Sunday, November 27, 2011

Race Recap: 5k Turkey Trot

This race recap doesn't have a mile by mile breakdown or some great story about how I trained and ran the fastest I've ever raced.  In fact, I didn't even wear my garmin and I couldn't see the clock when I finished or started.  It was just a fun run...or trot as the shirt states!


I signed up for the local Turkey Trot 5k in my hometown kind of last minute since one of my running buddies, Rachel, was doing it.  I figured it would be a nice race as a post marathon race and a way to hopefully kick start my running again.  It worked!  The 5k was a nice out and back along the Columbia River and by the time we turned around I was ready to race and ran fast...how fast...I have no idea!  It was a pretty small race so it wasn't well organized and I had to stop about 20 feet short of the finish line because it was so backed up :).  A girl in front of me said she ran it in 29 minutes so I assume I was around that time as well.


I have no idea why my photos from my phone have this gray line but I'm too lazy to edit it
I would definitely say this race re-ignited my passion for racing and I can't wait to start "officially" training for half marathons in 2012!

The rest of the Thanksgiving holiday was spent eating great food, hanging out with great friends and family and NOT working for 4 days in a row...glorious!  I have many things to be thankful for and my ability to run is near the top of that list.

I'm going to repeat week 6 of the LiveFit trainer since I really didn't do any of it last week with the holiday, so recap to come next week!

Question: Who else ran a local Turkey Trot?  Do you love a laid back race with no expectations?

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

LiveFit Week 5 Recap

Week 5 was the start of Phase 2 and it basically added one more day of working out plus cardio.  I would be lying if I told you I worked out 6 days, I didn't.  The program has you doing legs 2 days a week and since I have other fitness commitments during the week I figure it doesn't hurt to miss it.
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If you are dying to read previous recaps you can read about week 4 and week 3

I'm actually really starting to see changes in my body and my pants are fitting a little looser, which is definitely motivating me to keep going with the program.  The LiveFit Trainer was introduced about 4-5 months ago so there are tons of people who are already done with it and you can see some results on Jamie Eason's facebook page....check em out!

Here is what week 5 looks like in the plan:

Here is what I did:

Monday: Back & Cardio
Back included doing pullups, something I've always wanted to be able to do unassisted so I'm glad the plan includes these.  I still need quite a bit of weight to help me out but hopefully each week I'll be taking more and more off.  Cardio included a 30 minute treadmill workout I found in my latest Oxygen magazine, I will share later!

Tuesday: Chest & Abs & Cardio
We are up to 15 pushups at a time now which  can actually do semi-easily, although the 3rd set of those was pretty painful.  For cardio I went to Element 5 for a boot camp style workout and ended up doing more pullups...yikes...abs and everything in between!  I was SORE the next day.

Wednesday: Legs
Oh squats!  Lots of weighted squats and lunges in the leg workout in phase 2.  I started having some slight right knee pain which I now remember from weighted squats and lunges from years ago, so I might take it a little lighter on the weights next week to prevent any injuries.

Thursday: Arms & Cardio
I didn't get to the abs portion of the workout because I was distracted with a free 10 minute massage at my gym, well worth it!  Cardio included 2 back to back indoor soccer games where my team got crushed!

Friday: REST
I took a half day on Friday for a very important event
Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1...this is NOT Bella's wedding dress BTW
And I was in such a Twilight daze I went home and watched the first movie that night...NERD alert!

Saturday: Shoulder & Abs & Cardio
I tacked on the abs from Thursday's workout and did the same 30 minute treadmill workout from Monday for cardio.  It is a great moderate intensity cardio workout which is exactly what Jamie prescribes in Phase 2.

Sunday: REST

I actually had every intention of starting week 6 on Sunday but Saturday night I went to a wine tasting event...enough said!

20something wine event with my ladies!
Me and my bro and his porn stache
Week 6 is going to be pretty mixed up and I'm sure I won't get all the workouts in since it's Thanksgiving and I'll be traveling to my parents, but that's ok...I'll give it my best try.

QUESTION: Any one doing a local Turkey Trot out there?  I just signed up for the 5K in my hometown, it's my first race since the marathon and I've run about 3 times since then so we'll see how it goes!

