Novice runners NEW CHECKIN!!!! (sorry for yelling.)

[morningstar]

Here was today's sprint interval workout:

• Warm up 10 minutes
• (6) :20 level 3-4 sprint | :40 recovery
• (6) :20 level 3-4 sprint | :40 recovery
• (6) :20 level 3-4 sprint | :40 recovery
• 2 minutes walking
• (3) 1:00 level 3 sprints | 1:00 recovery
• 2 minutes walking
• (4) :10 level 4 sprints | :30 recovery
• (4) :10 level 4 sprints | :30 recovery
• (4) :10 level 4 sprints | :30 recovery
• Cool down 10 minutes
• Stretch 20 minutes

Wow! What an awesomely brutal HIIT workout! It looks so easy and innocent when it's written down, but I gave it everything I had for every sprint. I have been told that my sprint interval workouts in the past aren't true HIIT, but there is no doubt whatsoever that this one sure was!

Here's the stats:

Including 20 minutes of warming up and cooling down, I burned 739 calories (my HRM has gone on a drunken bender and has decided that I am an elite athlete and is calculating calorie burn higher than it used to). My average hart rate was 82% of max (again, including warm up and cool down) and my max heart rate was 98% of max. Even after 10 minutes of very slow walking to cool down, my heart rate was still at 70% of max, and my face was still beet-red. Even the stretch afterwards kept my heart rate somewhere between 57 and 65 of max.

 

[lifeverlasting78]

Kathy G - A 24 hour run?? Wowie!! Okay, define a 24 hour run for me, is it straight through?? Probably a silly question p), but thought I'd ask. Either way, congrats on the 50 miles!

Alisha - I'm still on Week 2 of the program, I have my last run tomorrow. I still get nervous at the thought of starting Week 3. Was it tough to go from only running 90 seconds to 3 minutes!?

Imfiddy - No laughing here! I started by walking my dog too. Each day we'd go a bit farther and after about 6 weeks or so we were going 3-3.5 miles. That's when I decided to start the Couch to 5K program. Good for you for even getting out there with your knee injury! Each day you'll get stronger and before you know it, 100ft will turn into a lot more! Keep it up!

Lioness - I can definitely see how running can become an addiction! I think it's more tough for me mentally because it scares me. I don't know why, but like you I just keep pushing and see how far my feet can take me!

Janis- How is your ankle today? I hope you're feeling better! Slim in 6 is a 6 week program created by Beachbody that is meant to slim you all over. There are 3 DVD's that you use 6x per week for the full 6 weeks. They're total body workouts that use low weights (or no weights) with very high reps and work the same body parts everyday. The idea is to slightly overtrain the muscles to slim them down, but no recovery time to prevent muscle "growth". It's definitely for toning and not bulking. I had awesome results on this program and have since started the advanced follow-up series called "Slim Series".

Pepnchar- How many miles do you run for the Turkey Day Marathon? Sounds like it's a pretty long race since you're taking 16 weeks to train. That's awesome that you've done a lot of races already! I am looking forward to my first 5K!

Skyy2 - Thanks for serving our Country!! How many miles per day do you run?

Morningstar - WOW, are the #'s in paranthesis the amount of times you repeat each interval before moving on? That's awesome! I have to say that sprints scare me. I picture myself with a major headache and barfing after that, LOL. However, I'd love to start sprinting slowly and work my way up after my C25K program is over. I don't want to do it now for fear of running too much at this point. I'd say that's HIIT for sure!

No run today, I do my runs on M/W/F. Today I did Slim Series "Shape it Up" followed by a long stretch with Slim & Limber. I may take the dog out for a walk a little later, it depends because it's awfully hot & humid today!

Nice to meet everyone!

 

[morningstar]

Morningstar - WOW, are the #'s in paranthesis the amount of times you repeat each interval before moving on? That's awesome! I have to say that sprints scare me. I picture myself with a major headache and barfing after that, LOL.

Zigactly! The numbers in the brackets are the number of times you repeat each sprint- so, 18 20-second sprints, 3 one-minute sprints and 12 10-second sprints. I'll tell ya, I was swearing profusely (yeah, that's not a typo- I said swearing, not sweating!) all the way through the 1-minute sprints- I just hate them!

 

[Janis]

July 23

Didn't run today. My ankle is still swollen and my knees are cranky. I seem to be having weird circulatory issues. My calves were huge last night, it turned out to be edema too. They're back down to their normal size this morning, thank god because I was getting obsessed last night... ONE inch in size from last night to this morning! One inch!!!!

I thought I would lay low today, I'm going to do some re-hab type exercises, hopefully that will help, that way I will be in better shape for my very last STS disc tomorrow and CCPP Saturday.

I feel sort of guilty and disappointed. It'll pass though.

