In January, I made a goal to run 1000 miles in 2010. The first four months of this year have been not-so-stellar, running-wise, so I thought I'd check my progress this morning. While I'm definitely not where I SHOULD be on April 26, my goal is still attainable.
Here are my (kind of embarrassing) stats:
Miles completed so far: 110
Miles to go: 890
Weeks remaining (including this one): 36
Miles per week needed to achieve goal: 24.7
Miles so far this week: 6 (but I have 19 more planned)
So- there you have it. I know I can hit my goal, barring any injuries. I'll keep you posted!
Monday, April 26, 2010
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Project X- 12 Miles, Uphill...BOTH WAYS!!
So, you know the cliche that everyone attributes to their parents or grandparents; the one about walking through the snow to school, uphill both ways? Well, I'm starting to think that we should lay off of them. I'm pretty sure that our grandparents went to school in the middle of the 12 mile route that I ran today. Why do I think so? Because, miracle of miracles, someone figured out how to map a run that resulted in us running UPHILL for, I'm not kidding, 95% of the route.
I never thought that this was possible but, it happened. We started at Baker Beach and ran up a series of steep hills to get to a trail head of Lands End Trail. Lands End Trail is GORGEOUS- but hilly. There's a staircase in the middle of it. Then, we had a little reprieve and ran a brief downhill by the Cliffhouse Restaurant. Then, we entered Golden Gate Park which, in and of itself, is a long, gradual hill. Great. My poor group was struggling because not only were we tackling hill after hill, but it was getting HOT outside.
Most of my pace group is running the half-marathon and they broke off from me and one other trainee at one point so they could complete nine miles. The other trainee, L, and I were determined to smash the twelve miler so we trudged on. We were lucky for a little bit as we had a good stretch of flat, shady road in front of us. Turns out, that would be it for "easy" terrain. We found ourselves climbing steep street after steep street. We turned into a golf course parking lot (it was on our route- we didn't get lost :o) ) only to find that this was another hill.
Finally, we reached the last mile and discovered that it was all completely....down hill. However, it wasn't gradual, relaxing, or even comfortable. This downhill was steep and our bodies ached with every step. The impact on this downhill literally sent shock waves through my muscles. I was cursing the coaches, the designer of the route, the sun, the person that invented running...pretty much everyone and everything at this point.
Eventually, it ended. And L and I had enough gas in our tanks to finish with a little burst of sprinting. Once we checked in with the coordinator of the run, though. we both basically collapsed to the ground and made a feeble attempt to stretch our destroyed legs.
So, the moral of the story is- maybe Grandma was telling the truth about her trek to school, uphill, both ways. It suddenly seems so much more feasible...
I never thought that this was possible but, it happened. We started at Baker Beach and ran up a series of steep hills to get to a trail head of Lands End Trail. Lands End Trail is GORGEOUS- but hilly. There's a staircase in the middle of it. Then, we had a little reprieve and ran a brief downhill by the Cliffhouse Restaurant. Then, we entered Golden Gate Park which, in and of itself, is a long, gradual hill. Great. My poor group was struggling because not only were we tackling hill after hill, but it was getting HOT outside.
Most of my pace group is running the half-marathon and they broke off from me and one other trainee at one point so they could complete nine miles. The other trainee, L, and I were determined to smash the twelve miler so we trudged on. We were lucky for a little bit as we had a good stretch of flat, shady road in front of us. Turns out, that would be it for "easy" terrain. We found ourselves climbing steep street after steep street. We turned into a golf course parking lot (it was on our route- we didn't get lost :o) ) only to find that this was another hill.
Finally, we reached the last mile and discovered that it was all completely....down hill. However, it wasn't gradual, relaxing, or even comfortable. This downhill was steep and our bodies ached with every step. The impact on this downhill literally sent shock waves through my muscles. I was cursing the coaches, the designer of the route, the sun, the person that invented running...pretty much everyone and everything at this point.
Eventually, it ended. And L and I had enough gas in our tanks to finish with a little burst of sprinting. Once we checked in with the coordinator of the run, though. we both basically collapsed to the ground and made a feeble attempt to stretch our destroyed legs.
So, the moral of the story is- maybe Grandma was telling the truth about her trek to school, uphill, both ways. It suddenly seems so much more feasible...
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Project X- Reloaded
Hello from rainy San Francisco...ugh. You probably think that they rained has washed away all momentum that I was gaining doing Project X. Well, you'd be right IF I didn't jump back on the horse this week and start kicking a$$ in the gym again.
