Slowly But Surely

Going Primal

noreply@blogger.com (SlowlyButSurely) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 01:57:00 +0000

Starting yesterday, a coworker and I began the 21 Day Primal Challenge, based on the book 21 Day Total Body Transformation, by Mark Sisson. This is the second time I’ve attempted this, but the last try was thwarted by the holidays. This time should be a lot easier for me, as there will be less of my favorite treats (I am in love with gingerbread cookies and cannot turn them down) staring me in the face at work all day long.

The premise of this diet is simple – only eat what your paleolithic ancestors would have eaten. So that means lots of veggies, meat (grass-fed if possible), eggs, and some nuts and seeds. I’ve already got 1-2 meals per day locked down – usually for breakfast I eat eggs w/ mushrooms, and lunch is most likely ground turkey breast with broccoli. Dinner isn’t too difficult to figure out, but my real challenge will be the constant snacking and grazing that I am prone to do. No more ice cream, tortilla chips, or things of that sort. The other (smaller) challenge on this diet is that I am rarely hungry. Real food is actually FILLING, believe it or not. And how else can I procrastinate working on something when I’m not snacking constantly? By day 3 of my last attempt, I was barely hungry for any snacks, and finding myself eating more out of habit than hunger.

Yesterday was pretty easy – all of the binge eating from the holidays has taken its toll, and I don’t even want to look at another Christmas cookie. But then the boyfriend decided to test my resolve in a BIG WAY. While we were out running errands, we stopped at a bookstore that happened to be inside a mall. As we were walking inside, he spotted a frozen yogurt place, and decided that he needed some (he never does this by the way, it’s usually me pushing the ice cream/froyo on him!). So I had to stand there, with my hands in my pockets, as he filled up a giant cup with the most amazing-sounding flavors of froyo ever, and then pile on the non-Primal toppings one after the other! But I survived, and because of that, day 1 is in the books. Only 19 ½ more to go!

Last night, I decided to go to CrossFit before my regular work-week started. This was my first repeat of a 101 workout, with the focus on deadlifts and rowing. I'm definitely starting to feel more confident in my skills, and now I am able to start focusing on adding weight! :)

Skill of the Day:

Deadlift - 4x5, 21x1 tempo - that means lower the bar with a count of two, pause at the bottom for a one count, lift explosively (that’s the “x” - nothing too crazy, more like a one count), and then pause at the top for a one count.

First Round: 22lb (bar only)

Second Round: 42 lb

Third Round: 53 lb

Fourth Round: 73 lb! :)

WOD:

4 rounds:

1 min row

10 pushups

1 min squat hold

Holy moly, those squat holds are HARD! As a reminder, Crossfit’s definition of a squat is probably more extreme than what you’d see on the floor of 24 Hour Fitness – they want your butt to be below your knees and as close to the floor as possible. I think my lack of hip mobility hurts me here, and it's really hard for me to keep both heels on the ground for the entire time. It's something I definitely need to practice more.

For the pushups, I did full, manly pushups! In Crossfit, the rule on pushups is that your chest has to touch the ground. It's a lot easier to kind of drop down to the bottom, and the difficult part then becomes picking yourself back up. I definitely had a hard time keeping my belly from sagging on the way back up, but I am still really proud of myself for doing 40 regular pushups, instead of chickening out and doing them from my knees.

After class, my coach told me that after I finish the week, he thinks I am ready for 201! So I think I am going to take him up on that. I still have a lot of work to do on the rope climb and pullups (lack of upper body strength, anyone?), but he thinks I can pick those up when I'm in the 201 class. I think I'll need to do a bit of homework, too!

NYE Crossfit

noreply@blogger.com (SlowlyButSurely) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 02:59:00 +0000

I am still kind of sore after Thursday's workout, particularly in the inside of my elbows and my forearms. I guess that I'm not used to gripping a rope and pulling myself up, so I was expecting to feel it!

Today's workout was a beast. The warmup was to run 600m (it was COLD), and then we did a shoulder sequence with a PVC pipe that opens up our shoulders.

The WOD was:

5 Rounds for Load (not time):

Overhead Squat - 5 reps

Row 500m

Before the WOD started, the coach went over the proper form for Overhead Squat, first with a PVC pipe, and then with a 15lb bar. There were 4 of us (all girls) in my group, so there was plenty of time for individual instruction. I've worked out with one of the girls many times, and I met one of the other girls for the first time in Thursday's workout. It's funny that I'm starting to feel like I've been around the Crossfit 101 block for a while, and that I'm kind of one of the "older" 101ers, but that just means I need to graduate soon! :)

During the instruction portion, the coach had us all do 3 Overhead Squats (OHS) with the 15lb bar, so she could check our form. I definitely felt that the bar was too light for me, and was pretty confident with this lift. Once I finished, the coach told me that she was going to try to get me up to 50-60lbs, since that bar looked far too easy for me! In my last OHS workout, I only did 27lbs, so this would be a bit of a jump for me!

For the first set, I did 5 reps with 42lbs, and it felt really good! On the first row, I started out super fast, but couldn't maintain the same pace for the entire 500 yards, but at least my form was good. For set #2, I moved up to 52lbs, and again, it felt great. Set #3 was at 57lbs, and that's where I stayed for set #4 as well. All of the squatting and rowing tired me out pretty good! We also took a lot longer (because we were alternating rounds with a partner), so they cut us off after 4 rounds.

Notes for next time:

During rowing, I need to try to keep my pace/500m to around 2:15. I also need to try to keep my strokes/min to 30 or less. I can accomplish this by pushing really hard with my legs and slowing down, which should also help me to keep my heart rate at a reasonable number.

For the OHS, I need to remember to widen my grip just slightly farther than I think I should. That will help me to lift heavier.

Update - I joined a cult!

noreply@blogger.com (SlowlyButSurely) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 05:20:00 +0000

It's been a LONG time since I posted, and I really want to start using this blog to keep track of my progress, so I guess it is time to post an update,

Let's see... Since the Portland Marathon (which I was able to run even with my previous injury, cut my previous time by 17 minutes, and experienced my first runner's high), I've been trying to find myself with regards to diet and fitness. I've been experimenting with a few different things over the last two months or so:

Spin Class - terrified to try it, but LOVED IT!
Body Pump - felt like a weaking, but LOVED IT! Sadly, it didn't fit into my schedule very often.
Bikram Yoga - soooo difficult, but LOVED IT! I am still going to classes about 2-3 times per month.
Various other yoga classes - my faves are the ones that are in 90+ degree heat. I've even taken a class that involved singing, not once but twice!

And now, here's the most exciting (and definitely most terrifying): CROSSFIT!

I started off going to a gym that will remain nameless, but that I found through groupon. Running Buddy Amy and I went to a few classes together, and while I enjoyed myself, it was SUPER difficult, and the gym wasn't very friendly to newbies. Oh yeah, and it wasn't clean either. Amy was absolutely turned off, and vows never to go back to Crossfit again.

Meanwhile, I had been stalking another Crossfit gym, Crossfit Portland, via their blog. Which is totally awesome, by the way. They post stories about fitness tips, their workouts each day, and even members' success stories. I felt like this gym had potential. So I sucked it up and gave it a try.

