Training schedule update!

Yesterday I ran 9 miles! Life has been busy and I've gotten a bit off schedule. So having this longer run under my belt gives me some confidence going into my half marathon late next month. This is also the longest distance I've run in over 3 years. I'm a bit sore today, but nothing terrible. I'm getting eager to feel strong on these long runs again.

I also picked up a pedometer over the weekend. I paid about $27 for a small, compact one. The beauty of this is I could just up and run without having to map a course ahead of time. I liked the freedom of running wherever I pleased, but still having the assurance I'd run the distance I'd needed to for the day. I finished the 9 miles in 1:33. Not bad considering the hills. I've really come far in the past 6 months, and I feel good! I still have a ways to go, but I feel I'm headed in the right direction.

This morning I laid out my month's worth of workouts. It's going to mean some serious dedication and effort to get there. Here's what I'm hoping to do:

5/31: No More Trouble Zones (Jillian Michaels' 40 minute workout)
6/1: 5 miles
6/2: Shred workout, Level 2 (Jillian Michaels' 20 minute workout)
6/3: 3 miles
6/4: REST

6/5: 11 miles
6/6: REST
6/7: No More Trouble Zones

6/8: 5 miles

6/9: Shred workout, Level 3
6/10: 3 miles
6/11: REST
6/12: Sound to Narrows or 8 mile run
6/13: REST
6/14: No More Trouble Zones
6/15: 5 miles
6/16: Shred workout, Level 2
6/17: 3 miles
6/18: REST
6/19: 6 miles
6/20: REST
6/21: No More Trouble Zones
6/22: 4 miles
6/23: Shred workout, Level 1
6/24: 2 miles
6/25: REST
6/26: REST
6/27: 13.1 Half Marathon!

I'll keep you posted if I decide to do the Sound to Narrows race.

30 days until my half marathon!

I can't believe it's been so long since I've last posted! If you follow my other blog, you might have noticed I have had a LOT going on! Plus that, my family has been sick the last week or so.

Needless to say, it was definitely time to check in! My half marathon (the Seattle Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon) is exactly one month today. So am I ready? In a word, no.

My longest run to-date has been 8 miles and that was a couple weeks ago. I am definitely behind schedule. My workouts and healthful eating have been erratic, at best. In spite of all the craziness, I'm pleased to say that as of today, I weigh 143 pounds! That is 19 pounds down and only 7 more to go to reach my goal weight!

I was able to head out this morning for a short run. Um, it was bad. REALLY bad. I figure I have two more good weeks of trying to make some fitness gains before I'll need to taper off to avoid injury. Later tonight, I'm going to come up with a 30-day plan to get me to the starting line and across the finish line successfully.

I'll share my plan in the next couple days.

Weigh in Monday: I forget what week it is!

Oh goodness, it's been a couple weeks since I posted a weigh in! I don't know how many weeks I've been at this now, but for those just joining me, I started first of December. So that's about 4 months.

Lest you think I'm jumped off the bandwagon, let me tell you that as of today, I weigh 146 pounds!! Yes, you read that right! I'm down a total of 16 pounds since I started my weight loss adventure - I've lost a whopping 9.8% of my body weight! How awesome is that?!

This morning, I had a GREAT 5 mile run, too. It was my perfect running weather, too: slightly chilly, overcast, but not raining. It felt so good to breathe in the sweet, fragrant air of spring. It was a pretty hilly run, and I finished it in 59 minutes. Not fast by any stretch, but for endurance runs like these I'm just focused on getting used to the distance.

It's time to transition into marathon training now. I've dropped substantial weight, I've achieved some fitness these past few months, and I have a half marathon on the calendar for June! Time to get cracking!

To avoid injuring myself or over-training, I'm simply going to be adding a second day of running per week. I'll also keep up with 2 days of weight-training focus and a 3rd cardio session as I'm able. In a few weeks, I'll replace that 3rd cardio session with another run. But I don't plan on running more than 3 days per week - even in the height of my training season.

Here's the plan for the week ahead:

Monday: 5 miles - DONE!
Tuesday: Jillian Michaels' No More Trouble Zones (this is a 50-minute workout)
Wednesday: 45 minutes cardio
Thursday: Jillian Michaels' No More Trouble Zones
Friday: OFF
Saturday: 3 miles
Sunday: 30-Day Shred, any level

Overall, I'm pleased with my progress. I have 10 more pounds to go and am confident I will reach my goal as I train for my races!

PUSH week

So yesterday was my weigh-in. And you might have noticed I didn't post my results or workout plan.

