It's Been a Good W

Last week my parents came for Easter, and my oldest daughter came home from college too.  We had a full house.  I still got my long run in, I just ran on Saturday, and Sunday was an enjoyable family day.

My week has been busy but good.  My workouts have looked like this:

Monday: 60 minutes of yoga, plus the kids and I watched the Boston Marathon.  It was exciting.

Tuesday:  AM 30 minute run + kettlebell --PM 30 minutes of yoga

Wednesday: AM  6 mile run that included 1/2 mile repeats ----PM 30 minutes of yoga

Thursday: AM 2 mile run + kettlebell , then the afternoon was spent walking the zoo!  PM Yin yoga

Friday: the plan is for a 5 mile run, 2 x 1 mile repeats.  Then I'm planning on 15 minutes of kettlebell, mostly upper body work.

Saturday:  Yoga day

Sunday: 8 mile run

I've been trying hard to squeeze a least a little yoga in each day.  I enjoy it and I feel much better after even just 20 minutes of a practice. 

Right now, it's the middle of the night.  When we got home from the zoo today, I feel asleep.  I ended up napping for almost an hour; from 4:00 to 5:00 in the afternoon.  Now I can't sleep.  I was also really hungry.  I've been pigging out on pita chips and hummus and looking at bras online.  I need new ones.  I hate buying them, but they're an unnecessary evil. I got a coupon for 30% off Bare Necessities.  After picking out 2 bras, I realized that the coupon didn't apply to Wacoal.  I hate that.  

I'm hoping I get to sleep soon.  It will be hard to function tomorrow without sleep.  On the plus side I've watched Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers. I think the women on Seth Meyers' are either drunk or high.   

A Good First Week of Training

So I'm working on training for my own, private 10k.  I have 2 goals.  The first is to get a time so that I can make a good guess at a race time goal and at what training paces I can use for training for a half marathon.  I'm using the plan from Train Like a Mother, which I highly recommend, and which is only $1.99 for the Kindle version this month on Amazon.



I also have one other goal with this training, and that is to see how much kettlebell I can keep up.  So this week I restarted my kettlebell work using the strength sessions from BeSlam.  I also plan on using Lauren's DVD, The Kettlebody.

My week looked like this:

Monday--rest day.  I did do a little bit of yoga just to stretch out.

Tuesday--Easy run+kettlebell.  I ran 2 miles then did deadlifts, push-ups, pull-ups, double cleans, and swings (300 total swings)

Wednesday--4 mile run + 300 kettlebell swings.  My run was a 1 mile warm up, then 12x1 minute fast (heart rate kept in Z4), then 1 min recovery, followed by a mile cool down.

Thursday--2 mile easy run + kettlebell.  I did goblet squats, 1 arm rows, push-ups and 1 swings.  I've been doing 300 swings a day.

Friday--4 mile run+kettlebell.  Today was a tempo run.  It was a 2 mile warm-up, then 1 mile at tempo (for me that was a 10:00 pace), then a mile cool down.  Friday's kettlebell is going to be TGU day.  I did a ladder of TGU's and renegade rows, as well as my swings.

Saturday--Yoga day, and I may do the 300 swings.  I've been doing the swings everyday except Monday, but I also want to be careful.  I'll see how I feel tomorrow.

Sunday-- 6 mile long run + swings and upperbody. Sunday's kettlebell is 3 groups of 100 swings.  Before each group I do 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, and within each group I do 2x1 per side (30 sec) waiter hold, and 1one 1 minute double rack hold/walk.

My kettlebell work is leaning more on core (with all of the swings) and upper body, since I'm running so much.  I'm still doing squats and deadlifts, but not with the same frequency as swings, presses, push-ups/pull-ups.

I have a goal for kettlebell.  By the end of the year I would like to be able to make the 20kg bell my squat bell (I use the 16kg now, so not a huge jump), and I would like to be able to make the 12kg my 10 rep bell (right now I can do 5 max, and that's pushing it).  The press goal is a bit more ambitious, but that is where my focus is.  This is why I'm doing the waiter and rack holds on Sunday's. I use my 16kg for the waiter hold, and my two 12kg's for the rack.  That will become the 12kg +16kg soon.  I also want to be able to do a TGU with my 16kg.

My running goal is to get my half under 2:15.  That is quite ambitious for me.

Onto a different topic: shopping!!