I was SO SCARED to go to my first class, but the best part of this gym was that it has separate classes for newbies, Crossfit 101. After about 4 weeks, you will cover all of the Olympic lifts and other exercises that Crossfit is known for, and then you graduate to 201. I think I'm going to stick to 101 for a few extra weeks (those darn cleans are really hard for me to get).

Our coaches go through extreme detail on all of the lifts, and really pay attention to our form, which I really enjoy. Everyone I've met so far has been super nice and supportive, and I felt like this was a place I could truly BELONG. So I joined. And yes, I definitely drank the kool-aid. I can't talk about anything other than Crossfit right now.

So I'm going to begin to log my progress. Today was my 9th class, in week 4 (I skipped Saturday of last week and Tuesday of this week because of vacation). Here's what we did:

Warmup - Double Under instruction. I was able to go for 4-5 regular jumps, followed by one double-under, but then I'd miss on my second attempt each time. This is something I can get, I just need to practice!

Rope Climb Instruction - we learned two methods, and both had about the same result for me. I could get myself up (barely) the first step off the ground, but then I would get stuck. I didn't have enough upper body strength to hold myself on the rope, and I didn't have enough core strength to lift my legs up so I could get up any further. This is something I definitely need to work on!

WOD:

4 rounds

5 rope rows (OMG, these are HARD)

20 box jumps (I graduated to a 13" box, which made these MUCH harder than last week)

Finished in 10:29. My heart rate was up VERY high (max 187), and I had to take a lot of breaks during this one. I think the combination of a weak upper body, plus the fact that i've eaten like crap for the last month and probably gained a few pounds, and just got back from MD was the worst possible time for me to do this one. I felt very weak and winded.

Two Days To Go...

noreply@blogger.com (SlowlyButSurely) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 23:11:00 +0000

I don’t really know what I’m feeling right now. The BF actually asked me that question yesterday, and I had a really hard time coming up with an answer for him. What I did say was that I am super ready for Sunday to be over. But there’s a lot more to it than that, I’m just trying to sort through it all!

Last Saturday, we did our final “long” training run with the Portland Fit group, and it was kind of bittersweet. For me, I’ve been skipping out on the Portland Fit runs since my injury, mostly because I couldn’t handle going with the walking group (too touchy-feely for me – no way am I massaging a stranger’s shoulders before a walk!). So this finale week was nice – I was able to see a lot of the people I’ve been running with all season, and it was amazing to see the confidence and happiness on their (skinnier) faces!

My run plan for that 5 miles was to see how my knee would handle run/walk intervals, and I planned to do ¼ mile run/walk. Well, I was a little excited to be running, so I ended up running the first half-mile without walking at all. I also added in a half-mile run toward the end, just because I felt like it! The ¼ mile walk intervals felt like they took forever, and since I walked them in approx. 4 minutes, I think I will set my walk intervals a little shorter for the marathon. Overall, I finished in a fairly decent time (1:09:48), and some of my run intervals were at a 10:15 pace!

So, that gets me back to the ever-optimistic hope that I could possibly finish the marathon faster this year than last (my average pace was 14:13)…

But I really can’t know how my knee/IT Band will hold up for such a long effort – I haven’t tested it past the 6 ½ mile barrier that started the really serious pain during the 18.6-miler-that-wasn’t. I am hoping that my cautious approach since the injury will mean that I’ll be fresh, but who knows?

During the week, I’ve done two sloooooow treadmill runs of 20 minutes of non-stop running (my max since August 7!). p.s. Why do I run so much slower on a treadmill than on the road? Both runs felt really good once I got into it! I’ve been following my Physical Therapist’s instructions and trying to crouch down more (so my knee is flexed when I make contact with the ground – I tend to hit the ground with a straight leg), and also focusing on not twisting my trunk when I swing my arms. I will continue to focus on this during the marathon.

My cold has finally let up, too, so I should be in perfect health for Sunday!

It looks like the weather gods aren’t being 100% helpful this year… But seriously, nothing could be worse than the 6-hour downpour I endured last year!

I’ve already gone to packet pickup, and I can tell that my nerves are starting to get to me! On one hand, I’ve got a bit of the nonchalant attitude of “I’ve done this before. I know what to expect. It’s no big deal.” But then again, I think that might be the fear talking! I'll admit, I did pick up a 6-hour pace band... Hopefully I won't rip it off in frustration!

It was so exciting to see so many runners at the expo, and I was reminded about how much I love shopping for running clothes and accessories! It was so hard to walk by all of the race tables and not sign up for every single one! I guess I needed an experience like that to get excited about running and racing again! J

Marathon Plan - 10 Days To Go!

noreply@blogger.com (SlowlyButSurely) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 16:44:00 +0000

Crossing the finish line in 2010

Well, it’s definitely not what I thought it would be, but I thought it would help me to write out what my actual plan is going to be for the marathon this year. I know I have a snowball’s chance in hell at getting a PR, but my goal will be to cross the finish line without limping, and without any knee/IT band pain. At least that will be an improvement over last year.

Since we’re now 10 days out from the big day, here is my countdown to the race:

Tonight (10 Days Out): Rest. Try to get over this cold (I think it’s getting better, but I need to make sure of that!). Last beer before race day.

Friday (9 Days Out): Day off! I’m not sure yet what we’ll do, but I’ll go ahead and assume that there will be a good amount of walking included. Possibly a spin class, depending on how the cold is going.

Saturday (8 Days Out): 5 miles – this will be my first run/walk with the red group in about 7 weeks! I’m going out with my group for a few reasons – I didn’t feel comfortable with the walkers (I’m sorry, but early-morning massage trains with people I don’t know isn’t my cup of tea), plus I miss my group. I haven’t felt like a “coach” since my injury, so I want to try and recapture that as much as possible. My run/walk plan will be to run ¼ mile, walk ¾ of a mile. But I will adjust as necessary (in the direction of less running) – I don’t want to push myself too far, but I also want to get my running legs back!

Sunday (7 Days Out): Rest. And watch the Ravens game, of course!

Monday (6 Days Out): 20 minute run. I’m going to try and run the whole time. And I am thinking about doing a hot yoga class, but we’ll see about that.

Tuesday (5 Days Out): Spin class after work. I told you, I’m addicted. This will be the last one before the marathon day, just in case!

Wednesday (4 Days Out): Rest.

Thursday (3 Days Out): Last run before marathon day – 20 minutes. Again, I’ll try to run the whole time.

Friday (2 Days Out): Rest. Pick up my packet at the expo.

Saturday (1 Day Out): Rest. Lay out my marathon gear before I go to bed. Set up my Garmin for the appropriate intervals. Go to bed extra early.

Sunday (RACE DAY): Go to the Portland Fit meeting prior to the race – it will be good to encourage the group – I’m sure everyone will be super nervous! Race plan is as follows:

-Start in the slowest possible running corral (I’ll probably be assigned there anyway).

-Run/Walk intervals will be set for 3:2* (run 3 minutes, walk 2). I will follow that for as long as I can with the exception of the St. John’s bridge – I will walk the hill there. I will also resist the urge to push myself into running more – I want to make sure that I don’t overdo it. I will only start to push myself if I feel like I can at mile 25.

Think Positive!

