Hurricane Break!

what a first week at school!!  Earthquake on tuesday, then evacuated for a hurricane friday!  It was nuts!!  quite an eventful first day at school!!  I did a few haphazard workouts, but I am still working to get back into routine!  Thursday afternoon I headed over to the track and ran a mile of stride the straights jog the curves.  I did some push ups, one set of 25, one set of 15 and a set of 10 claps  :)    in between sets I did two sets of 2 min abs.  It was really hard!  Been a long time since I have used those muscles! Guess ive got some work to do before the season starts!

Friday Kelsey and I headed out of the area and back to Pittsburgh/Ohio for Kole's first birthday party!  I cannot believe he is one already!!!  He is so incredibly cute!! It was so much fun playing with him all day saturday!!!  Sunday morning, Kelsey Meghan and I got up and headed to a park near them.  The loop they wanted to run was 5 miles.  I hung with Meghan for the first half.  Then went into a bit of a psycho mode and went crazy for the last half and pulled away from her.  Had to slow down every once in a while to get directions :)  It felt really good to push that hard on a run!  But I still have lots to do if Kels and I are going to run a 10 k in october!  It took me just under 45 mins to run the loop!  Not bad, since that is the farthest I have ever run!!!  After a great breakfast and some cards, Kels and I got back on the road.  We are now in a hotel in Williamsburg and hoping to be back to normal by tomorrow night!  Been quite a week, but I can honestly say that I am really excited for this semester.  I think it is going to go better than I originally intended!

Back to School

It is very different being back at school.  To those of you who actually enjoy reading this, I am sorry I have been slacking lately.  It has been a crazy few weeks.  Last week at the beach I did get back to working out.  Meghan pretty much ran vacation boot camp!!  She had Kels and I up every morning to run.  Then we went on Bike rides with Auntie Pat, and in the evening we would attempt to swim.  I was proud of myself for being able to run with her for the most part, especially towards the end of the week.  It has been a while since I really worked out.  Having someone else to motivate me was awesome.

Now I am back at CNU.  I have been to nearly all of my classes.  Some stuff with profs has changed and been a pain, but I really think it will work out, and I am looking forward to seeing what happens.  It has been great to be back with my sisters, roommates, teammates and friends again.  I missed everyone a lot.  Happy for new friends and glad to still be close to the older ones.

Yesterday morning I got up and headed to the track to run 30 m cut backs.  It was the first time I had sprinted in like 5 weeks!!  I did 2 sets of 10 with an extra at the end of the second.  They felt pretty good, but today my legs are sore.  Yesterday was a tough day overall, and I was super tired last night. Rather than get up this morning and run I waited until after my class.  I am so excited for Inorganic!!  And Dr. Fattah is going to help me get research!!!!!!  I ran a 2 mile loop around campus, my body wasnt super into it after what I put it through all day yesterday, but I need to get to work if I am going to survive a thanksgiving 10k!!!  Now to spend the rest of my day with errands and homework! Fun stuff!!

BACK!!!

I am finally home.  San Jose was absolutely amazing!! I cannot imagine a better way to have spent my summer.  All the pics are up on facebook.  Unfortunately, I got incredibly busy while there, with class work, and updating this blog quickly lost priority.  But now that I am home, I am back.  For the most part I was good at working out while there.  The last week I was wiped out and developed a cold so I ended up sleeping in every morning except for monday, but I did get to the gym most evenings.  I am absolutely gonna miss that class.  I learned so much, and I made what I know will be life long friends.  I am happy to be home, and am really looking forward to getting back to school in a few weeks.

Today I got back to working out after several days off due to travel and such.  Got up around 7 this morning, and it was already hot and humid.  Started my warm up with something I have not seen in a while, a hill!!!   That mile actually felt really good, guess the work I did in Cali paid off!!  Then ran approximately 60 m in the yard.  It was fun dodging trees and running on the side of a hill! hahaha!  The plan was to run 24 total.  I was dying in the humidity.  Started with a set of 7, then 6, then 7.  Then stopped for a while, thinking I needed to be done.  But after a few mins inside, I put my shoes back on and headed out to finish the whole thing.  They were not particularly fast or anything, but I am proud of myself for finishing the whole thing.

This afternoon I headed to the basement to get a little lift in.  Started with 3 sets of 8 handstand push ups, 3 sets of 10 dips, 3 sets of 10 curls, and 3 sets of 8 military press.  Next round had 3 sets of 20 push ups, 3 sets of skull crusher series (minus the middle one), and 3 sets of behind head tricep raises with weight.  Finished up the day with 3 sets of consecutive 2 min abs, was struggling by the 3rd set but made it through.  Overall today was a good day, very productive.

