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Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Jan 2-4: Bike, Insanity, Short Progression

Jan 2
First workout of the year!  I took yesterday off to recover from a difficult 20 miler.  It was a positive split and record slow.  9:25 vs. 8:42-8:50 that I ran for all 3 of the 20ers last yearfor Houston.  But I think the time of month had something to do with it.  Hopefully. 

I woke up at 5:30am to get in the workout since I was traveling back to GVL that day.  I wanted to be able to use what would hopefully be a better exercise bike before I went back to the one that hurts my right butt and back at my apartment's fitness room. 

The bike ended up being pretty rickety.  The seat was loose, so I ended up pulling myself towards the handlebars the whole time to keep the seat from rocking.  I got in a small arm workout as well.  The seat ended up making my right butt numb, too. 

I did the workout without a pre-bike breakfast, since I was still full from lots of food the day before.  I started feeling a bit low on energy after 25 min, but I pushed through another 15 minutes for 40 total, getting in 11.7 mi and 308 cal.

Jan 3
I would've run, but after Bible Study and 2nd dinner, it was too late, so I did 2 Insanity DVDs instead, doubling only because the first one was the "Cardio Recovery" workout.  The DVDs get my heart pumping pretty well, and I like the idea of getting in some plyos every now to keep up good springiness (stiffness = running economy - http://www.sportsscientists.com/2007/12/running-economy-part-iii.html) and to get more muscle recruitment (http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=21777).  I knew that I couldn't do my usual 1-hr strength session within 1 week of my Saturday race without negatively impacting the race result, so I wanted to test how Insanity would affect it.

The workout itself was okay.  My knees pop during squats, and my right knee may require some stretching or something of the hip muscles/ligaments. 

Jan 4
Today, I wanted to get the run in, so that I could have a full 2 days of rest before the HM.  I do best with 2 days of full rest.  1 day isn't enough.  2 days leaves me hungry to run on race day, full of energy.

I was going to be happy with even a short run.  I just wanted to remind my legs what it's like to run, since it would be my only run this week other than the race. 

I did a progression run on the treadmill, 1 degree.

4.0 in 31:34, 7:54 ave.  Splits> 8:26, 7:53, 7:48, 7:25. 

I wanted to get in a moderately good but short effort while keeping everything controlled, so that I wouldn't spend some of what I want to save for the race.

I've been compiling a list of workouts of all sorts, and I'm excited to try some, including treadmill ones, but I was too mentally tired to go for it today.  I just wanted to get in a few before closing time.

FUN:
I was thinking - it may be fun to create a menu board like you see at a restaurant, except instead of big topics like "DESSERT", "BEVERAGES", "APPETIZERS", "SANDWICHES", "SOUPS", "ENTREES", you have things like "TRACK WORKOUTS", "HILLS", "TREADMILL WORKOUTS", "CROSS TRAINING", "WARM-UPS/COOLDOWNS", "ROAD WORKOUTS", and you have specific ones like Yasso 800s, Mile Repeats, Pyramids, and other specific workouts under each category, and instead of a description of how it's prepared and what the main ingredients are, you have paces, inclines, reps, etc, and instead of prices, you have a calorie count or something.  Mmm... what am I in the mood for today?

GEAR:
My watch is dying.  It shuts off and runs out of battery when you hit the "light" button, setting the time back to midnight when it revives itself a few seconds later.  I'll need to replace it before the marathon.

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