go. My old class was a 5:15 and it really was hard dragging myself out of bed for that!

So this week is wonderful! If there is enough melt off, I want to do the Incline. I'll do a few short runs and then my long run on Sunday. My usual nightly yoga, which really has helped with general achiness and hip pain. Include some lifting, either free weights or the ultimate conditioning class. And finally, I will add a spin class in. Today is my rest day, so I'm going to enjoy myself and look forward to the rest of the week.