A Fit Britt: July 2013

Monday, July 15, 2013

45:00 Run

It's been kind of an up-and-down day - started ok, but hit a slump early afternoon and didn't even have the energy/focus to decide what I wanted for dinner, much less plan some sort of workout. Luckily, I found something fun to do which elevated my spirits and my energy level, which carried over to the gym! I haven't pounded out an interval workout for awhile - probably the result of too many excuses, but it seems like I'm either exhausted or sore most of the time. With the GUR coming up in two weeks which will require at least one crazy sprint somewhere, I figured now was as good of a time as any to get back into it. Hopefully I can fit in two or three more workouts with actual running involved before then, just to get my legs back under me!

Pre

Energy Level [1-5]: 3

Sore Areas: None

Yesterday: Long work hours, a lot of sitting...

Environment: Indoors, beginning of the hottest week of the year (thus far)

Workout
Equipment: treadmill
Work Time: 45:00

Minutes	Intensity: MPH	Incline: ° [time]	Total Distance (mi.)*
0:00 - 3:00	6.5	3.0	~ .31
3:01 - 9:00	9.5 [1:00] 6.5 [1:00] x3	3.0 [2:00] 2.5 [2:00] 2.0 [2:00]	1.0 [@ 8:03] ~ 1.10
9:01 - 10:00	4.0	3.0	~ 1.17
10:01 - 11:00	6.5	3.0	~ 1.27
11:01 - 15:00	9.5 [1:00] 6.5 [1:00] x2	3.0 [0:30] 2.5 [2:00] 2.0 [1:30]	~ 1.81
15:01 - 16:00	4.0	3.0	~ 1.87
16:01 - 17:00	6.5	3.0	~ 1.98
17:01 - 21:00	9.2 [1:00] 6.5 [1:00] x2	3.0 [0:30] 2.5 [2:00] 2.0 [1:30]	2.0 [@ 17:06] ~ 2.51
21:01 - 22:00	4.0	3.0	~ 2.57
22:01 - 23:00	6.5	3.0	~ 2.68
13:01 - 27:00	9.0 [1:00] 6.5 [1:00] x2	3.0 [0:30] 2.5 [2:00] 2.0 [1:30]	3.20
27:01 - 28:00	3.5	2.0	~ 3.26
28:01 - 30:00	3.5 side shuffle R [1:00] side shuffle L [1:00]	2.0	3.40
30:01 - 33:00	4.0 backwards [1:00] side shuffle R [1:00] side shuffle L [1:00]	2.0	~ 3.60
33:01 - 36:00	4.5 backwards [1:00] side shuffle R [1:00] side shuffle L [1:00]	2.0	~ 3.82
36:01 - 37:00	5.0 backwards [1:00]	2.0	~ 3.90
37:01 - 38:00	5.0	2.0	~ 3.99
38:01 - 43:00	10.0 [:20] rest [:10] x8	2.0	~ 4.825
43:01 - 45:00	4.0	2.0	4.95
Total: 45:00	7.11 [running avg.] 6.6 [total avg.]	2.25 [avg]	4.95

Post
Energy Level [1-5]: 4
Stretch Time: 10:00
Total Time: 65:00

Day After
Sore Level [1-5]: 2
Sore Areas: Calves

Comments
Well, that was hard. But I was kind of expecting it - I can't bike for 3 weeks straight and expect that to translate directly into being a running phenom. I was happy with my overall pace, even if I had to scale back the sprinting pace after the first few intervals. Won't lie - for the last 2 1/2 sets of intervals, I also hopped onto the rails for the last :05 of the sprint and the first :05 of the run, just so I could hit the numbers without falling on my face (and catch my breath...). That would have been ugly...

Saturday, July 13, 2013

2 mi. Run + Plyo + Arm/Back/Ab Tone [TIU]

Still a little disappointed that I has to miss my beach weekend, but I'm getting over it. Being super productive is helping - knocked out a bunch of things that had been lingering on my to-do list (sorry pup, but you were overdue for those shots!) and made substantial progress in the ongoing War on Dirt. And I even made it to the gym today! Wanted to hit it hard to make up for some of the slacking I've been doing recently, so I brought up this combo workout I adapted from ToneItUp's Stars and Stripes workout, throwing in their String Bikini workout for good measure, along with some ab work I made up on the fly.