 

[cocob1]

Is it too late to join your check in? I just got clearance from my PT to start a running program today.
I have to start all over. I'd love to have a place to help keep me motivated. I thought I'd introduce myself and not just lurk.
Colleen

 

[RapidBreath]

Colleen,

Welcome! Its not too late at all. All of us have different distances we are training for so it really does not matter.

Alisha

 

[morningstar]

Didn't run today. My ankle is still swollen and my knees are cranky. I seem to be having weird circulatory issues. My calves were huge last night, it turned out to be edema too. They're back down to their normal size this morning, thank god because I was getting obsessed last night... ONE inch in size from last night to this morning! One inch!!!!

I thought I would lay low today, I'm going to do some re-hab type exercises, hopefully that will help, that way I will be in better shape for my very last STS disc tomorrow and CCPP Saturday.

I feel sort of guilty and disappointed. It'll pass though.

Yikes! That sounds really uncomfortable. Could it have anything to do with sodium? I also find lately that I blow up like a balloon with lots of carbs.

 

[Janis]

Yikes! That sounds really uncomfortable. Could it have anything to do with sodium? I also find lately that I blow up like a balloon with lots of carbs.

Weird huh~!

I think I created the perfect-edema-storm: TOM+sitting too long +salted popcorn+bittersweet chocolate+hot weather=swollen extremities. Any one of these is known to make me retrain water.

The last time my ankles/calves blew up like that was after an international flight. YIKES. Makes me worried about next weeks flight to DC.

I think I better lay off the popcorn!

 

[morningstar]

cheating by copying from my blog...

So, today's workout was a bit wishy washy at first, and then I got my act together and had a great one. Here's the specs: I started out expecting to do another HIIT run and did my warm up by power walking. But as I was walking, I started thinking about how everyone said not to do a HIIT workout two days in a row. So I decided to do a power walking workout only. Now, I hate power walking. I find it boring, and my short little oompa loompa legs can never really seem to get going enough to raise my heart rate to 80% of max, even. So, after 15 minutes of power walking, I decided to do a fun run.

Here's my version of a fun run (I'm pretty sure I'm alone in finding this fun, but that's okay!):

• Keep an eye on your heart rate monitor.
• Power walk to warm up
• Once you're warmed up, keep your heart rate between 80 and 90% of max.
• When your heart rate hits 80%, run at a fun pace until either your heart rate hits 90% or you are fatiguing even a bit and it's not fun anymore.
• Power walk again until your heart rate lowers to 80% again, and start all over.
• Do it for half an hour, not including warm up or cool down
• Cool down by walking sloooowwwwwly

What's a fun pace? The pace at which you are enjoying the run- the stride that makes you feel like you're flying, and that you have so much energy and are just loving running. It's not usually an intense pace and the idea is to really enjoy the run, not so much to cover a lot of distance or be very fast. This is not a HIIT workout (not intense enough, the intervals are longer and much less fluctuation in heart rate) and is probably as close as I will ever get to a steady state cardio workout.

So, here's the stats for this fun run; the stats include the 15 minute wishy-washy warm up and a 10 minute cool down:

Total time: 56 minutes
Average heart rate: 77%
Max heart rate: 93%
Calories burned: 664 (remember the weirdness that is my HRM, though)

 

[morningstar]

Weird huh~!

I think I created the perfect-edema-storm: TOM+sitting too long +salted popcorn+bittersweet chocolate+hot weather=swollen extremities. Any one of these is known to make me retrain water.

The last time my ankles/calves blew up like that was after an international flight. YIKES. Makes me worried about next weeks flight to DC.

I think I better lay off the popcorn!

Instead of salt on the popcorn, try garlic - it is just amazing and actually good for you!

 

[RapidBreath]

I did low max on 1 set of risers blasts 1-6. My left ankle felt odd so I skipped blast 7. 42 min in THR. Calories 639. I always get swollen on flights, it has to do with the change in air pressure (I think.) Tomorrow should be a longer jog, more steady state than intervals, although I really can't avoid the hills

 

[morningstar]

It was easier to get up than I expected, I was up at 4:45 am and out the door by 5:05 am.

I used to get up and work out at 3:45am - it was really easy, because my head was still asleep and didn't realize what was going on until it was too late and I was already working out! I didn't give my brain a chance to say "what the hell????" and talk me out of it. I just did what I got used to doing in the morning- kicking butt!

 

[morningstar]

In the beginning when I first started adding some running, I could only do about 15 seconds. It took me a long time to work up to 25 minutes but now, its weird, I feel like I could go forever (providing I have water and a snack.)

So how did you get from there to here? I would love to learn the secret of loving endurance runs. I looooovvvvve sprints, but the thought of going longer than say, 1 minute, makes me very unhappy....

