Sunday, March 27, 2011

Back into the groove

So last week was a wash regarding returning to training due to illness. I'm all better now and I've already gotten my week started off right by heading to the gym earlier today. I got in 50 minutes of cardio by completing 40 minutes on the elliptical and 10 minutes on the bike. It felt really good to be back in the gym after 6 days away. I thought it would be difficult to accomplish what I planned on doing, the 40 minutes, but it wasn't at all. Impressive!

My plan for this week will include weight training in the morning and running in the evening (if the weather cooperates *fingers crossed* I really don't want to run on the treadmill). I'm 4 weeks out from my 10K, and I need to step up the training. No half-stepping. It is likely I won't be able to run the entire 10K due to my lack of training, but I want to be able to run at least 4-5 miles. We'll see....

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Sick

Soooooo....my exercise plans this week, thus far, haven't panned out as planned.

Yesterday I wanted to do a full weights workout at the gym. Unfortunately, the lights at the gym conspired against me. When I rolled up to the gym at 5 am it was totally dark. Normally, all of the lights are blaring. I saw a few guys milling around outside so I assumed the guy who normally opens wasn't there. What to do? What to do? After about 5 minutes, I saw them go in. Huh? It turns out he was there, but for some reason the lights wouldn't come on. He couldn't get into the main office where I don't know what could take place, but no lights until someone else showed up. The electricity in the building was working and lights were on in the locker room, but not the cardio room or weight room. Needless to say, I couldn't do weights in the dark. To dangerous. So I did cardio in the dark. I did 22 minutes on the elliptical with the lights coming on about the 15 minute mark.

I moved to the weight room then and did a lackluster leg workout as I was extremely tired from the cardio. Normally, I'm not that tired from that amount of cardio, but I was also a bit under the weather. I've been fighting a cold and I'm not winning. :(

Then I ended up spending much of yesterday evening in the emergency room with my Mom. All is okay now, but I didn't get to sleep until 1 am. Needless to say, no gym today. I attempted to go to work mid-day and had to leave due to a massive cough bout which ended with my vomiting (though I had very little on my stomach).

Not sure about tomorrow just yet. Perhaps I should rest one more day.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Changing it up

I've been really bored with my workouts lately. So bored, that I haven't been doing much weight training at all. I've always like weight training, but I haven't really been into this year at all. Therefore, I need to change it up. Starting this week I'm going to switch to 3 days of weight training in the morning, 2 days of cardio in the morning (the elliptical or bike), and 3-4 days of running outside.

I really need to get back into serious weight training as I think it helps with the running. I recently read an article in Fitness magazine where a lady training for a marathon incorporated weight training to build her upper body strength for endurance during the marathon. I never thought about that! Reading her training for the marathon helped me to realize the importance of weight training in my overall routine, not that I didn't know it wasn't important, but I just wasn't focused or into.

I have a 10K I'm participating in next month, 5 weeks away. I have the opportunity to really make a difference if I focus over the next 5 weeks. That's my goal. To really focus.