Here we go

Today I began my plan to simply follow the workouts Michael is doing at Activedge, but just be a week behind.  I have never seen the results I would like when I attempted to create my own work out plans so I am gonna steal theirs : ).  The workouts as originally designed can be found out activedgetaf.blogspot.com, I will change them when I need to simply because my circumstances are much different!  So this afternoon after morning battles with the lawn mower and 2 hours of mowing grass, I headed to the track.  On memorial day they did a 200 track workout.  So today I did 3 sets of 200 hard, 200 jog, 200 hard, 200 jog.  Between sets I took a 2-3 min rest.  Both warm up and cool down were half mile jogs.  It was really hot and I was beat when i finished but I got it done.  unfortunately i forgot to take my watch with me so i have no idea what kinda of times I hit.  oh well, I ran hard and thats what matters.  After running some errands while I was out I attempted the lift they did last week as well.  It was a challenge both because it was hard and because I certainly dont have the same equipment at home they have at the gym.  Started with 4 sets of 5 bench working up from 115-130 lbs, accompanied by 4 sets of 6 lance step up with each leg with a 45 lbs weight.  Then, did my best to do decline DB bench.  Managed to do 3 sets of 8 working from 8 lbs weights to 15 lbs weights because thats all i've got!  Next was 3 sets of 8 dips  with 3 sets of 8 back squats (since i dont have a BOSU ball) working from 130-150 lbs.  After that I did 3 sets of 10 plyo (clap) push ups with 3 sets of 10 row the boat (frog) abs.  Finished up with 3 sets of 20 DB curls, since I only had 8 lbs DBs!  Then decided to add 3 sets 0f 25 side cruches on each side, because my abs felt left out! It was defa lot of work, and I'm pretty exhausted now, will be sore tomorrow!!

Nice Morning Run

This morning i got up a little earlier and was able to be at the track just after 9.  I decided to try the workout Michael and group ran yesterday morning.  He wanted to see how my times compared.  So I did a nice half mile warm up then got started.  The work out was 400 m shuffles.  I managed to get through the first in 1:23, the rest were 1:28, 1:31, and 1:25 respectively.  The last one may not have been entirely accurate because an 8th grade gym class showed up to use the track between the 3rd and 4th reps!  So I ran that one on a grass field behind the school, with an estimated 100 m mark.  It was a tough work out.  The first time I have run a 400 in a workout in a very long time.  i am pretty happy with the times I was able to hit, I know I can do better but I it was a good place to start.  Then I did about a 5 min run for cool down and headed home.  Spent about 45 mins working on my juggling skills!! I am getting much better!!  Finished up with a set of 2 min abs and a good stretch.  Once again a good workout.  Spent the rest of the day doing a great deal of nothing.  Cannot wait until I have things to do again! just over a week!!  Mom and I went for a nice walk through the neighborhood to end the day.

On the track and on the Bike

yesterday was a great day for the 1st annual Spring-ford all  comers meet!!  It was a fantastic turnout and it was a lot of fun to see everyone again.  Hit the track with some other alum for a 4x800.  We were destined to loose but it was fun to run it anyway!  I lead off and came in in the low 2:50s.  I was excited that it was faster than the one I ran in the pentathlon indoors this year.  Overall, it was a great time!

Today I decided to stay inside and ride the bike rather than go outside and celebrate national running day because it was ridiculously hot again and i did not get my act together early enough to beat the heat.  Today was a recovery day cause I was really sore from yesterday!  Rode for an hour and half, nothing special, just moving.  Then I did a little lifting.  3 sets of 10 incline sit ups with a 35 lbs weight.  3 sets of 10 split jumps with a 25 lbs weight.  3 sets of 8 hand stand push ups.  3 sets of 10 leg lifts off the bench.  3 sets of 10 step ups on each leg with a 35 lbs weight, and 3 sets of 10 rows with a 65 lbs bar.  All in all it was just over 2 hours of work.  Felt really good.  Looking forward to making more improvements this summer.

Back on the run!!

After a nice week off I decided that I needed to get out of the house and move a little bit.  Especially since my high school team is hosting an all-comers meet the day after memorial day, where I will compete in something, looks like it may be as part of a 4x8 at the moment.  But since that is only a week away and im putting in some hours at work this week I wanted to get a run in today.  The plan was to run a 2.5/3 mile loop.  unfortunately in order to leave my house I have to run up a pretty steep nearly 300 meter hill, which does not all for easing into runs.  But once I got going I was feeling really good.  Around the 2 mile mark the same breathing issue I had one my last run with Michael hit me again, but since I was by myself I had less motivation to push through it, so I only got through just over 2 miles.  Did discover a pattern in the two episodes though.  Both times I had not prepared to run during the day.  I had not eaten much and was very underhydrated.  Also, both times I had done some level of activity for the few hours before I attempted the run, last time walking the mall, this morning cleaning the pit.  So I can blame myself and make sure I don't let it happen again!  Also tried my hand at the bench challenge the activedge team used as part of their race last weekend.  As many reps of bench as possible with half your body weight.  So I weighed myself and set it up. But once again was stupid and did not warm up or anything.  Only did 40 reps not quite the 50 I wanted :)  but thats ok, I have not lifted in about a month, Ill hit it before the summer is out, maybe even before i leave for cali!

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!