For the Sweet Love of Fitness

I made it to Body Pump yesterday AM, then hit the road in the afternoon to head home to Louisiana. Well, the plan was to take a break while on vacay, but after having a little vacay ice cream pie last night I was feeling guilty...so, yep, you guessed it, I set my alarm to get up and run this morning. I was supposed to do 8 miles with Rogue this morning, so I am really not crazy....I'm just not following my vacation mantra. It was actually really nice this morning, so I am glad I did it. I did 12.5 laps around the track at the local middle school. I figured that was about a 5K, finished in 27:29, about 8:50 pace, gotta love a flat course!

Now I am off to enjoy my family and meet my new nephew. I can't wait!!

I went to my Body Pump class yesterday AM and hit Town Lake in the PM. I did the Mopac to Congress loop at an easy pace and finished in 45:16. Depending on which map you reference that's either a 9:23 mile pace or a 10:03 pace. I've been looking at the Town Lake map online, which says that the Mopac to Congress loop is 4.82 miles, but I looked at the map under the Mopac bridge yesterday and it says that it is 4.5 miles. I need a Garmin! I wish Christmas would get here already :o) 
We ran the Spyglass hills this morning in 100% humidity. I finished in 30:23 which isn't bad at all considering that I was expecting a lot worse due to the thick atmosphere. I am taking the evening off from drills to hit happy hour and pack for my trip back to the Lou over the weekend. Not sure if I'll get any runs in at home, but I'll be sure to post them if I do!

This morning Lisa and I hit the little gym in our complex because our hubbys were both out of town and we didn't want to hit the dark morning hills by ourselves...we've seen some shady characters out there before, so we decided to play it safe. I ran on the treadmill for 30 minutes and covered 3.13 miles for just over a 9.5 minute pace. We did a little weight lifting after cardio and called it a morning. 
Went to evening drills at Town Lake. Coach Irena is still in Russia, but she gave us our workouts and we are sticking to them. Today we had 8 incline repeats followed by 8 sets of 20 second fartleks...I didn't think it sounded all that bad when I looked at the schedule, but I definitely felt it in my legs. Great workout, the weather was perfect...breezy and overcast. I'll remember that breeze two weeks from now when we are into June and the temps are above 90.

Didn't make it to Body Pump this AM because I needed rest from the weekend...it was a busy one! Busy, but tons of fun. I did manage to squeeze in 3.23 miles in 30 minutes, 9:17 pace, on the treadmill before the girls came over to watch the Bachelor finale. The run felt good, but my calves were tight...I think that was residual soreness from a night out in heels on Saturday. They loosened up eventually and my legs felt good. Got an early morning work out planned for tomorrow, then drills in the evening. I better get to bed.

I didn't make it to the Rogue run this morning because we were out a little late celebrating Jeff's belated birthday. I decided to sleep until 7:30 and hit the trails a little later. I am so glad that I did because I had a great run! Jeff came too and we did the Mopac to Congress loop followed by the Mopac to Pfluger Bridge loop for a total of 7.92 miles. I finished in 1:10:27 for an 8:54 mile pace! The best part about the run was that I felt like I could keep going...I was so refreshed an energized. I hope that will last for the longer runs when I will have to keep going. All in all it was a great day on the trails....we saw our friends Dan and Stephanie out for a run with Team in Training. After our run I hit Starbucks and Jeff opted for a Jamba Juice, treats for a run well done :o)

We hit the hills of Spyglass yesterday morning and I had what I think is my fastest time ever! I finished in 30:05 and didn't even feel spent...it felt great! The weather was nice and cool, so I am sure that helped out. We had drills later in the evening, but no Coach...she's on vacation, but didn't leave without giving us some handwritten workouts. We did fast/slow running at varying lengths....two sets. First was an entire lap of the track, 400 m, one lap fast followed by one lap slow. Then, we did 300 m fast, 300 m slow followed by 200 m fast and a 2 lap cool down. I only timed the 400 m fast laps...first was 1:37, second was 1:40. I was surprised that it was only 3 seconds slower because my legs were feeling a lot slower! 
Made it to Body Pump this AM, but will take the evening off in preparation for tomorrow's long run. TGIF!

Went to drills on Tuesday night with Coach Irena and did fartleks for the first time! I've been reading about fartleks, but had not yet done them until yesterday. It's harder than you think...20 seconds of running full speed followed by 40 seconds of recovery run, repeat 10 times. Only, I thought Coach said 5 times, so when we returned quicker than she expected she let us know 10 times...not 5 times! All in all it was a great workout and I am not nearly as sore as I was last week. 
Made it to Body Pump this AM, then hit the trails for a 3 mile run this evening. I took it easy this evening 28:55 for the 3 mile loop from Mopac to the pedestrian bridge. It felt good since we had a cool front come through last night and it was only in the low 80's!

I got my week started off with Body Pump yesterday morning and an evening run around Town Lake. I did the 4.82 mile loop around to the Congress Street bridge in 45:04 for a 9:21 mile pace. Not entirely terrible considering that it was 90 degrees out and the humidity was kicking. The run felt good though my calves were tight...I think that was a little residual pain from some wicked lunges in Body Pump. 
Got up this morning for our hilly run down Spyglass. Keeping in mind Monday's hot run, the morning coolness encouraged me to push myself to run a little faster. I figure that my evening runs aren't going to allow me much opportunity to work on speed...unless of course I want to have a heat stroke. I finished this morning's run in 30:19, which was almost a whole minute faster than last Thursday's run! Next up, running drills with the Russian coach this evening.  

I had an itch to go swimming today, so I did! I went over to Dick Nichols Park for some laps in the pool. I think it was the 90 degree temps that got me antsy to swim...that and the fact that I am usually swimming pretty regularly this time of year in preparation for the Danskin. I won't be doing it this year, but I do want to get back to swimming - it felt great! I swam for about 20 minutes before they kicked us out due to thunder. I came home and rounded out my exercise with 20 minutes on the elliptical machine. Had to work off that yummy strawberry cake from the shower last night :o)

Had my second long run this morning and it was great! I really think that resting yesterday made a dfference. It probably also helped that we were in bed by 10 PM last night. We ran the Town Lake Trails again, one loop to the Congress Street Bridge, then a smaller loop to the Pfluger Bridge. All in all it was 6.4 miles and I finished in 1:02:12 for a 9:45 per mile pace, which is okay. I felt good and I wasn't sore, so that is what counts. I also felt like I could keep going which is very encouraging. I hit the 8 AM Body Pump class again at Gold's for a little stregnth training and here I am at 11 AM on a Saturday with lots accomplished already! I am starting to love waking up early on the weekends...but I admit that I am looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow morning. I am sure I'll be tired tonight after the couple's shower that Jeff and I are co-hosting for our friends Amy and Ryan...I can't wait to be on the other side of a couple's shower as a married woman. Speaking of, I have wedding thank-you notes to write...better get to it.