Morning Practice!

Got up bright and early this morning to go out to morning practice at 7:30 because I had to make up a test for tomorrow during practice this afternoon.  It was fun running with Amanda and the weather was surprisingly nice!  Luckily there were four sprinters out there so our endless relay work out worked.  We ran laps as a group that consisted of a 1,1 and 2.  This meant that the first person ran a 100, to the second who ran another 100, to the third who ran a 200, to the fourth person who started the set over with another 100.  Each set consisted of all of us running a 100,100 and 200.  We did 4 sets total.  I was pleased with my running today.  We did not time or anything, but they felt good.  Not so tough that my legs will be sore for tomorrow.

Then I headed off to a busy day of classes.  Physics lab went an hour longer than normal which was frustrating because I was late to make up my test, but it was pretty easy so I am confident in the grade.  Then I headed back out to the track for our pre-meet meeting.  The team set up the hurdles then we got the poles ready to go.  Its been a very busy but very productive day.  Not looking forward to the 6am bus tomorrow, but thats ok, the weekend should be fun!

Back to Triple Jump!

So today I began practice with lots of jump stuff.  My run throughs were on, then we moved on to more drills.  I got to try some triple jump drills.  Everything felt really good and am gonna try it this weekend!!! been a long time!!! Then we moved into pole vault.  Once again short approaches were great.  Today coach had me alternate between a 5 step and a 7 step as a way to get over this head thing.  Didn't work, my 5s just got worse the more I did.  But my run is getting better so hopefully we can solve this soon.  We got to the weight room about 25 mins late and only managed to get in the big lifts but that ok, I was still tired  afterward.

3 set of front squats at 145 lbs for max reps (6,5,7)
and 3 sets of hang cleans at 100 lbs for max reps (5,4,5)

Just another tuesday

Had my advising appointment this afternoon so classes are all worked out for next semester.  I am really looking forward to the change!!  Afterwards, I headed out to join the team at the track.

Started off with the pole vault warm up with Fish then went to join the long jumpers.  Approach were for long jump went well, all my runs were consistently just behind the board, right where you want them during practice.  Then we moved to some pole vault running drills. The legs definitely felt much less awkward today.

The main focus today was on the running work out.  We ran 4 sets of 4 80 meters sprints, with a 120 jog in between.  Each set worked out to be a 800.  I was pretty happy with my speed and endurance today, but I definitely think it could be better, my chest was hurting by the end of the second set and I should last longer then that. Then, I ran to the weight room and got in 1 set of 6 and 1 set of 8 at 120 lbs before I had to go to lab.  Going to end the day with a quick round of abs with Michael.  Looking forward to my event day tomorrow and trying my hand at triple jump.

Monday: back to work

Ended the weekend with a quick round of abs with Michael, brought back the old workout that Coach Berg taught us back on the SF track team!  Did not get a run in because I was very busy getting work done for this week, lots going on.

Today, we got back outside to refocus for Washington and Lee this weekend.  I started my day out with the jumpers since I am long jumping again this weekend and may even try my hand at triple, depending on how my knee feels on Wednesday.  Then moved over to pole vault and got some short approach work in, nothing special.  Full approaches were a little rough today, my run just felt out of control, like my feet and knees were all over the place, won't skip a sunday run again!  Ended the day with a trip to the weight room:

Back squats- 3 sets at 180 lbs for max reps (6,6.5)
Full Cleans - 3 sets at 105 lbs for max reps (6,5,5)
Back extension- 3 sets of 10 with a 30 lb weight
Leg curls- 3 sets of 10 at 62.5 lbs
Calf raises- 15 (in out and straight) with 60 lbs

Not a bad lift, kinda impressed I was able to handle those numbers since squats and cleans were basically what I used when I maxed last week.  Little tired today but overall a good productive day!

Start of the Spring!

Yesterday was a great pre meet workout in beautiful nearly 80 degree weather.  Short approaches were awesome! Long runs still very sketchy.  Then Taryn and I headed over to the sand pits for Long Jump 101.  Everything went pretty well took me a few mins but then I managed to feel like I knew what I was doing again.  After practice we headed to the Ferg lawn to have a campus wide picnic prior to the showing of the girl's basketball final four game.  Unfortunately they did not win, but it was certainly awesome that they made it so far! Congrats to them!

