Run!

40 minutes only, travel day - that is optimal length for me here. Tomorrow and Wednesday for max book-finishing I hope!

Run!

90 minutes early and easy. A lot of people already out for the Stride against Cancer event - I am not so sociable in the early morning that I really enjoy wishing so many people a good morning. Going home tomorrow - will miss Brent, but will not miss early rising, and the thought of only doing 40 minutes tomorrow is pretty manageable, I don't really have to be out the door till 6:15 (today it was 5:15)....

1.5hr easy

Run!

Another WORST NIGHT OF SLEEP EVER, and I was dragging my heels getting out the door, but it wasn't bad once I was out there. It's either this or treadmill, so really it's this....

1hr easy

Yoga!

A very good one - Keri's para yoga-inspired flow class. 1.25hr.

Run!

Thursday was travel day which always means virtually no sleep, and I grumpily got up very early and did my pre-dawn run this morning - still feeling very short on sleep. Still, good to get it done. Hoping to go to 10:15 yoga but I have a huge pile of work I brought with me, including one biggish task that I haven't really started and that should be done by the end of day if possible or soon thereafter otherwise. AND my book still isn't finished! Ran out of time this week (hahaha, long run didn't help!) and had a few other things I couldn't keep putting off. It's all fine...

1hr easy

Long run!

Hahahaha, that was glorious - beautiful sunny day, back etc. grumbling a bit but nothing like yesterday's YELLING (in retrospect I think it was the marathon session typing in revisions at the computer on Monday that really did me in). Only so slow that I am ashamed to say how long it took - all I will say is that it was longer than 3 hours, only since my goal pace for the 50-miler is 4mph that's really OK!

14 miles!

Run, upper body

Only getting home now 10pm from ladies' dinner, this day was TOO LONG! And I am kicking myself for book-finishing desires being so much at odd with training commitments, PT and I suppose life in general. Anyway, no complaints, but I am not sure I can really get book manuscript finalized before I leave early Thursday - it's fine, Feb. 5 is my real deadline since that's the day I leave for Rome, and I've got some other stuff that has to get done on hard time deadlines anyway....

Run was VERY uncomfortable - had various time and weather constraints that did mean I ended up doing in on the track at Chelsea Piers (I'd brought gear for outside but only a change of shirt, not full change of stuff, and it was still such a downpour that I realized I would get too cold with 40 minutes between workouts if soaked to skin). Right back and hip just very tight and sore, increasingly uncomfortably so as the run progressed. On schedule as 80 mins. but was probably more like 75 - usually I can make myself finish, but I'd forgotten to turn on my watch right when I started so it was a "made-up" number anyway.

75 mins with 10 x (:30 faster, 2:00 recovery) in the middle

Ate 2 hardboiled eggs and sucked down a red powerade, then went to do back exercises before 5pm workout. Got about half done (did the other half as sub-in for final "gunshow" bit I skipped). This was more fun than yesterday's circuit - we were doing everything simultaneously with Josh clocking it, it's more festive than having everyone mill around in Brownean motion!

1hr upper body: 6 x circuit of (a) :30 dumbbell floor press for speed (@12.5) (b) 5 pushups (others did up to 20) (c) 10 ring row (others did pull-ups - I was the only lady) (d) 20 band face-pull (e) 20 band triceps. This was good as it kept me warm! Then work set of 1 x 5 @ 40% (50), 1 x 5 @ 50% (65), 5 x 5 @ 60% (75) with 2-1-0 tempo. Very nice too.

Ate a steak with the ladies and was so stiff when I got up from my chair that I was afraid my hip flexors were actually going to break! Long run tomorrow morning, which I have been excited about but feel a little overwhelmed by just now. Gonna put everything ready and head to bed soon - don't have PT downtown till 2, but housecleaner is coming at noon so really I need to be home and in the shower before then, 14 miles (2 Central Park loops plus there and back) is pretty much going to take me three hours....