Monday, November 14, 2011

LiveFit Trainer Week 4 Recap

I'm still not sure if I'm going to stick with these weekly recaps but since I can't figure out anything else to blog about here we go :).  The end of week 4 actually signifies the end of Phase 1 and I honestly didn't expect to notice any changes, especially since I wasn't really following the meal plan and I skipped a couple workouts.  However, I have definitely noticed that I'm a little more toned looking and I jumped on the scale and have actually lost about 5 pounds over the last month.  I don't usually stress about my weight or weigh myself very often but I don't fluctuate much so I know the 5 pounds is gone and I can only assume it's because of the weight training...bonus side effect!

So, here is what week 4 looked like online:
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And here is what I actually did:

Monday: Chest & Triceps
I like that the rep range (10 reps) is smaller so I tried to up the weight for some of the exercises while still trying to keep a minute between sets.  The workout still takes less than an hour which I love, but I'm not getting too used to it since I know they will be longer in Phase 2.

Tuesday: Legs
I actually woke up at 5AM and went to the gym...yikes!  It was hard but I had a work event after work so I knew I had to do the workout in the morning.  I warmed up with 10 minutes on the bike and got to squating and lunging.  I actually hadn't done this workout yet (skipped it last week) and all the weighted squats and lunges really worked my whole legs, I was FEELIN it the next day.

Wednesday: Rest
I was supposed to use Wednesday as my extra day to do whatever and I was going to go to Element 5 for bootcamp but I was exhausted and sore so I listened to my body and did nothing!

Thursday: Shoulders & Abs
I really tried to up the weight on the shoulder exercises since I don't feel like I've pushed myself in this department yet.  I still think I could bump it up even more in the next phase.  I'm hoping a REAL pull-up is in my near future :).

Friday: Back & Biceps
Veteran's day = day of off work so I woke up and went into the gym in the morning which was nice and quiet.

Saturday & Sunday: REST
I know Phase 2 is going to be challenging so I rested up my tired and sore muscles so I'm ready to go on Monday.  I spent the weekend eating great food, hanging out with some great friends, and seeing a great band...all around GREAT weekend. 

And since no post would be complete without some pictures, here are some random ones from my phone:

That would be a variety pack of cocoa from Costco!
AHH...baby gorilla!  She is 4 years old and that is her mama.
Cutie Brecken checking out the penguins

Question: Do any of you make it a point to say "hi" to people you are working out around in the gym?  I find it a little odd that everyone is so silent when they are literally working out inches from one another.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Three Things Thursday - The Taste of Fall

Along with not being consumed by running every day after work comes more cooking and baking!  I have starred many blog entries in my Google reader lately and over the past couple of weeks I've had the chance to actually go through and make some of them.

1. Pumpkin Cupcakes with Pumpkin Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting:
From the SkinnyTaste website that takes everyday recipes and makes them a little lighter.  I made these for Halloween and brought them into work.  I bring pretty much all my baking experiments in for my coworkers and I usually let them eat one before I tell them how many calories are in them.  Everyone was VERY surprised how moist and buttery they tasted but with only 120 something calories a piece! 

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2. Mama Peas Spicy African Peanut Slow Cooker Soup:
I made this via Mama Peas amazing cookbook, but it's also available from her blog...lucky you! It couldn't be easier and you only have ONE thing to chop.  Otherwise, you open up some cans, measure out some spices and voila...dinner!  I added some spinach to mine at the end to give it some green.

3. Daily Garnish Spiced Oatmeal Raisin Cookies:
I've made these twice in one week and even my vegan, allergic to everything, coworker loved them.  They are light and cakey, with a subtle pumpkin spice kick!  I used craisins instead of raisins because I'm obsessed with them.  I'm not sharing my second batch, they are all for me!

You should take my advice and make all of these things in the very near future, you won't regret it!

Question: What is your favorite thing to cook in the fall?  Something with pumpkin, soup?

Monday, November 7, 2011

LiveFit Trainer Week 3 Recap

Okay, so here is my attempt to keep you interested people updated on my fitness life and keep me motivated to continue this program!  As mentioned in my last post, I started Jamie Eason's LiveFit Trainer a few weeks back and since I'm pretty sure I'm going to stick with it for the 12 weeks I figured I'd tell you all about it so you can yell at me when I miss workouts...okay?
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Week 3 on the website looks like this:

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My week 3 looked like this:

Monday: Chest & Triceps
Weeks 1 and 2 had you doing this workout first thing in the week and I liked that, so I switched it up.  I especially like this program because the exercises change a bit every 2 weeks so I never get bored, plus I'm getting to figure out all the equipment in my gym which is a fun challenge.  I especially like that doing 10 pushups in a row doesn't really even hurt anymore :).

