Thursday, March 31, 2016

Long Run

Yesterday after work, I did the next run on my training schedule, which was a 2-hour easy run.  I've been quite sore from The Master's Hammer and Chisel this week, so I knew my legs wouldn't be happy about this run.  It wasn't too bad, but I did take a lot of breaks on the rails.  At 5.7 mph on the treadmill, the distance totaled 11.3 mi.

This morning, I did the next workout from Hammer and Chisel, which was Max Hammer Strength.  This is a really good workout with a variety of moves.  I increased my reps by one on the pull-ups!  I burned about 125 calories.

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Surprise Tennis

Yesterday evening I had a match with my 6.5 combo team.  The funny thing is that I wasn't expecting to play, because for scheduling reasons, the other team captain and I had agreed to play the third court of the match at a different time.  However, she notified me earlier in the day that her players were available last night at the regular time, so that's what we did.

My partner, Fran, and I ended up winning 7-6, 6-2.  We started off strongly, getting ahead 4-1.  Then our opponents started making fewer errors and getting some well-placed angled shots and lobs, so they got ahead 5-4.  We tied up at 6-6 and had to play a set tie-breaker, which Fran and I won 7-5.  Phew!  After the first set, we only had 28 minutes left in the match, so we expected to time out in the second set.  However, after we got ahead a couple games, our opponents seemed to sort of check out of the match, and we won it right as time ran out.

Fortunately our team won one of the other courts as well, so we won the match!  This was a big win for us, since our opponents are in second place.  We are not doing nearly that well.

This morning, I slept in a little later because of my late tennis match.  I did the next workout in The Master's Hammer and Chisel, which was Chisel Endurance.  I think that this workout is very similar to Chisel Cardio, but with different exercises.  It definitely gets a good sweat going.  I burned about 135 calories.  I didn't do 10-Min Ab Chisel in order to save time.

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

No Tennis!

Yesterday evening, my tennis at TCCP was canceled because too many people were out of town!  Because I was expecting to play, I ended up getting home later than usual and decided to do a quick run on the treadmill.  I tried a HIIT-type interval run from Oxygen magazine last month.  It was based on your "personal best" speed, which did make it challenging.  I just really don't like running hard!  The workout took a few minutes less than 30 minutes, and I lengthened it to 40 minutes with some easy running at 5.7 mph.  The distance came to 3.8 mi in 40 minutes, so even with the intervals, it really averaged out to about 5.7 mph.

This morning, I did the next workout in The Master's Hammer and Chisel.  Yesterday's workout left me pretty sore!  Today was Chisel Cardio, which I just did last week.  I did pretty much the same reps on the moves, but it got a good sweat going.  I burned about 190 calories!

Monday, March 28, 2016

Easy Run

Yesterday I did an easy run outside before lunch.  It was a little cool, but I'm really trying to get myself to do more outside runs, because I think it's good for my training.  I ran on the Rock Creek Trail for 59:02.  My distance came to 5.45 mi, so the average speed was 5.55 mph.  Interestingly, my splits were all positive - I started off at about 5.7 mph, but slowed down.  Part of this was because my heart rate seemed to be going crazy, according to my Basis Peak, and I was supposed to be doing an EASY run, so I kept slowing down.  I'm not sure it was at all accurate, which is frustrating.

This morning, I did the next workout from The Master's Hammer and Chisel, which was Total Body Hammer.  This is a tough workout, with all the progressive sets.  I skipped the 10-Min Hammer Abs for time - I needed to get to work.  I burned about 120 calories.

Saturday, March 26, 2016

Run + Bike

This morning I did the next run on my training schedule, which was a 120-min easy run.  I was a bit worried about this run because my legs have been so tired lately, but I got over 8 hours of sleep last night, and that seems to have helped a lot.  The run was not bad.  I ran on the treadmill at 5.7 mph and so my distance came to 11.3 mi.  I was amused to note that at 1:39:45, my time from my 10-mi race last weekend, I had only gone 9.28 mi.  It is amazing how the difference in pace adds up!  I guess that's the point of making small improvements.

