The Best Laid Plans...

You know how that lovely saying goes... Ya, I was feeling good, excited for the races coming up and then life struck with a super nasty cold.  I don't think I have been this sick in a long, long time.  I had so much pressure in my head and I could tell when storms were coming because it got that much worse.  My nose was running like a faucet, I had a cough, and my energy was gone.  It was such a turn around from where I had been feelings just a few days before.

So I took the time to rest and recover (partially because I had no choice).  I got as much sleep as I could, worked probably too much, and took all the medicine I could.  Eventually I started feeling better.  A few days ago I got back out on the street and I could still feel the cold gripping my chest and lungs and the fatigue plaguing my legs.  My run ended up being mostly walking, but the fresh air was beneficial.

After another run I managed to make my way into the gym and found that spinning actually felt really good, especially considering the two runs before it felt so rough.  Since I had been on a streak with Nike+ I decided to get back out on the road tonight and I finally felt decent.  My legs were really pushing, even when I thought I needed to rest, and I got through more of a 5k without feeling too bad.  It's amazing how finally kicking the cold can help so much.

So it's less than 2 weeks now until the Star Wars 1/2 marathon weekend.  I have a few more spinning classes that I can get to, a few circuit workouts on the calendar, and of course a few more runs.  Not sure I'll get any super long runs in, but we'll see.  I do have to say I've been excited that a 5k really has become my minimum.  There would have been a time I thought 2 miles would be my minimum, but I think I might be able to make it 4 soon... who knows, maybe even 5 and then 6 closer to Dopey. 5k for sure is the minimum no matter what now a days.

New Cross Training

I was originally looking at buying an elliptical for the house since the wonderful Florida summer is coming pretty quickly.  Soon it will be 80 degrees before the sun even rises.  However, in my search I also started to think about indoor bikes.  Of course those only go up in price so before I really invested time or money into a new machine I started to go to some of the indoor bicycling classes at my gym.

The first class was challenging, fun, and it was a lot of different sets so pretty interesting.  My quads definitely felt the burn.  The second and third classes were with a different instructor who really liked hills.  We did climbing intervals for pretty much the whole class.  However, his enthusiasm and encouragement was off the chart and I really enjoyed the class.  My legs burned even more, especially cause I was still able to increase my resistance on the bikes.

I was feeling all the classes for the whole day.  It was one of those, I'm definitely in pain, but it's a good pain type of feelings.  The most interesting thing is that I haven't been sore the next days.  My legs have been tired, but not sore.  I tried to run after the first class, and it was pretty rough because of how exhausted my legs were.  I am hoping to run tomorrow, but we will see how that goes...

I haven't decided if I'm going to buy my own bike and just sign up for online spinning classes or keep going to the classes at my gym.  Probably the biggest issue will be my schedule and how often I can get to a class.  This week I've had extra days to experiment, and now next week I work a lot.  We'll just have to see I guess...

Enjoying The Gym

So far joining LA Fitness has been a great improvement on my workouts and my motivation.  I'm guessing it has something to do with the whole spending money for the membership, but if it's getting me to work out more, then I'm good with it.

I will admit that I'm not the best at going to the spinning class.  I found a teacher I like, but she only teaches at my gym twice a week so its hard to make her specific classes.  I really should get outside my comfort zone and try another instructor, but I like my routines.

Still, I've been hitting the gym 2-3 times a week and I've been running on the elliptical or using a stationary bike.  I have to say, getting an hour in on the elliptical is a lot easier when I have a tv that's working.  I will get through an entire 40-60 minute workout done without the tv, but it is honestly a lot harder without the distraction.  Plus, I enjoy my morning A&E crime dramas and catch up with Sports Center.  Plus, as long as I get a good, decent workout in, I'm happy!

The best case was just the other day.  I got to the gym right before a storm rolled in.  I unfortunately found an elliptical without a working tv, but the rain started pouring and lightening rolled in about 40 minutes into my workout.  So instead of calling it quits (which my lack luster brain wanted me to do), I ran out the storm on my machine.

While I'm not quite there yet, I am getting better at getting up, starting, and getting through my workouts.

More Medals!

I had the sudden realization last week that August really isn't that far away.  I was excited because that meant I would be heading home in just a few short months, but then again I'd also be running the Dumbo Challenge in a few short months.  And my running... ya, it probably isn't anywhere near what it should be.

