And it begins

Just got back from my first "official" training run! I did it with my friend Christine from Crossfit, we went 4.25 miles around the waterfront and up to Capitol Hill then back down to the waterfront to stretch and listen to an awesome English cover band at Yards Park. How did we not know that there are concerts there every weekend? There's also an adorable fountain for kids to play in. Though to be perfectly honest I was so sweaty and thirsty I wanted to hop in. 

Now I'm just sitting here hanging out, I really want to leave the apartment but not sure what's going on tonight. For now I will just enjoy the view. 

Not much today

The biggest thing today was mapping out my distance based training plan and realizing that I was two days behind! Whoops! I couldn't run today because I hadn't planned it out and was too busy at work to dip out and had a commitment after work, so I will do today's 4 miler tomorrow. So glad I ran yesterday! But the good news is that I have it all on a calendar, that is printed out with some motivating quotes and pictures and I think I am ready to rock. 

Good Idea, Bad Idea

Good Idea - Running home 3.5 miles from the gym after Crossfit. 
Bad Idea - Running in my New Balance barefoot shoes which I've only run 2 miles in up until now. 


My Crossfit buddy Christine and I are trying to lose some weight. I know cardio is what does it for me, but it's kind of hard to fit it in, or so I thought. Yesterday, on the metro home from the gym, she recommended we run home. We ran for probably about 70% of it but obviously walked quite a bit. It was much prettier, and we got home at almost the exact same time. If we had run the entire thing (read, if my legs weren't still killing me from Monday) we would have been home even sooner. That being said, running home from the gym is now on the menu. Plus, I got to wear my Spibelt for the first time, big fan, it flipped and bounced a little bit, but I think I have it under control now. 


Today's workout was shoulder press 3@70%, 3@80%, and 3(3@90%) I used 70# for my 90%. Interspersed with that was a series of lunges to increase strength in our adductors so we're all better at squatting! Then the met con was 50 Burpees. Sucksville. I was the last to finish at 4:35. Farewell self confidence from yesterday. I hate burpees. But I love the view from my balcony. 

In other news I've decided to go with a milage based training plan. Now I just have to find one. Sorry Active.com. I'm more sorry I paid $40 thinking that the Marine Corps would know best when it came to picking an official training plan for their marathon. Disappointed. 

Feelin' Good About Myself

Work was sort of meh today, but I did manage to say no to free pizza, so yay for small victories. I also started downloading, read copying into an excel spreadsheet because I'm a little crazy, my marathon training plan now that I figured out where to get it. I'm not too thrilled with it, it uses times instead of distances and I'm not sure how I feel about that, will I get enough long runs before the real deal? I'm expecting to finish in about  5 hours and the longest "long run" in the plan is 4. There will have to be a great deal of mental fortitude build up before then. 


I did not make it to the pool this morning, I woke up on time, but my throat was sore and I could barely move after yesterday's lunges. So I slept in instead and was a little late to work, whoopsie!


After work I passed out on the couch for a bit (I also turned down happy hour so another point for me!) and had to do some self talk to get up and go to Crossfit, I'm so glad I did! It was a good work out, muscle up progression (I'm so very far from a real one) and a met con with snatches, which I'm good at so I like them, I even got a compliment from one of the new trainers. The WOD was 4x 12 DB snatches (25#), 5 pull-ups, and a 200m run. I finished in 11:20, was one of the first girls done and then helped out by calling out times for everyone who finished after me. My legs were super sore from lunges, but it would have been worse tomorrow if I didn't do anything today. 


Seeing as it's already 2220, I don't think I'm even going to attempt getting up to swim in the AM. It takes me forever to fall back asleep because I'm reasoning with myself the whole time and then when I do it's time to get up for work so I snooze through that alarm. What is the magic to make sleep better?!?!?

Case of the Mondays

Once again had trouble getting up this morning, probably had something to do with being up until midnight finishing lunches and snacks for the week from my Green Grocer box, and that had to do with the nap I took, and that had to do with being up until 4 on Saturday night after going out on U Street, I see where the problems arise and yet I do little to change them. It was a fantastic weekend and even a productive one. I bought patio furniture for the balcony so I can actually enjoy it out here, and it's where I'm sitting right now.


I also wasn't in a huge hurry because I knew my morning would be taken up with proctoring the PFA for a few people, that took from 0830-1100, and I didn't have to wear my uniform, so that was awesome. Instead I got to sit at Gravelly Point watching planes land and waiting for people to finish the mile and a half run.

Back at work we discovered that I was on duty for FEP, so it's a good thing I had brought my PT uniform "just in case" and worn real shoes instead of flip flops. Only three people showed up and I had them do a modified Crossfit workout that I did in Iraq, prescribed is 1,000 reps, but I knocked it down to 500 for the day of air squats, pushups and sit-ups, however many you want to do of each as long as it adds up to 500. It took me 19:26 I think, then we did some abs and called it a day.