This afternoon, my husband and I went for a bike ride, which is something we haven't done for a long time.  I don't remember that we rode our own bikes at all in 2015 - I think we did a bit of biking in Hilton Head with those bikes.  We biked from home down the Rock Creek Trail for a bit, then over to the Georgetown Branch Trail and back home.  It took a little over an hour, and Runkeeper said that we went 10.83 mi.  My husband's GPS said 11.03 mi.  So about 11 miles.  It amused me that I ran and biked about the same distance today.  The biking did not feel as hard!

Friday, March 25, 2016

Another Slow Run

Yesterday after work, I was hoping to go to cardio tennis at TCCP, but not enough people signed up for it, so it was canceled.

Instead, I went home and did an outside run on the Sligo Creek Trail.  This was another very slow run, as my legs are still pretty tired.  I also really wanted to keep it "easy", so I kept a close watch on my heart rate.  I ran 4.41 mi in 51:05, which gave an average speed of 5.2 mph.  So slow! I really hope my legs start to feel better soon.

Today is my rest day, so this morning I did some stretching and foam rolling.

Thursday, March 24, 2016

Speed Intervals

Yesterday after work, I did the next run on my training schedule, which was speed intervals.  I did this run on the treadmill.  It was 20 x 2:15 at 6.7 mph, alternating with 20 x 1:30 at 5.0 mph.  The time came to 75 min, and the distance was 7.5 mi.  This run was hard, but not as bad as I though it would be, given how bad my legs felt on Tuesday.  My left hamstring/glute was really starting to get sore by the end, but I got it done.

This morning, I did the next workout in The Master's Hammer and Chisel, which was Chisel Cardio.  This definitely got a good sweat going.  I increased my reps on some of the moves, including the pull-ups!  I burned about 145 calories.

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Very Slow Run

Yesterday after work, I did an easy run outside.  It turned out to be a very slow run, because I could tell right away that my legs were still really tired from my race on Saturday.  I ran on some local roads to the Georgetown Branch Trail.  I ran for 58:34, but the distance was only 5.06 mi during that time.  My average speed was 5.2 mph!  Amazing how you can get so wiped out!

This morning, I did the next workout in The Master's Hammer and Chisel, which was Hammer Conditioning.  This is an interesting workout, although I can't do all the complicated moves quite as quickly as the folks do in the video.  I burned about 125 calories.

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Tennis Doubles

Last night, I was back to my usual tennis doubles at TCCP.  It was nice to be playing, but I could definitely feel that I was worn out.  I just wasn't getting off the mark very fast.  In the first round, my partner, Jill, and I lost 6-4; it was a very good round, but neither of us was on our game.  In the second round, my partner, Anda, and I won 6-4.  In the last round, my partner, Lindsay, and I lost 4-3.  It was a fun night!

This morning, I did the next workout in The Master's Hammer and Chisel, which was Iso Strength Chisel.  I felt this workout almost immediately after I was finished - I'm going to be sore.  It was a good one!  I burned about 125 calories.

Monday, March 21, 2016

Great Race!

On Saturday, I did the 10-mi race that was part of the Beaufort Twilight Run, which is a running festival with 5K, 8K, and 10-mi races, along with the Beaufort Challenge, which is the 5K + 10 mi races.  I had signed up for the 10-mi race when I found out that I was going to be down in Hilton Head that weekend, because it seemed like a fun thing to do.  The race was also scheduled for 5:30pm, which is an unusual time, but that is the theme of their event.

My last 10-mi race was the Revenge of the Penguins 10-Miler, which I did in 1:47:01.  My goal for this race was to finish in less than 1:45:00.  I rested up at all for this race, running 11 miles in the two days before, over 30 miles in the week before, and playing a lot of tennis.  I thought it would be a good hard run for preparation for my goal race in May.

In the days leading up to the race, the forecast said that it was going to be rainy, which I had been dreading, but I decided I was going to run the race no matter what.  Fortunately it stayed dry!  Not only was that nice for the race, but it was good for the charity festival overall.

The 8K and 10-mi races started at the same time.  The 10-mi race essentially did two loops of the 8K course, with small changes at the ends to get the correct distances.