Here are my mantras for this year’s race.

1. I am much more fit this year than last.

2. My hip/knee/IT Band is feeling much better. And I’ll finish the race without limping like I did last year.

3. With a more consistent plan/pace throughout the whole race, it will be a better experience.

4. Time isn’t important – it’s finishing that matters.

5. Enjoy the experience – listen to the cheering on the sidelines, enjoy the bands at every mile, smile and thank the volunteers at the aid stations!

6. It’s only one day. Well, really it’s not even a whole day! I can do it!

7. When I finish this, I can turn my focus on to the next adventure!

My Super-Secret Hope

Somehow, I’ll manage to beat my time from last year anyway – just because I’m more fit, and I’ll (hopefully) not be hurt so bad. More consistent = possibly faster overall?

Plan B

If I’m not feeling the running, and not enjoying myself, I WILL WALK THE WHOLE DANG THING! I'll still get a medal! :)

*Yes, this interval is kind of random. But my thought is that I’d rather run short intervals than risk injury with longer ones. I also think that splitting up the running will break up the race into smaller pieces, and prevent boredom. That ratio also puts me at running approx. 15.5 miles, which happens to be the max I got to this year before the injury.

The "F" Word

noreply@blogger.com (SlowlyButSurely) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 19:55:00 +0000

Failure

That’s what I’ve felt like over the last few months. First, I took a few weekends off for traveling, so my running was suffering. Then I refocus and get back to running, and what happens? I hurt myself…

I started this year with grandiose plans to beat my previous marathon time by an hour, and at first, that seemed totally possible! I was starting to get a little faster, and running just felt easier. But now I’m stuck with walking the marathon (or sleeping in and drinking beer and watching football while those fools are out running and walking their butts off). And I know this is totally wrong, but I can’t help but think that walking is a failure. Especially since I felt like I messed up my time last year because of the pain I felt during the race (which my Physical Therapist is CONVINCED is tied to what I am dealing with now). This was going to be the race to make up for that failure feeling, and now look what’s happened – it’s WORSE this year, rather than better.

I am trying to remember back to nearly two years ago, at my first Portland Fit meeting, when the head guy said “What’s the difference between a Walker and a Runner? The walkers know ahead of time when they’re going to walk.”

But what if I have to walk the WHOLE time? How in the world am I going to keep myself from going crazy if I am out on the course for eight hours? What if I feel like running, just to make the time pass more quickly? What if my knee starts to hurt during the race, and I can’t even finish anyway? What if I ruin all of the hard work I’ve done at Physical Therapy in one day?

All of these are questions that I really need to answer before October 9.

Back on the wagon...

noreply@blogger.com (SlowlyButSurely) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 00:36:00 +0000

Whoa, it’s been a long time since I’ve written. Let’s see what’s been going on over the last 5 months:

Totally giving up on eating healthy, because why? Well, my scale is really happy to stay in the same three-pound range. Eating those M&Ms and drinking that beer isn’t doing anything to my weight, so why not just keep it up? Oh, wait…
Gaining a few pounds that don’t magically disappear like they used to. You’ll probably call me out for being a little obsessive, but I am about 3 lbs up from where I was before. But where I wanted to be was about 10 lbs less than this, so definitely a fail on my part.
Discovering that not only do I like working out in the mornings before work, but that I am actually LESS tired than if I sleep in!
Beginning marathon training and not missing a single workout. Sometimes, doing two-a-days, just for fun! That is, until…
My knee started to bother me on a 10-miler. Didn’t seem like a big deal – I just walked it off, until…
My knee stopped me in my tracks during an 18.6-miler. Walking it off didn’t work, so I had to hobble back to my car, only completing 6.5 miles running and 3.5 miles plus two days limping.
Having an MRI for the first time ever, and, since I’m that lucky, it came back negative. So $300 down the drain!
Learning that, in my doctor’s words, I am “not built for distance running.” I guess the kids that teased me in high school for walking like a duck were on to something… In the meantime, my IT band was what was causing the problem, which lead to…
Being told that not only can I not run NOW, but I can’t run the marathon on October 9.
Enduring physical therapy sessions – I didn’t realize that they were actually a workout!
Discovering that Body Pump is awesome!
Discovering that the stationary bike is my friend, then finally getting up the courage to give SPIN CLASS a try again, and…
Realizing that I LOVE spin class!
Buying an embarrassing pair of padded shorts (thankfully covered with a skirt) to make said spin class even better. Those arrive today, and I can’t wait to give them a try!

So in summary, I’m an injured runner, who has been actually enjoying the cross-training I’ve been stuck doing. I’m not going to run the marathon, but I am going to suck it up and try to walk it (I’m getting that medal and t-shirt, darn it!). I’ve been given clearance to run ¼ mile at a time with equal walking breaks, for up to 1 mile total running, which I’m going to do tonight. And this Friday, the running specialist at my PT’s office is going to film me running to see if I’m doing something extra weird that is causing my IT Band to hate me so much.

I’m trying to get my eating and fitness back on track (although I think my fitness is probably better than ever right now!), so I promise that I’ll be posting more regularly! This blog is seriously what holds me accountable, and every time I get bored with it and stop posting, that’s when I fall off the wagon…

Here’s to a fresh start!

Sharing A Pool Sucks

noreply@blogger.com (SlowlyButSurely) — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 13:58:00 +0000

Tuesday night was my regular swim lesson. I’ve had a couple good weeks in a row – two weeks ago, I felt like freestyle finally “clicked”. Then last week, I swam up to 5 laps of freestyle non-stop for the first time (followed by 4 laps of backstroke, 3 of freestyle, etc.)! But this week was another story.

Usually my lessons start with the coach just observing whatever I’m doing to warm up. He happened to see me swim a full lap of freestyle (including the turn at the wall and everything!), and he must have noticed something off about my stroke, because my lesson turned into awful one-arm pull drills. He was asking me to focus on a lot of things – for example, here was his instruction for me about halfway through the lesson:

-Push off the wall with both hands over your head

-pull one stroke with the left arm

-bring right arm to side and leave it there

-pull stroke with left arm

-breathe on left side only

-after two or three strokes like this, add in the right arm

-focus on rolling in the pool with your right hip

I’m not sure if it was just the kind of day I was having, but I wasn’t able to take all of those instructions in and apply them! I felt super clumsy in the water, and just wanted to quit several times. And then it was exacerbated by stupid people wanting to share a lane with me!

{Rant warning!}

Now, I hope I don’t offend any swimmers out there, but if you see someone CLEARLY TAKING A LESSON and doing ONE-ARM DRILLS, you can assume that they are going to have a hard time sticking to just one side of the lane. Especially if that side of the lane has two ladders sticking into it! I really wanted to get out of the pool and point out the sign that says “LAP SWIMMERS MUST YIELD TO LESSONS”.

Eventually, my coach moved me away from one girl and into the next (interior) lane, but then he wasn’t able to get close enough to talk to me (since he is standing outside of the water) except at the end of the lane. And then there was an old man who was wearing a floaty and just HANGING OUT in the middle of the lane. The best part about it was that there was a water aerobics class taking up HALF of the pool, and they were doing pretty much the same things as him. I’m not sure if he was worried that the old ladies in the class would feel weird if a man joined them or not, but seriously, I wanted to push him into that part of the pool so he would stay out of my way!

