Cheating through The Shred

So I had to take 2 days off of The Shred before my muscles felt recovered enough to run without giving out. I put off this week's "long run," which was only 4 miles until today after school.

(Please don't judge me for using a Beginner's Half Marathon Plan even though this is my fourth 13.1...and for choosing the minimum mileages on each day.)

I had a really good run though and (due to heading out too late and trying to get back before it was completely pitch dark) it felt pretty speedy for me. I even decided to go ahead and forge through with Day 4 of The Shred afterwards.

Confession: I completely cheated and fast-forwarded through the warm-up (I figured I was plenty warm already), cardio (since I just got in about 40 minutes of running, I didn't feel that guilty skipping those 6 minutes), and cool-down (I'm on the floor now in a v-sit stretching out my arms to reach my laptop).

I doubt Jillian would approve. : )

Ouch.

The Shred is already working. You know I can tell? I hurt. As in, barely being able to pick up the groceries sore. As in, walking sideways down the porch steps sore. As in, feeling pain when I laugh sore.

I was a little surprised to realize all of the sudden that the last time I was this sore was after the marathon. (Okay, two days after the marathon. That first day after the race, I could barely get out of bed. I was sore in my bones.)

So, kudos, Jillian. In 2 twenty minute workouts, you've produced almost the same pain results as almost 5 hours of running.

I decided to take today off because I want to actually be able to run tomorrow. Next week, the two plans (half marathon and The Shred) will merge!

I thought I loved you then...

No, this isn't an early Valentine's Day post. It's something much more pathetic.

For years (really, wow...it has been 4 years), I have been watching the Biggest Loser and knew Jillian Michaels was my kind of trainer. I bought one of her books and I have been poking around with some of her workouts for months. I already thought she was pretty much tops.

Tonight though, I finally got around to my first day of "The Shred." My first video workout led by Jillian. And it was fantastic. I've got a whole new respect for her.

I know it's really weird to wax poetic about a DVD workout, but I'd dabbled in many over the years and this one is the first that I'm really wild over. Most of the leaders in these videos encourage you "not to push it," "take a break anytime you need it," and "follow Jessica if you're not quite ready for the full workout." (Jessica being the girl in the back of the video who is just kinda scooting around with 1 pound weights.)

With most of these DVDs, I either get bored about 5 minutes in or just kinda wimp out on the hard parts (read: lunges, push-ups, etc) and bounce through the cardio. Jillian kept me going through the whole workout though. Every time my arms started feeling wimpy and I thought about putting down the weights, Jillian would start going on about "change hurts" or "don't wimp out now...the pain means it's working."

So, I'm really excited about keeping it up through the 3 levels! Oh, and I guess it's about time to run again...

The Shred!

I just put Jillian Michael's "The Shred" on my Netflix queue and I'm very excited about its impending arrival! I've had the "Making the Cut" book for months, but if you've been reading for a while, you know I don't have an exactly stellar track record with strength training. I'm pretty sure my record is making it to Day 6 of the 30 day book.

So, how about another approach? I've heard about many others having success with "The Shred" so I'm thinking the video might be a little more structured than flipping back and forth through a book to look up exercises.

So we'll see!

Timed Tuesday

So, now that I'm running again, I'm actually having blogging ideas again. (Who knew that running could inspire ideas for a running blog?!) In fact, I have even been struck by alliteration!
In high school, I had a love/hate relationship with track workouts. I have a little bit of a competitive streak, so it's kind of fun to sprint around for some kind of goal, but...y'all, running fast is hard work.

So, I have never really been good about incorporating speedwork into my training. Even when I'm following a plan, I just kind of skim over the speed days and get in the mileage at a just-whatever pace. This approach is fine for building endurance and getting through races, but it doesn't make you any faster.

Now, I don't plan on becoming obsessed with any certain time or pace (Boston qualifier, I am not.), but it would nice to drop my PRs a little. With Tuesday already being the speed day on my plan (and I think on many others as well), I've decided to start, "Timed Tuesdays," in which I commit to reporting my speed progress.

This week, I'm just easing in to it and I got my speed workout in a very accidental way. My husband ran with me to visit with his grandma, but warned me he wanted to get back in time for the six o'clock news. (If you know him, you already know how big a deal The News is him.) Well, the grandma visit took a little longer than anticipated and when we left, we were pushing news time. I have never seen my husband run like that. I was really, really pushing to keep up with him. (In my defense, his legs are about a foot longer than mine.)

So, my speed work for today was an accelerated 1 and half miles keeping up with my husband's long legs racing to get home to watch the news!

What was your speed work or best time for this Timed Tuesday? You can claim a time from any day this week...Tuesday's just got that whole alliteration thing going on. : )

Virtual Motivation via Virtual 10K

I was wandering around in blogland this afternoon, putting off my first "long run" of this training plan and I came across Casey's Virtual 10K, scheduled for today. It was obvious that this was the kick that I needed to get out the door and moving.

I've never participated in a virtual race before, but the general gist is just that you run the distance and then send in your time to the organizer. Casey has taken this even one step further and is offering knitted prizes! I don't think I'll be getting one of the fastest time prizes, but maybe I'll get one of the "random" finisher's knitted wrist warmers. I would be pretty jazzed about that.

Anyway, I had an amazing run! I have only run about 5 times since October and was a little concerned that it might be a stretch to run 6 miles.

Since this was a race, I had to locate my sports watch, which I haven't used in years. (You can tell I have a real dedication to speedwork, right? When I studied abroad in Spain, I forgot to pack my watch and was too cheap to buy a new one. So I ran for 3 months without one and learned to really love just listening to my body and gauging my own speed. I usually glance at a clock before and after a run to get a general time, but I get distracted looking at my time if I wear a watch and my run seems to take FOREVER. Same thing with the treadmill clock.) Even though I've moved approximately 7 times since I last wore this watch, because I remembered seeing it in a bag mentally labeled "Things I don't really know where to put" when I was looking for something else a few months ago of my extreme organization skills, I knew right where it was. Unfortunately, it was dead and even after several resuscitation attempts (I ended up taking apart the watch trying to change the battery...), I just gave up.

Luckily, I remembered the stopwatch feature on my Blackberry and just hit it on the way out, leaving it by the door. I just had a nice steady run around town and am just overjoyed that I can still pound out 6 miles without event. I really credit the Virtual 10K with my pace though...if I didn't have that motivation, I probably would have gotten lazy and walked some.As, it was, I was very pleased with my time and am starting to feel like a runner again!

Ready to Run

For the first time in a long time, I got a real urge to run today! We had a teacher workday today and I was still piddling around in my classroom at 4:30 when I just got the feeling that I just had to get out there and run! I even left a pile of unsorted mess on the floor beside my desk and just flew out the door to get home and change before dark.

The weather is GORGEOUS right now and perfect for running. We had a streak for about a month where it was uncharacteristically cold for coastal North Carolina and I dreaded going outside for weeks. Against fashion advice, I had taken to wearing my ski jacket (rather than my lovely, long wool coat) everywhere I went.

So, it seemed ridiculous and wonderful to go for a jog in shorts and t-shirt today! I went on a route that I thought was 3 miles, but upon gmap-ing it...I fell short. Which is kinda pathetic. There are more runs to be completed this week though!