The race started promptly at 5:30pm.  I started out in the middle of the pack and tried not to go out too fast, since I figured a lot of the 8K runners would be going out faster.  Well, my phone's GPS screwed up almost immediately, jumping me ahead a half-mile.  Fortunately the first mile marker had a course clock, so I re-set the GPS to start there.  Unfortunately I could see that I had done the first mile in just over 10 minutes, which was faster than I had intended.  I tried to slow down a bit, but couldn't really seem to do it.

The course was pretty.  It zig-zagged throughout the neighborhood, and the first time I did the loop, there were lots of people out to cheer on the runners.  There also many kids giving high-fives, which was fun.  The cutest thing I've ever seen in a race was that some of the kids put out their stuffed animals on the sidewalks with hand-written signs like "You can do it!"  So much fun!

By the time I'd gotten around the loop once (and past the end of the 8K), I was still going a bit slower than a 10-min mile.  At this point, I decided that if I'd done that pace for so long, maybe I really could keep it up for the rest of the race.  Also, somewhere over 5 miles (4 miles after the GPS re-set), my phone GPS completely crapped out.  It ended up recording my whole race time, but with a distance of about 4.2 mi - ha, my slowest 4.2 mi ever!

Fortunately, the course had clocks or volunteers calling out the time at every mile marker, so I could see that I was still keeping quite a steady pace.  I started to think that I would be able to finish way under 1:45:00, and maybe even close to 1:40:00!  The course was getting very empty, because the 10-mi race was new to the festival, and obviously very few people chose to ran it.  It was like I was doing a long run by myself at home, except that there were course volunteers.

Once I got to the last mile or so, I just focused on keeping up the same pace.  Without my GPS, I didn't know exactly how far I had left, but I had done the loop before.  When I came to the homestretch, I could see from the clock that I could make it under 1:40:00.  I pushed as hard as I could, and got 1:39:45!

I had thought that I had started maybe 10 seconds after the starting gun, but the official results say that my gun and chip time were the same.  Oh, well!  I'm still very, very happy with how well I did!  It was hard, but not a total killer.  It was definitely a huge confidence-builder!  If I can do the same pace for my goal half-marathon, I'll finish in about 2:10:00.  With some actual rest ahead of time, hopefully I can push that down a bit!

The funny thing is that even though I had a very respectable time for this race, I placed really badly:  57 out of 77 runners.  Apparently only "good" runners did this race, as the last place finisher completed the race in just over 2 hours.  The winner did it in 51 minutes!  If I had gotten this time in the Revenge of the Penguins 10-Miler that I ran last September, I would've been 42 out of 140!  Oh, well.

I was very impressed with the running festival overall.  It was very well-organized.  The 10-mi (and 8K) race had a lot of turns in the local streets, but everything was well-marked and there were lots of volunteers keeping an eye out for the runners.  Having clocks at the mile markers was great!  There were a lot more runners in the other races (a couple hundred in each), and there were lots and lots of people attending the festival.  It was obviously a big deal for the local town, and everyone was out enjoying it. 

Yesterday, we drove home from Hilton Head, so I didn't do any exercise.  My legs didn't really appreciate sitting in the car all day.

This morning, I did the next workout from The Master's Hammer and Chisel, which was Iso Speed Hammer.  This is a short workout, which I appreciated, because it gave me time to do some extra stretching and foam rolling.  I burned about 65 calories in the workout.

Friday, March 18, 2016

Better Run

This morning, my legs felt so much better than yesterday!  I ran for exactly the same amount of time, 59:24, but my distance was 5.68 mi, which gave an average speed of of 5.75 mph!  Much better!  I might have let my heart rate get a little too high during this run, but I was glad I did so much better.

This afternoon, I played some tennis with my husband.  This probably wasn't the best idea, since he really runs me around an wears me out.  However, it is fun.  I'm going to try to take it really easy between now and the race, which isn't until 5:30pm tomorrow.

Thursday, March 17, 2016

Bad Run

Yesterday we drove down to Hilton Head, so I took the whole day off from any activity.  In fact, I think I got fewer than 2000 steps for the day, which happens maybe twice a year!  I was hoping the day off would help me rest a bit.  I got about 8.5 hours of sleep last night, too!