Today we met up at 9 and headed to William and Mary for out first outdoor meet of the season.  I started the day with long jump.  I really had know idea what to expect because besides that pentathlon over break I had not jumped in year.  First jump I made it 4.30 m just 8 cm shy of the pr I jumped during the pentathlon.  Next jump opened up even more for a pr of 4.68 m.  I was incredibly happy, thats over 15 ft!!  Unfortunately on the last run I got a little too excited and fouled by about 2 inches : (

After a pretty good day long jumping I watched the finals with Michael and Andrew, who I really appreciate coming up for the day.  Then, went over and helped catch steps for the boys.  Overall they had a pretty good start for their outdoor seasons!  They ended incredibly early because the field was small and Taryn and I were not quite warmed up enough when the run way opened but thankfully they kept our start time at the scheduled 3 o'clock.  Warm up was once again awful and I refused to jump from a full approach at all!  I really need to figure out how to fix this!  But when the bar went up at 2.95m everything changed, I managed to clear it easily with a pretty ugly jump.  The jump was a little better at 3.10m and I still made it no problem.  I came up just short of 3.25 however, and unfortunately gave up my second attempt because I felt a cross wind take my pole.

Overall, today was a fantastic way to start the outdoor season and I cannot wait to see what comes of it. I was very happy to see my parents today, it was great of them to drive down to drop off my car!!  Can't believe that they made the whole trip in one day but I guess its what they do!

Wonderful Weather continues

I was unable to get in a post yesterday because I had a big radiochem test this morning and really needed to do well in order to make up for the last one.  Overall, I am pretty sure it went well, there were a few small things I had issues with but I believe it will be good enough to make up for the last one (hopefully!!)

Yesterday was another beautiful day at the track.  Got in a little early to do some approach work everything felt pretty good, then hit the track for a good workout.  4 sets of 3 100s starting every 30 seconds, with 6 mins between sets.  I ran an average time of about 15, then were some 14s, and some 16s mixed in there but for the most part they were 15.  Not bad for me.  The whole workout was a little rough because we all had to start at the same time, thats about 15 people, and being a girl I always get pushed to the second row.  This makes for some very rough starts, and I even got hit in the face once, but overall it was a good workout.

Finished up the day with races with the med balls, proud to be the female champ, not because I threw far, but because I threw fast!! haha

Ended the day with a quick set of abs with Michael, definitely a good day.  Heading to the track now to get some pre meet work done before the meet saturday!

Yay Spring!!

Today was by far the most beautiful day we have had so far this season!! It felt like spring should in VA!! The whole reason I came down here!  It was in the mid to upper 60s with a slight breeze, which was conveniently a tail wind!  Today was a jump day.  We started out with ground jumping.  It is a great drill but I get nervous about going to high just because of the landing.  Then went to the pit and did 0s 1s 2s, spent a lot of time at 3s, where I got some good work done on my plant and jump at take off.  Then moved back to a 4 where I was able to feel the entire top end of the jump.  Coach Wingard was excited I was able to do a full turn with out consciously trying to, the jumps were just good enough that it happened.  Then moved back to a 5 step for several more good jumps.  On my last one I managed to nail my wrist really well, it swelled up immediately.  Coach then decided I should just finish up with a few full runs to get my step down.  I was way back and running well which is a good thing.

Then, iced the wrist and headed in side for lifting.  Front squats first, managed 5 at 160lbs which raises my max by 10 lbs to 180.  Then to hang cleans which also improved, 5 at 105lbs to increase my previous max by 13 lbs to 118 lbs.  Finally I made up the bench testing I missed yesterday.  I was a little disappointed because I was certain I would be able to rep more than 135 lbs at least a few times since I did sets with 135 a few weeks ago, but for some reason my arms did not have it and I only managed a sloppy 135lbs 4 times.  This did increase my max though by 5 lbs to 147 lbs.

Lab Day

Today was an approach day for pole vault, got there a little earlier than necessary but still got some good work in.  It felt good to run with the pole and I really had the opportunity to work on the timing of my plant.  Hopefully I can get this problem adjusted by the end of the week!  then we headed over to join the sprinters for the workout.  Today was a more circuit style work out.  30 meter in the harness, 30 meters jog, 30 meters 3 point start at race pace, then the 300 recovery.  In all we did 6 sets of this, not a hard endurance workout, but def the harness work in your legs!

Then i had to leave early in order to grab food real quick before heading to lab which took about 3 hours but wasnt too bad.  Overall today has been a productive day.  Got a lot coming up in the next week or so, and really need to get focused and get work done!

222!!!