Pre

Energy Level [1-5]: 4

Sore Areas: None!

Yesterday: None :/

Environment: Indoors, muggy

Workout
Equipment: Treadmill, Jump Rope, Resistance Band
Work Time: 60:00

Treadmill

Minutes	Speed: MPH	Incline: %	Total Distance (mi)
0:00 - 3:00	6.5	3.0	~ .3
3:01 - 5:00	7.5	3.0	~ .55
5:01 - 8:03	8.5	3.0	1.0
Plyometrics + Toning Routine
0:00 - 3:00	6.5	3.0	~ .3
3:01 - 5:03	7.5	3.0	~ .55
5:03 - 8:05	8.5	3.0	1.0
Plyometrics + Toning Routine
Total: 16:08	7.46 [avg]	3.0 [avg]	2.0

Plyometrics + Toning
1) 3:00 Jump Rope

Minutes	Jump Type
0:00 - 0:30	Double-Foot
0:31 - 1:00	Butt Kicks
1:01 - 1:30	High Knees
1:31 - 2:00	One-Leg [:15/side]
2:01 - 2:30	Butt Kicks
2:31 - 3:00	High Knees

2) String Bikini resistance band workout

Exercise	Reps
Side Lifts	20/side
Bicep Curls	7 full, 7 bottom half, 7 upper half
Reverse Flys	20
Triceps Flys	20
Lat Flys	20

3) 25 Burpees - 10 Pushup + 10 Half + 5 Reptile

4) Ab Toning

Exercise	Reps
45° Bicycle Kicks	20
Bicycle Crunches	20
'Tornado' Leg Lifts	2
Plank + Leg Lift	1:00 [20 lifts]
Side Plank + Dip + Top Leg Crunch	10/side
Plank Up-Downs	10
Side Plank + Twist + Lower Leg Crunch	10/side
Plank Tucks	30

Post
Energy Level [1-5]: 4
Stretch Time: 10:00
Total Time: 10:00

Day After
Sore Level [1-5]: 2
Sore Areas: Upper Back/Neck [probably unrelated]

Comments
At work early today so I didn't get as much sleep as I would have liked, but I'm not feeling too many adverse effects of this workout. Was definitely shaking throughout yesterday evening though. Next time I'm going to try to move a little quicker and fit in one more mile in the hour.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Walk - 3.25 mi.

I found out today that I have to miss my beach weekend because I have to actually be IN the office for the work I'm supposed to do Sunday morning. Not because what I have to do requires being in the office, but instead because my physical presence make some people feel better. So unnecessary. I guess I could just go up for Saturday, but it's a long drive and the car logistics are complicated and all these Cosmic Forces are just working against me. Needless to say, I'm unhappy. So I'm throwing 'should's to the wind and skipping my workout today. I don't have to be almost naked in public after all, so screw it. I'll make up the healthiness factor later this weekend when I'm alone and have nothing better to do.

It is slightly less hot out than it has been though, so I took the dog for a nice long walk. We went up the hill, around the capitol, walked on the grass, and came home. Runkeeper says the walk was 3.25 miles door-to-door, and it took us about an hour (with lots of stops to investigate security threats - like squirrels and bushes). I'll call it an 'active rest day'...

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

40:00 Bike

Feeling like crap today - don't want to work out at all, but I've been sucking recently and I have to be in a bikini this weekend so I'm going to suck it up.
Pre

Energy Level [1-5]: 2

Sore Areas: all the leg muscles

Yesterday: BodyPUMP

Environment: Indoors, hot, muggy, gross

Workout
Equipment: Stationary Bike
Work Time: 40:00
Program: Random
Level: 15

Minutes	Intensity: RPM	Distance Traveled : mi.
0:00-5:00	75-85
5:01-10:00	100 [20 sec] 35 [10 sec]	3.03
10:00 - 40:00	Repeat 0:00 - 10:00 x2	6.04 8.96 11.87
Total: 40:00	3:22/mi [avg]	11.87

Post
Energy Level [1-5]: 2
Stretch Time: 5:00
Total Time: 50:00

Day After
Sore Level [1-5]: 3
Sore Areas: Leg muscles (surprise)

Comments
Ugh this was hard. I wanted to cry like halfway through and give up and go home. I didn't, but I did slow down a bit. And I cut short my stretching because I was hot and tired and just did.not.want to be at the gym any longer. But at least I went, and didn't do too horribly. So that's something...