This morning, I did a run outside before breakfast.  It was in the 60s F, but humid.  (It's always humid here!)  I just wanted to do an easy run for an hour.  My legs felt horrible!  Everything was just sore, especially my glutes.  I guess sitting in the car for 9 hours yesterday was not good.  I ran 5.44 mi in 59:24, so my average speed was 5.5 mph.  It just wasn't fun!

I hope my legs start feeling better by Saturday, because I'm doing a 10-mi race!

This afternoon, my husband, and father-in-law, and I played 18 holes of golf on the plantation.  I actually had one of the best rounds I've had in years, but I think it was probably a bit of luck.  We avoided any rain, so it was a nice round.

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Easy Long Run

This afternoon I did the next run on my training schedule, which was a long easy run of 110 min.  I did this on the treadmill at 5.7 mph.  I knew that this was going to feel hard, since I just had my race pace run two days ago, and it was.  I took a lot of breaks.  Oddly, I think the first half of the run felt harder than the second half.  I actually cut down on the breaks a bit toward the end.  I'm not sure why this is.  The distance came to 10.36 mi.

Tennis Loss

Last night I had a match with my 6.5 combo tennis team.  Unfortunately we lost all three courts.  My partner, Michele, and I lost 6-0, 6-2.  Both of our opponents were strong players, and my partner had trouble getting a lot of balls back, since they were hit low at her feet.  They also did a lot of short and long play, which was hard to deal with.

This morning, I did Insanity the Asylum vol. 2 Pure Contact, followed by Ab Shredder.  I had forgotten what a good agility and plyo workout Pure Contact is, even though it's short.  The combination of these workouts really brings on the sweat!  I burned about 200 calories.

I've been losing since about when I started The Master's Hammer and Chisel at the end of January.   Thank goodness!  I feel like I've put on a bit of weight here and there and just haven't been able to get it to come off.  I just put together my recent weight measurements with my old BodyMedia stats, and I'm at the lowest weight now that I've been since about mid-May 2014!  I'm around 123 lbs.  It would be nice to get back under 120 lbs.  When I started using my BodyMedia device in November 2010, I was around 114 lbs!  I know that I've put on a lot of muscle since then, but it's still discouraging to see the weight rise.  I was keeping track of my wait circumference for awhile to try to judge the muscle vs. fat gain/loss, but I stopped doing that at about the beginning of the year, since nothing was changing.  I suppose I should try a new measurement now.

Monday, March 14, 2016

Very Busy Day!

Yesterday was very busy and completely wore me out.

Around lunch time, I did the next run on my training schedule.  This called for race pace intervals.  I ran 4 x 2 mi at 6.3 mph (9:30 min/mi), alternating with 4 x 5 min at 5.0 mph (12:00 min/mi), and then 2 x 1 mi at 6.3 mph, alternating with 2 x 3 min at 5.0 mph.  I did this on the treadmill.  It took 2:01:00, and the distance came to 12 mi.  I knew this would be a hard run, and it was, but at least I didn't get lightheaded, like in my long run last weekend.  I really hate running hard on the treadmill!

Then, around dinner time, I had a match with my 3.5 tennis team.  I wasn't sure what to expect with the difficulty of this match, but it turned out to be very competitive, had a lot of moving around the court, and took just about the full two hours.  This was tough just 4 hours after my long run!  Fortunately, I don't think my tiredness really affected how I played - I thought I played really well.  It wasn't quite enough, though, as my partner, Grace, and I lost 7-6, 2-6, 0-1.  We had a lot of deuce games and were really pretty even, but they beat us with placement and good angled shots.  Sadly, the team lost three courts, so we lost the match overall.

This week, I'm taking a break from The Master's Hammer and Chisel, because I signed up for a 10-mi race on Saturday, and I want to have some time for my legs to recover a bit.  Hammer and Chisel has really been pounding the legs!  This morning, I did a warm up, and then Insanity the Asylum vol. 2 Agility Tutorial, followed by P90X2 X2 Ab Ripper.  This burned about 150 calories.  I also did some stretching and foam rolling.  I'm on spring break, so I can spend a little extra time on that, which is nice.

Saturday, March 12, 2016

Tennis Practice

This morning I did some yard work, so I didn't really do any exercise.