Today we got back to normal and had a monday jump day.  We focused on some ground jumping then did a lot of short approach work.  It was nice to just focus on some aspects of the take off from a three step today.  I really had some great jumps today so I hope this can continue.  Also, it was nice to welcome Amanda to the pole vault team for real today!! I hope she does awesome! It was a great day and a beautiful day to practice, a little windy though.
Then we went to the weight room to max for the first time in a long time.  I was pretty certain my maxs had gone up based on the way i have been lifting lately but it was nice to find some actual numbers.  To day we did back squats and full cleans.  My goal for the year was to squat over 200 pounds ( last time my max was 191)  Today I was able to rep 185 lbs 7 times which equaled a single rep max of about 220 lbs! way over the goal!  Then we moved to full cleans, I still have not fully figured cleans out and feel like I should be able to lift more than I do.   Today I managed 110 lbs 5 time which was my previous single rep max.  This is the equivalent of about 124 lbs.  So not too bad for me.  Finished practice with a modified version of 2 min abs.  I am definitely pleased and look forward to seeing how I do for the rest of the week.

On a much sadder note we had our good bye party for Patty tonight it was a nice party and a lot of people made it.  This team is definitely going to miss her!!!!!!!!!

Long Run Weekend

For an active rest weekend Michael and I decided to get two long runs in.  On saturday Michael, Colin and I Ran through the neighborhoods behind CNU.  felt really good and set the pace most of the way.  Towards the end I began to die and let Michael lead us in but managed to stay with him.  It was just under 30 mins total and probably just over 3 miles.  After Michael designed a good ab workout then we did some push ups.  He had to finish with 12 clap push ups instead of 10 just to be a snot!

Then today we headed out again.  We began with a run to Harris Teeter to return the movie I rented for SAO last night.  From there we ran down Warwick to the Noland Trail.  We ran the mile out and back the soccer team does in the pre season.  It was a beautiful day and there were a bunch of people out jogging.  By the end of the first mile my legs were done so we walked about 50 meters, then finished the mile back and took another short break.  From there we managed to make it back to JR.  I was proud of the kick I had at the end, but I need to learn to push my self through distance runs like that one, obviously I had enough left that I should have been able to hold it the whole way through.  Guess it is just something I am going to have to work on.  By the end of the semester I will be able to run that whole thing.  The run took us 43:43 to run and was just about 4 miles.  Thanks to Michael for pushing me as much as he did!

Now a little homework, dinner and chapter for the rest of my sunday.  Planning on a good ab workout before bed tonight.  Definitely a good way to spend my last free weekend before the start of the spring season.

Glad its Friday!

It was kinda cold today and I was very sore going into practice this afternoon, so I was not really looking forward to going to practice.  Got there around three fifteen so I could get approach work in before running the workout.  The vaulters ended up starting to build our mat since they were finally brought out today.  Then we got to work on the work out.  Today we had 4x300 scheduled, usually not too bad but with the way my legs have been I knew it would be rough.  Got through the first one alright at 53.  The second and third one slowed some to 55s then 58s.  But I was able to dig a little deeper for the last one and hit a 57.  Not as fast as I would like but its been a long week.

Afterward we finished putting the mat together but could not find the weather cover.  Went to dinner anyway then texted Coach Wingard to ask where it was.  He responded as we were leaving and told us that it was under the bleachers.  Fish Amanda and I sucked it out and walked back to the track to find it.  It took us about 10 mins and a lot of exploring to find it.  It was a pretty terrible job because it was huge and wet.  Eventually we got it moving and luckily found a cart that made the whole process possible.  Coach definitely owes us for this one!!!

Rain Rain Go Away!

Today's practice was a little wet.  It rained through most of the day.  I was about 45 min late because my Physics lab took an hour longer than it normally does.  But I was still able to make it in time to warm up then do some sand drills with the vaulters.  We had fun doing many of the drills from Beginner to Bubka in the sand.  This is a lot of the stuff I miss doing at Vertical Assault so I am excited  Coach Wingard is letting us try some.  Luckily it cleared up for the twenty mins when we tried to do drills.  Then we hit the weight room for our second and heavier lower body day of the week.

3x8 front squats at 135 lbs  (what most of the guys lifted today to hahahahaha!!!!!!!!)
3x8 hang cleans at 85 lbs
3x10 back extensions with 25 lbs
3x10 leg extensions at 62.5 lbs
15 calf raises in out and straight with 60 lbs

Today was definitely a hard lift day, I am going to be sore tomorrow, but I am glad I was able to lift the percentages I was supposed to be at.