While I was at my desk I was super busy after having pretty much all week off for travel and conferences, so the day FLEW by, I love being busy because 1. I actually feel like a contributing member of society and 2. it makes the day go by quickly. 


Tonight was Crossfit, which I missed last week, and apparently some people missed me as well which is good to know. We started with back squats, 3@70%, 3@80%, and 3x3@90%. Today my 90% was 140#, which isn't too bad considering. The met con was 200m of overhead lunges with 25# then 10 double unders for however many times you had to put the weight down. I finished in 17:52, not the best, not the worst, I was just mad the longest string of DUs I had was 8, I had them so well, and I've lost it again. 


Ah well, at least I worked out twice today. That's the plan tomorrow as well, I'm going to go swim in the morning, if I can get my lazy ass out of bed then crossfit at night, or go to happy hour with work people, still figuring that part out. I'd love to get back into two-a-days, especially if I want to keep doing Crossfit while I train for this marathon. 


Speaking of, I'm still waiting on the training plan I bought from them, but I'm considering switching to a heart rate based plan if I can find one, my google queries have been pretty fruitless so far. 

First Real Run

Thanks to my friend Nikki I got up and went for a run. Not a great run. 4.81 miles took 1:05. But at least I ran. I haven't gotten my training plan from Marine Corps Marathon, so if it doesn't arrive soon I'm going to switch to a heart rate plan. 

Catch up

Thursday - Took the night off to go see the Taming of the Shrew with a couple friends, I had a great plan to run at work, but the day turned out to be incredibly hectic and I was lucky to get out of there before 5pm. I walked to dinner, then over to the Folger Theater and finally home, doesn't really count, but it's better than nothing. The only thing that could have made the evening better would be understanding Shakespeare.

Friday - I started the day early with a trip to the optometrist. I'm on my last pair of contacts, he wouldn't write a prescription because I was a new patient and I had to get a full exam, including dilating my pupils, I didn't have sunglasses so I got to wear the sweet roll up ones they give away.

Looking really cool. 

I also went to the Pentagon to get a brief on the kind of physical testing they can do, I'm planning on doing lactate testing so I can get a better bead on my optimal heart rate for marathon training. After that is was back to working from home, when the storms rolled in.

I thought this was raining hard.

Then it was raining REALLY REALLY HARD!!!

Almost didn't make it Crossfit due to MASSIVE thunderstorms, but the rain let up enough to get to the metro. Unfortunately, it was raining when I got off, and the WOD involved running outside, not the funnest workout ever. In fact it was so unfun that it was just one other guy and me, running around the block by yourself kind of sucks, there's no one to pace off of and in the rain there's no one to help if you slip and fall and break your leg.
1000m run, 30 Handstand pushups (I used a 32 inch box to scale), 1000m row - 14:43 - I'm pretty sure that was the time, it was a couple days ago now so I'm going off memory. I was pretty stoked that I did the 1000m row in 4:20, I think that was a record for me.

Saturday - AMAZING WOD! We had a fundraising event at the gym for Muscular Dystrophy and as a farewell to my favorite coach. He's moving to Oregon to start his own gym and I'm bummed. Anywho, they made up a workout in his honor:
"Quint"
5 rounds for time
1 Squat Snatch
2 Overhead Squats
3 Power Snatches
4 Power Cleans
5 Jerks/Push Press
115/75 Pounds
I went in the first round using 45# and finished in 6:27, it was challenging, but I felt like I could have done better, my friend Christine agreed and so we decided to go again. This time I used 65# and finished in 4:26!!!! Twenty more pounds and took off 2 minutes, not bad, but then I was upset that I didn't use the prescribed weight. The overhead squat is my limiter on this one, I think I would have been darn close to the best time if I had used the full weight. Oh well, next time.

Last night my office went to a benefit for the Red Cross as some token people in uniform. It was a the National Portrait Gallery which is attached to the American Art Museum. Here's some modern art. It was a night of ridiculously rich women, who got drunk and danced. But they were all very nice and grateful for our service. After that we went out on H Street which was pretty darn fun. Stayed out way too late, but great times.






Sunday - I was supposed to go for a long run with my friend Nikki, but she broke her wrist on a bike ride Saturday, so the run was out. Instead the group we ant out with last night went for brunch! Then I headed up to Baltimore for a fundraiser for the Baltimore Police Department, it was all you could eat crab! I learned how to get the meat out of a crab and everything. Now I'm packing for my work trip to San Diego! And it's my birthday tomorrow. I'm usually way more excited, but 27 is a big one.