DL

Ah, one of those days when we had a horrible circuit and only a small deadlift workout! I skipped a couple bits of the circuit, knees rather tender from more running and I didn't want to do anything that made 'em feel sore (i.e. rope jumping jacks, jump rope, prowler) - just did med ball slams, single and double arm rope, air squats, step-ups. DL set 1 x 5 @ 40%, 1 x 5 % 50%, 5 x 5 % 60% (I did 141) with 45 seconds rest between sets. 4 x 20 I'm spacing out on the name - hamstring curls on yoga ball. About 1hr.

I thought I had the usual PT appointment at 6:20, but it looked like everything was shut down up there and when I called downtown to check, they didn't have it in the system - probably my mistake, I must not have set this up when I first went in. In fact it was just as well, I'm home earlier than I would be otherwise and the weather is truly horrible. I stayed and did my half-hour or so of back exercises there - will do that tomorrow also, it's good for accountability.

1hr circuit/DL, .5hr back exercises

Run!

The exclamation point is misleading, really I was grumpy for almost the whole thing - it's insanely windy, to the point where I started to worry about falling branches, and I worked too long and too hard this morning - yes, I got to the end of typing my revisions, but only by dint of overextending myself in a way that leads to a bad mood rather than any sense of satisfaction. Then I realized right at the end that I had an hour more than I thought (i.e. wasn't ALREADY late for leaving for downtown, but had a full forty minutes to eat and shower), mood lightened. But if it's still windy like that tomorrow, I might have to run on the track at Chelsea Piers!

1hr easy

Run!

OK, that was a good week of running, I don't think I missed any days. Definitely feeling a bit frazzled (it's the combination of life obligations, finishing the Austen book and juggling the other miscellaneous work obligations that I've been dodging in the interest of book-finishing - did squeeze out a reader report on a journal article the other day, but I have a tenure letter, a book review, three encyclopedia entries and a couple other bits and bobs that must get done soon too - will be better I think when Austen is sent, then I can try and clear the other stuff so that I can really go all Gibbon all the time).

1hr easy + 6 x :30 hill - c. 1:05 total

Long run!

Very nice one too. Feeling really good about this year of running - it is so slow it is hardly running in the strictest definition, true, but it is very enjoyable and I love the routine! So much simpler than triathlon training too (especially given that life involves quite a bit of travel). Thought briefly at some point during the run how fun it would be to do the SOS triathlon in September - then remembered I have a possibly-as-long-as-three weeks research trip in Europe in late June and early July, and thought of how much less stressful life will be if all I need to do is put on shoes and go out the door rather than worrying about swimming pool access, bicycles, etc....

2hr easy

Run!

Gorgeous weather - 40s, springlike, sunny. 1hr easy.

Bench!

Nice session earlier. Will have to work to remember now (had 6:45 dinner with a friend and am only just now home and writing it up).

(1) dumbbell floor press
(2) "spotts" press or something like that - it is named after a person - you pause about four inches off the chest and go straight back up - 5 x 2 @ 75 (could have gone heavier but we are looking to be conservative just now as I'm not really building to anything)
(3) incline dumbbell rows: 5 x 15 @ 27.5 (did first set with 32.5 but it was clearly a bit too heavy!)

There was then a circuit, but I needed to leave - and I didn't do my back exercises either, arghhhh, I am an idiot! And I'm not going to do them now, I'm too lazy!

1hr upper body

Run!

A bit rainy/chilly, but nice. 75 minutes easy with 6 x :30 hills. Fantasizing about a perfect new running jacket to take to Rome - might try and get myself into a running store later to see if I can find one. This windbreaker is better for 50s than 30s - my Brooks one is good but too tight across the chest, alas...

Deadlifts, PT

Long day somehow - started too early! I fall short on the ability to be tranquil and just mildly busy - it seems like it's too often absolutely all or nothing. Post-run, I did one big manuscript task, read the requisite chapter of Gibbon, did deadlift workout and had an hour of PT. Which made my back actually feel normal - first session I think where I haven't come away feeling more pummeled than relieved.

