fitness friday

Yesterday marked a month until the GO! St. Louis half marathon.  I’ve been doing really well sticking to my training plan, getting all my planned runs in, and trying to keep my speed at the same time.  I’ve been pushing my body to some paces they haven’t felt before, and this week, I could feel that all that hard work was paying off.

image

I had one of the best training weeks I’ve ever had.  Even my hard runs felt easier, like I could have run forever.  I actually ended up turning a 3 mile easy run into an interval workout because I felt so good!  Next weekend is my first race of the season and I can’t wait to see what I’m capable of! 

My good blog friend Madeline always shares her workouts from the week on Fridays and it’s always one of my favorite posts to read!  I LOVE to read about other people’s workouts because (1) I absolutely LOVE fitness and exercise, (2) it gives me new ideas, and (3) I’m a bit competitive and I like to see how my workouts compare to others.  So, just in case anyone else needs a little motivation or inspiration, here’s how my training went this past week…

Friday – 3 Miles

I had very little time last Friday to work out, with a doctor’s appointment after work and plans for Friday night, so I quickly squeezed in an easy 3-miles on the treadmill at home.  It was one of those runs where I felt like I didn’t even run.  I actually hate those runs – I want to feel like I earned my ice cream for dessert!

Saturday – Rest Day

Matt had stuff going on all morning and I can only leave MacKenna at the daycare for an hour, so my long run had to wait until Sunday.

Sunday – 9 Miles

As I mentioned earlier this week, this was a tough run physically and mentally.  So much snow on the sidewalks!  Thankfully, my ankles didn’t hurt too much after, but my quads and hammies were killing me on Monday!

photo (4)

Monday – 4.5 Miles + CrossFit

I’ve only been able to do CrossFit 3 days a week lately, but this was one of my better weeks so far.  Monday’s workout was a killer!

3 rounds for time:
Thrusters 30x, 25#
Sumo-High Pulls 30x, 25#
Box Jumps 30x, 18”
Push-Press 30x, 25#
Jump Rope 30x
Push-Ups 30x
Front Squats 30x, 45#

I kept the weights lighter since I was still sore from Sunday’s 9-miler.  After this, I ran an easy 4.5 miles on the treadmill in 35:58.

Tuesday – 5x800 + CrossFit

Madeline had me nervous about this CrossFit workout, but I figured it couldn’t be as hard Monday’s.

3 rounds for time:
Run 200m
Walking Lunges 100m (I did 50 steps instead)
Squats 50x

It definitely wasn’t as hard as Monday’s but it definitely did a number on my legs!  I was really worried how it would effect my 800 repeats, but they were the best run I’ve had in a long time.  I ran each 800 at a 6:15/mile with 400 meter recoveries (and a half mile warm-up and cool down).  It took me 32:48, running a sub-29:00 for 4 miles – the fastest I’ve EVER run 4 miles!  Definitely a confidence booster before my 7K next weekend!

Wednesday – 3 miles + CrossFit

As if my shoulders didn’t hurt enough already from Monday’s workout, let’s do this for a Workout of the Day (WOD)…

For time:
Jumping Pull-Ups 10x
Push-Press 100x, 25# (yes, one hundred!)
Run 1000m

I really thought the push-press would be harder than it was, but I motored through this WOD.  I just added the 1000m to my planned 3-miles and ended up doing 2 more 1000m repeats at an easier pace.  With the 3x1000m, I ran 3-miles in 21:35 – faster than some of my 5K’s last racing season!

Thursday – Rest Day

We usually have volleyball open gym on Thursday afternoons, so if I do run, it’s a short, easy recovery run that I count as active rest.  But, we’ve had to cancel practice lately because we don’t have a place to go with most of the spring sports being inside (and snow on the ground making it more difficult).  Instead, we had a coach’s meeting, so I ended up having a complete rest day – something I really needed after 4 days of running in a row, including a 9 mile long run.  My body needed a break!

I still have a 40 minute Fartlek and 10 mile run to fit in this weekend, and with MacKenna being sick again today and having to spend all day with her (darn the luck, right?!), looks like I’ll be trying to squeeze them in sometime this weekend.  I haven’t run 10 miles since training for GO! St. Louis last year, so I’m a little nervous!

How were your workouts this week?  Do you ever feel like you have to squeeze in workouts with a tight schedule?