Form vs Function

Yesterday I was acting like some kind of purist. I had a nice 5.5 mile run without injury or incident, though I did get bored with the podcast about yoga and switched to a bunch of songs. After that I focused on 'high quality' pushups, crunches (upper and lower), tricep dips, and those side crunch things - 50 each. And I probably ate carefully most of the day.

Today is all about variety and ignoring the shower! I did two sets of 25 each of all this stuff: mountain climbers; lower/upper ab crunches on the bench; double plie squats with weights at top and chest level; light weights shoulder raise in three positions; standing side abs; squat jumps with shoulder lift; tricep extensions; lower ab crunches on bench; balance lunges; burps; bicep curls; upright rows; standing back rows; box jumps; bicycles; chest pulls; shoulder press; tricep pulls.

The doctor is running all over Chicago.

A Tarp to Keep the Grass Dry!

This was the usual sightseeing 4.5 mile run with no other activities. I stopped for a gigantic piece of plastic which was helping to protect these plants from rain and maybe even cook em a little in the beating sun. Clever!

Some Random Arm and Ab Exercises

I can't even describe them, but they all came from the latest issue of Fitness magazine, plus a bunch of burpee and mountain climber and jumping jack and prisoner jump sets just to keep myself awake. Did em all, took nap.

and now we start increasing the mileage...

What a difference a week makes!

Last weekend WS and I ran at 7am.  It was already blazingly hot and we had worked up a sweat just standing outside!

Today, we started our run at 6:30am.  For those of you who don't know me, I am not a morning person.   In order for me to be ready to run at 6:30, I need to get up at 5:15 so that I have enough time to eat my peanut butter toast and have coffee and more importantly to DIGEST said pb toast and coffee.  5:15!  AM!  

I was in a deep, almost comatose sleep when my blaring alarm terrifyingly woke me up (I use the tone on the iPhone that sounds like an air raid signal, you know the one I am talking about)!  After my heart rate returned to normal, I checked the weather channel app (yes, I know last post I said I didn't believe them anymore, but I have nothing else to go by) to see if would even need a shirt or if I could just run in my jog bra.  Imagine my shock when I saw that the temperature was only 51 degrees!!  This is HALF the temperature that we have seen in the previous weeks!  For a brief moment, I actually contemplated wearing my running capris, but then I settled on shorts and a LONG SLEEVED running shirt.

We have started increasing mileage, so today was a 12 mile run.  What a fantastic run!  My legs haven't felt this strong in a long time.  It is SOOOOO much easier to run in cool weather.  Unfortunately, I don't hold out much hope that it will be cool on marathon day...but hey, I can hope!

And now, it is time for a NAP!!!!!

And the Kitchen Sink!

I'm sure I showed you this before, but it never gets old: the banana peel I did not slip on.

Ran something like 5.5 miles (took some detours for shade and scenery and water, so it's not exactly as the crow flies), picked peppers and hung out with the birthday cat...

Then I did two times through twenty five each of the following:
ab crunches (lower and upper, on bench)
two plies as light weights meet overhead and at chest level
shoulder raise in three positions, light weights
side abs, light weights
squat jumps with shoulder lifts, light weights
tricep extensions, light weights
lower ab crunches on the bench
balance lunges, light weight
bicep curls with heavy band
upright rows with heavy band
tricep dips on the bench
bicycle (abs) on the bench
chest pulls with heavy band
shoulder press, each arm, with heavy band

Run and Abs and Pushups

It was important to take Wednesday night off because I could barely think anymore. I considered a nap, did not consider laser tag, did consider a movie, but ended up chatting in the hot tub for a few hours and then getting some food. HA HA HA!

Here is a hole I did not fall into. I am more likely to trip on a completely flat surface.

But tonight I did the simple approach (again because my brain is too fried to think of anything else) with a 4.5 mile run plus (25 at a time) one hundred pushups and two hundred various ab crunches. Then salad and Olympics and part of a movie.

More hills!

You may be asking yourself "WHAT hills?"  And you would be justified in asking that question.   It does make hillwork difficult when you live in the flat lands of Chambana.  So, you have to be creative in finding hills.  You also have to stretch the definition of "hill."  I have attempted to do hillwork on the treadmill.  While you do get the sensation of going uphill, you don't get to experience the downhill (and if you have ever run hills, you know that the downhill is tough on your knees and requires as much training as the uphill).

Today WS and I ran the ramps at Memorial Stadium.  There were three separate ramps that went up the stadium and we ran each one twice.  This was much steeper than the parking garage we ran last week.  We were both sucking wind by the end of it, but the goal for next time is to run each ramp THREE times.

It is amazing how much more energy you have on a run when it is not blazingly hot outside!  What a treat it was to do the warm up and cool down run with an overcast sky and a cool breeze blowing!!

By the end of the run I was singing James Brown "I feel good!"  WS was trying to conquer her allergies and was strong of leg but short of breath.  Let's Australia doesn't have the same allergens.