Monday's weight workout:
leg raises: 2 sets, 15 reps
leg press: 3 sets, 15 reps, 90#
Lat pull down: 3 sets, 12 reps, 50#
Chest Fly: 2 sets, 12 reps, 30#
Dumbell lateral raise: 3 sets, 12 reps, 8#
dumbell curl: 3 sets, 12 reps, 10#
tricep push down: 3 sets, 12 reps, 20#
calf raises: 5 sets, 15 reps, 10#
toe pulls (shins): 3 sets each leg, 15 reps, 10#
Lunges: 3 sets, 12 reps
back extensions: 3 sets, 15 reps
I talked to the trainer and upped the weight on some of the exercises a little (still concentrating on form and muscle isolation) and added the shin exercise.  My calf muscles are already highly developed, so needed the shin exercise to balance things out.  The shins are very important for balance in my long distance walking.

Monday was a good food day... lunch was an egg scramble made from last night's grass fed beef patty, the coconot oil soaked veggies, two eggs and some salsa. 
Dinner: Salmon salad made with celery, purple onion, chopped dill pickles, chopped green olives, boiled eggs, spicy mustard, olive oil, black pepper and garlic and herb seasoning... all on top of a huge bed of spring greens and doused with a little more olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
When I snack, I choose come good quality beef jerky, or about 7 walnut halves, or a little high quality 90% chocolate. 

Didn't do well in the sleep department.  Emily came home from work, really sick.  I took her to the emergency room... they of course, did not find anything wrong (at least they did a ct scan of her abdomen to rule out appendicitis) and sent her home with pain meds.  We didn't get home until 5am (writing this Tuesday morning), and I could not sleep past 9.  Not in a hurry to get to work today, but must go in.

more workouts... the purpose of the blog.

July 8, 2009
I am really on a roll! Just finished the strength training here at home. Upper/lower body and core followed by a full stretching routine including some yoga poses. I know it's kind of late, but oh well I did it!

July 9, 2009
I guess 13 seconds a mile faster than marathon pace counts as a tempo walk in this heat. 7 miles average pace 12:57; average HR 78%; max HR 86% by the end of the 7 miles, then I walked an additional mile to cool down. Nice and slow and easy. Now to towel off and stretch before a shower. I am, yet again, drenched in sweat! I always like to complain about how hot it was when I started my walk... 96 when I started and 90 when I finished. High humidity as usual. I think we reached a high temperature of 102 with heat index of 108 this afternoon. I could fry an egg on the hood of my black car.

The after workout refuel snack for the evening was yogurt with slightly thawed frozen mixed berries and some fat free cool whip! What a treat!

just checking in

Just wanted to say my recovery from 50 miles is going along ok. I am having a little pain down the outside of my right leg (ITB?), so I have taken it easy this week. I will have to get out on the track and start building my speed back up because I signed up for a 5k that has age group walking awards. It's not a judged racewalk, thank goodness, but there aren't many 5k races that give age group awards to walkers.

Recovery

Recovery walks are just as important as speed workouts, long distance workouts and all other types of workouts. I have kind of been neglecting to get these done lately. So, having walked around in circles for 4 hours and 5o minutes yesterday, I was in desperate need of a recovery walk today.

4.48 miles in 1 hour. Average HR 70%, max HR 77%. Oh, by the way, I didn't walk at the track today. I thought about it, then I thought it better to go around the neighborhood.

Wednesday, January 07 – Training walk and other stuff.

So, today was yet again, not the best day for me. It started out at the funeral of a close friend of my son. He was a bright young man, only 30 years. These things are never easy, as everyone knows; we are supposed to bury our parents and grandparents, not our children.

When we got back home, after the dinner that followed the funeral, I tried to go to work. It just wasn’t happening today. Instead, I came home and cleaned up my dishes and changed clothes for the only thing that would really make me feel better: my walking workout.

It was time for a good tempo walk. So, I planned at least 6 miles at 10k race pace. I also wanted to try out my new headlamp. I headed out toward the little league park in my Saucony Grid Type A Racing flats. Those are the hottest looking pair of red racing shoes anyone could want to wear. They are nice and light weight, but they also have ample cushioning in the midsole for my neutral gait. It was still light out when I left my house. I walked to the park, which is 1 mile from home, then a ¾ mile lap around the park. I stopped my timer to stretch and do my flexibility drills, then walked 2 more ¾ mile laps at the park. I was planning to walk at the park until I reached 5 miles total, but the path at the park is red gravel. I had lots of it in my shoes, so I stopped the timer again, emptied the tiny red rocks out of my shoes, put on the headlamp because it was getting dark and headed back into the neighborhood for the rest of the walk.