This afternoon, I had a practice with my tennis team.  In the first set, my partner, Randy, and I won 6-1.  In the second set, my partner, Mary Ann, and I won 6-2.  We had some time left, so we played two 10-point tie-breakers.  In the first one, my partner, Randy, and I lost 5-10, which was a surprise given the first set.  In the second one, my partner, Mary Ann, and I lost 7-10.  Ah, well.  Apparently I need to learn how to do better in tie-breakers.

Friday, March 11, 2016

Evening Tennis Practice

Yesterday morning, I did the next workout from The Master's Hammer and Chisel, which was Max Hammer Strength.  This is a really good workout, and I like that I can use my 30-lb weights for a lot of the moves!  Honestly, I probably should get some 35-lb weights, but that's another investment.  I burned about 125 calories.

Yesterday evening, I had a practice with my tennis team outside.  We have been having unusually warm weather, and I am certainly not complaining about that!  My partner, Libby, and I lost 6-7, 2-3, when we had to stop.  It was a fun evening, and a bit easier than the long runs I've been doing lately.

Today is my rest day, so I did some stretching and foam rolling this morning.  I think that this week has been my hardest one so far with Hammer and Chisel, with four tough full-body workouts in a row.  I am still sore in many places, and so I'm hoping today (and this weekend) will be a good recovery. 

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Long Run

This morning, I did the next workout in The Master's Hammer and Chisel, which was Total Body Chisel and 10-Min Chisel Abs.  This is a solid workout.  It certainly didn't help the soreness in my legs.  I burned about 130 calories.

Today after work, I did the next run on my training schedule, which was a 110-min easy run.  My legs were still quite sore, so I thought this was going to be really hard, but it wasn't too bad.  I did still take quite a few breaks, but it was OK.  I didn't feel the lightheadedness that I did on Sunday.  I increased my speed on the treadmill, so I ran at 5.7 mph, and the distance came to 10.35 mi.

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Run Outside!

Last night I had my usual tennis doubles at TCCP.  I felt like I played quite well, so it was extra fun.  In the first round, my partner, Jill and I lost 6-4, but it was a very competitive round against two tough players, so we were very happy with that.  In the second round, my partner, Lindsay, and I lost 6-1, but the score doesn't reflect the good points we played.  In the third round, my partner, Mary Ann, and I won 6-2.  A good night!

This morning I did the next workout in The Master's Hammer and Chisel, which was Hammer Power.  I was feeling pretty tired this morning, so I didn't really try to increase any of my weights.  I think I'm "getting" this workout a little better so that it's more effective.  I burned about 170 calories.

I think The Master's Hammer and Chisel workouts have been helping me with my tennis serve and increasing my strength.  Between that and my running, I've been losing weight, which is nice.  I'm down as low as I was at the beginning of 2015, which is good.  However, with all the different types of exercises in the workouts, it's like constant "muscle confusion", which means that my legs are almost always sore, especially my glutes and hamstrings.  This has made my running hard.  Hopefully my running will pick up when I finish this workout program.

Today the weather was unseasonably warm, so I hurried when I got home from work to have enough time to do a run outside before it got dark.  I ran on the Sligo Creek Trail, which I think must be a lot more uphill when going north than I usually appreciate.  I'm always much faster coming home toward the south.  I ran 5.03 mi in 54:42, which was an average speed of 5.52 mph.  This was pretty good, considering that my legs felt really sore.  It was so nice to be outside, though.

Monday, March 7, 2016

Very Long Run

Yesterday I did the next run on my training schedule, which was a 2.5-hr easy run.  I knew that this was going to be a hard run just from the amount of time involved.  I tried to get a lot of sleep the night before, and I took my caffeine and BCAAs ahead of time.  It was still really hard!

I ran at 5.6 mph on the treadmill.  The first 2/3 approximately went about as expected - I took some breaks on the rails, but it was doable.  Then the last 30-min or so, I started getting lightheaded.  I was not panting or gasping for breath, and my heart rate wasn't very high, so that wasn't the problem.  I think that my blood pressure must have been pretty low, but that's speculation.  I do have a tendency toward low blood pressure, but it hasn't been an issue when running before.  At any rate, it definitely made me feel pretty weird, and I took a LOT of breaks during that part.  In the 2.5 hr, I ran 13.82 mi according to the treadmill.  Way too far and long!