Yet again, my weight had remained the same as previous weeks: 152 pounds. After feeling sorry for myself, I realized I needed to make a decision: am I going to give up, keep doing what I'm doing, or push harder? I realized the first two weren't options, at least not real options if I want to continue this journey.

As it appears I've hit some sort of plateau, I decided it's time to take things up another level. I'm ready to ditch the 150's for the 140's and I'm going to make a serious PUSH this week. I might not keep things at this intensity forever, but I feel I need a really hard week to kick things into gear. Here's my plan. I already completed Monday's workouts and I. AM. SORE.

Monday: 2 mile run, 30 minutes weight train (morning); 30-day Shred Level 1 (evening)
Tuesday: 40 minutes cardio
Wednesday: 40 minutes cardio (morning); 30-day Shred Level 3 (evening)
Thursday: 30-day Shred Level 1 & 2
Friday: 30-day Shred Level 3, 30 minutes cardio
Saturday: OFF
Sunday: 3.5 miles (this is my first week stepping up distance in two months)

While this might look crazy, I think it's exactly what I need to keep focus. It's every bit about keeping me mentally in this race as it is physically.

I also want to really pay attention to my eating habits this week. I'm gonna hit the produce store today and figure out some healthy meals. One thing I did do well last week was to remember to pick up some protein powder. I've been using that in place of carb-filled breakfasts. If I get a late night craving, I'm taking a little bit of it as well to avoid high-calorie snacking.

I've completed 10 miles of this race. While I'm not halfway there yet, I'm sure close and I'm pushing forward.

Weigh in Monday: week seven....REALLY?!

I am *trying* to be a patient gal and keep motivation high, but today guess what? I am STILL at 152 pounds. That's two weeks running and not a pound dropped. REALLY?!

I did a pretty good job keeping up with my workout schedule last week - Shred, cardio sessions, and my run. I'm wondering if I need to step up my nutrition efforts (I try to avoid the word "diet" on this blog.) I'll make the following two modifications and see if they do anything:

- no cereal for breakfast; only protein-based meal (I really need to grab some protein powder)

- no late night snacking whatsoever

Overall, I think I'm doing a good job of making healthier choices, water intake, and all. Hmmm. I just REALLY want to get under 150 pounds already.

As far as my workout plan, I'm sticking with last week's.

This week's workout plan & goals: 1/4

Tonight I decided to kick it up a notch. I did the 30-Day Shred Level 1 followed by Level 2! It was crazy...but the crazier thing is I did it without stopping and felt great the whole way through!

At some point during Level 1 I realized that tonight is four weeks from the first time I tried it. I remember huffing and puffing then...tonight I breezed through it. (OK, so I still can't do the two full sets of "real push-ups," but I'll get there!) After a quick water break, it was onto Level 2. I feel amazing. Seriously, this video has WORKED at improving my fitness in such a short amount of time!

Here is my plan for the first full week of workouts in 2010!

Monday: 45 minutes cardio
Tuesday: Level 2 Shred
Wednesday: 45 minutes cardio
Thursday: Level 3 Shred (here we go again!!)
Friday: Level 2 Shred
Saturday: OFF
Sunday: 3 mile run

I'm liking the mix of cardio at gym, workout at home, and running on track combo. The variety of activity, location, and times involved really keep things fresh and easy to stick with. So...you'll probably notice my workout schedule's gonna be more or less this type of combination for January.

You also may have noticed I like doing two sessions of cardio other than running per week. I try to make these between 40-60 minutes long for two reasons: 1) to burn fat, and 2) to build cardio endurance prior that will assist me as I begin to run.

As far as nutrition goes, towards the end of this week I started just feeling a bit sluggish again. And this afternoon I had a massive craving for something sweet and snacky. I ended up snacking on a few Apple Jacks - not the best, I know - but certainly not the worst either. This week I want to be more deliberate in my meal planning and to remember to be consistent about my water intake.

What are you going to focus on this week?

Photo credit Sanja Gjenero

This week's workout plan & goals: 12/28

First, an update on last week. Things didn't go as planned, but I made the best of it. My 3 year old ended up with a stomach bug (on Christmas Eve, no less), so that pretty well thwarted my workout plans I had ambitiously set out. However, in looking back, I did pretty well! I did the Shred video on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday. I got in a hard cardio session on Monday and I just did my 3 mile run. So I basically got the order messed up, but only missed one workout. And I am sort of toying with the idea of doing the Shred tonight after the kids go to bed.

By the way, my three mile run went great! I finished in 33:21 and I didn't have to stop...not even once! I was able to even kick up the pace the last lap. (I love going at a hard pace the last bit of a run.) I felt MUCH stronger than last week, and my pace was a minute/mile faster, too. Still not where I want it to be, but I'm absolutely loving the improvement! I really have to hand it to Ms. Michaels...she is helping me get fit FAST.

