Officially a Rogue

Hey there, long time no post!! I've been extremely busy lately!! I've officially joined a running/training program here in Austin!!! I've signed myself up for the Austin Distance Challenge, which is a "challenge" of 8 runs that take place here in Austin and end with the Austin half/full marathon in Feb. 2013. They offer a half track which ends with the half marathon option in Feb or the full track which concludes with the full Austin marathon. I'm a half marathon whore, but have never ran a full marathon. Because of this and myself being prone to injuries, I felt like I needed "professional" help if I was going to successfully tackle my first full marathon. I LOVE the Rogue training plan!!! I have an online running plan I have to follow every week and on Wednesday nights, I meet my "team" and coach downtown for a group run and every Saturday morning we meet again downtown for out "long" runs.

After being in the program for a couple of weeks, I had my first run of the Austin Distance Challenge, the IBM Uptown 10k and I ran it pretty well. I finished with a 8:30/mile pace and that was even after running 7 miles on Saturday (the day before) and staying up WAY past my bedtime the night before the race. A good friend of mine came into town so we had to paint the town red. :)

This past Saturday, I ran my first "long" run, which was a 12 miler, I'm still trying to catch up with the rest of my team, given I joined almost a month later than everyone. I'm super excited for what is to come and see how my running progresses with the aide of a running coach. :)

Monday run

I was able to make it to the gym tonight after work, even though I haven't had much energy! I'm not sure what the deal is with my energy. I went to the Dr on Friday and they drew some blood to check my thyroid, so I'm really hoping I'm able to figure out what is going on. I'm never low on energy like this! Usually I'm bouncing off the walls.

I did my usual warmup of 2 mins of walking and then hit the ground running, I started at 6.6 for about a min, then jumped to 6.7 and essentially stayed between 6.7-7.0 until I had to run to the bathroom at 25 mins (REALLY annoyed!) I picked back up where I left off and started running at 6.7 and then jumped and stayed at 7.0 with a few intervals of speed jumps. I finished at 4.5 miles (total) and called it good. I didn't do any JM workouts at home, so not much to report from there.....

Running

I got in an awesome run at the gym tonight after work!! I ran 5 miles and did intervals about the entire run, ranging from a base of 6.8-7.0 up to 7.9!! I could definitely feel a flare up in my groin/hip area, but it's becoming common that it's always going to be there I suppose. By the time I got home, I was EXHAUSTED!! I got over the cold/headache that I had in at the start of the week, but I think I'm still feeling the effects of it, I just can't seem to get the pep back in my step! I opted to NOT do either of the 30DS or the 90 day challenge to rest up. I have a lot of things on the horizon and I know I'm going to definitely need my rest!

90 day, Week 2, Day 3 (Day 7, 30 day shred!!)

Today was my first full day back in , the last couple of days I have had such a horrific headache!! I'm not one to get migraines but I am a big self web diagnoser so according to webmd and a few other websites, I may have had a migraine!! Whatever it was really threw me for a loop, anyway I'm glad it's passed. Work was insanely busy, we were pushing out a new software release, so my tasks were piled up by the time I got back into the office and I was still trying to play catch up today!

After work, I headed to the gym, laced up my Brooks running shoes and got on my favorite treadmill and started my run. Even though I was pretty tired to begin with and figured I'd get in a crappy run, it actually turned into a great run! I managed 3.5 miles in 30 mins. I always start with a 2 min walk to warm-up and about a 0.10 mile (3.0mph) cool-down walk. So even with that I managed pretty well. I do know I ran 10 mins at 6.7-6.8 then the next 5 at 6.9 followed by 6.9-7.1 for the next 10 and the last 5 mins were 7.1-7.5, upping 0.1 mph every minute. After my run I did about 30 mins of the spinning class and called it good.

When I got home, I was too tired to fit in the 90 day BR, workout 1, so I just did the 30 DS, level 1 workout. That means tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday I'm going to need to finish off the workout 1 & workout 2 for phase 1, week 2. I think the day off from the 90 day program helped out a lot!!

I'm really trying to "see" results with the 2 programs and I think I can see a slight difference in my abs, like it might not look so puffy, but I'm not sure and I don't know if I'm "making" myself see a change. I'm really waiting until after day 10 to take any measurements and incremental pics, so 3 more days and I can take "official" pics.

I was googling some of the symptoms I've been experiencing lately and I really think I'm having an issue with my thyroid. I've gained about 10lbs and they really came out of nowhere!! I haven't altered my eating habits drastically, not enough to gain that much weight, I've continued to work out and run and despite these efforts, I'm still gaining weight. I've also noticed that I'm losing my hair. I know it's natural to lose a few strands a day, and I do, but lately it's been a LOT and in the shower this morning a lot more than I was comfortable with fell out and I'm not liking it. I'm going to try to make an appt asap to get some blood work done. I'm also noticing that I can't seem to get rested, I'm never like this, so hopefully they'll be able to figure out what is up with me!! Anyway here's my workout summary:

90 Day Total Body Revolution

• took the day off

30 Day Shred

• Level 1, Day 7

Cardio

• 3.5 miles of running (30 mins)

90 day, Week 1, Day 7 (Day 4, 30 day shred!!)