So- why have I been on Project X hiatus? First, I was out of town for a week in Boston and, in all seriousness, I did work out while I was there. I ran and lifted weights, as well as did a few workouts on the eliptical trainer. Then, my friend D hurt herself and was out of commission for a few days. It's not that I can't work out by myself but it is helpful to have a buddy to hold you accountable. So, during that time, again, I worked out on my own a few times- but not at the intensity that I was reaching with Project X. Finally, my hubby and I visited my parents for a long weekend over Easter. While I was there, I made the mistake of weighing myself on their scale. Let's just say that I hope that their scale is highly inaccurate or else I'm in deep trouble.
So- I'm back on the horse. Earlier this week, I completed the Jillian Michael's Last Chance Workout DVD and it lit a fire under me. Then, on Friday, I talked to my friend S who asked if I would write her a workout for her arms. We agreed to meet on Sunday morning and I'd take her through it. D has also recovered from her injury so she came too.
First, though, I had to pace with my marathon training group on Saturday. This week we tackled nine miles. Ugh- my longest run this season has been seven miles- so it wasn't that big of a jump, but still- nine miles is a long way. To make things even more interesting, all of the runners that I pace have been trained so well that they have moved to faster pace groups, leaving me with no one to pace! So, I decided to just run with a faster group as well. In all, it was a pretty challenging run with some steep hills but the trainees did great- or else they are all really good actors.
So, today, I hit the gym a little early and completed a quick 20 minute workout on the eliptical trainer. Then S and D showed up and we got to work. This is what we did (be warned, it was intense):
Push-ups (2 sets of 15)
Staggered arm push-ups (1 set of 30)
Up and Down planks (completed as many as possible)
Dumbbell chest press on an exercise ball (2 sets of 15)
Bicep curls (1 set of 15 and 1 set of "7's")
Tricep dips (2 sets of 15)
Tricep press down (2 sets of 15)
W shoulder press with a leg extension (2 sets of 15)
Single leg front raise (2 sets of 15)
Side raise (2 sets of 15)
Stork stance chest fly (2 sets of 15)
...I think that's it- although it felt like we did about a million exercises- I'm so tired!
So- that's the update. Tomorrow, I'm supposed to run but it's going to rain. I guess that means I'll be on the treadmill. Tuesday, I will try to hit a spin class and Wednesday, I'll lift again with S and D. Barring any disasters, I'm really going to stick to this...I hope...
So- why have I been on Project X hiatus? First, I was out of town for a week in Boston and, in all seriousness, I did work out while I was there. I ran and lifted weights, as well as did a few workouts on the eliptical trainer. Then, my friend D hurt herself and was out of commission for a few days. It's not that I can't work out by myself but it is helpful to have a buddy to hold you accountable. So, during that time, again, I worked out on my own a few times- but not at the intensity that I was reaching with Project X. Finally, my hubby and I visited my parents for a long weekend over Easter. While I was there, I made the mistake of weighing myself on their scale. Let's just say that I hope that their scale is highly inaccurate or else I'm in deep trouble.
So- I'm back on the horse. Earlier this week, I completed the Jillian Michael's Last Chance Workout DVD and it lit a fire under me. Then, on Friday, I talked to my friend S who asked if I would write her a workout for her arms. We agreed to meet on Sunday morning and I'd take her through it. D has also recovered from her injury so she came too.
First, though, I had to pace with my marathon training group on Saturday. This week we tackled nine miles. Ugh- my longest run this season has been seven miles- so it wasn't that big of a jump, but still- nine miles is a long way. To make things even more interesting, all of the runners that I pace have been trained so well that they have moved to faster pace groups, leaving me with no one to pace! So, I decided to just run with a faster group as well. In all, it was a pretty challenging run with some steep hills but the trainees did great- or else they are all really good actors.
So, today, I hit the gym a little early and completed a quick 20 minute workout on the eliptical trainer. Then S and D showed up and we got to work. This is what we did (be warned, it was intense):
Push-ups (2 sets of 15)
Staggered arm push-ups (1 set of 30)
Up and Down planks (completed as many as possible)
Dumbbell chest press on an exercise ball (2 sets of 15)
Bicep curls (1 set of 15 and 1 set of "7's")
Tricep dips (2 sets of 15)
Tricep press down (2 sets of 15)
W shoulder press with a leg extension (2 sets of 15)
Single leg front raise (2 sets of 15)
Side raise (2 sets of 15)
Stork stance chest fly (2 sets of 15)
...I think that's it- although it felt like we did about a million exercises- I'm so tired!
So- that's the update. Tomorrow, I'm supposed to run but it's going to rain. I guess that means I'll be on the treadmill. Tuesday, I will try to hit a spin class and Wednesday, I'll lift again with S and D. Barring any disasters, I'm really going to stick to this...I hope...
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