So, as I mentioned earlier in the week, I've been trying this new "take it easy or you might die" training plan. Or well, it's not a plan per se . . . it's more listening to my body and doing whatever physical activity my body happens to be up for at whatever spare moment of time I happen to have to train. This is what the past week has looked like for me fitness-wise:
Monday: Rest day.
Tuesday: 4.5-ish mile "easy run"
Wednesday: 30 minutes core training
Thursday: 15 minutes on rowing machine--level 5 (of 10) resistance; 25 minutes on elliptical trainer--level 7 (of 20) resistance.
Friday: I don't think you could really call it a "rest day." The amount of stair climbing and sprinting I did in the 10-ish hours I was at work would shock and amaze you (yeah . . . it was one of THOSE days).
Then today, I discovered the free(!) "lifeskool" on-demand channel on our cablevision. Apparently there is a just a huge resource of fitness and yoga videos available on there (fyi, you can also get an assortment of the videos online). So apparently my body really wanted to do a 15-minute "killer abs" video. But it didn't end there . . . then my body went for a little "kickboxing" (45-ish minutes worth to be exact). Finally, my body demanded that I do a 25-minute "latin dance" video. It was a pretty nice workout all in all, so I assumed my body was done. Nope! After reading one of Emilie's old "Weekly Challenge" posts about pushups, I decided I wanted to see how many pushups I could do. I managed to make it to 20 before my form really started to suck . . . not too bad, I suppose. But considering I can distinctly remember completing 30-some pushups in one of those "presidential challenges" in high school, I'm going to have to work on this, I think! (Thanks for the inspiration, Emilie!)
The great thing about my little remix week is that I'm actually getting back to the point where I feel strong after my workouts (as opposed to feeling like hospitalization is imminent). That has me pretty hopeful that I'm getting over this little exhaustion spree of mine. I'm still pretty nervous about tackling my long run tomorrow, though. I don't think I've had a good long run since marathon training . . . so I'm praying for a good long run experience. Hopefully the week of mostly cross-training will end up affecting the long run in a positive way. I guess only time will tell! That being said, I've got 8 on the schedule. I'm planning to take it nice and slow . . . I may even let Wilson run alone, at his own pace, so that I won't feel the need to try to keep up with him. We'll see. But for now, my body has decided it is sleepy-time!!
Hope you're all having great weekends thus far! Good luck to all those racing! Run strong!!
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Mixing It Up
Posted by Irish Cream at 12:12 AM
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3 comments:
I like that philosophy, Irish. It sounds like it is working for you. It sounds like even though you are taking it "easy" you are staying motivated which is always important. I am the type that has to have a schedule or my training would go to shite. BTW, "easy" workout is most peoples killer.
Hey Irish! First off, thanks for the comment, and second, thanks for crediting me for your inspiration :) 20 pushups may be less than what you used to do but I still think it's pretty awesome!
It's funny, it seems like we are going through the same thing as far as training is concerned...it seems like you are handling it well, though. I think the most important thing is to just listen to your body, accept that you cannot necessarily do what you might think you want, and try to stay active. It sounds like you are doing a good job with all of those things. As for your upcoming long run, I think you have a good attitude about that, too. You might even want to try leaving your watch at home and just not worrying about time/pace. I know there were a couple of times when I told myself I wasn't going to think about what I was doing and was just going to take it easy so that it felt good but as soon as I glanced at my watch and saw how much slower I was going compared to how fast I used to run (which is, of course, all relative, because when I say 'fast' I don't mean *that* fast), it would just depress me and I would have to fight not to stop. Don't let that happen! And most importantly, good luck, I know you'll get through this rough spot!
It's hard to get a sense for when to taper off with lighter workout weeks. Good for you. Your new plan might just be what you need for the long distance.
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