Sunrise; Hoover Run for Hope Race

Saturday started out amazingly beautiful. I wandered out to Moores Lane with my camera and Bible to try find a great place, within walking distance, to watch the sunrise. Unfortunately I left about 10 minutes too late and missed the changed from complete darkness to start of the sunrise, but fortunately God still showed His awesomeness and creativity in the beautiful sunrise.

Picture #1; there are many more but I had to limit my uploading here!

Here it comes!

Panoramic of the view I had once daylight had come

Then it was off to Kenrose Elementary in Brentwood for the Hoover Run for Hope. Not my best race, not my best time, but I finished 6th overall and 1st in my age group (final time: 23:30, which is about a minute slower than average for me). The thing is, today I went out thinking I’d run fast until I couldn’t any more. I never looked at my pace, I just split when I felt like I was slowing down. The first 1.25 was 6:45 pace and I ended up at about a 7:30 pace, so I obviously slowed down quite a bit. But, I felt great for the first part and figure if I can just keep building on that, I’ll continue getting faster.

Race gear

About mile 1.3

Lisa, Sarah, Jay, and Brad had gone trail running in the morning and then came out to cheer. I had run past Lisa's house and see cars but didn't expect to see them at all. Much to my surprise, there they were right outside the school's parking lot cheering! Made my day and made me run faster!

I had breakfast of oatmeal (dark chocolate cocoa, honey, almonds, and banana) between 6:30 and 7 before the 8am race, and I had a little water to drink before the race also. By about mile 1.5, I was so hungry it felt like I hadn't eaten since lunch the day before! That was about an hour later than I'd normally eat, so I never even considered that I'd be hungry, so that was a surprise. I also felt like about halfway to two-thirds in I went from aerobic to anaerobic, and my HR stats show this a little. I didn't split at the miles (although the time keepers said 6:59 and 14:59 gun time for miles 1 and 2); instead, I split where I started feeling differently.

• 23:35 total, 7:28 pace (5:37 best), 162 HR (198 max)
  
• Lap 1: 8:40, 1.25 mi, 6:56 pace, 137 HR; slowed slightly
• Lap 2: 6:37, 0.81 mi, 8:10 pace, 169 HR; slowed more
• Lap 3: 4:10, 0.56 mi, 7:28 pace, 179 HR; felt OK
• Lap 4: 2:50, 0.33 mi, 8:28 pace, 192 HR; felt anaerobic
• Lap 5: 1:24, 0.20 mi, 7:13 pace, 178 HR; finish
  

Come back to this day...

I don’t remember what today’s workout was. I remember a few parts of the afternoon workout, in no particular order:

• 10×4 reps altitude drop push ups (was supposed to have been bench press) with a few seconds of recovery visualization (lats and pecs, even though those aren’t the muscles I felt like I was using) between each set.
• 10×4 reps jumping from one foot off a bench into a squat position on the ground (lift feet/knees up as high as possible on each) with a few seconds of recovery between each set.
• Russian twist, 5×3 each side
• 5×6 overspeed glute ham

I remember some of the morning workout. It consisted of, again in no particular, some or all of the following:

• 1-arm elevated push up, 30 seconds, followed by 1-arm row pulses, 30 seconds (if left arm on ground, left arm row; pulse lats with chest up)
• Glute ham
• Lunge L 30 seconds, 30 standing hamstring pulses, repeat 5 times
• Lunge R 30 seconds, 30 standing hamstring pulses, repeat 5 times

Today was also a day I got to leave work early, which meant time in the hot tub. With the sun shining. Beautiful day.

Then it was off to pick up Lauren from dance and bake a little at Farkas’. We made some pumpkin mini-muffins, some chocolate-coffee mini-muffins, and some quiche, and we also played a little Apples to Apples. Fun times with the fam!

Slightly Better

It was only Will and me this morning, and hopefully we figured out a little more about yesterday. I guess mentally I was ready to do the exercises, and physically I could do them, but I was just doing them, not getting much out of them, and feeling weak. He said we might try some breathing exercises next time if I really can't do them. The thing is that I know how hard I can work; when I can't work that hard, I get frustrated because I can't. He reminded me that God knows—He sees the heart and the focus and it's OK if you just can't physically perform and need a day or a week off. Just do your best. The results aren't ultimately up to us anyway—the Lord gives the increase. It was a great reminder, and definitely something I needed to hear this morning. We did a little-ish workout, which means this afternoon's is going to be a fun one.

100 altitude drops:

• Glute ham (he kept reminding me to pull from the hips, which should keep my upper body and lower body from having a little lag between them)
• Wall squat (we had to decided between this and 1-leg squat; I said 1-leg squat because I didn't do it yesterday, he said wall squat because he wanted me to be able to work hard and enjoy it)
• Push up (little altitude drops, which ended up being sets of 4)

I went to MFY and finished the workout after work; I felt strong! Today was way better than yesterday.