 

[morningstar]

Apparently I have a lot to say today! What exactly is "couch to 5k"? I can sort of figure it out from the name, but can anyone give me deets?

 

[morningstar]

Slim in 6 is a 6 week program created by Beachbody that is meant to slim you all over. There are 3 DVD's that you use 6x per week for the full 6 weeks. They're total body workouts that use low weights (or no weights) with very high reps and work the same body parts everyday. The idea is to slightly overtrain the muscles to slim them down, but no recovery time to prevent muscle "growth".

Really? They built a program that deliberately prevents muscle growth? They were deliberately trying to create a skinny body with no muscle? Why?

 

[Janis]

July 24

Hi Ladies and Welcome Colleen!

Colleen, rehab is all about patience and baby steps isn't it!?

Alisha - what's up with the ankles!? I really have no idea how I tweaked mine, but I suspect I was a wee bit too enthusiastic doing Plyo legs last week, and then I aggravated it over and over. (dumb.)

Morningstar - Wow your sprints are a calorie furnace!

Today was my very last STS disc. Time sure flies. I mentioned it to my dh today, and he said, "well, you look pretty cut." (he doesn't like the 'cut' look) What I wanted to hear was "Hey that's great, sticking with something for three months is a challenge in itself."

My ankle looks better today, I'm back to wearing my Nike Free's 24/7.

Who ran today?

I have a question, I need to chart a couple of routes for when I take my running outside for longer runs. Should I invest in a Garmin Forerunner? My runs would have to be off road, so I'm thinking I might need this device to determine how far I run.

 

[morningstar]

Hi Ladies and Welcome Colleen!

Colleen, rehab is all about patience and baby steps isn't it!?

Alisha - what's up with the ankles!? I really have no idea how I tweaked mine, but I suspect I was a wee bit too enthusiastic doing Plyo legs last week, and then I aggravated it over and over. (dumb.)

Morningstar - Wow your sprints are a calorie furnace!

Today was my very last STS disc. Time sure flies. I mentioned it to my dh today, and he said, "well, you look pretty cut." (he doesn't like the 'cut' look) What I wanted to hear was "Hey that's great, sticking with something for three months is a challenge in itself."

My ankle looks better today, I'm back to wearing my Nike Free's 24/7.

Who ran today?

I have a question, I need to chart a couple of routes for when I take my running outside for longer runs. Should I invest in a Garmin Forerunner? My runs would have to be off road, so I'm thinking I might need this device to determine how far I run.

Congrats on your cut look and sticking to STS- I did all but the last week. I'll get to it at some point! I am coveting a Garmin Forerunner 305 right now- if you get it, let me know so I can convert my covetedness to outright jealousy!

 

[lifeverlasting78]

Hi Colleen, it's nice to meet you! I bet you were thrilled to get clearance for running again! Why did you need PT?

Morningstar - Sounds like another killer run today! At least you're keeping it fun for yourself! I love your quote "the stride that makes you feel like you're flying, and that you have so much energy and are just loving running." I've felt that way, it's awesome!! I really want a HRM to see how many calories I'm burning. My pedometer tells me but I'm not sure how accurate it is.

Couch to 5K is a program designed to take you from the Couch to running a 5K in 9 weeks. Each week has a different walk/run interval. I just finished Week 2 today and it went like this: Warm-up/Stretch 6 min, Run 90 seconds/Walk 2 minutes (repeat 6 times), Cool Down 5 minutes. Each week the times you run/walk increase/decrease to get you ready to run the 5K by Week 9.

Maybe I used the wrong terms to describe Slim in 6 (sorry if I did!), but it's definitely not meant to just get you "skinny" with no shape. Actually there are SI6 graduates in the videos and they are quite shapely, really toned. It's designed much like "freestyle" training. It really slims you down/tones you up, with no bulking.

Alisha, how is your ankle feeling? WOW, only the first 6 intervals of Low Max burns over 600 calories?? How about the whole workout? I had no idea. I don't own that one but have done it with FitTV.

Janis, I'm glad your ankle is better! Congrats on finishing STS! Sticking with something for 3 months IS a huge deal, you should be proud of yourself! And I'm sorry, I don't know what a Garmin Forerunner is. I'm sure the other ladies will help you out!

Hello to everyone else!

Today I did my last C25K run of Week 2. I did it in the afternoon because I couldn't make it out in the morning. It was rough with the humidity being very high here today, but I made it through! I also did "Keep it Up" from the Slim Series.

Have a great weekend!

 

[Skyy2]

Hi Ladies!!

no running for me today. I did a 2 mile walk with the baby. I may get on the treadmill later today. After everyone goes to bed, i may run 2 miles then turn in.

 

[lioness]

Hi Everyone,

No running for me today. I swam 110 laps today. It's a nice change from running and a great cardio workout.

I hope every has a great evening!