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July 29, 2000

Training Walk 7/29

  • Focus: 60 minutes endurance
  • Duration: 25 min
  • Where: gym, cross trainer
  • Miles: 2 ish?

Ugh, this just hasn't been my week! I'm rushing off to a family gathering so this will be short.

The workout? Hot, yucky, and not one of my best. I hate this time of day on Saturdays at the gym -- too crowded. I also felt rushed because I had to get home to get ready to be with the in-laws.

I was originally shooting for 22 miles this week, and life stepped in to bean me over the head so I just managed to squeak in 8.5 miles. I'm not even going to bother playing catch up. If I get home early enough I'll vent all my stress with a nice calm bike ride. If I'm not home in time, then I'll just wait until tomorrow and start a new week fresh and put this one behind me.

On the bright side of things, I did get some weight training in and the elbow I mashed up biking has been brace free for a little while now. Yay.


posted by Cat 'Astrophe' 12:41 PM

July 28, 2000

training walk 7/27
(Yeah, I know it's been a week. Life happens.)

Locale: PF
Minutes: ~65
Mileage: 2.75
Total mileage: 98.01

Last night's workout was hard, hard, hard. I had to stop about halfway through to do some remedial stretching and to remind myself that I can't do a marathon if I'm only walking one-and-a-quarter miles during a session.

But, there were some very good parts that when all was put together, left me feeling elated. I did a slower than usual warmup, because of the week away - I didn't get up to speed until about eleven or twelve minutes into the workout. But once I was up to speed, I STAYED THERE. None of this hopping around up and down on the pace crap -- I got to 3.1 MPH and I stayed at 3.1 MPH, dropping down to 2.8 only at the mile markers (simulating water tables, you know). And those 2.8 MPH sessions were BRIEF - only about 30 seconds or so.

What had me even more pumped up was that coming up on the 2.5 mile marker, I decided that I was going to do some jogging. Joe had just bought me the Runner's World Complete Book of Women's Running, and it was sitting there on the treadmill in front of me. So I did some jogging.

I jogged for a whole tenth of a mile, or for about a minute and a half!

You wonder why this is so exciting?

I haven't jogged for that long a stretch since I played field hockey, ten years ago.

And this book is good not only for inspiration as it sits on the treadmill, either. It has a six-week "from walking to jogging" training, which I'm going to do (starting last night). After six weeks, I should be able to jog for thirty minutes at a time.

I'm also less than two miles from having walked a hundred miles. So after work I'm heading right to the gym. I'm going to have a great workout and am going to do more jogging. And once I get done that workout and get over my hundred mile mark, I'm going to go over to Friendly's and get a small M+M Cyclone. Mmmmm.
posted by Adrith 9:14 AM

Training Walk 7/27

  • Focus: 45 min casual stroll (wed. session)
  • Duration: ???
  • Distance: 2 miles
  • Where: Neighborhood
  • Rate: 2-3?

The actual walk was easy, but as usual, the temps were gross. I don't know how long it took because I didn't take anything with me. I just walked to the post office box that's about a mile from my house and back for a 2 mile round trip. I'm still missing Tuesday's speed session and today's casual walk. Most likely I'll do the speed session tonight and add 20 minutes and then when I do tomorrow's hour session I'll add 25 minutes and that will catch me up to schedule. I don't know that I'll hit the 22 mile week's goal, but I'm going to try to come as close to 20 as possible!


posted by Cat 'Astrophe' 10:59 AM

July 27, 2000

Looked up that 20 minute thing. Here's what The Complete Book of Fitness said:

"Think of your body as having two main fuel tanks to propel you through an aerobic workout. For the first 20 minutes or so, your body uses fast burning fuel, glucose. Once this fuel begins to run low, your slow-burning fuel, fat, kicks in. A fitter person might use fat a little sooner. A not-so-fit person might take even longer (remember, a not-so-fit person becomes fit with training."