Today I actually slept in!! I'm still pretty sore, so I headed to the gym for a run. My running seems a bit stronger, so I'm pretty sure the lunges and squats are starting to help out in that aspect!! I'm super excited!! I'm able to run at my "race" pace for most of my run now, and I'm always varying my speed so it's not a constant pace workout! After I got done running, I did the 30 day shred with my sister and since we bought a medicine ball and kettle weight, we did some ab exercises with the medicine ball and they are HARD!! lol But I know it'll start to pay off soon!! Anyway, my workout summary is as below!!

90 Day Total Body Revolution

• cardio (running)

30 Day Shred

• Level 1, Day 5

Cardio

• 5 miles of running 

90 day, Week 1, Day 4 (Day 1 30 day shred!!)

According to the schedule, I'm supposed to do cardio and workout dvd #1, but I mistakenly did workout #1 yesterday so I'm going to do cardio today in the form of running!! I made a couple of BIG decisions today and one was to join something that goes on yearly here in Austin and that is the "Austin Distance Challenge" Last year, when I came back to running after my 3 level lumbar fusion, I basically ran all of those races and then some, however I was not officially signed up for the challenge itself. I also did not run the FULL marathon at the end, I only ran the Austin half marathon. This is definitely the year that I want to run a full, so what better way to motivate myself then to sign up for this challenge. The info on the races is below.

Six Races.  One Challenge.

     Challenge Accepted!

The Races

There are 6 races in the 2012-2013 Austin Fit Magazine Distance Challenge:

• IBM Uptown Classic 10k - October 7, 2012  
• Run for the Water 10 Miler - October 28, 2012 
• ARC Decker Challenge Half Marathon - December 9, 2012  
• 3M Half Marathon  - January 13, 2013
• Rogue 30k/10k - January 27, 2013 
• LIVESTRONG Austin Marathon & Half Marathon - February 17, 2013 

Needless to say, I'm super excited and nervous all at the same time!! I know that doing the 90 day challenge will only aide in getting me race ready!! I admit, I lack at getting myself to do strength training and I know how important it is to being and staying a healthy runner!! So I'm excited to see how the 90 day TBR will aide me in my running.

Ok, now the 2nd decision I made today, in addition to the 90 day TBR, I'm going to also attempt to do the Jillian Michaels 30 day shred!! I hear nothing but good results about the program and I'm wanting to get FIERCE results by the time the Oct 7th, race date rolls around!! I'm  NOT happy that I've gained essentially 10-13lbs since the start of July, so I'm really wanting to get myself back to my "normal" weight and then of course drop an additional 10-15lbs once I get back to that weight. So in total from today's weight, I'd like to drop 25-30(ish)lbs!!! 

I'll be back to update once I get done with running and completing level 1 of the 30 day shred.....

Evening workout update: 

Running at the gym:
4.25 miles
 - .12 (2 min) warmup at 3.7
 - 3.88 of running, speeds varying from 6.7 - 7.7 (finished 4.0 at 34:33 mins, including 2 min warmup)
- walked .25 to cooldown at 3.0 (time at finish was 40 mins, 4.37)
My run today did not start out well!!! My legs definitely felt heavy and just getting into my rhythm was rather difficult, but I kept pushing through. I never did reach that point where the run becomes easier, my legs felt heavy the entire time, but nonetheless I still completed 4.25 miles. It's not a big deal!! It has been a while since I've had a bad  run, so I guess it was just time for one to roll around again.

After getting in some stretching post run, I headed to Target on my way home and picked up a yoga mat, so I have a mat to work with during my 30 & 90 day workouts at home. Target didn't have 8lb hand weights, so I'm going to have to pick some up another time. I was also able to find the 30 Day Shred program on youtube and luckily I have a smart tv as well, so no need to buy or wait to order the dvd!! Once I got home, I took my 2 rambunctious beagles out and then started my very first workout of the 30DS!!!

I completed Day 1, level 1 of Jillian Michaels 30 day shred and WOW!!! That workout is INSANE. The bicycle crunches are killing me!! I don't think I'm doing them right and the crunches that work the lowest part of the abs where you lift your legs in the air DEFINITELY need some work, but hey it is day 1 and I can only look forward to improvement!! :)  I can't wait to see the progress a the end of 10 days!! I also took my measurements and I plan to take them at Day 10, Day 20 & Day 30. I was using 5lb weights throughout the exercise, but the side lunges were EXTREMELY difficult. I think I'm going to have to get 3lb and 10lb weights!! Whew!!!

WORKOUT SUMMARY

90 Day Total Body Revolution

• Cardio day according to the plan

30 Day Shred

• Level 1, day 1

Cardio

• Ran 4.25 Mile

90 day, Week 1, Day 2

I woke up pretty sore from yesterday's workout. I think those squats really got to me, because wow, I can surely feel it in my legs/glutes!!! I always try to "work out" my soreness, so I made myself fit in a run today as well!! I was stoked at the results of my run, I was able to run harder than I have in the past and at my "race" pace for longer than what I have done in the past.

6.25 miles total
 -.12 walking warmup
 - ran 3.12 miles at 6.7 - 7.2 pace before stopping for water
 - continued this until I hit 6 miles
 - ran .25 to cool down

Phase 1, Workout 2
-I actually really enjoyed workout #2!! The one sided leg lifts were challenging, but I lost a lot of my flexibility when I had my fusion. I have a lot of tight muscles in my legs and it was well noticed during that workout!

WORKOUT SUMMARY

90 Day Total Body Revolution

• Phase 1, Workout 2, week 1

Cardio

• Ran 6.25 miles