Ugh!

Any of you swimmers out there have any suggestions on how to deal with sharing a pool? Have you ever told someone “no” when they’ve asked to join your lane? Is that an absolute faux pas?

60-Day Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (SlowlyButSurely) — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 13:43:00 +0000

One of my very mean coworkers just issued a challenge to me yesterday. To be fair, I started this whole mess when I challenged him to a month of no fast food a couple weeks ago. But he's definitely upped the ante:

For SIXTY DAYS.

This is gonna suck.

But I can do it! :)

Catch-Up Q&A

noreply@blogger.com (SlowlyButSurely) — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 15:39:00 +0000

Q: Where the heck have you been?

A: I’m still here! Just finding the motivation to write about what’s going on is a little difficult lately.

Q: Did you make it through Easter (and especially the post-Easter sales) without totally indulging on Cadbury Mini Eggs?

A: That’s a BIG. FAT. NO. I bought some at 50% off yesterday and ate them all. Except one that fell on the floor. But I seriously ate myself sick of them. I’m really trying to remember that feeling, so I don’t go back and buy more when I’m at the grocery store this weekend.

Q: What happened to Portland Fit coaching?

A: I’m still doing it! It’s been a great experience so far. On Saturday, I ran 7 miles with two women – one of whom I’ve known through work for a while (but not super well), and a new girl. Both of them are new runners, and it was super fun for me to run with them and try to give them little tidbits of advice here and there. The first girl actually told me about a secret dream idea that she had that was incredibly wonderful – I hope she follows through with it, and I let her know that I’d be here to help in any way possible. I also really enjoyed being there for them when they were struggling with the distance (it was the farthest they’ve ever run!), and helping them learn how to slow themselves down so they aren’t huffing and puffing through the miles! J And I felt like a total mom when one of them complained of a headache and I pulled out a bag of sharkies and made them both eat!

Q: Are you still doing Weight Watchers?

A: Yes! Although, I have to admit, tracking has become a big chore, and like most chores, I avoid it as much as possible. I had a bad week (a gain, even though I was seeing a loss each day leading up to the weigh-in) last week, and after my mini egg binge yesterday, I’m not sure that this week will be much better. I am honestly this close to not caring about the number on the scale anymore, and focusing on being fit and healthy instead. But I’ve pre-paid for the next 6 weeks of WW at Work, so I’m going to stick with it. Hopefully, I’ll hit my “goal” weight in time, which is 3 pounds away.

Q: Are you still doing Twist workouts?

A: Yes! I just signed up for another 9-week program that starts tomorrow. I absolutely love these workouts, and I think they are improving my athletic ability.

Q: Are you still taking swimming lessons?

A: Yes, and let me tell you – they are getting harder! Last week was the first time my coach made me swim multiple laps without stopping for a rest, and I was TIRED after I finally finished. Just like with running, I need to focus on slowing down so I don’t get out of breath (even more important in the pool!). I’m really considering joining a masters swimming group once I get a little more comfortable in the water. My swim coach is very insistent that I am a natural swimmer, so I’d love to see how far I can take this…

Q: What else is going on in your life?

A: Well, the BF and I are considering buying a condo, which has been stressing us both out! We’re struggling with the idea of buying vs. renting, and trying to decide if it makes financial sense to buy right now (rates and prices are really low, but we still can’t afford much in the downtown area). I’m also one month away from having my car paid off, so that will mean that my only debt left will be my student loan – do I really want to add another couple hundred thousand to by debts right now? Ugh!

So yeah, that’s what I’ve been up to… Hopefully I’ll start posting more regularly now! J

Bridge To Brews 10k Race Report

noreply@blogger.com (SlowlyButSurely) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 23:50:00 +0000

I’ve been juggling workouts quite a bit this week. In general, I’ve still continued to do (nearly) everything as planned, but it has been tough to keep up with it all! And this weekend was no exception – I had a 10k race on my calendar for Sunday, but we still had a Portland Fit 6-miler scheduled for Saturday.

I really wasn’t sure how to deal with back-to-back runs, but I decided to listen to my Portland Fit buddies, who thought I could definitely do both. So on Saturday morning, I woke up early and tackled the 6-miler. I decided to take it a little easy, and included a few walking breaks, so I could make sure my legs would still be fresh(ish) for the race on Sunday. Let’s face it, I haven’t run 12 miles in a weekend since the Marathon in October, so I wasn’t really sure how the mileage would feel!

On Sunday morning, we got up early, and the BF drove us over to the race. Unfortunately, this race has ZERO parking, and the Max schedule was awful (I seriously passed the one Max that would drop people off in time, and it looked like runners were in there like sardines!). We were dropped off as close as possible to the start, but still had to walk about a half mile.

I went into this race with not-so-great expectations. The BF ran it last year, and said that it was a cluster – just totally disorganized! But my experience was actually pretty good! The only downside was the first two blocks. We ran about ½ a block before making the first turn, and once we made it, I could see a HUGE, NEARLY VERTICAL HILL a mere block away! So that means that I had a grand total of 1 ½ blocks to get warmed up before tackling a huge hill. I made it up to the top, but my breathing was SERIOUSLY on the verge of an asthma attack! Luckily, there was a little break of flat before we started a gradual climb up to the Fremont Bridge.

The coolest part about this race was definitely the bridge – it’s a freeway, so this is pretty much the only chance I’ve had to run across it. It’s also really high up, so the views are gorgeous! Plus, with a sunny day, it was hard not to be distracted by the view. My mantra during this part of the run was “This is a beautiful day, with a beautiful view. Just enjoy it and the running will get easier!”

After the bridge, we had a stretch where the sun was beating down on us (I haven’t seen the sun in months, so this was incredible!), and I was regretting wearing a jacket and no sunscreen. Oops!

I’m not sure why this always happens to me during races, but I stepped on something wrong around mile 4.The roads in Portland have more than their fair share of potholes, train tracks, and manhole covers, and it is nearly impossible to dodge them all. I can’t remember what I stepped on but I knew that while it didn’t break my ankle or anything, I also knew that something just wasn’t right as soon as I stepped on it. So that meant that I had a little pain under and to the outside of my right knee for the rest of the race.

Regardless, I pushed hard through the end. Near the end, there was another short but steep hill, and I took it like a champion. We then winded through a couple more turns, and as soon as the finish line was in sight, I sprinted to the finish. That moment was amazing – I felt like a gazelle with a huge stride, and marveled at the 6-8 people that I was able to pass at the last second!

My official race results were:

Time: 1:04:53 (a PR by nearly 10 full minutes!)

Pace: 10:27 (:33 seconds per mile faster than my super fast 8k last month!

Maybe my dream of a sub-hour 10k isn’t so far off after all! J

The best post-race nutrition - BEER!

Three Years Ago Today...

noreply@blogger.com (SlowlyButSurely) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 14:20:00 +0000

This was a big day for me! Kind of a two-fer, if you will!

On April 14, 2008, I was in Baltimore for 24 hours, just in time to visit my sister in the hospital, as she was getting ready to deliver her very first baby (my first nephew), Tyler.

Me and my awesome three-year-old nephew terrorizing the deer statues at my Grandparent's house.