It also suggests that women who want to burn fat should press on for an additional 15-20 minutes of cardio after that first 20 minutes. OK. So why am I at a standstill on the weight loss front? We're going for 45-60 min on a regular day and several hours on a weekend. Hello!?


posted by Cat 'Astrophe' 11:11 AM

For my opinion on the rain, I will kindly direct you to my journal entry for today.

Just another hour 'til I can go home and get some laundry done and go for a walk/run! I am so pumped!
posted by Adrith 3:28 PM

July 26, 2000

Ugh! Between the inability to post from home, and Blogger crashing my work machine each time I try to post at work, I've not been able to write much! It didn't really occur to me that this was a problem until Astrophe mentioned I'd been missed.

So I hope that Blogger doesn't crash my browser this time..

Training has been stalled while I try to fix a foot problem. Some blisters opened up on the bottom of my feet which made it very painful to walk on. But those have toughened up enough so that I can start walking and running again! Yay!

I'm starting to worry about fundraising, though.. boo!

Signs that Adrith really needs to get back into training: she starts thinking that she should do the marathon with the name "Bubbles" on her singlet. Because "Adrith" is awful hard to pronounce.

I think I've made it to Hysterics, USA..
posted by Adrith 1:19 PM

Training Walk 7/26

  • Focus: 60 minute intervals (originally planned for Thurs)
  • Duration: 45 min intervals
  • Miles: 3?
  • Steps: 1512
  • Calories burned: 572

I hate driving in the rain. Yesterday I got rained out. So no speed session. Today it rained, but let up enough for me to drive to gym around 7:30 PM so I thought I'd make up the speed work and skip today's "casual stroll." Not happening. All the machines were taken except 2 EFX elliptical cross trainers and one was out of order. Everyone was staying longer because nobody wanted to be out in the drizzle.

"Ok," I thought, "I'll just do tomorrow's interval workout now!" so I hopped on and started climbing hills until this booming crash lit up the windows. Everyone gasped and quite a lot of people went scurrying for their cars because who likes to drive in lightening?! Drizzle is bad, but lightening is worse!

I hung out til an even 45 min, and then I split too. The roads were awful -- construction, detours, rain, thunder, lightening, puddles. Oncoming traffic blinded me and I went too fast through a puddle I didn't spot, it wet the underside of the car, all my idiot lights came on and I couldn't TURN the freakin' steering wheel. Panic! But it all worked out quickly and I snailed my way home praying I wouldn't hit another flooded section. Because of all the construction the road is all lumpy and annoying when it rains.

Ugh. Ugh. Ugh! I hate rain!

Meanwhile, the workout was ok. 22 minutes into it I hit my little high, right on schedule. I have to ask Karen (dietitian) what's so great about 20 minutes that gives me that little rush. Is it tapping into glycogen stores?

Tropical Fruit Power Gel: Refrigerated. Tastes better than the Chocolate one, not as sweet. But intensely fruity and it reminded me of a gooey Starburst candy. I don't think I can swallow one of these PowerGels all at once. Very overpowering taste. No wonder the wrappers all say "Consume with water!"


posted by Cat 'Astrophe' 10:07 PM

July 25, 2000

Monday was a rest day, so nothing major to report there. Today is a speed day at the gym, so I have to laundry so I'll have clothes to wear. It's week 14 already. One more month and we're half way through training! Ack!
posted by Cat 'Astrophe' 11:46 AM

July 23, 2000

Training Walk for 7/23

  • Focus: 20 min recovery walk
  • Duration: ??
  • Distance: 1.5 miles
  • Where: Mall perimeter walking
  • Rate: 1

Super easy walk. We did the mall for the AC and then afterwards we got a snack at the food court. Got our niece a birthday present while were at it. Then when we got home I mowed half the hairy, scary lawn and when I got tired Paul took it over. It had gotten very long and out of control. Pushing the mower through it was a drag and now I am all grass itchy! Ugh!

All in all a nice day though.


posted by Cat 'Astrophe' 7:38 PM

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