This morning Athleta had a discount on their sale stuff.  My long sleeve twist top has a hole in it, so I was thinking of replacing it if I caught a sale.  I bought their Runaway top.

I love red!

I also bought a pair a Bettona capris.  I love Athleta stuff.  Normally, I only buy tops that are Tall size, but I the sale price was good, and the length of the top was a bit longer. 

I also have this top from Athleta

It's their long Chi tank, and it has been great for running, kettlebell, and yoga.  I bought another one today because I love this one so much.  I got one in yellow.  I love bright colors, especially for running.  

That's been my week.  

Great Weekend

I had a very nice weekend. Saturday morning I did not want to do anything. I couldn't even muster the energy needed for yoga. After dragging my feet all morning, I got the energy for a short hike. My husband,  boys, and did a short but difficult hike. It had a beautiful waterfall and fun rocks to climb. After the hike we all went to the movies. We saw the new Captain America movie. We all loved it. We ended our evening with game night. I learned how to play Dominion.  Fun game.

Eagle  Falls

This morning my husband and I went on a lovely 6 mile run, but it was cold. It was 36 degrees this morning.  The run felt good. I ran almost 22 miles this week, which is the most I've done in a long time. This week I start training for my private 10k. I also start back with kettlebell.  I started the kettlebell today. I did 3 sets of 100 swings. Those sets were broken down to 5x20 swings.
During the first set I did 5x5 push ups, during the 2nd set I did 5x5 pull ups, and the last set I did waiter holds with 350on, and then a 1 minute double rack hold and walk.

Today was also pamper myself day. I did an at home facial, a mani and a pedicure. The manicure didn't come out great. I never do those, so I lack practice.  But overall a nice day and a good weekend.

Love game night.    

Survived My Day

After a long morning (I did get all of the classes my kids needed and wanted!!!) I went to the mall for lunch and a little retail therapy.  I'm not a retail therapy kind of gal, but I had a coupon for Sephora and I had had a rough morning. Plus, combine that with the fact that my first born just turned 20, and I was feeling the desire for a bit of special pampering.

I bought enough to earn my 500 point bonus gift. :)

I then did a bit of Easter shopping and headed home. When I got home I had a little over 90 minutes before I had to head back out the door for an open house at a college for dual enrollment.  I desperately wanted to sneak a run in. I knew I would then have to shower and pack supper, so that gave me 30 minutes to run. I made it an interval workout. I did a 10 minute warm-up, then 5x 2 minutes as fast as I could followed by a 1 minute walk recovery.  Then I ran 5 minutes as a cool down. It was 80 and humid and I ran hard. By the end I was regretting the Chic-fi-a I had for lunch. But still, it felt great to run. The open house was great; completely worth the hour drive.  The day ended well.

It's always good to get in a run.

Long Morning

No morning run, no yoga, no kettlebell.  Right now I'm sitting, waiting. I'm trying to sign my kids up for a homeschool co-op. I've been homeschooling for 15 years. My oldest is in college,  my 2nd oldest is taking dual-credit classes at a college.  My 3rd child starts high school next year. I need a break. If I could do it, I would move to somewhere with a good school district and enroll my kids,  but I can't.  I really hoping I can get my kids enrolled in these classes. I came an hour before sign ups started, but I'm #24th. 

I'm worried that I won't get them into what I need them to take. Mostly though, I'm tired. For just a while I need someone else to tell them they have to write that paper, or do that project. I need them to see that my standards,  while high, are within the norm.

If I can find time today, I will run, and run fast. I need to get these jitters out. 

Trying to Get Faster

So after reading Murakami's book, What I Talk about When I Talk About Running, I started thinking about running another race.  I'm looking at doing a Half in the fall, maybe Nashville, but I haven't decided.  But I want to run it faster.  One way to get faster is to focus on a shorter race.  I thought I would focus on a 10k.  I've never done one, and it seems like a good distance to work on leading up to a Half.  The only problem, is that I was unable to find a 10k that I could attend that worked with the dates I wanted.  So my plan? My own, private 10k.  Next week I'll start training for the 10k using the Train Like a Mother Own it plan.  My goal? To see if I can keep up with my kettlebell training and push hard with my running.  If it works out, then I will sign up for a Half in the fall.

I'm excited to start training.  I need some focus and a reason to push myself.  I'm hoping this will do it.