The fine line between crazy and insane....kickin' asphalt on the way to Goofy '08

[ScoJo15]

 

[AmyBeth68]

OK....update on the training

Yesterday I did a 4 Mile run (9:45 pace). It was a really good run, felt pretty decent the whole time . Thought that maybe I'd feel a little weak or tired from the previous days' exercise. But surprisingly it really went well, I didn't push too hard at all and felt like i hit a nice comfy groove there!

Today I have another bike ride scheduled...my, um, bottom is a little ouchy from riding the bike. I know it's just one of those things you have to get used to...so I'll probably try to head out for another 30 min ride. Next week I hope to push the time out to 45 minutes. It's such hard work, I thought it would be easier than running BUT boy was I wrong. Trying to bike up the hills is a huge challenge!!! I really hope it pays off and benefits me in two ways....cardio and strength. I need to build my vastus medialis (inner quad muscle) to help stabilize my hips. Biking is one of the best ways to do that!

So there ya have it! This weekend we don't have a lot of softball (THANKFULLY...a little break)...but we do have a family event on Saturday night. Otherwise...I just hope to continue to exercise all weekend. I plan on doing my pilates class tomorrow morning and I should be out there on Sunday doing 6 MIles.

Have a great weekend everyone

 

[ScoJo15]

Hi Amy

Great job on that run!! Not only was it a very respectable time, but you felt decent and hit a comfy groove Good Job...it's nice to see you back at the many workouts you do, finally free from that injury bug. Hope that sucker is squashed

...still jealous of the biking, but you are doing really great! Seems like a great high cardio, non impact way to XT that will surely benefit your running. Sorry to hear about the bum though....hope that gets better for you

Have a wonderful weekend!

 

[kimwim8]

She's groooooooooooooooooooooooovin', people!!!

Congrats on a GREAT run! I'm so glad you're feeling all better again!

Have a wonderful weekend, girl!

 

[AmyBeth68]

Hello everyone...

So Friday I had scheduled myself for a 30 min bike ride and some mat pilates at home. Unfortunately the heat and humidity were too extreme to attempt the ride...so I ended up being TOTALLY lazy and didn't exercise. Ugh.

On Saturday I did a 75 minute pilates class in the morning...it was very challenging so I'm really happy I made it there. Later in the day I managed to put in 30 minutes on the ski machine since I missed my bike ride earlier in the week.

Today I went out and did 6 miles (61:30). A nice pace...of course I'd like to be faster , but I really cannot complain AT ALL about this run. My breathing felt good...HR was a little high at 168 but basically when I run my HR just doesn't stay low. Overall my pace was consistent throughout the run so that alone is something to be happy about. 10:15 mpm really isn't too bad .

I guess I'll go try to do some basic mat pilates here now. My certification training is coming up in two weeks and I'm starting to get nervous. So for the next two weeks I have to try to do *some* pilates every day. I want to be super prepared since I heard it's a very very difficult certification process.

Other than that I'm still shopping around for a decent bike. Unfortunately the prices of road bikes are astronomical!!! It's crazy how much just entry level bikes are these days. It's not a great time financially for me to be spending much money either...so I'm really going to have to make due with the old beat up borrowed bike I'm cycling around in. We'll see...maybe I'll find that money tree somewhere in my yard. I keep looking lol.

OK...enough being lazy. I'm off to do some pilates work. Hope everyone had a great weekend..

 

[toystoryduo]

You'll do a great job on your certification, Amy! Sending prayers and your way. You CAN do it!

Great job getting your workouts in! Hope you can find an affordable bike soon.

Have a great week!

 

[ScoJo15]

Hi Amy

Wow...awesome workouts there! It's so cool to see you doing such a wide variety of things (pilates, cycling, ski machine, running) and now doing them without any major pains or injuries! I think your pace was great for that run and I'm glad that you thought it was pretty good too. Just remember that June, July and part of August is all about logging miles...getting our bodies ready to train for Goofy (why are we doing that again?).

GOOD LUCK with the Pliates certification. You definitely have the personality type to succeed in such a venture, and I know you've done a lot of Pilates in your time...i think you'll do just great!

And yeah, bikes are pretty expensive...Ok...Really expensive. I know how much benefit we all could get by adding some great cycling to the training, but I'm with you on searching for that money tree. Up for a trip to Vegas??

Really....great job with everything. You are motivating me to add more workouts to my weekly routine

Have a great day and a great run tomorrow.

 

[kimwim8]

Awesome run, girl! And even better that you are confident and accepting of your super-speedy time!

You blow me away with all of the workouts you get into your weeks.

Keep up the great work, and listening to your body. It seems like it's working at keeping your injuries away!

Have a great rest of the week and I'll tty when I get back!