Tuesday: Element 5 Bootcamp Class
I switched it up and went to Element 5 where my good friend Linden teaches boot camp.  During week's 3 and 4 Jamie tells you to work out one body part twice, so I figured I would just do the boot camp instead of that.  The class consisted of circuit type weight training and some cardio bursts at the end...per usual I left drenched in sweat. 

Wednesday: Back & Biceps
Warmed up with a quick 10 minutes on the elliptical and then got to work.  Another thing I love about the first phase is you are in and out of the gym in less than an hour.   Jamie tells you to stick to a minute or less between sets and my gym has a HUGE clock in the middle of it so this makes it easy for me and gets me out of the gym quicker.

Thursday: Shoulders & Abs
I have to admit I rushed through this workout and didn't do one of the shoulder moves.  But in my defense I just got done playing 50 minutes of indoor soccer so my body was already tired.  The place where I play soccer and my gym are literally connected so I didn't have an excuse for skipping out on this workout all together.

Friday: Legs...umm...rest
I was going to do legs on Friday but decided to rest instead since I was planning a hike up Tiger Mountain the following day, good decision on my part since the hike ended up being a leg workout itself!  I'll get to those legs next week!

So, I didn't get the legs workout done but hiking was a workout and on Sunday I worked out my toes by getting a post marathon pedicure...a month later.

Week 4 is the same as week 3 and I'll be making some adjustments to the schedule this week as well. 

Question: What weight training do you runners out there do?  How do you incorporate weight training when you are training for a race?

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Where has Marathon Lar been?

I know my 33 followers and probably 5 other readers are just dying to know what I've been up to since the marathon and I'll be honest, I do miss blogging...and I'm just grateful I haven't lost any followers! I still stalk blogs every day and start to get jealous that I'm not posting. 

So, what the heck have I been up to since the marathon?  Well, in a nutshell, NOT running!  I love running and I still get out there once a week to make sure I remember how to do it but I'm also enjoying other things at the moment including not having to schedule my weekend around a long run, hanging out with friends, lots of cooking, and focusing more on weight training instead of cardio.

Halloween with the bro!
As far as fitness goes (this is a fitness blog right?) I actually started a program I found via another blogger Meals & Moves from bodybuilding.com.  It's Jamie Eason's LiveFit trainer and it looked very doable, especially after running my butt off for 6 months I figured I would welcome the change of just lifting weights.
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I'm currently on the 1st phase, week 3.  So far I really like it.  Jamie really emphasizes NO cardio in the first month but I haven't listened to her.  I've done a couple short runs, played soccer and went to one spinning class but I don't think it will affect my ability to do the weight exercises since I had a decent fitness base to start.  As I attempt to get back to a regular blogging schedule I'll attempt to post a weekly wrap up of this program, but I'm not promising anything :).
I'm not following this schedule at all but I am getting in all the workouts...flexibility people!
What about running you ask?  Well, I am signed up for 2 half marathons in 2012 so far and I WILL run one of them in under two hours.  I'm halfway considering the Portland marathon...halfway!  Plus the title of my blog is Marathon Lar so I guess I have to run marathons right?  <---worst reasoning ever!

March 25, 2012: Mercer Island Half Marathon

I ran this race back in 2009 as my second half marathon and really enjoyed it.  You run around Mercer Island (literally!) and it's often promoted as the first race to kickoff running season in Seattle.  It's relatively small, the weather is usually perfectly cool and well organized.  I ran the 10K option last year and PR'd!
Way back in 2009, the last time I ran the Mercer half!
My goal is to start officially training for this at the beginning of 2012 and work really hard to incorporate speed work like crazy to try for a sub 2 hour finish.  It's amazing how simple a half marathon seems now that I've done a full marathon but I know I'll be humbled as soon as I attempt to run faster than then the 10+ minute miles I became accustomed to during marathon training.

June 23, 2012: Rock and Roll Seattle Half Marathon
Three months after Mercer I'm running my 4th Rock and Roll race in Seattle. I LOVE THIS RACE, but I'm not in love with the fact that they are completely changing the course and the anticipation of how hilly the new course will be is already stressing me out.  Last year I PR'd but didn't quite get that sub 2 hour goal. 
So bloggy friends that is what I've been up to lately.  I'll try to keep more in touch with you all, I feel like a bad friend!

Question: Anyone out there running any crazy races next year?  Any ultras out there?  I can't say the thought of an ultra marathon didn't cross my mind post marathon, but those crazy thoughts will be pushed in the back of my brain for now.

xoxo,
Marathon Lar