Just Workin on My Fitness

Hey blog friends~ I’ve finally been getting my fitness on over here

As stated in my last post, I had slacked off the latter part of last week and ended up taking 3 off days. Last night was going to be no different after I logged offline and ate dinner with my family. I ate lots, watched some t.v., played with Mochi, and was going to go to bed at the late hour of 9pm.

Then, I started feeling guilty for not sticking to my workout routine, especially with my first half marathon only FIVE weeks away.

click all images for source

Obviously, there was no way that I couldn’t go to the gym. Damn motivational photos. I called the gym to make sure they were back to normal hours (just in case I couldn’t go hah), got my ass into my workout gear, and went to the gym. I only intended to do 3 easy miles and then call it a night since it was already 9pm, but once I got going, I was on a roll.

I did my 3 miles, and then completed the below upper body workout and still had energy to burn, so I ran 2 more miles, bringing my daily total to 5 miles. (Note: each exercise in each superset was complete 3 times.)

Today, I decided to get in the long run I did not do yesterday. Unfortunately, my Garmin battery died on me after 7.7 miles I forgot that I didn’t charge it for a week…oops. Since I was kind of in-the-dark about my mileage, I tried to estimate as best I could so that I could map the rest when I got home. Well, I failed kind of on purpose. I took a route I knew would get me close, but then it was already almost 5pm, and the temp was dropping quickly, so I high-tailed it home. My fingers were so numb and purple from the cold. Overall, I got in 10 miles, which is great, but I was supposed to cover 11 miles.

Regardless of the lost mile, I had a fantastic run! I had no stomach issues, and the miles were flying by, literally (for me anyway). This is one of the most comfortable faster runs that I’ve done, and all of my miles (minus my uncertain last miles) were under 11:30, with several below 10:50. Not bad for a tortoise like me, and my breathing and energy levels were fantastic. Now I fully understand why people taper before a race. I fake-tapered for 4 days, and it looks like I had a lot of energy to burn and high glycogen stores. Woohoo! Next time, I just have to remember to charge my Garmin

Oh yeah, and I also decided to follow a new training plan for the last 5 weeks. I tinkered around with SmartCoach on the Runner’s World website, and I loved how it gave me pacing goals for all of my different types of runs. I’ve just been sort of running at whatever pace I feel like and have done a few tempo runs, so it’s nice to have more structure and virtual guidance.

On a final note, I brought Mochi home with me today! He’s making himself back at home in my place and finally laid down in the bed that I got him about 6 months ago. He has not touched the thing until today.

"The bed and I have made peace."

Attached to my hip...literally.

And now it’s really late, and I should be heading off to bed. Good night!

Question of the Day: Have you been working out to kick-start the new year? Any workout goals?