1hr lower body:

(1) medicine ball slams (center-side, both sides, 5 x 3)
(2) DL

1 x 10 @ 55% (131)
1 x 3 @ 60% (146)
1 x 3 @ 65% (156)
2 x 10 @ 70% (166)

Using 240 as current max as I'm pretty sure I could pull that without busting anything! Had to adjust numbers slightly obviously; bar plus 15kg bumpers is 111 to start out.

(3) block pull - drop top set by 5-10% (I dropped it a little more as I was short one 10lb plate and it made sense just to use 5s instead): 4 x 6 @ 141

(4) 100 shrugs @ 37.5

(5) 100 biceps curl @ 12.5

Run!

Woke up earlier than I really like, edited final chapter of manuscript and proceeded to run - feeling monstrously productive and rather hungry. This is the run I should have done on Friday while the cat was at the vet.

:40 easy

Run!

Phew, that was a near thing - had string of minor near-meltdowns earlier (I really no longer can deal with riding in a very crowded subway car - construction on the 1 line meant the 2 was running local and already PACKED when I got on the uptown train at Chambers St., ugh - then the LIBRARY WAS CLOSED, noooooooo!!!!!!!!! - then I realized I hadn't eaten enough etc. etc.- just one of those days!), but pulled my act together and did get out the door at about the last possible time that still left me any daylight. First week of doing longish Sat. and Sun. runs and I could NOT let this one get away from me.

Notes to self: (1) this pair of tights is nice and warm but chafes delicate parts, next time wear underpants underneath! (2) it is not a moment too soon to have ordered a pair of transition lenses for my Oakleys with new prescription - even half-dark I see better with the prescription sunglasses than with nothing, but once it's almost completely dark you have to take them off and then it really is pretty dodgy!

1.5hr easy along the river

Long run!

Yesterday was unfortunately a write-off - had to drop cat at vet between 8 and 9 for major dental work, it's traumatic for me as well as for the cat and the only way to handle the day turned out basically to be going to bed and staying asleep for max possible duration! By that time it was time for my own doctor's appointment (asthma check-up), and by the time the cat and I were both home (minus NINE teeth...) I was just DONE.

But the long one just now was great. It's chilly, I could have used slightly warmer garb, but the time went by very quickly - Central Park loop plus there and back and a bit extra.

2hr easy/moderate focusing on strong downhills

Lower body!

(Writing this much later, after nice post-holiday holiday party at H.'s....)

Hmmm, what did we do? I subbed in goblet squats for the first squat set (4 x 6 @ 37.5 with 3-3-3 tempo). Tempo deadlifts (3-0-3) maybe also 4 x 6 @ 111? 4 x 6 incline dumbbell row @ 37.5. 4 x 1-min step-up. One other minor thing I can't remember?

1hr lower body + back exercises

Run + bench

Ah, I really managed the first part of my day badly, but happy exercise brought everything round to being OK. Only left from here just before 3 - couldn't run in the am, it was too far below freezing (tender lungs prohibit, it's not that I'm a baby!), and by the time it had reached the low 30s, a stint of editing and library work basically left me more inclined to go back to bed than to get out the door. Several hours later... anyway, it was fine, I jogged to CP and ate a bar/rehydrated then did upper body (it works better for Tuesdays than it would for a Monday or a Thursday). And stayed to do my PT exercises immediately following as I suspected they wouldn't get done at all if I waited to do them after I got home. So:

75 minutes run with 6 x :30 faster, 1:00 easy

1hr upper body (the main work set was a fun one):

(1) 3 x 8 DB incline press @ 15% of 1-rep max (everything rounded down as necessary based on availability of weights)
(2) bench: 10 @ 55% (65), 5 @ 62.5% (70), 2 x 10 + 1 x 10+ (I did 12) @ 67.5 (85)
(3) circuit x 4: (a) 20 shrugs (47.5) (b) 20 band face-pull (c) 10 lateral raise (5lb plates) (d) 10 front raise
(4) 100 band dips

Gym day!