I somehow managed to schedule my trip at the best possible time. I was able to sit in the delivery room until the moment that she was about to give birth, when they kicked us out. Good timing too, as I had to head to the airport at exactly that moment for the second big thing of the day...

My first (and only so far) trip to England. By myself.

Yep, I was ~~a giant loser that didn't have any friends that would go with me~~ super brave and decided to bite the bullet and travel to a place I'd always wanted to go to, even if I had to go alone. It is probably the coolest thing I've ever done. Seriously!

I went to Liverpool and saw all of the Beatles sights.

Found a random reference to Ravens (I love my football team) in the Tower of London.

Walked across Abbey Road. It was easier said than done - that road is BUSY!

Took my favorite picture ever - I want to live in that cute alley, in the pink house!

Found an Alderman ancestor(?) in Winchester Cathedral.

Took creepy self-portraits at the changing of the guard.

Enjoyed the British Museum.

In all seriousness, if you haven't traveled abroad by yourself, you are missing out! You get to do every nerdy thing you've ever wanted to do, and nobody will stop you! I think I grew up a lot on this trip! The only downside is that since I didn't have an international phone, I couldn't call or text people back home to tell them about the awesome things I was experiencing.

A week later, I headed back to Maryland, and was able to see my nephew for the first time, before heading back to Portland.

In case you didn't know, my nephew is awesome, can use an iPhone better than me, and is having a "Thomas" themed birthday party this weekend, which I will sadly miss. Don't worry, I'm a good Auntie and sent him lots of presents!

Happy Birthday Tyler!

Review: Nike+ SportWatch GPS

noreply@blogger.com (SlowlyButSurely) — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 17:15:00 +0000

I'm a total gadget nerd. So far, I've owned a Garmin 305, Garmin 405CX, Nike+ sensor (not the GPS) and a Polar FT60. But when I heard that Nike was coming out with a brand new GPS watch, I couldn't have been more excited. On March 31, I received an email from Nike to let me know that the watch was available to order and I didn't hesitate a single second! It was a good thing I didn't hesitate, too, since they sold out in minutes!

So when the watch arrived last week, I couldn't wait to give it a try! On Saturday, when it was time to leave for my Portland Fit 5-miler, I grabbed my Garmin instead - I rely so much on my data that if the Nike+ GPS watch didn't work, I'd have been really upset. So I waited until yesterday to try it out.

My first impression of the watch was that it is gorgeous! I love the face of the watch, and the fact that the numbers are large. It's also in reverse text (black background with white text - much easier to read). I put it on, and thought that the band was really nice - it snugly fit, with snaps to keep the extra band in place (no annoying flappy band on this watch). It's also slightly smaller than my Garmin, and definitely more streamlined.

But once I started to try to use it, my opinion started to change. I first tried to set up my heart rate monitor with the watch (all of the literature said that it worked with a Polar Wearlink - luckily, I already have one that I use with my FT60). After a few failed attempts to get the watch to recognize my HRM, I turned to Google, and discovered that you have to buy the special Nike version of the Polar Wearlink (an extra $55) in order to use the HRM feature on the watch. I kind of felt like I'd had a bait and switch.

On to the run - it took a little less time to find the satellites than my Garmin does, and it even has a QuickStart feature that allows you to run with the foot pod to start, and then it picks up the satellite feed once it connects. That's kind of convenient, but I wanted to make sure that I had all 100% accurate data.

I had set up the watch (just like my Garmin) to auto-record laps at each mile. What I didn't know is that the watch only allows for two metrics to be shown at any given time - one large, and one small across the top. When you set up the watch for auto-lap, the only metric you are able to see in the large area is the time elapsed for each lap - so I knew how long into each mile I was, but I had no idea how far I was running. The other metric that I had set up on the top (in smaller font) was elapsed time, as my weekly runs are time-based, and I needed to make sure I got in 35 minutes.

Unlike the Garmin, the SportWatch didn't have the ability to auto pause when you are at stoplights, so I felt like I was cheating - while I was waiting for lights to change, part of my 35 minutes were ticking away. I know I could always run longer, but it's hard to know how much longer I'd need to run to make up for that time.

Once I finished the run, I uploaded it to Nike+, and was a little disappointed again. Obviously, I wasn't able to see my HRM detail (which I find to be very important), but as someone else had mentioned, the graph was a little cartoonish. The watch did record my splits (but again, they included stopped time at lights), but that was the only real hard data I could see. And I'm not even going to get into how slow and buggy their website is... Garmin Connect definitely wins this battle!

Pros:

Quick GPS satellite loading
Pretty design
Large font (if the metric is what you want it to be)
Social integration - you can join challenges, share your runs easily with friends, download training plans, etc.

Cons:

Too little customization
Poor website experience
Not enough data (displayed on the watch or online)
Have to purchase special $55 HRM in order to use that feature

The Verdict

Coincidentally, the same day that I did this run, Garmin announced their newest watch, the Garmin 610. I have a feeling I'll be trying that one instead! :) The Nike is going back to the store, unfortunately!

What A Week!

noreply@blogger.com (SlowlyButSurely) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 13:02:00 +0000

I've been a very bad blogger lately! I haven't had much time (or the motivation) to write in a while, but I have been spending some time catching up on what you guys are all up to.

As has been the trend lately, my week was full of awesome workouts! On Monday, we had our 5th session of the Spring Fitness Challenge, which focused on flexibility/stretching. It was absolutely heavenly to spend an entire hour on stretching! And believe it or not, I was actually a little sore from the workout. I think that's because I don't spend nearly enough time stretching on a regular basis.

Tuesday was interesting - I had my very first chiropractor visit! My neck and shoulders have been really sore lately (as usual for me), and I had a great deal from the Portland Fit partner, Clearwater Clinic. It was great to go to someone who actually understands marathon training, and what I'm putting my body through on a daily basis. He had a few words of wisdom (make sure to eat enough protein - 70-100 grams per day), then went to work. I did a few movements for him like squats and turning my head from side to side, and he was able to notice some interesting things. During the squat, he noticed that my left hip was doing something strange and making me lean forward. And when I twisted my neck to the side, I didn't have the same range of motion on both sides.

He took a look at my legs, and deduced that my right femur was slightly shorter than my left, which meant that my left side was stressed a lot more than my right. I had some electric muscle stimulation (which felt weird at first, then awesome), and then he did the adjustment. The cracking of my joints sent me into a fit of giggles each and every time! It sounded so awful, but felt so good! At the end of the appointment, he gave me some stretches to do daily. I go back for a follow-up visit in the morning!

Wednesday was another Twist session. I am loving these classes so much, and will be sad when they are over (only 2 weeks left)! The workout was INTENSE, with some pretty tough strength moves at the end (I HATE LUNGES!) that left me feeling a little weak. Luckily, I keep a protein shake in my car each week, so I was able to drink that, and I felt much better.

Saturday morning was my first actual run with Portland Fit! The last two weeks, I was stuck at positions that didn't involve running (once at the registration table, once at a corner giving directions on the course), so I was pumped to finally get to run! We did 5 miles, and it was GREAT! I ran with a coworker that I don't know very well, and the time just flew by! This girl is incredible - she says she isn't much of a runner, but she is one of those people that just makes running look effortless. She pushed me pretty hard, but we talked the entire way, which I am not used to.

