A Thursday 5K & Strength Training

One thing I love about my carb cycling program (and I've said this A LOT) is the flexibility. I moved my days around to accommodate some plans that I have on Friday.

So instead of a fasting day, I did a strength training day.

But first...I woke up this morning and decided to run. Before waking up completely and changing my mind, I threw on my Mizunos and headed out the door. It was being able to run while the sun came up that convinced me to go.

By the time I got to the beach and took this selfie (about half way into my run) I was looking more awake. There were a lot of other people awake too: runners, walkers, bikers, commuters, students. In New Hampshire, I could go for a run and never see another person (besides cars). I love the constant activity here.

One of my safety measures is that I text mrC to let him know that I'm heading out (the other is the Wearsafe tag I'm wearing on my tank) and where I'm running. Today was easy since it was the route that he picked the last time we ran together except I added an extra part along the beach promenade.

Running in DB means you have to run some hills. This route is one of the easier ones. According to MapMyRun, this route gets a climb rating of 5 (the easiest). For any climb to be rated (receive a climb score/category ((by MMR)) it must be at least 500 meters in length with an average grade of 3% or more. Even though it is one of the easier ones (officially and unofficially), it is still hard.

The end is at the high rises

I felt pretty good about my run. My overall pace was 11:11 ---> not bad when you take into account that I walk every mile for my knee and more on the last uphill because it's hard. It also feels good to be doing longer runs.

The actual strength training: I did the at-home version - back, biceps, triceps and abs plus finishers. My arms were feeling sore from my Bodypump class yesterday, so I didn't push myself too hard today. The end was the killer. Holy cow! I'll just show you this video of one of the finishers: man makers x 20.

I decided to work one day ahead and do my Wednesday VIP FASTer Way workout at the hotel gym since I will be in full-fledged event mode tomorrow! My VIP ladies are doing some of @sarahcanntraining's workouts this month. It was killer!

A post shared by Amanda Tress (@amandatress) on Sep 12, 2017 at 4:01pm PDT

Off to the pool for a bit again as my reward. Ironically, mrC is flying the maker of this towel today. Small world. I didn't stay long because it is actually too hot ---> 90 degrees and feels like 97 is what I call Hong Kong Hot.

The contractor was back to finish the water damage repair. He did a good job; the wall looks brand new. 

It was a regular calorie day and I kept it simple: protein bar snack, turkey roll-ups and watermelon for lunch, grapes snack, and scrambled eggs with ham and rice cakes for dinner (again).

Do you before, during or after the sun comes up?

Ever done man makers before?

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Back to Bodypump

For today's strength workout I challenged all the muscle groups.

I've learned the hard way that jumping back into Bodypump classes where I left off before a break can mean some serious soreness ---> like I can't straighten my arms. When choosing my weights today, I went for the light side, like I was taking the class for the first time.

My already sore muscles have been slowly recovering from my first at-home workout in weeks on Saturday. Continuing to move, although painful at times, really does help. Today's class took my upper body through some moves that they haven't seen for awhile, so I expect to feel some effects. Hopefully by playing it smart I will avoid another severe case of DOMS.

After class, I decided to keep moving all the way to the fitness center to hang out at the pool. mrC left before me this morning on a trip, so I had some alone time to kill. The weather is still hot in Hong Kong, but it's been quite breezy lately so walking is a lot more enjoyable.

It was a holiday last week, so I avoided the pool because it can be too crowded and noisy for my adult taste. Today it was low key and peaceful. Just the way I like it. Each time I got in the water, I stretched out my muscles. I stayed for a little over an hour, just long enough to cool off from my workout and replenish my vitamin D.

Before he went to work, mrC cut up a nice watermelon for me. We've been married for nine years today (Happy Anniversary, babe!) and this man understands my love of watermelon. We were supposed to go out to a fancy dinner tonight with views of Victoria Harbour, but duty calls. He owes me one ;)

After lunch the contractors arrived and got to work on the water damage from one of the many typhoons. I stayed out of the way - especially since they'd be hanging out our 20th floor window to do the water seal. Yikes!

Before they arrived my Amazon order was delivered with my very own littleC approved convertor and an air mattress. Now I can use my US hairdryer (which is much better than my China one). We will have two of the three kids visiting us this year for Christmas, but we only have one extra bed. PS - it only took Amazon 10 days to ship this order to me here!

It was a regular calorie day which means I was eating to hit my macros: 50% carbs, 30% fats, 20% proteins. I didn't break my fast until after the pool. Turkey roll-ups and watermelon for lunch, protein bar snack, and I was in the mood for eggs and ham for dinner. Anyone else like having breakfast for dinner?

One of my non-guilty pleasures is diet Mt. Dew. I have only found it in Hong Kong twice and one of those times was right after we returned from our recent US/Budapest trip. Today my beverage enjoyment came to an end.

Do you celebrate anniversaries?
What is your (non)guilty pleasure?

Today I’m linking up with Susie and Rachel and Debbie and Lora for the Running Coaches' Corner and I'm linking up with Annmarie, Nicole and Jen for Wild Workout Wednesday!!

Move It Monday (and Tuesday)

Yesterday I finally returned to Bodystep class. I was a little worried about how it would go. It was not easy, my legs were still seriously sore from my return to strength training on Saturday and my instructor just does a good job of kicking everyone’s butt.

mrC went to the North Plaza with me. While I was in class, he got a haircut and then waited for me at the tables. I joined him after class and enjoyed a little cool-down while he went to get me more water.