This next week will be pretty similar to last week's plan.

Monday: Shred, Level 2
Tuesday: 45 minutes of cardio
Wednesday: Shred, Level 2
Thursday: Shred, Level 2
Friday: OFF
Saturday: 3 mile run
Sunday: 45 minutes cardio

I hope everyone is doing well! This week I'll spend some time outlining the marathon training schedule and races I've decided on for 2010. I hope you'll join me!

Photo credit Sanja Gjenero

This week's workout plan & goals: 12/21

This past week's worth of workouts were great! While it involved exercising 6 out of 7 days, it really didn't seem overwhelming. The Jillian Micheals video is 20 minutes, I headed to the gym twice, and one outdoor workout. The variety and combo of longer and shorter workouts fits in perfect to my already busy lifestyle.

I think I've also decided to do only ONE day of running weekly through January. This will help me ease back in and avoid injury while I still have a few more pounds to lose. Incidentally, I found a marathon schedule that I think will also fit into my busy lifestyle, and I'll be sharing that with you shortly. Bottom line is, you do NOT have to spend hours a day training for a marathon - in fact doing so may actually be counterproductive if you're just starting out!

Here's the plan:

Monday: 40 minutes cardio
Tuesday: 30-day shred: Level 1
Wednesday: 40 minutes cardio
Thursday: 30-day shred: Level 2 (gonna try this again....)
Friday: REST
Saturday: 3 mile run
Sunday: 30-day shred: Level 1

Diet-wise, things are going great. Again, I'm not doing anything drastic. The goal is to develop healthy eating I can do forever. I just know I'm not disciplined enough to say, count calories, or never eat a slice of pumpkin pie again. So I'm just doing my best to make healthy choices, watch portions, add water, add vegetables and fruits wherever possible and eliminate late-night snacking and "empty" calories. So far, it seems to be working!

Photo credit Sanja Gjenero

This week's workout plan & goals: 12/14

So first let me report on my workouts last week. Overall, I did very well and am proud of myself! While I didn't stick with the plan exactly, I managed to workout 4 days and am getting ready to do a quick workout tonight. That's 5 out of 7 days working out and I don't remember the last time I did that!

I managed to make it to the gym only once this week. I did 30 minutes of cardio that evening blended with 30 minutes of strength training. The rest of my workouts have been the Jillian Michael's. I really, really love this workout! She combines cardio, abs, and strength in a short - but intense - session. I for sure will be incorporating it into my plans for the week.

Sadly, I did not do the 3 mile run I'd wanted to do today. My 18-month old daughter decided to wake up at 3:30 FOR THE DAY and I never truly recovered from the shock of 3 1/2 hours of sleep! No harm done though, I'll work it in to next week's schedule.

Here's the plan:

Monday: 40 minutes cardio
Tuesday: Jillian Michaels 30-day shred
Wednesday: 40 minutes cardio
Thursday: Jillian Michaels 30-day shred
Friday: OFF
Saturday: 3 mile run
Sunday: Jilliam Michaels 30-day shred

While this might seem a bit much, I truly am hoping to "jump start" things and get used to activity. I also created this based on my workouts from last week, which I was able to complete easier than I expected!

I haven't talked much at all about diet yet. I'm still trying to determine how to "tweak" things into healthy balance. I don't want to do anything crazy drastic for fear I won't be able to keep it up. So my plan at the moment is to begin to slowly incorporate long-lasting healthy eating habits into my diet.

Right now my focus has been to increase my water intake and replace my usual cereal breakfast with a protein choice.

Photo credit Sanja Gjenero

This week's workout plan & goals

Each Sunday, I'll simply share with you my plan for the week. Remember, I am not in marathon training shape...yet. So December and January I'll spend the bulk of my time establishing a base fitness level.

These plans are meant to give you an idea of how to get started. Feel free to create your own schedule. The cardio will probably mostly be spent on an elliptical trainer this week, although I may also opt for a stationary bike one of the days. One weight session will be upper body, and one will be lower.

Monday: 30 minutes cardio, 30 minutes weight training
Tuesday: 30 minutes cardio
Wednesday: 30 minutes cardio, 30 minutes weight training

Thursday: 30 minutes cardio
Friday: OFF
Saturday: 3 mile run around a track (that's 12 times for most tracks)
Sunday: OFF

I also want to pay attention to my water intake this week. Sometimes I just plain forget to drink it!

What is everything thinking they'll try to do this week?

Photo credit Sanja Gjenero