On Sunday, I did my very first Body Pump class at 24 Hour Fitness. That is a whole blog post in itself.

I've got lots more to tell you, but I will leave you with some teaser pictures instead...

Do You Know Your Farmer?

noreply@blogger.com (SlowlyButSurely) — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 13:53:00 +0000

Not quite yet, but pretty soon I will! My farmer is named Vicki, and she works at Sungold Farms, just outside of Portland.

The folks from Sungold Farms

The BF and I have totally crossed the line into “hippie liberal nearly-vegetarianism”. Last week the BF signed us up for our very first CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)season. Basically, you pay a flat fee, and each week during the harvest season (16 weeks in our program), we’ll get a box of goodies. So not only are they locally grown, but they are also in-season! So no somewhat red tomatoes, or halfway ripe vegetables. Only the freshest, yummiest food available!

Here is a sample of what last year’s members got in their box for week 12:

Sweet Corn
Cherry or Salad Tomatoes
Sweet Onions
Potatoes, Red and/or Yellow
Muskmelon or Honeydew
Fresh Basil
Edamame
Sweet Peppers
Summer Squash
Cucumbers

Exciting, huh?

I’m thinking that this program will challenge me in a few ways:

Menu planning will be key! Once I pick up my box each week, I’ll need to plan everything that I eat for the rest of the week to make sure we’re not wasting any food.
I get the vibe that these boxes are BIG and include a LOT of food – plenty for a two-person household. I think this will mean that I’ll naturally be making smarter food choices and incorporating more veggies into my diet.
There are going to be plenty of items this summer that I have either never tried, or think that I don’t like. I’m going to have to broaden my horizons and learn how to prepare things in new ways!
The whole fruit thing – the BF will be stuck eating all of the fruit (unless it looks so delicious and headache-worthy that I decide to eat it anyway).

Last week, we got an email from our farmer with an update on how the season was shaping up so far. In a nutshell, it’s too early to tell, and the weather will have a huge impact on the quality/quantity of the food that we will get over the season. I love being in the loop and learning a little more about where our food comes from!

This reminds me of my first-ever trip to the farmer’s market early last spring – I just kept wandering from stand to stand, wondering where all of the fruits were. Now that I’m educating myself, I realize how incredibly stupid I was back then! J

Question: Have you ever been a part of a CSA before? What were the pros and cons?

My New Favorite Sports Bra

noreply@blogger.com (SlowlyButSurely) — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 17:00:00 +0000

I've been having some trouble with my heart rate monitor strap lately. I can't seem to get it to stay in place - either I've got it so tight across my chest that I can't breathe, or it's sliding down constantly. When I tried to use it swimming, I really had some trouble, so I turned to the Polar message boards to see if I could find any suggestions.

To my surprise, when I looked under "Swimming with your Polar", one commenter mentioned something that sounded too good to be true! There is actually a sports bra that has the heart rate strap BUILT IN! Of course, I had to have one right away!

So a few weeks ago, I ordered a Numetrex Heart Rate Monitor Sports Bra. It's a pretty amazing find! It works with your Polar Wearlink transmitter, which you just snap into the bra, and go. I tested it out in two workouts - one on a treadmill/elliptical, and once during my Twist workout. In both cases, it was absolutely incredible. The bra is made from great fabric (very similar to my Champion ones), and it stays in place perfectly. The only problem I had with it is that I only had one!

Then, imagine my luck when I actually found one of these on a CLEARANCE rack at my local running store! Obviously, I bought one without even thinking about it!

But when I took the new one for a test drive, there was a little problem. My heart rate just wouldn't register. The instructions are similar to a regular strap - you need to get the sensors a little wet before they will work. So I tried that, and then I tried getting them soaked, and neither option worked. I ended up completing an entire workout with a reading of 0 or "No Heart Rate Detected". :(

Later that day, I contacted the company and let them know about my problem - I loved their product, but it seemed like I had found a defective one. Their customer service was fantastic, and told me that I should send the bra back to them, they'd test it, and either send me a new one or my old (working) one back.

Within a day of them receiving my "defective" bra, I got an email from the company saying that they couldn't find anything wrong with it. But they were going to be kind enough to send me back a new one anyway. And in two days, I had received this package in the mail:

My fully functioning sports bra, a brand new one (in pink!), a lovely letter from Numetrex, and a string backpack!

So far, Numetrex has scored big-time in my book! :)

What is your favorite sports bra? Does it have the awesome capability to act as a heart rate monitor strap?!?!

Weigh-In Friday

noreply@blogger.com (SlowlyButSurely) — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 20:38:00 +0000

Wow – I can’t believe I made it through this week! I had so many workouts, and my body is SOOOORRRREEEE!!! But that made for a good day on the scale at my WW at Work meeting: I'm down TWO POUNDS!

Here is my weekly summary. For the second week in a row, I counted EVERYTHING I ate, which is really awesome for me. As you can see, I even tracked the 80 oz. of regular beer I drank (ouch!) at the St. Patrick’s Day Festival on Saturday. But I managed to have 18 Weekly Points Plus left over, and I didn’t even touch my FIFTY Activity Points (new record there!). I’m still having a bit of a hard time eating all of my daily points on the days when I do my Twist or Spring Challenge workouts, but that’s mostly since I’m drinking a protein shake afterward, and that fills me up.

As for my activity, I had mentioned earlier that I was trying to follow my Polar Heart Rate Monitor’s Weight Loss program. Well, after figuring out that there was no way that I could ever win a virtual trophy on that program (because they don’t want you to ever hit zone 3), I switched the program to “Improve Fitness”. Check out this week’s progress (Monday – Thursday):

I’ve already beat my time result by 1:10, and exceeded my calorie target by 222 calories. And I haven’t even gotten in my run yet this weekend! J

On another note, check this out:

Yep, I finally bit the bullet and registered for the Portland Marathon. There’s no backing out now! I am going to SHATTER my time from last year’s marathon, too! J I guess that won’t be too difficult, considering the nightmare of a marathon I had last time.

My first day as a Portland Fit Assistant Coach is tomorrow. I’m really excited to see all of the first-timers – I know exactly how they’ll be feeling, but hopefully I can make this just a little bit less scary for them!

We had our second Spring Fitness Challenge workout yesterday, which we started off by checking our stats on the benchmarks that we set for ourselves last week. Here’s how I did:

Test Last Week This Week Change

Sit Ups (1 min) 29 31 +2

Push Ups (1 min) 35 42 +7

Step Ups (1 min) 33 35 +2

Lateral Speed 55 59 +4

½ Mile Run 4:32 4:25 +:07

I’ll have a full run-down of the rest of the workout for you soon!

Spring Fitness Challenge - Workout #1

noreply@blogger.com (SlowlyButSurely) — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 16:36:00 +0000

Good morning! :)

I'm trying to psych myself up that I am not getting sick. There have been rumors (well, actually confirmed facts) about things such as Bronchitis, Walking Pneumonia, and even Scarlet Fever (yes, that still exists) going around my office. I don't feel fully sick, but I have half-symptoms - sneezing, a little congestion, the verge of a sore throat, and definitely feeling sleepy. Ugh!