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

16:00 HITT

I have plans to go see a comedy show after work today (Second City - whoo Chicago!), so any exercise I got would be whatever I could wake myself up for and get done in the morning. However, I am the.worst. at getting up in the morning for workouts. I just can't seem to drag myself out of bed when I know there's sweating looming in my so very immediate future. The irony is that once I'm actually out of bed, it takes me about 8 seconds to be fully on top of my game. You think that would motivate me to get out of bed -- "just stand, you know you'll be ready to tackle anything if you just PUT YOUR FEET ON THE FLOOR" -- but it doesn't.

Boyfriend, however, is expect get-out-of-bed-er, and when I heard him getting *home* from his workout at 7AM, after waking up at 5:30 and only getting like 4 hours of sleep, and having worked out hard the day before, I was sufficiently guilted into standing. Unfortunately at that point I only had about 20 minutes to do something before I had to get ready for work, so I opted for a HITT-style workout. I say 'HITT-style' because this wasn't exactly "high intensity". While it did involve moving, and the timing was the same, I didn't have sufficient time to warm up so I wasn't exactly going all-out. But as I always say, something is better than nothing!

Pre

Energy Level [1-5]: 2

Sore Areas: Legs

Yesterday: BodyPUMP

Environment: Inside, early morning, barefoot

Workout
Equipment: none!
Work Time: 16:00

Minutes	Exercise
0:00 - 0:20	Lunges
0:30 - 0:50	Plank Tucks
1:00 - 4:00	Repeat 0:00 - 1:00 x3
4:30 - 4:50	Side Lunges
4:00 - 5:20	Side Plank + Toe Touches
5:30 - 8:30	Repeat 4:30 - 5:30 x3
9:00 - 9:20	Lying Upper Leg Lifts
9:30 - 9:50	Side Plank + Leg Lifts
10:00 - 13:00	Repeat 9:00 - 10:00 x3
13:30 - 13:50	Lying Lower Leg Lifts
14:00 - 14:20	Side Plank + Dips
14:30 - 17:30	Repeat 13:30 - 14:30 x3

Post
Energy Level [1-5]: 3
Stretch Time: 0:00
Total Time: 20:00

Day After
Sore Level [1-5]: 4
Sore Areas: All leg muscles!

Comments
I was just making this workout up as I went, but in retrospect I could have balanced the obliques vs. frontal abs situation better. Next time I'll try to remember to throw in more regular planks (+ variations) and less side planks. This is what happens when I attempt to formulate a workout first thing in the morning...

Monday, July 8, 2013

Body Pump

Whew... that was a Long Weekend. So many activities, so little time to lead a normal life. There was baseball and bbqs and a bar crawl and a yearly epic party, plus a last-minute going-away boozy brunch for a friend that's moving. I didn't have time (or energy) to put my laundry away, much less slip out for exercise.

So I had a whole hard workout planned for today -- one of my new cardio + toning routines -- but when I got to the gym early enough for BodyPUMP and there weren't a slew of people waiting I changed my mind. It's been awhile since I did any straight-up lifting [meaning - squats, bench press, bicep curls... none of the 3-exercises-in-one lunge-to-lift-to-twsit-to-curl stuff] so it seemed like a good idea.

I should really start factoring back in lifting days - I'm not entirely sure light toning between cardio sessions is really doing anything (or maybe it is! Variety is the spice of life after all). Because the moves tend to be complicated, I need to use the weights sized for the weakest muscle worked. Thus, I end up using 10 pound weights for squats because that move also involves a bicep curl and I can only do so many of those with 20 pound weights, and that 'so many' is not the 20-30 reps called for (it's more like 5. lez be honest).

Pre