My legs aren't really all that sore today, nor am I horribly tired, so obviously I didn't work that hard, considering the time and distance.  The weird lightheadedness just really bothered me.

This morning, I did the next workout on The Master's Hammer and Chisel, which was Chisel Balance.  I was also supposed to do 10-min Chisel Abs, but I forgot to set my alarm and got up 20 minutes late, so I skipped that.  I'm definitely getting better at this workout, but it's still annoying.  The last row-pistol squat move just takes forever to do that many reps - twice!  But all the darn pistol squats are definitely good for me, and I can tell my weak left leg is getting stronger.  I burned about 170 calories.

Sunday, March 6, 2016

Last Boxing for Awhile

Yesterday morning, I did a boxing class.  It wasn't my favorite instructor, but the good (and sometimes bad) thing about this instructor is that he always keeps you moving.  It makes for a good calorie burn.

This will be my last boxing class for awhile, because I canceled my monthly membership.  It was a hard decision, since I had been a member for almost three years (since Apr. 11, 2013), and I do enjoy boxing.  However, I've had less and less time for it, with my tennis teams and my increasing emphasis on running.  It just wasn't worth the money.  Fortunately, the club does offer a punch-card class deal and a day pass, so I can go on rainy days, or when I have the chance.

Yesterday evening, I had a match with my 3.5 team.  We won three of the five courts, so it was an overall win!  My partner, Jill, and I won 6-3, 6-2.  Jill had had a bad leg cramp in our combo match on Thursday, so she wasn't sure she was going to be able to play, but no one else was available.  As it turns out, our opponents were not very good, so we won without working too too hard.  That was kind of nice!

Friday, March 4, 2016

Combo Loss

Last night I had a tennis match with my 6.5 combo team.  Unfortunately we lost all of the courts.  Our opponents are undefeated, but it was an odd match.  We lost one of the courts pretty quickly.  My partner, Michele, and I lost 4-6, 2-6.  Our opponents were not playing at all like I expected, because they weren't moving much nor were they hitting with much pace.  It was a very slow-ball match, which really messed me up somehow.  On the third court, our players won the first set 7-5, but in the second set they were down 3-4 when one of our players got a bad leg cramp.  She had to retire.  And that was all the courts!

This morning, I just did some stretching and foam rolling.

After work, I did an easy run on the treadmill.  I ran for 1 hour at 5.6 mph, so the distance was 5.6 mi.  My legs were kind of sore, but the run was OK.

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Two Workouts

Yesterday morning, I did the next workout on The Master's Hammer and Chisel schedule, which was Hammer Conditioning.  This was an interesting workout, because it had a bunch of compound movements, with several things happening at once.  This is supposed to work your body more naturally (because you do those sort of movements all the time) and more effectively, because using more muscles burns more calories.  It also helps with your core and stability.  Overall, it was an interesting and effective workout, except for a few moves that seemed overly complicated an contrived.  Afterward, I did 10-min Ab Hammer.  I burned about 170 calories, I think.  Now I can't remember for sure.

Yesterday evening I had a work event, so it was my rest evening.

This morning I did the next Hammer and Chisel workout, which was Chisel Cardio.  This is a reasonably good workout.  The step-up type moves on the bench are annoying, but I know they are good for me.  I burned about 160 calories.

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Easy Run

Yesterday evening, I played tennis doubles at TCCP.  It's been awhile since I played in this league, and it felt good to play.  In the first round, my partner, Andrea, and I won 6-3.  In the second round, I won at singles 4-3.  In the last round, my partner, Andrea again, and I lost 1-3.  I feel like I played pretty well, despite being tired and sore, as predicted.

This morning, I did the next workout in The Master's Hammer and Chisel, which was Chisel Agility.  I definitely half-asses this workout, because I hadn't gotten enough sleep and was still pretty sore.  I burned about 145 calories.

After work this evening, I did the next run on my training schedule, which was a 100-min easy run.  I ran on the treadmill at 5.6 mph, so the distance came to 9.2 mi.  This was a hard run, because I was still quite tired.  My legs were also sore from Monday morning's workout.  I took a lot of breaks.  But I did stick with it.