Sunday, May 8, 2016

Weekly Workouts 5/2-5/8

Is it weird that I start my workout recaps on Mondays? I guess I just consider the long run my last workout of the week, not my first, because everything builds toward it. A different perspective could be that the long run starts the week and everything else is just recovery from it...

Anyway...

Monday: Elizabeth and I did a Blogilates video and then did some dynamic planks. Blogilates is no joke, but we were laughing at how little we could keep up. But at least we're trying new things and strengthening our cores! The plank workout is one of my favorites; by the end, my shoulders and core were burning!
Tuesday: 8x.3 repeats in the park with Elizabeth. The summer heat is definitely here - it was in the 90s and super humid during our run - so we thought we may just do 6 repeats if things got hairy. We did tricep dip-kicks and bicep curls during recovery and ended up doing all 8 repeats, so we felt pretty awesome afterward.
Dying...but happy about it. (Right, Ron?)

We had free PDQ (teachers ate free that day!) afterward...the perfect reward for a hard workout!

Wednesday: Rest. Usually we rest Thursdays, but this week we just felt we needed it early.

Thursday: We created a leg circuit that was absolutely killer. We were going to do it three times, but decided to go for four. My quads were on fire!
Mm...apples and melted PB is the best post-workout snack!
The circuit was 30 seconds each of: walking lunges>squats>pulsing squats>jumping jacks>right-lunge-squat-left-lunge (a rotation from T25)>wall sits (these hurt SO badly)>jumping jacks>low squat walks>adductor twists>squat kicks>jumping jacks. We rested for one minute between each round and did four rounds.

Friday: Five miles at an easy pace. The weather cooled down a little and I felt unstoppable. I tried cocoa UCAN for the first time and mixed in some coffee, too; it seemed to do the trick - I was so energetic and the run felt effortless! My quads hurt from Thursday's workout but my energy and breathing were perfect. I did keep the pace a little easier for Elizabeth, but I'm feeling really confident lately about what my "easy effort" pace looks like.
So consistent! We dropped the pace in the last half mile to the 9:30s.
I can't say enough about this run. I felt like I was flying!

Saturday: Rest! My left calf cramped up a little in my sleep and my quads were sore, so I finally broke out the foam roller for the first time in months. I guess you could count the heels I wore to a friend's Derby party as cross training!
Sunday: Elizabeth and I met up early despite Saturday's party for "8-10" miles. It turned out to be 10! I was really pleased with the pace and consistency (that seems to be the word of the week), and I felt really good. Florida gave us a sunny, 58-degree morning to start with, and so it felt like we shouldn't waste the last cool-weather long run we'll have for months. 
10:30s and negative splits at the end? I can't complain about that!
I hope you had a great week...and of course, I hope you mother-runners out there have a fabulous Mother's Day!

What's your favorite workout video?
Has your weather been nice lately?

ABK

6 comments:

  1. I consider the long run the end of my week as well but I never thought about whether I was building to it or recovering from it. I think the Couch to 5K plan I used ended on a Sunday so I've always just gone with that!

    What a great week of training, physically and mentally. Those consistent splits and the feeling of flying must have given you such a confidence boost that what you're doing is working!

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  2. I've tagged a lot of Pop Sugar videos lately...no specific one sticks out but I love the channel. Great job in remaining so consistent in your workouts and runs.

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  3. You are on fire with your workouts this week!! I love your derby outfit. I definitely need a better hat for next year. Okay, that girl in that ab video is so annoying!!! Do you have to turn the sound down when you do it????

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  4. Great week! Those squats look killer! I'm my quads would be done after the first set. I don't usually watch workout videos, but I do like yoga videos. Right now I've been into JasYoga, but I had a subscription to YogaGlo for a while and I liked that too.

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  5. I need to try blogilates sometime! I love runs like yours on Friday where I feel unstoppable. That's the best feeling! And kudos for getting a long run in the morning after a party!

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  6. LOVE Blogilates! I don't do it often enough.

    90s? Ugh! As much as I'm not enjoying our un-springlike weather, I wouldn't like that either.

    And I start with Mondays, too. The linkup used to start on Monday . . .

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