 

[AmyBeth68]

I am finally starting to feel like I'm back into my exercise routine completely. Things have been going well *knock wood* in the injury department. It's only been a few weeks...but for me that's a big deal LOL . I have been sticking to my weekly build up of one mile until I reach 15 miles. I had this plan worked out for me nearly 2 months ago and it has really helped me to move forward, minimizing injury and helping me to gain some confidence back (BIG shout out...."thanks Speedy!" ). Last week was a 13 mile week and I finished fairly strong....with some quicker short runs and a solid, evenly paced LR. So that brings us to my 14 mile week...starting today:

Monday was a rest day. I planned to do some yoga, but never got off my lazy butt LOL. In fairness....lots going on at school to prevent that!

Tuesday...I ran 4 miles (39.02) for a nice 9:45 mpm. My legs are pretty stiff today . I did NOT stretch properly due to time constraints. Tonight I hit an hour mat pilates class which did help with the legs a bit....and much needed with that certification around the corner. Guess I best get to stretching during the evening tonight!

So that's it for today...let's see if I can follow this plan for the rest of the week...

Wed: 60 Mat Pilates, 40 Bike
Thurs: 4 Mile Run, 20 Basic Pilates
Fri: 60 Pilates Circuit, 40 Bike
Sat: Pilates Training Class
Sun: 6 Mile LR

Gonna' go feed the kids....then settle in for some good ol' reality TV. Have a good night!!!

 

[ScoJo15]

Hi Amy

Nice to see your confidence levels rising and that the plan drawn up for you just may be working Hopefully the slow, consistent build up of miles will keep that injury bug from attacking you. I'm sure the various XT and the Pilates are all helping out a lot with keeping you from being so sore and stiff. Great job with all of it! A couple months of steady mileage will have you prime and ready for Goofy training (be sure to log all of this stuff...it's gonna be great to include in our book)

I hope things are going well for you

Have a great day!

 

[AmyBeth68]

Hello....hope everyone is having a nice weekend

A little training update:

Wednesday: 42 min. Bike Ride (8.1 miles) and 60 min. mat pilates
Thursday: 4 Mile Run
Friday: 60 min pilates (mat & circuit), 30 min Bike Ride (6.2 miles)

I'm starting to ramp up for Goofy training...I will have run 14 miles this week and biked 14.3 miles. Most importantly I'm not injured and should be ready to go for another LSD Run (no no...not that kind of LSD...Long Slow Distance) on Sunday. Because I need to stay injury free but still want to see some sort of improvement in my pace and endurance, I've decided to take on the challenge of both shifting my perception of training runs and in addition try to add something new to my weeks.

The shift in perception is in regard to my Tuesday Run and my Weekend Long Run...both of which I have found through lots of research should be run at 60-90 sec slower than my marathon pace. I utilized the Runner's World smart coach, along with a lot of help from speedy and came up with the following plan...run tues and sun at somewhere between an 11:00 - 11:30 mpm pace. This helps to build your body for the distance, allows me to burn more calories on each run and keeps my heart rate in the cardio/aerobic training zone which is healthier and better for building endurance.

Thursday runs will now become "speed work". There are three types of speed work that I plan to incorporate into my new plan:

Tempo Run: Just a bit above 5K pace (which for me is around a 9 mpm)...so running somewhere between a 9:30 - 10 mpm.

Speed Drills: Running at a track and doing intervals of fast runs combined with slow jogs or walks.

Fartleks: Shorter bursts of speed during a run....no specific plan just busting out a quick pace for a short distance then falling back to my comfortable pace.

SOOO...to test my new slow pace I decided to run my Thursday run in the 11 mpm range. At first I was fighting the urge to speed up. But soon I realized that wow...I feel really really great. ! Oh my...then I noticed my heart rate staying very low for a run!!!! So I never had to stop and walk and managed to run the entire 4 miles at almost exactly an 11:30 pace. When I was finished my HR avg at 153 (right in the heart of the aerobic zone) as opposed to the normal 168-170 that I average! I felt wonderful...legs didn't hurt, I didn't feel like I wanted to puke and I had a lot of energy for the rest of the day.

Maybe this isn't such a bad idea after all. For the first time in a long time I didn't just survive the run BUT I actually enjoyed the darn thing. I think it helped that I gave myself permission to run slowly since it was "part of the new plan". I didn't beat myself up about pace the entire run! I just enjoyed the scenery and plugged along for 4 miles. Sure...I still feel slow. But if this keeps me from getting hurt AND helps me to build my endurance for Goofy...then I'm ALL FOR IT!!!!!! I can't wait to test out the speed work aspect of training .

So that's it. Sorry this was sooooo long!

Have a great weekend everyone

 

[ScoJo15]

Hiya Amy

I think you've come up with a pretty darn good plan there. Ironically, it's exactly the same plan as mine!! Go figure!

Here's hoping we can get thru the summer unscathed and build up a very solid base for the upcoming Goofy training. Somehow, someway, I'm gonna get a bike and join you in those two weekday rides. I think it's great XT.