Everythings Up

Today was a pretty intense work out.  Practice started slow, since we are short staffed this week due to nationals we were on our own for our vaulting drills and ran out of ideas to fill the 45 mins we had.  Finally by about 4:30 we got to the work out.  It was a pretty tough one, 4x full stadiums with 300 m recovery jog in between.  Also we were supposed to run three steps at a time, since I am only 5'2" and not all legs I ran 2 at a time, because I would not have done a lot of actual running if I had tried 3.  The first one felt great.  By the second I was definitely starting to feel it.  By the third I kinda cheated a little and it was a very slow jog across the bleachers between stairs.  Then Coach Lou stopped us between the third and fourth to give us a little rest so our last set would be worth doing.  The last one felt good again too.  I was pretty proud of myself for be the first girl done, the next one behind by about 200 meters, I even outpaced a few of the guys.  Overall, it was 24 flights up, most took 32 steps except for the one short one that's closer to 20.  After this was accomplished we hit the weight room for a hard upper body day.

3x8 bench at 115lbs (80% of max)
2x10 Lat pulls at 87.5lbs
2x10 NRG at 87.5 lbs
2x10 shoulder press at 50 lbs (much better than monday!)
2x10 incline press at 50 lbs
2x10 low rows at 25 lbs

Overall much better than my lift on monday, but I know I will be paying for it tomorrow!
Finished with a quick set of 2 min abs with 25 side crunches each side added to the end.

Today was certainly a rough day but it was nice to get some real work done, my fitness level has definitely dropped some since the beginning of the indoor season. 

Drill Day

Today was just a jump day, but since the pits are not out yet we just worked on drills.  Spent the first half of practice with the jumpers working on accelerations, then did a few bounding drills, which were kinda fun since I hope to triple jump again soon! Then we grabbed the poles to do some take off drills.  We started with the very basic one.  Take a few steps then jump over the pole on the ground.  I managed to get my grip up pretty high with only three steps in the run.  Landing these still makes me a little nervous, but everyday where my knee doesn't give builds my confidence more!  Then we moved to the track to do more acceleration work.  This time we did a series consisting of a three point start, a rolling start, then an acceleration with the pole.  Over all not a bad day out side, it is nice that Coach Wingard is starting to let us do more drills.  Hopefully this bodes well for the season to come.

Then I ran to the weight room for about 15 mins before heading to lab.  I managed to get in a warm up set of 10 front squats followed by just 2 sets of 8 back squats at 155 before I had to leave.  The 155 was the 80% I was supposed to be lifting today and after all this time away from the weight room I am glad it felt as good as it did.

Moving Outdoors

Literally today we moved outdoors, as we started practice off by moving all of our equipment from the Freeman Center to the outdoor track.  After all this madness was complete we ran a quick work out on the track. 
3 laps of sprint the straights and walk the turns
3 laps of sprint the curves and walk the straights

Felt a little wimpy that we were just walking the recovery, but it was nice to have a lighter day as a little recovery after the indoor season, since we are pushing forward with no break.  

Then, we hit the weight room for the first time in nearly a month for me!!!!  Can't lie the weights were a little wimpy but its been a while.


2x10 incline press- 30lbs
2x10 shoulder press- 30 lbs
2x10 rows each arm- 15 lbs
2x10 lat pulls- 75 lbs
2x10 NRG pulls- 75 lbs
3x10 bench- 100 lbs ( this was actually the wieght I was supposed to be lifting today so I am happy I got through it!)

Overall today was a pretty good day, it will be nice to get back to running some, I have missed it these last few weeks.  It helps that the weather is supposed to be nice this week!

Finally, congrats to all of my teammates who are headed to nationals this week, Dira in the 800 and pentathlon, Rich in the Pentathlon, Brittany in the Long Jump, and Winkler in the 800.  Good luck this week and I look forward to reporting good stuff from them!

Travel Day

No workout for today.  Just a travel day with the team to VA tech.  Took us about 6 hours in all, a little ridiculous! We did stop for almost an hour for lunch though.  Had fun touring VA tech a little today, this campus is huge!! Definitely looking forward to the meet tomorrow.  Wish I could be jumping but I am content now.  Everyone looked great at pre-meet today so tomorrow should be exciting!!!!!   GO  Captains!!!

Reovery Day to end a Good Season

To end my winter season I had a much needed recovery day after yesterday's pentathlon.  I woke up this morning very sore.  The shake out we did at practice helped a lot, but I have a feeling I will sleep well again tonight.  For our shake out we just went through the normal warm up.  Then while Joey did some pole vault work I did some work with my one steps trying to work on jumping at take off rather than getting pulled off the ground.  I think it helped some, definitely proved that there is a problem there but I was so tired today that I did not do to much with it.  Now I get to redirect my focus towards out door.  I have no major complaints about indoor, the season ended pretty well.  For outdoor however I am hoping to have less injuries, get over this not jumping at practice thing, and really make some true progress.