I felt kind of funny wearing the headlamp at first, but I got used to it pretty quickly. I was able to continue at 10k pace without tripping on anything and I was also visible to oncoming traffic. Nothing like speed and safety!

I made 10k in 76 minutes, which is 1 minute slower than my pr for that distance. Here it is broken down by miles:
Mile 1 - 13:00
Mile 2 - 12:19
Mile 3 - 12:28
Mile 4 - 12:12
Mile 5 - 11:40
Mile 6 - 12:03
.31 miles - 3:57

Now I am home, have stretched really well and dinner is cooking while I am typing my blog entry.

If it wasn’t for my walking, I would go nuts.

Sometimes you just HAVE to be crazy.

So, I did get a walk in today. On my lunch hour. In a strange town. Wow. It was really strange.

4.63 miles in 61:32. Pretty good pace. Problem was... I walk all the time. I have walked in different cities and smaller towns. I have never heard so much horn honking, whistling, hollering, HEY... HEY... People in this small town where I was walking must have been absolutely freaked out by the sight of me. They actually rolled up on me in their vehicles and lowered their windows to yell things at me.

My DH warned me about people in strange towns... I scoffed at him. Well, he was RIGHT. But, don't you think for one second I am going to tell him. I will just add... sometimes you HAVE to be crazy.

"It's better to be crazy than lazy!" Maryann

December 27, 2008 – Training walk

Today was supposed to be 12 miles at target marathon pace. Well, I put on the wrong pair of shoes (Asics Hyperspeed Gel 2) and went out when it was sprinkling. I was trying to get the miles in before the cold front made it this far south.

My sciatica was starting to act up on the right side, so, speed wasn't in the picture from the beginning. It turned out that I would be walking at trail race pace from the beginning.

I remember now why I said those shoes are only for speed work. I have two of the hugest blood blisters I have ever seen, one on the ball of each foot. The right foot started feeling strange at about 6 miles then at 9 miles I had to abort the walk and head home because the left one started to hurt.

9.32 miles in 2:21:06 average pace 15:08mpm average hr 125 (65%). This includes about a 10 minute stop for stretching and flexibility drills.

I stretched when I got home, then drained the blisters and taped my feet up. Then my DH and I put together the new entertainment center we got for Christmas. We put all the stuff away and now we are watching movies.

I'll try for the 12 miles tomorrow. I just need to remember to prep my feet with body glide and wear the right shoes.

December 25 – workout

I slept in a little this morning because it was a holiday. I invited a couple of friends over for coffee, which we enjoyed immensely. I really love coffee and I bought this blend at the Sunmart 50k/50m race expo. It is called Ultra Q50 Coffee, Endurance, Medium Roast, Whole bean, 100% Nicaraguan Gavilan coffee. What a fantastic tasting smooth cup! Email info@q50races.com or call 520.820.0598 for ordering information. I never buy coffee at the grocery store. I took a chance on this particular coffee without tasting it because the ladies reassured me it had just been roasted and packaged 3 days prior. I am telling you, they didn’t steer me wrong!

I decided to have a little lunch, and then go out for my 8 miles. I didn’t expect to encounter too much traffic, and I wasn’t disappointed. The first 7 miles, my average pace was 12:43mpm, then the last of 8 miles was 13:30mpm for cool down. I’ll stretch really well after I cool down a little more.

Fat to Fit Story

I sent this story in to the Clif Company. They liked it so much, they sent me a free t-shirt and one dozen Clif Bars, flavor my choice.

I'm a 47 year old Former Fatty! I started walking for exercise and to lose weight in December of 2004 after my doctor told me I might as well stay fat, because yo yo dieting was going to be worse for my health than being fat and fit.

Now, I am a marathon walker, training for my first ultra trail race. I have completed 2 full marathons and am training for a fall marathon and 50k trail race, then two more marathons by April 2009.

I always walk, I'm not a runner, and I have started cycling as well. My ultimate goal is to become an American Centurion (someone who has walked 100+ miles in 24 hours or less at an approved event).

I usually ride my bicycle every day for my daily commute; the total miles per day are around 4. I also cycle for cross training twice a week. I drive the car if the weather is bad, or if I have the need to go out of town for work (the nearest remote location for my job is 30 miles, a little too far for me to go to work and back home in a day).

I live in a small town and am pretty close to my job. It has been real interesting; folks just don't understand in small town Texas why I ride my bike when I own a perfectly good car. I was afraid folks would think my car had been repossessed. lol

I only own an inexpensive bike I bought at Wal-Mart, and it has served me well. I assume I will need a better ride if I plan to add a lot more weekly mileage to the 40 - 50 miles per week. But, that's ok.

I was real excited to read about the Clif Bar 2 mile challenge. I hope the concept catches on and I begin to see more and more bicycles on the road!