Posts Tagged ‘gym’

I’m tired today, but I managed to get in 10.1 miles on the bike — probably my longest ride since I was in my early teens. I just got on the bike and rode. Too bad I didn’t really go anywhere. It actually went by fairly quickly though. My iPod had an interesting trio of songs with Dave Matthews Band, Dr. Dre and Aerosmith to keep me going tonight. I also got in a quick couple of miles on the elliptical runner. Add on the mile I walked with my dog and you have yourself a half-marathon night.

That’s all … like I said, I’m tired.

Tonight I got in 5 running miles (1 with my dog; the other 4 on the treadmill) and 2 more recovery-type miles on the bike. I’ve put together a good string of workouts in the past four days totaling 15.6 running miles, 10.4 on the bike, 4 walking, 2 on the elliptical machine and 588 steps at work. I plan to continue my streak tomorrow before having a couple of days of taking it easy before this weekend’s race.

While it seems much of my focus has turned back to running, I can’t let go cross training days go without being recognized. Tonight, after 2 miles on the elliptical, I got in a nice, slow, steady 8.4 miles on the bike. It was kind of odd — I was putting in a pretty good effort, yet it felt effortless. There’s nothing better than a workout like that.

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After my 7 creepishly bad miles on Saturday, I got in a good 3.6-mile run yesterday and felt a ton better. I think some of my problem Saturday was actually just being outside. I’ve gotten used to running indoors and the nice weather outside was probably a bit of a shock to my system.

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Lastly, this weekend I’m still planning to run the Sweetheart 8k. I’m not looking forward to that first hill, but I am looking forward to racing again. It’s been almost four months since my last race, so I’m getting that itch to see how I’ll be. Last year this was a very satisfying race; this year I’m looking for the same.

I work on the 5th floor of a 5-story building, but I’ve only taken the stairs once or twice. And that was because the elevator was out of service. Well today I started something I’ve been thinking about for a while — I took the stairs this morning and this evening. That’s 84 up and 84 down. Right now my goal is to do this stairs in the morning and the evening when I go home. I might add in the steps at my lunch break in a few weeks, but the important thing is that I’m making this change with the hopes of co-workers doing the same. I think of it as a bonus short quick crossing training to kick off the day.

Meanwhile, tonight at the gym the treadmill and I had words. And I lost the battle after 2.6 miles. It just wasn’t happening. It was one of those nights in which the treadmill was truly the dreadmill. I then got on the Arc for about 10 minutes and then did another 10 minutes on the bike. My hope going into the gym was to run 4 or 5 miles, but I think I thought about it too much. Tomorrow, though, is a different day.

I hate it when it’s cold enough to snow but it rains. And even though it’s right at 32 degrees, this rain isn’t cold enough to make driving a nightmare. I’d rather that be the case. There’s just a little bit of ice on the trees. But it is cold and annoying enough to skip the gym tonight and sit in and do nothing but complain that it’s not snowing. Instead of getting backed up on my DVR, I’ll be watching “American Idol” or “Biggest Loser” live tonight. Will someone please fall off the treadmill already??

I did, however, get in a great workout yesterday - a half-mile walk and 1.2 mile run with my dog; 3.1 miles on the runner elliptical; and 6.2 miles on the bike. I covered those 11 miles in just a little more than an hour’s time. I was a bit surprised today that my legs are tired … it’s a different tired than I’m used to with running. Tomorrow I plan to hit the treadmill for some speedwork and maybe a little bit of something else. I want to get in a 2-mile tempo run at an 8-minute mile or better pace, but I’ve never really tried that on the treadmill.

Lastly I want to give a quick shout-out to my friend and co-worker twice over Stephanie, who is training for the Monument Avenue 10k in March. You can find her blog here. She’s looking for readers and I think that her blog is definitely worth checking out.

The combination of cold weather and darkness continues to lead to treadmill running and this week I have found it to not be so bad. Yesterday I somehow did 5 miles on it and today I did 2.5 miles on it (plus 20 minutes on an elliptical and walk/jog with my dog). Yesterday I did speed work based on my iPod. One song fast (generally 7.5 mph or faster), one song slow (generally about 6.5 mph). It worked pretty well instead of trying to do specific intervals. I found myself not paying attention to the distance so much, which made the 5 miles OK.