Great job with everything...I hope you have a nice weekend

 

[kimwim8]

Hey girlie!! I'm baaaaaaaaaack! You're doing GREAT on the workout front. I'm SO glad your injuries have stayed away. LOVE the new plan you & McSpeedy have come up with. Definitely sounds like a good thing.

You up for a 5K in Ocean City in August? It's the Chrones & Colitis one I did last year. Just got a postcard about it. According to your new plan, your slow pace should coordinate well with my fast pace so we'd be a good team.

Have a great weekend!!

 

[hockeygirl]

Hey Amy,

Sounds like you have got a great plan for your training. That looks pretty similar to my plan. Speed work has been good so far, but I need to start adding a little variety to those workouts. Looks like you have a variety of workouts to choose from! Keep up the good work, you are doing great!

 

[AmyBeth68]

Happy Monday (is that an oxymoron?) . I actually like Mondays though...fresh start in the training department, always makes me hopeful.

Last week I finished out training with a 30 minute bike session and 60 minute pilates class on Friday. Saturday was a long training in upstate NY for my pilates certifications, so no actual workout although we did have to do some pilates so maybe I can count that LOL!

Sunday LSD: ok ok. So my training plan...the new one that McSpeedy researched...called for a long slowwwwwww run on Sunday. It was to be my normal long run distance right now (6 miles), but at nearly 1 min 30 seconds slower than what I hope to run the marathon. Since I'd like to hold up with 10 mpm during the marathon, my pace for this run should have been between 11 mpm and 11:30 mpm. The good: I ran the entire 6 miles with NO walk breaks. Even ran through my water/gel stop. I finished the run with an 11:25 avg. The bad: I felt like I was a total slacker...running slower than I have been in all previous long runs this year. The Ugly: My heart rate was HIGH!!! I averaged 167 which is a good 10 points above what i had really hoped for. However, with that said, it was high just sitting in the car on my way to the running trail. I was totally exhausted...got up at 6:30 am to run this stupid LSD after an exhausting week and lots of late nights. I will try to do the long run again next week at the same pace (even though that pace is SOOO hard for me to swallow), except I'd like to see my HR in the 150s or low 160s this time. Splits were shockingly consistent:
11:23 (157 hr), 11:28 (165), 11:46 (167), 11:30 (171), 11:30 (173), 10:56 (175)

I was discouraged after this run. Although...when you read what I just wrote one would think that it was a success. I did what I set out to do. I just have a very difficult time giving myself permission to run slower and not push.
Anyway, once I see this new plan working I know that my attitude will change. I just have to give it enough time to work...have a little faith....and STOP comparing myself to everyone else that runs.

OK...got that off my chest. Have a great week everyone. I plan to follow last week's training except with the extra added bonus of pilates certification training. Gonna' be exciting .

 

[kimwim8]

I just have to give it enough time to work...have a little faith....and STOP comparing myself to everyone else that runs.

Feel free to compare yourself to me. Your SLOOOOOOOOOOOOW pace equals my speedy pace.

I'm SO proud of you for sticking with the plan, when I'm sure every ounce of you wanted to pick up the pace. I'm sure McSpeedy won't lead you down the wrong path with the training...it'll all work out wonderfully, I'm sure.

Good luck, also, with your pilates certification. I'm sure you'll ROCK it in true Amy fashion!

 

[kimwim8]

As I said on Scott's journal.....

You guys off running some crazy race or somethin??

 

[AmyBeth68]

Hi!! SUPER quick drive by post.

Kim....nope,not a race. I've just been totally busy with my Pilates certification over the past several days. Will let you know how it went tomorrow when it's FINALLY over! (phew....been a little tough).

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

 

[MouseDogMom]

Just have to pop in and say I'm really glad I found your journal. We miss you over on the weekly training thread - thought you had completely disappeared, and tonight I was just wandering around the WISH board and found this. When I discovered the WISH group last year you were one of the ones who really inspired me, and I worried about you when you were injured and disappeared. I quit posting for a long time in the fall, then came back while all of you were running the marathon in January and made the decision to be there with all of you in '08.

I've just skimmed most of this tonight, but a couple of things I have to say. You ARE a runner, whether you believe it or not. And you're an amazing role model for your children, and that's even more important. Take it easy and listen to your body; we can all make it to the finish line without killing ourselves all year long. There's no reason to risk injury now. And the George Sheehan quote in your signature has kept me going many times over the past 18 months. (I've been known to go back and read OLD posts to find it cause I'm too dumb to remember to copy it down when I read it!)

Good luck!

Jackie

 

[kimwim8]

Hi!! SUPER quick drive by post.

Kim....nope,not a race. I've just been totally busy with my Pilates certification over the past several days. Will let you know how it went tomorrow when it's FINALLY over! (phew....been a little tough).

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Thanks, Amy. Glad everything is going well. GOOD LUCK with the certification!!

We all know she's gonna ROCK it, right peeps??