100 altitude drops:

• Scapular pull up
• Bench press, 30-lb bar
• 1-leg squat (little altitude drops, which made this one much better; not necessarily easier, but I could handle it much better. It helped that Will said you don't start from all the way down but rather a little above parallel.)
• Glute ham (how many of these have I done over the last week?!??! I'm going to be able to do a glute ham raise off the ground in no time!)

Then it was off to Inversion to listen to Jonathan talk about Flight and Pursuit:

1. Flee gossip and pursue Godly conversation.
2. Flee drunkenness and pursue self-control.
3. Flee pride and pursue humility.
   

Consistency Part II

Will was so nice this morning. Wednesday is a 3-workout day, so he let this morning's workout be light. I think it was lighter than he had originally planned because I said I was tired and needed a nap, but we'll do more this evening. Zach and Bill were down there with us today, and Will's friend Natalie joined us, too. This was probably the worst morning for focus. At least the TV was off so there was one less distraction.

• Wall squat: 10 sets of 4 altitude drops with a break in between each set, during which I was supposed to visualize recovery. My fave.
• Push up: 10 sets of 4 altitude drops with a break in between each set, during which I was supposed to visualize recovery.
• Crate crunch: 5 sets of 40 quick-style reps with 30 seconds between each set.

Then I got my nap. Actually it was less of a nap (although I did sleep some) and more of just pouring my heart out to God. I don't know what my problem was this morning. I got up to go swim, and as much as I didn't want to go, I'm so glad I did.

• 200 warm up
• Something else
• 300 pull
• 10 sets of 50s
• 2 sets of 50s
• 1,100+

We were supposed to do a 50 and get about 10 seconds rest before we started the next 50 but keep the same time interval regardless. So I swim about 42-second 50s and was going on 55. I was third in line behind Heather and Leanne until I caught Leanne. We were doing well holding 55s until the last 3 or 4 when we went on 60. I went as close to 55 as I could without having to worry about catching Heather. I was consistently coming in between 40 and 42 seconds; I was thrilled about the consistency, but definitely have some work to do on time (33 seconds is an attainable goal, at least for one, and 28 seconds is an aggressive goal). Even though I wasn't doing consistent reps yesterday, I was swimming consistently today. The last 2 50s were actually supposed to have been part of another set of 10, but I had to get out. Everyone else put their flippers on and I went without, starting 5 seconds behind Leanne and trying to catch her.

I felt great the entire time. I wasn't getting tired, 10 seconds was plenty of rest, and I wasn't getting slower (neither was I getting faster) as time went by. I can't say I was thinking about chest up and good strokes, but I'm hoping that if I think about it all during the gym workouts, I won't have to think about it at all while I'm racing—I'll just do it right and well. Ginny mentioned this morning that they are considering putting together a Masters' Swim Meet for the adult swimmers at the local Ys. How cool would that be!

It's a good thing the swim was good, because the afternoon  workout was anything but. 100 altitude drops:

• Scapular pull up
• Glute ham
• Wall squat
• 1-leg squat (skipped)
• Bench press w/30-lb bar, then 2–3 min break
• Bench press w/20-lb bar

I skipped the 1-leg squat because I just couldn't do it. I did about 6 on one leg, stopped, started again, stopped, went into the hallway (I was at the CSY) to try to collect myself and refocus Will asked later if I was going out to sulk—hardly!), started again, and then quit. The bench press was extremely hard, even with only 20 lb. I might have been able to do only about 15 at a time, but I was determined to finish.

When I got home I went over to talk to Will. This is going to happen frequently and I needed him to know that. When I was doing just 3 days a week, I could do it and, if I wasn't doing well, just do it again the next day and do it right. But if we're working out every day, I can't save a workout for the next day because I can't do it that day. I don't know if he really understood/understands, but maybe.

Consistency

We had a little company in the workout room today (not the Monday crowd we had a couple weeks ago), with Sherrie from across the way (who started talking to me because she said I had an accent like her sister-in-law who is from Michigan) and another girl who immediately turned on the TV when she walked in. The silence is way better for focusing, but I can't say I remember even what was on TV, so that's a good thing.

15×10 seconds with 10 seconds rest rebounds:

• Front delt raise: 3-lb dumbbell, all with right arm, 30 seconds rest, all with left arm. Hold arm up with palm down, drop dumbbell, drop arm to catch dumbbell, and lift arm and dumbbell up quickly and forcefully.
  
• Curl: 3-lb dumbbell, all with right arm, 30 seconds rest, all with left arm. Drop forearm (lengthening biceps) and let go of dumbbell, catch dumbbell while bringing forearm back up (contracting biceps) through dumbbell; keep wrist curled and upper arm perpendicular to ground.
  