Monday was our first real workout with Trail Blazers Coach Medina and his assistant, and I am so happy that we were invited to participate in this program! I'm not really sure what I was expecting, but so far this program has definitely exceeded what I thought it would involve.

We did two sets of lower body exercises, each set containing 10 exercises. We were to complete the circuit until 20 minutes was up (which ended up being pretty much only one time around - there are a lot of people training with us).

Circuit 1 included explosive lunges on a bosu, putting a band around our ankles and extending each leg in three different directions, calf raises on a wedge, a fun ab workout with a foam roller, wall squats with a medicine ball, crunches on a ball with chest extension (a really nice stretch!), v-ups with a medicine ball (ouch!).

Circuit 2 included step-ups in a zillion different ways - regular with a medicine ball press, sideways, crossovers, and speed crossovers; squat with medicine ball on a bosu, shuttle squats, and split squats. There were also two ankle stabilization exercises.

At the end of the circuits, the coach gave us a take-home packet with photos of the players performing these exercises, so we can repeat this workout on our own. Then we were off to run our half-mile baseline test. There were about 22 of us crammed into the narrow concourse on the suite level, so it was a little hard to find my proper pace, but I ended up completing the half mile in 4:32 - a full :28 less than I thought it would take. I can't wait to see how that improves over time!

If you want to see a copy of the workout handout, email me at sherialderman (at) gmail (dot) com!

Our homework for this week (well, 3 days really, since our next workout with him is Thursday) was to do:
-25 pushups
-25 situps
-60 minutes of cardio
-one strength workout

Check out my improvised ice pack from this morning. I "borrowed" someone elses' ice pack from the office freezer, then wrapped it up inside my Portland Marathon shirt and tied it around my knee. Both knees are feeling a little tender, so I'm trying to treat them well right now!

Workouts So Far This Week:

Monday - AM 25 minutes elliptical

PM Spring Fitness Challenge (1 hour)

Tuesday - AM 20 minutes elliptical

PM 15 minutes swimming (it was supposed to be a lesson, but my coach didn't show)

Wednesday - AM 25 minutes running

PM Twist!

I am not getting sick.

Book Review: Heart Monitor Training for the Compleat Idiot

noreply@blogger.com (SlowlyButSurely) — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 20:49:00 +0000

As you know, I’ve been trying to attempt Heart Rate Training in order to improve my running. I recently discovered the book Heart Monitor Training for the Compleat Idiot, and immediately ordered a copy on Amazon. It came in the mail late last week, and I was able to finish the book within a day and a half!

The premise: There is a lot of science that you can choose to either skip or read. I read it, but since I’m not a scientist, I’m not going to repeat it here (and risk looking like a “Compleat Idiot”). The moral of the story? Most runners don’t run their “easy” runs easy enough to actually recover from their hard efforts. Which makes their next hard run even harder. Which means a big fat plateau.

The solution: Know your heart rate zones and use them. The two key numbers are 70% of Max (also known as threshold) and 85% of Max.

Finding Your Zones

Max: The most basic formula for figuring out your Max Heart Rate is 205 – (half of your age). The author also gives you a hill workout that you can attempt to find out your actual max heart rate, but it was scary, so I’ll just stick with this formula. Since I’m 30, my Max Heart Rate is 190.

Resting: This is an easy one. Take your rate with an HRM when you wake up in the morning, before you get out of bed. I leave my HRM next to my bed, strap it on right when I wake up, and then wait a minute or two before I start checking the rate. Relax and watch the rate for a couple of minutes and write down the lowest number you see (for example, mine is currently about 57bpm).

70% Threshold: (70% x (Max – Resting)) + Resting

So for me, that means (70% x (190-57)) + 57

(70% x 133) + 57

93.1 + 57

150.1

85%: Same idea – (85% x (Max – Resting)) + Resting

For me, 85% is about 170.

How To Train In The Zone

Alternate Hard Days and Easy Days

If you are just beginning, you might want to try Easy Easy Hard Easy Easy Hard, etc. And don’t forget that rest days count as Easy Days.

Easy Days Are Kind of, Well, Not Easy

The goal here is to stay UNDER your 70% Threshold. Which is kind of harder than it sounds. The author claims that you’ll probably have to run a full 2 minutes or more slower PER MILE than you are used to running. And that is definitely the truth. I did an “easy” run yesterday, and found myself struggling to keep under 150. I had to stop and walk twice, and in between, it felt like I was standing still.

Hard Days Are Not So Hard, But They Will Get Harder

Under this plan, your hard days should mostly be run under 85%. Which is probably what you’ve been running all along. The author does increase that ceiling as the program goes on, but not for several weeks. And he claims that once you get into the plan, it will be harder and harder to get your heart rate up that high. Not because you are out of practice, but because your heart is becoming more efficient at a slower rate.

There were several case studies in the book of athletes that were far faster than I am, and they pretty much all said the same thing – training this slowly seems strange at first, and it’s embarrassingly slow. But they all reported that after 6 weeks or so, they had started to make some huge strides toward increasing their overall pace. One case study was able to set PRs in 20 of his next 26 races!

I’m about two weeks into trying to keep my “easy” runs at the 70% or less level, and I can’t wait to see how this will help me in the next few months! I’ve got a 10k coming up in three weeks, so maybe I’ll be able to see some measurable improvement by then. I’ll definitely keep you posted on how this all works out.

Question: Have you tried Heart Rate Training Before? Does this all sound crazy to you? Let me know what you think!

Friday: Weigh-In Day!

noreply@blogger.com (SlowlyButSurely) — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 22:04:00 +0000

Today at noon was my weigh-in for my second official week at “Weight Watchers At Work”. I had a pretty good week.

It's been a while since you've seen one of these, huh? :)

I tracked EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. The 3 mimosas I had to celebrate my Shamrock Run on Sunday? In my tracker. So were the two random girl scout cookies I found one morning.
I earned a total of 40 activity points! J And I only took one day off from exercising. Next week I have a lot of workouts on the calendar, so I’m excited to see how I can improve that number.
Tracking religiously during the weekend really helped me to stay within my points for the week. Once Monday came, I knew EXACTLY what I could and couldn’t eat for the rest of the week, and I was able to stick to it. And I was left with one Weekly Points Allowance point left, plus all of my activity points.
As much as I hate weighing in in the middle of the day with my clothes on (sorry if that’s TMI), I am loving the Friday weigh-in.

And the results for this week? I’m down 2.6 pounds! And at my preview weigh-in on Thursday morning, I was at my lowest weight yet!

I’m sure that if I hadn’t eaten a cheesesteak for dinner last night and washed it down with three beers, that might have been an even bigger loss! ;)

Question: What small changes (like shifting your weigh-in day) have worked for you?

Reminder - don't forget to sign up for the Spring Fitness Challenge! Once you complete your baseline measurements, send me a link to your post so I can cheer you on! :)

Spring Fitness Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (SlowlyButSurely) — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 01:12:00 +0000

Today was the first day of our company Spring Fitness Challenge, which is run by Trail Blazers trainer Bobby Medina. It's kind of fun to work with a real sports coach (not that my other coaches aren't real, but there is something to be said for working with one that is employed by the NBA!).