But you can always count on Disney for releasing new information to keep you excited for any race, no matter where your training is.  Just a few days ago they released pictures of the four medals you could gain at the Disneyland Half Marathon.

In all honesty, i don't really care about the Alice in Wonderland medal or the Dumbo one for their design, but that's more of because they were movies I never really connected with.  I still love the D medal for the actual half, and of course I'll be collecting a fourth medal that weekend, my second Coast to Coast.

Speaking of Coast to Coast, they recently announced a few more races and new medals.  When I say new races, I mean more 10k's and double race challenges.  There will be the Glass Slipper challenge in February with the Princess Half Marathon (another 10k and Half pairing).  Then if you do the Tinkerbell Half Marathon in January and the Princess in February, you get a special Coast to Coast medal.

In all honesty, I'm not a pink kind of girl, so I won't be going after this specific coast to coast medal.  Good luck to everyone who is!  That's a quick turn around, but should be fun!  Now the glass slipper I may do just to keep my running up for all these weekends.  Plus, the Princess Half is the only race I have done every year since I've started running these races.  There are a lot of special memories with the race so I figure I might as well...

So now, coming the the realization I better start training some more.  I have been able to get to the gym for elliptical and spinning training to help salvage my knees and then a few road workouts just to keep that training up.  Speaking of which... it's almost time for spinning!  Enjoy your workouts, whatever they might be today... I know I'll have a sweaty, but great time at mine!

Spin Report

Last night was my first spinning class in years and I knew I was in trouble when the instructor started off the class with "This is going to be a hard one, one of the hardest actually."  Ya, I knew I was in trouble at that point.

The class kicked my butt.  Not enough that I couldn't drive home thankfully, but enough that I was pouring sweat and my legs were burning.  There was a lot of climbing and jumping (going from a sitting to climbing position... what I call a squat on a bike) with some sprinting at the beginning and the end.  The sprinting and climbing I had no issues with.  I was able to dig deep down and get through those.  It was all the ups and downs of jumping that were killing me!  My knees were definitely feeling all the ups and downs as well and about 20-25 minutes in they were starting to hurt.  So I simply sat out a few jumps, joined in on most, and they were fine.

Here's the greatest (yet weirdest part)... My legs and knees are totally and completely fine this morning. The only thing sore is my butt and that's from the stupid bike seat.  So overall, I'm feeling great considering how much I worked, how intense of a burn there was in the workout, and how tired I was after.  Plus, my knee that is always tight is looser this morning.  Is it from spinning?  I'd like to think so, but I won't base in massive conclusions on just one workout.

Now I'm not going to kill myself again tonight, at least not at another spinning class.  I'll probably spin 2-3 times a week and do yoga 1 day.  That leaves me 2-3 days for resting and running which should overall workout well.

My body was out of shape last week, but it's about to go through my version of training camp start now.  Hopefully it can still keep up...

Well Hello Again

Guess who's slowly coming back?

It's finally turning into a "slow" season at work and I'm returning to a position where my work schedule is a little more routine.  That means I can run again, and also get into new types of workouts, which I am of course excited for.

Taking March off from running was nice, but I'll admit that I was definitely becoming jealous of other runners by the end of the month.  I wasn't exactly stir crazy, like usual, but I wanted to be out there running instead of just being tired from walking all day for work.  The good news is that I managed my diet enough that I didn't gain any weight so I won't be fighting that battle as much as I was expecting.

Still, March is over, April is almost over, and I am just now regaining my footing in running.  I have a few months to get back into shape and get ready for this Dumbo Challenge at Disneyland.  I've been able to get up to 2.2 miles again and I can tell I'm definitely out of shape.  Luckily that's never stopped me before, nor will it stop me now.

 I'm not going to be returning just to running, but I'm going to go back to some of the cross training I did in college for swimming and triathlon.  I heading to spinning classes and maybe some yoga.

I finally found a gym that includes spinning, yoga, and other classes in the membership and, after checking out the gym in person, I've signed up.  I'm hoping to do my first spinning class tomorrow and I am super excited because I've really missed it.  I had a blast spinning in the off season for swimming.  Plus it will be easier on my knees, get my endurance back up, and should give me that distraction from just running.  Along with yoga for stretching and runs on the other days... this should be a pretty good workout schedule.  It will be a hard one, but if I can keep it up, it'll be a good one.