Training Truths: Multi-city Workouts

Before leaving for a multi-stop 9 day trip last Wednesday, I tried to get in as many workouts as I could. My knee wasn't too happy about that and I left NH without doing my last run. Our first stop in steamy Texas for middleCs BMT graduation was way too hot to run, not that my knee was ready anyway. After a couple of rest days and swimming, I went for a short run during our visit in Ohio.

Monday - 5 mile run with mrC to kickoff the Summer Run Challenge and then SurfSet class. (548 + 355 = 903 calories burned)

Tuesday - SurfnTurf at 6 AM!!! (because I had to watch the US World Cup game at 4 and the other class is at 430) and 2 mile run downtown. Two workouts before 7:30 AM!! (369 + 232 = 601)

Tuesday - After a week of no running, I enjoyed a cool, but humid, 2 mile run at my mom's favorite park. She walked the dog while we ran. I'm happy to say that my knee did ok during and after this run. (236 calories burned)

Hopefully the extra rest days are just what my knee needed and I can get back to training for ZOOMA Cape Cod in September.

Training Truths: Burning Calories

One thing I love about being a teacher is the flexibility I get during summer vacation. During the school year, my workouts are after school and I skip fitness classes during the week because my evenings are booked with family time and sporting events.

My stepdaughter has been home from college for over a month now and doing a 6 week summer fitness challenge. When she got her first check-in measurement results back, I was inspired to start whittling away some of the comfy pounds I put on this spring.

Last week I jumped into my new summer workout plan and I put my fitness gadgets to work tracking my calories burned. I strapped on my Polar FT40 heart rate monitor and got busy. Even though I take a lot of photos of my watches, I've never really thought about the data beyond that one workout.

Monday - 4 mile run. I was supposed to go to SurfSet, but class was cancelled because the AC was broken. (417 calories burned)

Tuesday -  Morning stretching and leg work. Went to Yoga (wildcard) class, but the instructor was stuck in traffic so instead we did a Strength class. (185 calories burned)

Wednesday - Started the day with a humid 4 mile run. It wasn't good. Loved my lunchtime Surf-n-Turf workout at TI Fitness. (853 calories burned)

Thursday - I took my morning workout to Strength In Balance NH for a Booty Barre class. There are three main parts to Booty Barre: killer arms, brutal legs, and lethal abs. It sounds deadly, but it's an awesome workout! The battery in my Polar died about 10 minutes into class, so I will have to wait until next time to see how many calories I burn doing this full body workout. (351 based on my last class)

Friday - 6 mile long run with mrC to start the day. (654 calories burned)

Saturday - 50 minute SurfSet class. There were a couple of new people in the class, so I think the instructor went a little easy on us. It was ok with me because my legs were tired from the week (357 calories burned - 28% fat!)

Sunday - Spent a rest day hanging out at the beach and taking a few walks.

My total calories burned for last week: 2817

I can't wait to see how I do this week! (although vacation will get in the way a little)

Do you track your calories burned during your workouts?

Workout Wednesday: Lunge Jumps

For a while now, I have been working on building my leg strength. After tweaking my hamstring last summer and then finding out I tore my meniscus, my left quad muscle has weakened.

Last week I did lunge jumps as part of a challenge and could really feel my quads working. There are two ways to do this exercise:

1. Stand with your feet together, hands on your hips or at your side for balance. Lunge forward with your right foot. Jump straight up. Switch legs in midair, like a scissor, and land in a lunge with your left leg forward. Repeat, switching legs again. That's 1 rep; do 10. Repeat 3x

2. Stand with your feet together, hands on your hips or at your side for balance. Lunge forward with your right foot. Jump straight up landing on the same leg. Repeat 10x. Switch legs and repeat 10x. That's one set; do 3.

Lunge jumps work the hip flexors, glutes, and quads. It's another great no equipment needed exercise that you can do anywhere.

What is your favorite leg strength exercise?

Training Truths: It's Summer!

Wow! Did you feel that heat arrive? This week started with an abrupt reminder that summer is officially descending upon us. I don't mind getting sweaty, in fact I kind of like it, but running in the high temperatures has always been a challenge for me.

This year, I'm trying to not get hung up on the slower paces as my body adjusts to the warmer weather. So, as I continued to run outside during this last week of school, I tried to embrace the activity and not worry about the data!

Monday - 30 minute walk at lunch, side lunge jumps, two Tabata ab workouts (see here & here).

Tuesday - A seriously steamy run after school with a co-worker and hanging knee-ups.

Wednesday - Busy, busy day! Morning planks then work, dinner, and graduation.

Thursday - MrC was home from three weeks of ground school, so I took the day off from running.

Friday - Driveway workouts after my last day of school: step-up knee-ups, lunge jumps, and abs.

Saturday - 4 mile run downtown on the Manchester Trail before SurfSet. I learned my lesson the last time I almost melted running after class. The weather was also on my side this time with a sunny but cooler than usual morning. It was a beautiful start to summer! Can we have more days like this?

Sunday - a little yoga and a World Cup Workout. I really didn't need this to keep my heart rate up; what an exciting USAvPOR game!

Planks - 1 minute everyday!!

How did you ring in the official start to summer?

Kickoff to Summer 5K 2014

Last Saturday, I did something pretty cool.

I ran the Kickoff to Summer 5K for the 5th time and for the 3rd time with littleC. I have run this race nearly every year since moving to New Hampshire (missed 2010). In fact it was my very first NH race. We really like this local race because it has a friendly course and is a fundraiser for the elementary school PTA.

Just like last year, I used the 5K as part of my long run. So instead of driving to the race with littleC, I ran the 3.1 miles and met her there. It was a cool morning and aided by my pre-run fuel from Vega Sport, I ran some pretty good splits getting to the race (8:50, 8:39, and 8:15)! To be honest though, the last half mile is all downhill.

After a quick wardrobe change, we picked up our bibs and the (always cute) race shirts, stored them in the car and then headed to the starting line.

This is a no frills race. The start is an orange line spray painted on the blacktop and the start is an enthusiastic gentleman with a megaphone. LittleC and I ran together for the first two miles, but then I got ahead of her through a water stop. Once we were back out on the main road, I just wanted to get to the finish, so I pushed on.

My goal for this race was to have fun and keep a pace that felt good. I'm happy to say that I achieved all three and beat my time from last year (28:56) with a solid 28:21.


Do you like running the same race every year?