Since Hong Kong was enjoying some breezy weather from a passing tropical depression, we walked to the main plaza later to run some errands ---> post office to mail off some protein to littleC, order water for the bubbler, drop clothes in the recycle bin (which was moved to somewhere else), look for vanilla Greek yogurt at the grocery (no luck) and pick up some new light bulbs for the kitchen at the hardware store. Our HK kitchen is tiny, but fresh bulbs make a big difference!

It was a low carb day so I had some eggs and ham for breakfast, left over chicken breast and green beans for lunch, and then more eggs for dinner. I ended up NOT going to the Monday night group run because my legs were just flat worn out. The last thing I need is to aggravate my knee because my leg muscles are fatigued and not be able to run.

If I couldn't run, I'd be a little lost and definitely sad, but I'd keep going. This has come close to happening a couple times  and over a year ago I actually blogged about my non-running back-up fitness plan. Now that things with my knee have improved to the point that I can run a 5k, I'm hopeful that I will never find out what life is like if I couldn't run (this is a Tuesdays on the Run topic - link below).

Today, I got up, packed my bag and basically headed right out the door for my sprint workout. Anything to avoid losing my motivation. I should probably get my bag organized the night before. I try to take just the necessities - water  bottle, body wipes (affiliate links), safety gear. 

It was pretty early so I had the promenade mostly to myself. I like to refer to it as my #tracktuesday spot. If it was cushioned like a real track, I would be in heaven. I make it work. It is flat (a rarity in Discovery Bay). Today’s FASTer Way to Fat Loss® workout: 20:40x18. 

The first 14 sprints went pretty well. This surprised me a little considering that after my warmup walk, my legs screamed a little during my stretches. By the time I got to the 15th sprint, I had slowed down a lot and was just focused on finishing. (Side note: I use the Nike Run Club app to track my run data but when I use my watch, it doesn’t give me the GPS data - even when I carry my phone with me. Anyone else have this problem?)

I walked back to the apartment and promptly forgot to do the ab portion of the workout - I got it in later: dead bugs, bird dogs and leg lifts.

Our agent came by with a contractor. We have some water damage in the bedroom from Typhoon Hato. They’ll be back tomorrow to fix it. Then mrC and I headed to Central for the afternoon. 

It was low carb day again - eggs and ham for breakfast and then turkey rolls up with left over green beans for dinner plus a few Cheez-its (very non-low carb ---> I'm a work in progress).

Finish the sentence If I couldn't run... (or join the link up below)

What's in your fitness bag?

How do you track your runs?

Today I'm going the link-up with Patty, Erika, and Marcia for Tuesdays on the Run! 

My Weekly Wrap

My workouts for last week were not much to speak of until I blogged about scheduling in my Friday post. Another irony, right? I just needed to put it our there that I was having trouble following my schedule in order to get back on schedule!

Fitness isn't always easy. Life gets in the way. Work gets in the way. Lots of things get in the way. And it happens to all of us. The best part is, you can start over at any time.

Here's a look at what I did manage last week:

Monday - Pier volunteering - Monday night group 5k run

Tuesday - rest

Wednesday - Hosting sailors to lunch and walking tour of Hong Kong

Thursday - Rest

Friday - Run with mrC

Saturday - Strength training with FWTFL - leg day (at home version)

Sunday - Recover ---> DOMS set in and got worse as the day went on.

In the future, when I'm thinking about skipping workouts because I'm traveling or too busy and how I can just jump back in anytime, I will remember how sore my legs were. SO sore that it hurt to do anything - stand up sit down, sit on a hard surface, everything made my legs scream. THAT will hopefully keep me from skipping multiple weeks worth of strength training!

Anyone else ever find yourself going through this?

I'm a little late, but I'm still linking up with  Tricia and Holly for the Weekly Wrap!




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Scheduling Workouts

It's kind of ironic that the Friday Five 2.0 topic this week is scheduling because for the past two five weeks my normal workout schedule has been in the tank. There has been some working out, but not the typical planned out kind of thing that I'm used to.

Here are five things that got in the way of my normally scheduled workouts:

1) Traveling ---> ICYMI we were in Ohio and Budapest for three weeks (read about it here, here and here). When I travel, sometimes I can fit in workouts and other times not so much. I got in some runs, but the rest of the time I was either tired or busy.

2) Prepping for a US Navy visit: This means meetings, lots and lots of work on the computer creating documents, emailing people and keeping track of the hosting schedule.

3) Welcoming US Navy personnel at the pier and hosting sailors for a day: Monday I spent half the day pierside getting things set up for the arrival of about 5000 service men and women. They were delayed getting off the ships, so I didn't see them until I went back to meet the group I was hosting. My friends and I spent Wednesday taking the sailors to lunch and showing them around Hong Kong.

4) Attending reception aboard the USS Ronald Reagan: Ok, so I did spend the first part of the day relaxing, but I needed it after so many really busy days. Getting there takes a bus, a ferry, a taxi and a water shuttle to the ship moored in Victoria Harbour. Then we had to do it all again in reverse to get home. The two hour event was an eight hour adventure door to door. That's exhausting. (But I loved my new dress that a I've been dying to wear)

5) Appointments and Parties: a birthday bash on a junk boat for a friend, laser hair removal and the annual AWA Welcome Breakfast. The timing of these things just messes with my motivation to workout. Either I don't want to get sweaty and all that before, or I'm just worn out after.

I squeezed in a few of workouts here and there (runs, some SUP and yoga) when I could and when I had the energy, but it is not the same as when I am on my regular schedule.

Next week is already looking better because I have reserved spots in two of my favorite fitness classes. I think just getting to the first one on Monday will set the tone for the rest of the week.

How about you?
Do you need to schedule your workouts? Follow a plan?

Join the link up with Lacey and Meranda and Rachel for the Friday Five 2.0!