• Glute ham
• Lunge: all on right leg, all on left leg

Today I noticed, and so did Will tho he didn't say anything until the end, that every rep was different from the previous and next reps. Now since I have most of the skill down, it's a matter of feeling—notice what the really good ones feel like and re-create that for every rep. That should translate to efficient, consistent, and good running and swimming and riding (although not in that order).

Ezekiel

Today's workout: 20x10 seconds of pulses with 10 seconds rest.

• Bentover Front Delt Raise: 5-lb dumbbell (which was a lot of weight); second arm--20 seconds rest for the last 10. Focus on lats and delts.
  
• Bentover Row: 5-lb dumbbell. Focus on lats and delts.
• Standing Extreme Ham: Focus on glutes.
• Lunge R, L: stand up between each 10-second interval. Focus on back leg's glute and front leg's hamstring. I could really only focus on one leg at a time, so back leg it was.

After this, I swam at BFY:

• 200 warm up
• 200 kick (kickboard but no flippers)
• 50 easy
• 300 pull (breathe every 3 for 25, breathe every 5 for 25, repeat)
• 50 easy
• 4×25 backstroke kicking (on side or back)
• 4×25 backstroke (7-kick roll, stroke; 5-kick roll, stroke; 3-kick roll, stroke; swim)
• 4×25 backstroke
• 1,100 total
  

The pulses that we did first were excellent for the swim later. Because I had been thinking about chest up during the workout, it was already on my mind for the swim. Then I could focus on being efficient and keeping my chest up. The backstroke was good for that too. Unfortunately, I don't float well and felt super inefficient kicking for the last 300, but I was definitely doing my best to do it correctly. Being able to swim twice a week will be good; I don't think I'll lose anything not being able to ride or run more than once each per week, but I think I would definitely lose technique by not swimming. And as much as I dislike swimming, it's that much better for me to be getting in the pool so that hopefully I start to enjoy it. Fortunately we are not doing too many yards, but unfortunately we have a lot of breaks between sets.

The book being read by Brian Hardin from The Daily Audio Bible this week is Ezekiel. I have read this book numerous times and am continually amazed at how God reveals His character in this book. He also shows His fantastic imagination. The things He tells Ezekiel to do sound so crazy, but they all correspond in some way to His judgment and grace and wrath and mercy.

Running; Schedule and Goals

Yesterday Will and I figured out a schedule/goals list for the next couple months. Here’s what we came up with as far as a schedule (subject to change, but having this structure is great for me!):

10 workouts
4 others (2 swim, 1 run, 1 ride)

Monday    Tuesday    Wednesday Thursday  Friday    Saturday   Sunday
6am wrkt  6am wrkt   6am wrkt  6am wrkt  6am wrkt  AM run
8am swim             8am swim
          6:30 wrkt  6:30 wrkt 6:30 wrkt mid wrkt  late wrkt  late ride

And here’s what I came up with for goals:

Distance	Intermediate Pace	Aggressive Pace
5K	6:34	6:17
10K	6:31	6:20
10K (tri)	7:30	6:31
Half Mary	7:15	6:29

So today, we went out to get an idea of speed. I tried to run as fast as I could until I couldn’t, then I took 5 minutes rest, then repeated. I ended up with 5 real reps (we couldn’t count the first one, which I ran what I thought was too fast so I just stopped; obviously I didn’t quite have the right mindset). I’m not sure how I feel about today’s workout. It felt like I was running fast, but I just couldn’t run that fast for that long. It was encouraging seeing that I could run faster than I’d thought, but I really wasn’t lasting much longer than 0.25 miles before I just felt like I couldn’t get enough air. Will wondered if maybe it was more I was kind of freaked out that maybe I might not be able to breathe or if it was really I couldn’t go any more, and I thought maybe a little of both.

I don’t have the most reliable results from the Garmin, but Will’s trusty stopwatch had me running about 90 seconds at a time. What I do have is this:

• Approx. 8 minutes, 1.33 miles, 6:03 pace, 150 HR (197 max) HR
• Lap 1: 1:26, 6:00 pace (5:14 best), 0.25 miles (this was the one I stopped on)
• Laps 2 and 3: unreliable, but 5:22 best pace
• Lap 4: 1:27, 6:03 pace (5:25 best), 0.25 mi
• Lap 5: 1:28, 5:42 pace (5:03 best), 0.26 mi
• Lap 6: 1:10, 5:54 pace (5:08 best), 0.20 mi

I was really encouraged about the speed but discouraged about the distance. Will was confused why my inner thighs might have been tired. But my legs definitely warmed up and felt much better after the first couple. The only thing that couldn’t keep up was my breathing. It was all around fun and good, though, and we have something to go off of and build on. When we finished, we ended up retracing most of Will’s steps to find his phone (which we did, praise God!) and then joined Nancy at Cozymels for lunch. Yum! And, before I forget, this cat has tried to come into my apt at least 3 times, but instead of letting him in I just watched him and took his picture.