The first session was just to get some benchmarks. Here's where I started the challenge:

Body Circumference
Waist = 91cm
Thigh = 57cm
Hips = 103cm
Arm/Tricep = 30cm

Strength
Max Sit Ups in 1 minute = 29 (I almost had 31, but I couldn't finish the last two!)
Max Push Ups in 1 minute (on knees) = 35

Flexibility
Sit & Reach Test = 5.5" (I haven't done this since elementary school, so I'm not sure how that ranks!)

Endurance (Now THIS is my category!)
Step Up Test (step up on a weight bench, alternating leading legs for one minute) = 33
Lateral Speed Test (stand in between two cones, approx. 6 feet apart, then laterally move and touch each cone) = 55 cones

And here's the kicker:
Body Fat Percentage
20.8%

Yes, folks, you read that right - me, the girl that complains about her fat belly, must actually have some muscle under there. They took my body fat % with electronic calipers in three spots - stomach, triceps, and thigh, and this is actually the number they came up with. For reference, here is the chart for women:

So my 20.8% puts me in the "Athletic" category. WOW! The coach was pretty impressed, and said he was going to get me into the teens before the end of the program. I can't wait to see that happen!!!

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with my starting benchmarks. I didn't sandbag the numbers at all and really gave it my all, so I know I will have a hard time improving these numbers! And judging from the other people in the challenge, I'd actually say that I'm one of the more physically fit in the group, which is something I never thought I'd say, unless I was at the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest or something! :)

Now I'm off to workout #2 at Twist.

**We do have one benchmark that we haven't completed - a 1/2 mile run for time. We're going to do that one next Monday.

Blog Spring Fitness Challenge

All right, who's brave enough to work with me here? I know it might not be so easy to get an accurate Body Fat %, but I'm challenging all of my readers to figure out their benchmark scores for the rest of the areas listed above! Let's see who can make the most improvement over the next couple months! If you want to join me, let me know in either the comments below or send me an email at sherialderman@gmail.com! Whoever improves their scores the most will win a prize!

Bend Trip Pics

noreply@blogger.com (SlowlyButSurely) — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 13:40:00 +0000

Sorry these are two weeks late, but here are a few fun photos from my Bend trip!

Me and the boys - this ski lift was at a local brewery - SO FUN! :)

This was taken at the only bar open late on a Thursday night that didn't have a strip club inside. Yes, that is a cage.

The view from the top of Pilot Butte

The "Princess Tree" on the hike back down from the butte. If you look closely, you'll see why we called it that! :)

Workout Warrior

noreply@blogger.com (SlowlyButSurely) — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 15:57:00 +0000

Shamrock Update: My legs are SORE – I can tell how hard I ran on Sunday, because my calves and hamstrings are tight. I’ve been using the roller, but it hasn’t helped too much. I guess all that slight uphill was harder on my legs than I thought!

Monday morning, I got up early and resumed my normal M-F schedule of waking up before work to go to the gym! I tried out the elliptical, as my legs were just too sore to run, which ended up being a pretty easy 25-minute workout.

We had an event during business hours on Monday that tied up traffic for hours, so I took the Max to work. But once I was ready to leave, I noticed that everyone was streaming out of the building and heading to the Max station. Since the weather was fairly nice (although a little cloudy), I decided to walk all the way home. It was a nice “Zone 1” workout, and took me 38 minutes. As I was walking home, I saw a TON of runners out, which made me sad that I didn’t have my running clothes with me!

This morning, I got in a 30-minute run at my target heart rate of 150. My speed is slightly improving at that heart rate (I’m now up to 4.1 mph!), and it feels a little less weird to run so slowly. I know I’d only done this workout twice before the Shamrock, but maybe it’s already working for me?!? I definitely feel like I am working harder doing this than I am when I’m on the elliptical, so I’m going to continue doing it.

Tomorrow is a big workout day for me. My Twist workouts are still on Wednesday nights, but I also just found out that one of the Trail Blazers’ trainers is holding a training class for the employees of the Rose Quarter, and tomorrow afternoon is the first class. I just chatted with someone in my office who has done this program before, and she said that it is a FANTASTIC program. Tomorrow’s session is a “benchmark” class, where we are measured (body fat %, hips/stomach/etc., # of pushups we can do in a minute, etc.). According to the coworker, we repeat the benchmark exercises each workout, and then build upon it. She also said that they divide us into random teams, and we compete against each other for the biggest improvement! It sounds so fun! I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that the sessions won’t interfere with my Twist classes.

Oh, one more exciting thing! I ordered my very own Bosu Ball yesterday from CSNStores.com – I can’t wait until it arrives! J

Shamrock Run - Race Report

noreply@blogger.com (SlowlyButSurely) — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 13:10:00 +0000

Well, if nothing else, I know my limits. While I've been working out like never before, my running has been at a minimum. So last week, I decided to switch my race from 15k to 8k. I do know that I could have completed a 15k, but I thought an 8k would be a better challenge for me, running-wise (because I would have walked a good portion of the 15k).

So this morning, somehow my many alarms all went off at the correct time, regardless of Daylight Savings Time. I got ready for the race and met my friend "Dots" beforehand. There were far more 8k-ers than I expected, but still less than last year's 5k (my first official race). Once the starting gun went off, it took us at least 10 minutes to get to the start, which meant that my shoes had plenty of time to get soaked by the rain before we even got started.

The first mile was nice - I felt great, and we took it at a good pace (11:36, according to my Garmin). I wasn't going too slow, but also not too fast yet. Mile 2-3 was uphill all the way, on a route that I remember clearly from last year's 5k. At one point, I remembered how incredibly tough that stretch had been just a year before - there was no way I could run the whole thing without stopping. This year, I did (minus a few seconds where they stopped us to let traffic through). Mile 3-3.5 was still a slight incline. I was feeling it, and my heart rate was showing it, but I wouldn't give up!

At the turnaround, it was all downhill until the finish - I let my pace increase, and I opened up my stride to stretch out my legs. The next thing I remember was at about 4.5 miles, when I decided to kick it up a gear. While my heartrate was soaring (184), I still kept up a pretty decent pace (the final mile was at 9:24!) until the finish.

My final (unofficial Garmin time) was 53:38, with an average pace of 10:46 - this is a 1:01/mile improvement over my February 12k race pace! I can't believe this time!!! I'm really proud of myself right now, and can't wait until I can prove that it wasn't a fluke with my April race.

After the race, the BF, "Dots" and I went out for bottomless mimosas and brunch at a restaurant called Madison's. The wait was horrendous, but the food and drinks were fantastic!

Happy DST Day!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (SlowlyButSurely) — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 03:18:00 +0000

I don't think I've ever been more excited for Daylight Savings Time as I am this year. I feel like I will be able to turn over a new leaf, and that spring really might finally be coming (although, since I live in the Pacific NW, we really only have two seasons, winter and summer, and since summer doesn't start until July 5th, we've still got a lot of waiting to do...).

Question: What are you going to do with your extra hour of sunlight?

I will be RUNNING OUTSIDE AFTER WORK!!!

Alright, I'm off to bed. Tomorrow morning is the Shamrock Run!!! If you're running tomorrow, I hope you have a fantabulous race!