Tonight I found myself quickly settling in comfortably between 7 and 7 mph with some tenth of a mile inclines. I started at 1 percent and worked my way up to 4 percent. I certainly wouldn’t call it a hill workout, but it was something different.

The treadmill has certainly helped me pick up the speed with my normal pace. Although outside running is rare, I can tell a big difference. In the short run with my dog tonight, I felt really good. I’m looking forward to this weekend to getting outside. The treadmill is boring, so the faster I run on it the faster I can get off and do something else.

When things are going fine, it’s tough to write much. This week has been great with two good runs and lots of cross training mixed in. I may be in for a few days of break time though as tomorrow evening I head to Ohio to visit the in-laws. I doubt I’ll see temperatures any higher than 20 degrees or so - Friday’s forecast is for a high of 8. There are no Gold’s Gyms nearby either.

I’ll find something to do at least one day while I’m there, but I’m not overly worried about it. I don’t mind running in the cold … it’s just finding a place that’s not overly snow covered and safe to run. Easing back just a bit might not necessarily be a bad thing for a few days. It might be my last chance for a break for more than two months. We’ll see what happens …

Today I got in 4 miles on the new treadmill at the new gym. Both the gym and the run were great. The new treadmill felt a little smoother than the old ones. I initially was just going to do a couple of miles and then hit another piece of new equipment, but I found myself in a zone. I’ve learned that if you’re in a zone on the treadmill, it’s best to just stay on it. Hitting a zone on the ‘mill doesn’t happen often. As part of my run I did two intervals. One was a half mile at 7.5 mph for a quarter mile then a quarter at 8 mph. The second was 3/4 of a mile with increases every quarter of a mile at 7.5 mph, 8 mph and 8.5 mph. My rest times are generally a quarter of a mile at 6.5 mph.

When I left the gym I realized that I need to change up my routine to adjust to my life. While this gym is extremely convenient on my route home, I’m going to have to start coming home first and then working out later. It’s just an adjustment to make with having a baby at home. Conner’s bed time is typically around 7:30, so with cramming in dinner I don’t get to see much of him on nights I go to the gym right after work. Plus after giving myself a quick self tour of the new Gold’s, I realized that I’d like to get longer workouts in. So if I go to the gym around 7:30 or so at night, I won’t feel so rushed to get a workout in and go home. And, very likely, I’ll actually eat less at night doing this. Part of my issue now is I’m extremely hungry when I work out before dinner.

The new gym has a basketball court and I’d love to get back into playing a few times a month. It also has raquetball, which I’ve never played but wouldn’t mind getting into if I met anyone wanting to play. Plus I just want to do more. While running will continue to be the main focus of my fitness, I really enjoy doing all these other things. I don’t want to get crazy or anything … I just want to have time to do what I’m comfortable doing.

My new Gold’s Gym opens tomorrow. I’m pretty excited about it, although I’m sure my workout tomorrow won’t be anything unusual. I am looking forward to seeing what kind of new equipment they have and what all the rage about cardio cinema is. I’m also looking forward to having a decent place to shoot basketball every once in a while. Maybe I can meet some people who want to form a team for rec league play.

The location of this gym will help my evening schedule just a bit. It’s on my way home and there’s a convienent back way in to avoid some traffic, so instead of an extra 10 minutes traveling to where the gym was, I’ll actually save time and be able to get home quicker without feeling rushed on days I go.

One great thing about going to a gym is that it is hard to get bored. Yes, running on a treadmill can put forever into perspective, but it’s easy to just hop off and do something else. Tonight I had every intention of running 4 miles, but after 3 I could take no more. Even though I was going at a pretty good pace, I couldn’t take not going anywhere anymore. So I hopped off and hit the Cybex Arc Trainer for 10 minutes.

The Arc Trainer may look similar to an elliptical, but the workout is extremely different. It certainly helped break up the routine of my favorite equipment despite not getting my usual reward of miles. For example, with the other elliptical-type machine I usually use I could probably get 1.5 miles in 10 minutes; with the Arc Trainer, it was just about a half mile. But it felt so much more rewarding.

All in all, this is a pretty good workout. In fact I’ve had a good week so far with two good runs, plus some workouts on the elliptical and bike. With my mind in full training mode, I feel like my workouts are worthwhile. After four months of not having anything on my mind from a racing standpoint, it’s nice to have something to focus on.

Tomorrow is weigh-in day and I promise to have a post soon to discuss my goals a little more in depth.