Workout Notes

The reason I am doing this? To keep me honest. I seriously need to do my strength training 3 times a week. I have, in the recent past, become a slacker. I got through a 50 mile race with little or no training, and scored a 2+ hour pr. That’s not how this ultramarathoning thing is supposed to work. I do know that I don’t have to do a whole lot of long distance training to do them. I really believe that heavy weight lifting, some high intensity sprinting, and some nice slow long walk/jogs will help more than trying to get in 60 – 80 miles a week.


Friday 2/17/12
Exercise Weight Reps Sets

1 walking lunge 20 10 3
2 calf raise 42 10 3
3 overhead presses 32 10 3
4 bent over rows 32 10 3
5 leg raises 0 15 3
6 stiff legged dead lift 20 10 3
7 bench presses, 32 10 3
8 upright rows, 32 10 3
9 front plank 3:00 1 3
10 rt plank 1:00 1 3
11 lt plank 1:00 1 3

Sunday, February 19, 2012
I ate a huge breakfast at around 8, drank several cups of coffee and went and visited with my mom for a couple of hours before she had to go to work.

When I got home, I prepared the rump roast I purchased yesterday by searing it, lightly sautéing the vegetables (carrots, onions, celery, turnips, mushrooms and a little garlic) and dropping it all in the crock pot.

Next, change clothes so I can get out for a longish walk/jog. It had been about four and one half hours since breakfast and I was planning on at least two hours, at most ten miles. I only took plain water to drink and one Endurolytes Fizz tablet with me. I should have no problem going up to ten miles fasted. I probably jogged 1.33 miles, racewalked 1 mile and powerwalked the rest of the first hour, completing 4.7 miles total. I kept the intensity up throughout and up until one hour forty minutes, consuming a little water about every 1.2 miles. I refilled the water bottle and added the Fizz, planning to slow down and enjoy the last 20 minutes of my walk. Good work today, no hamstring pain. 8.82 miles in 2 hours: Average Pace 13:37. I enjoyed a post workout meal of sirloin steak sautéed in lard from grass fed beef and a huge sweet potato.

I saw these lovely tame ducks at the park. I was wondering… do ducks naturally segregate? A flock of these crested ducks are always hanging out together, and then there was one. Mallard. All alone.

Life's a Challenge

So, my hubby has not been feeling well since I got back from my trip to New Mexico.  I have been a good lil wifey and have been cooking dinner every evening, trying to get him to eat a little more veggies, and a lot less bread.  So far, so good.  Fingers crossed that he will start feeling better so I can get on with the training I need to do for FANS 24 Hour and a possible Centurion walk.  For those of you who don't know... A Centurion is someone who has walked 100 or more miles in 24 hours or less at a judged event.  The judges only look for lifting (running), and are not concerned about the bent knee rule of Olympic racewalking.

I took the whole week off of training after Bataan, which seemed like a good idea.  Rest is as important, if not more important as training.  My plan was to walk 20 miles on Sunday, but 10.75 miles seemed like enough, so I stopped there.  I had an appointment with a gym owner to discuss some personal training, so that I can feel obligated to get some strength training done.  The great deal: $110 for 3 months of membership with no extra charge for helping me with a program to build strength without hurting my back (which tends to be problematic). 

Rusty walked me through a short series of exercises, which will be my starting point.  Leg raises, leg presses, lunges, lat pull downs, chest flys, lat raises, curls, and back extensions.  These are all at beginning weight, which will increase as needed.  The thing that Rusty stressed is proper form, nd isolation of the specific muscles the exercise is intended to work, which I agree with totally.  I found I like working out at a gym better than doing it at home.  I LIKE the way I look in the mirror!  That's totally new to me.

Monday's workout (remember, I am a beginner... so don't make fun of the amount I am lifting ;))
Leg raises on incline bench: 2 sets - 12 reps
Leg press: 3 sets - 12 reps - 90#
Lunges: 3 sets - 11 reps
Lat pull down: 3 sets - 12 reps - 40#
Chest Flys: 3 sets - 12 reps - 20#
Lat Raises: 3 sets - 15 reps - 5#
Dumbell curls: 3 sets - 15 reps - 8#
Standing calf raise: 3 sets - 15 reps - body weight

Still being a good girl and following the Paleo diet, but I think I have eaten a little too much fruit the past week... Time to go ketogenic for a couple of weeks...  All for now.

Again, more workouts, or not.

I didn't walk Sunday afternoon like I thought I would. I guess I will call it the weekend off in what is starting to look like a 4 week cycle. 3 weeks hard workouts, then a weekend off. I saw an ultra racing training schedule (I don't remember where) that suggested such a training schedule and it seems to work for me.

Monday, July 20:
I am back on the bicycle! Yes! I rode for an hour, then came home and did two sets, 15 reps, of 12 strength exercises for upper/lower body and core.
the workout looks like this: upper body: shoulder press; tricep extensions, curls, pushups; 90 second rest; core: crunches, plank, oblique crunches, crunches on ball; 90 second rest; lower body: wall squat with ball, lying abduction, single leg squats with chair, lying adduction; 90 second rest then repeat the whole sequence. I change exercises with every workout so that all muscles get the same attention.
Stretched everything when I was done. Now I am having my favorite post workout snack: partially thawed frozen strawberries topped with yogurt and free cool whip. I was so far out of whack with my eating program this weekend that most of what I ate today was fruit and vegetables.

Tuesday, July 21:
I went to the track fully intending to do a ladder workout. The gates were locked and the track was closed due to pesticide spraying. So, that made me almost as angry as having to fight the children for 1 lane of the track while their parents stroll along talking on their cell phones.
Instead, I fartleked around for 6 miles. The average pace through the first 4 miles was 12:18 with an average HR of 78% (I believe that means I could have gone faster), then a mile at marathon pace 13:08, then one slow mile for cool down.

My First Trip to the Chiropractor

So, I finally made it to the Chiropractor to have my back looked at. He did a physical exam after asking me lots of questions. Then his associate took x-rays of my spine. I had a heat treatment and electrical stimulation of the lumbar spinal muscles. He didn’t want to do an adjustment until after he had a chance to look at the x-rays, so I went back this afternoon for another consultation.

I had more heat and electrical muscle stimulation, then an adjustment. The right side that is giving me all the problems wouldn’t release at all. The left side went easily. After the adjustment, we looked at the x-rays together. He showed me where everything was wrong. I already knew about the lumbar spine, I have degenerative disc disease and the space between L4 and L5 is almost nonexistent, causing the sciatica in my right leg. My pelvis is out of position from walking on the cambered surface and he recommended I find a more flat surface to walk on, such as the park trail or high school track. He said that the reason I don’t experience more pain is the amount of exercise I do; the result being that I do more damage than someone who does little or no exercise and experiences the pain sooner. Nevertheless, he didn’t suggest that I cut back on my long distance walking, just that I get my spine back in order and keep it that way.

I can’t afford massage therapy once a month, and the chiropractic treatment costs less anyway. I will decide whether or not to continue on Monday, after I go in for another treatment. There is a possibility he will work something out for me since I am a cash customer, not filing insurance claims.