Ah, it turned out to be a really lovely day for me, not weather-wise but on the inside, after a late-morning dip where I basically just couldn't deal and went back to bed with cats and slept for an hour or so. One of those days where I almost feel that I live at the gym - it is my happy third place....

(1) 40:00 easy jog on track (15F this morning here, can't run outside much below freezing because of tender lungs - seeing lung doc this Friday for annual check-up and particularly didn't want to have contravened his rule and gotten sick!)

(2) 1hr lower body: deadlifts @ 60% or so (I am lowballing because I keep popping in an out), 2 sets of 10 plus one of 10+ but only where you could still do a few more: so, 2 x 10 @ 145, 1 x 15 @ 145; 3 x 4 kettlebell squats with 3-second pause at bottom; skipped farmer's walk as something in my knee had really locked up between running and warming up to lift (left medial); 100 pulley lat pulldown with moderate weight; 3 sets dumbbell curls (12.5) with each set as 6 x 3 and a pause in the middle or maybe on each one (have forgotten now exactly how this went).

(3) 1hr excellent PT at Fusion! This was really good. My back is already a lot better - Rome trip is going to interrupt things, but hopefully it's enough if I keep doing the exercises, I can decide whether or not to start back up again when I get back towards the end of March.

Run!

Just a brief pre-travel one. Very windy and a bit rainy - almost cool! Temperatures in NYC look pretty brutal right now, I may have to do tomorrow's run on the track at Chelsea Piers.

:30 easy

Run!

2 hours, DONE.

Yoga!

A particularly good one - a flow/meditation class (ParaYoga-inspired - never heard of it, but if it's this, it's good) with Keri, another one of my favorite teachers at Bliss. As always, when I am doing yoga near-daily I resolve that I must keep doing this, I like it so much!

1.25hr yoga

Punching the clock

David's most frequent reminder to me. Really this resonates with me, it's like "production of quota" when I'm writing. Not really looking forward to the 2hr one tomorrow, if I want to be done by 7 I will need to be up at 4:45 and out the door by 5 promptly. My mind resists getting up so early at least as strongly as my body does!

:40 easy

Hot yoga!

Ugh, I'm really not acclimated! However I feel that it's good for my back and doesn't strain the hamstrings - still babying that rather tender/sore spot on back of left knee, it's better but not all the way and I am still not quite sure what I did to it.

1hr hot yoga

Run!

1hr, not very inspired but it is done. Tired of getting up so early!

Run!

Grumpy due to not enough sleep. 1:10, 20:00 easy, 30:00 as (10 x :40 faster, 2:20 easy), 20:00 easy.

Run!

Not a very inspired one - the exclamation point is slightly misleading today.

1hr easy

Yoga!

Another flow class with Chantelle - these are my favorites. I made a mature decision for tomorrow morning (arghhhh, I hate having to choose, I always want to do EVERYTHING!) that if I am running for an hour I cannot also go to Mark's 6am power class, which I also like very much - but I remember when I last ran before that class, it was impossible to do more than thirty minutes, I just can't get out the door early enough and it poses hydration issues too. Then I happily realized that Mark is (anomalously, this hasn't been the usual schedule) teaching a power class at noon as well, so I will go to that one instead!

1hr flow yoga

Run!

:30 warm early. In theory Monday is a day off, but I thought that I'd better make early rising consistent.

Yoga!

Gonna try and do it every day while I'm here. (But I also have a free trial of a phone app that lets you download classes etc. as well as streaming, should perhaps give this a go as well....)

1hr flow yoga

Run!

A little weird doing it so early on New Year's Day, but good to start things off as I mean to go on! Fireworks woke me up at midnight and I was awake again around 4 and didn't really get back to sleep, it did not seem appealing to get up at 5:15 but it was doable.

1.5hr easy warm run