Well I am progressing well in the couch to 5K. I am on week 3 and so far have managed to progress along with the increased amount of running time. Although I admit that this week with the 3 minute long stretches it is pushing me a bit I have had to take the run speed down a little bit from where I was managing to be on the first two weeks. But I will try to push myself a little bit on Friday as the last day of this week and see if I can move that speed up a little bit at least.
So after my run days I have been religiously rolling out my legs afterwards and I really am surprised at how little it is hurting these days. Not sure why - maybe because they have slightly softer rollers there than at the pilates studio. But I have even been able to manage to have both legs stacked when rolling out the IT bands - never been able to do that before.
Well anyhow, night time for me now - want to make sure I am well rested these next two days so I can push it on Friday on the treadmill.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Monday, November 12, 2012
Tabata and sweat!
Each and every time I come back to doing a tabata (and I generally only make it part way through one of them) I am astounded at the impact my 3 minutes (in this case) can have. I drip sweat and my heart races like with NOTHING else that I have ever found.
My tabata is done just running in place. The 20 second part of each interval is at as high an intensity as I can manage - I give it for all I am worth. Then 10 seconds of slow jogging in place (and I mean slow). The key from my reading on a "real" tabata is that it has to be something extremely high intensity for the 20 seconds. So I don't know how all these other tabata things that are out there work (i.e can you really get very high intensity doing push ups??? Well maybe those other people can but I know that I can not). So for me I will continue to do it with running in place. Although I might use something else just as an interval to round things out and get in a bit more work - because I believe intervals are really awesome even when they aren't a tabata.
Today I haven't really done anything except for some housecleaning. That in itself is a workout if you were ever to see my house ;-p
My tabata is done just running in place. The 20 second part of each interval is at as high an intensity as I can manage - I give it for all I am worth. Then 10 seconds of slow jogging in place (and I mean slow). The key from my reading on a "real" tabata is that it has to be something extremely high intensity for the 20 seconds. So I don't know how all these other tabata things that are out there work (i.e can you really get very high intensity doing push ups??? Well maybe those other people can but I know that I can not). So for me I will continue to do it with running in place. Although I might use something else just as an interval to round things out and get in a bit more work - because I believe intervals are really awesome even when they aren't a tabata.
Today I haven't really done anything except for some housecleaning. That in itself is a workout if you were ever to see my house ;-p
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Booty Barre and *gasp* RUNNING
It has sure been a long time, and I have been on a writing jag today so I thought I better put that to good use here on my blog!
Well today I went to a Booty Barre class. I have no good words to describe this workout in a general sense except to say that it has barres like they use in ballet and your rear end, arms, and legs all leave the room feeling good and worked over.
As per usual the classes I tend to talk about on here - back when I posted a bit more often are from a great place called Lead Pilates. If you are in Saskatoon I whole heartedly recommend them.
By way of an update. I have been pretty slack on getting in my workouts of late. With a bit of a wonky back and a new job that isn't as flexible as my old one it is very hard for me to get to my favourite workout place (Lead you know that is you right???). So it was nice to get there today to do my workout and enjoy myself so fully. But before this past week I was sure letting things slide. Some walking really was the extent of things. But this week I not only got to Booty barre today but also to a pilates mat class on Tuesday evening. And the big strange, never thought I would say this, news is that I have started doing the couch to 5k program. I completed the first week!!!!!
Since I am just starting out with running I figured I would give these barefoot shoes a shot - they say they mean way less impact on your joints because you don't heel strike the way you do in regular runners. I definitely can say I didn't feel like it was straining my knees or hips or anything so that is great. I did have just a tiny bit of arch discomfort after the faster running intervals that I did (the ones at higher speed). My arches didn't hurt at all during the running but afterward when I was on the following walk interval they were just a bit tweaky. This was maybe for about one 1.5 minute interval or so. Thus far I figure that tiny bit of tweaky arch is not going to stop me using those shoes - but I will keep my eye on it to make sure it doesn't get worse or anything.
I was pretty happy and impressed with my ability in the intervals - this first week was 1 minute running then 1.5 minutes walking (after a 5 minute warm up) for 20 minutes total time. It really was pretty easy overall so I was able to push myself by setting my run and walk speed a bit higher for the last one of the week. I am looking forward to my three runs next week to see if I can work on keeping a good pace when the running time is extended.
I can also say that it is a great thing that I am getting back into a better exercise routine. It is very true that when I am working out and doing great things for my body that way, I am at least a tiny smidge less willing to mess that up by eating the way I have let myself eat for the past few weeks. I still have work to do on getting myself back away from some of those unhealthy choices, but each step is one I am happily making right now!
Well today I went to a Booty Barre class. I have no good words to describe this workout in a general sense except to say that it has barres like they use in ballet and your rear end, arms, and legs all leave the room feeling good and worked over.
As per usual the classes I tend to talk about on here - back when I posted a bit more often are from a great place called Lead Pilates. If you are in Saskatoon I whole heartedly recommend them.
By way of an update. I have been pretty slack on getting in my workouts of late. With a bit of a wonky back and a new job that isn't as flexible as my old one it is very hard for me to get to my favourite workout place (Lead you know that is you right???). So it was nice to get there today to do my workout and enjoy myself so fully. But before this past week I was sure letting things slide. Some walking really was the extent of things. But this week I not only got to Booty barre today but also to a pilates mat class on Tuesday evening. And the big strange, never thought I would say this, news is that I have started doing the couch to 5k program. I completed the first week!!!!!
Since I am just starting out with running I figured I would give these barefoot shoes a shot - they say they mean way less impact on your joints because you don't heel strike the way you do in regular runners. I definitely can say I didn't feel like it was straining my knees or hips or anything so that is great. I did have just a tiny bit of arch discomfort after the faster running intervals that I did (the ones at higher speed). My arches didn't hurt at all during the running but afterward when I was on the following walk interval they were just a bit tweaky. This was maybe for about one 1.5 minute interval or so. Thus far I figure that tiny bit of tweaky arch is not going to stop me using those shoes - but I will keep my eye on it to make sure it doesn't get worse or anything.
I was pretty happy and impressed with my ability in the intervals - this first week was 1 minute running then 1.5 minutes walking (after a 5 minute warm up) for 20 minutes total time. It really was pretty easy overall so I was able to push myself by setting my run and walk speed a bit higher for the last one of the week. I am looking forward to my three runs next week to see if I can work on keeping a good pace when the running time is extended.
I can also say that it is a great thing that I am getting back into a better exercise routine. It is very true that when I am working out and doing great things for my body that way, I am at least a tiny smidge less willing to mess that up by eating the way I have let myself eat for the past few weeks. I still have work to do on getting myself back away from some of those unhealthy choices, but each step is one I am happily making right now!
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