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

I did CW this morning on 1 set of risers.

As for jean shopping, I buy to fit my largest body part and get them altered because I'm 5'2" and need assistance in that area. I should learn to sew, its just getting expensive!

I wish I had a pool to swim in that wasn't disgusting and populated by little kids (EWWWW)

Eats I usually have an egg pre run and some oatmeal post run. That is not a hard and fast rule though. I don't like to eat a lot because my tummy functions best when empty on a run. Or close to empty. Maybe just a slice of toast or nibbles of dried fruit. I take a bunch of water with me. I usually leave a strategic water bottle for me to grab on the way back from a jog. I tend to drink 2 16.9 oz. bottles.

You will discover after working the C-5k program that recovery is much easier and faster. I find myself below my THR on the IMAXes, after a blast, very quickly.

I do use my HRM on my jogs. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't work hard enough!:p

I'm going to see G-Force in 3D.

Alisha
 
Hi Everyone!

Wow...this weekend has gone by so fast. I forgot to post yesterday.

Saturday I did another swim of 100 laps. I'm swimming in a backyard pool so it's not an Olympic style pool so I'm guessing a lap is under 50m. The lady that owns the pool is a family friend so I have 24/7 access to it, if I want. I didn't really know I could swim 100 laps until I challenged her to swim. She has bad knees (probably needs them replaced) and needs to get exercise. So I told her that I would do 10x the laps she swims. Hmmm...not a good idea. First she did 6 so I did 60, then she did 10 and I did a 100. Then she did 16 and then 20 :confused:. The most I have done is 120 laps. I'm glad I motivated her but...not sure I can do 200 laps!!!

Today I did running drills at the track with bleacher runs mixed in. It was hot, humid and sunny but I got it done. This was an endurance workout. I'm really trying to get my endurance up in my 5K races. I do fine with mile 1 and 2 but I melt down on mile 3. This was a great workout. Then I came home and did PUB.

Janis ~ I'm glad the ankle is feeling better! :) Congrats on your run yesterday. I bargain with myself all the time when I run, especially on longer runs. I don't gauge my HR at all.

Christine ~ I don't eat anything special pre/post runs. If I'm running in the morning (or if I have a race) I'll eat 2 Kashi waffles, a banana and veggie sausage or just a bowl of cheerios and toast. In the afternoons, I usually have a protein bar and water. I have heard that chocolate milk is a great after run drink but I find it has tons of sugar. In the morning, post run, I'll have a protein shake and in the evenings I usually just have my normal dinner which is usually a protein, veggies and maybe some brown rice.

Waves hi to everyone else!
 
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lifeverlasting78 said:
Sydney- Did you get to run last night? I love going to walks on the days I don't run. I take my dog on nice long walks, she loves it

Got a Q for you runners... what do you eat pre/post runs? I eat pretty healthy and know the basics, but was wondering if there's any type of special "runners" food/snack that I may not know about that would enhance my performance or be perfect to re-fuel? Thanks!

Have a great night ladies!
Click to expand...

I didn't get the run in the night before last. I was walking then doing a slow jog every 50 yards or so...but not really running.

Today... I got in 3 miles.... It felt good. I was going for 6 miles but my head won out:mad: and I stopped after 3.

I read somewhere that drinking choc. milk post run was a good thing.... anyone else hear this?
 
Hi runners! :)

I'm so excited, I just got done with my first run of Week 3! I was nervous about it. It's funny because with the tracks I'm listening to, the guy said "Ok, get ready for your first 90 MINUTE run (!!)" I was like "Um...." ha ha. So I did my first 90 seconds, recovered, and then it was time for the 3 minutes. I figured I would do what I could and when I got going, I actually felt like I could go on forever!! :D :) I made it through both 3 minute runs and I feel great, hooray!

Janis, I don't use a HRM but really want one!!

Alisha, I'm 5'4 but wear flats so I too was have trouble finding jeans that are not too long! Do you have a "Fashion Bug" near you? Believe it or not, I found some pairs there that I really liked AND they were "petite style", so they were the perfect length, stopped just below the ankle! They have three different styles to choose from depending on your body type. Too bad the pairs I bought were like 8lbs ago, so now they're too big! :D :D

Skyy2 - I guess some kind of run is better than nothing, right? I've heard the chocolate milk suggestion too, but I don't like all the sugar in that either, especially since I am hypoglycemic. Too much sugar is not good for me, I will crash big time!

Thanks everyone for the suggestions about food, turns out I already eat most of what you've suggested, so I'm doing good! I love my eggs and oatmeal!!

Besides my run, I will do one of the Slim Series workouts later on today, just not sure which one yet.

Hellos to everyone! Have a great day!
 
I did a walk/jog this morning. I intended to run more but my heart rate was up so I just did what I could. I'm all congested and I don't know why. It is hot already! I met a nice lady who was out with her dog. Its always nice to meet new people, even if I am hot and sweaty. Lets be honest, by then I was drenched :p I did stretch max 1 afterwards. I have got to buy that dvd because its on my Tivo and I've fast forwarded through the same commercials like a 100 times. They are getting boring! :eek:

I saw G-Force yesterday, it was so cute. I liked it in 3D.

I hope that everyone is well today.

Alisha
 
Today was my HIIT sprint run day, and it was predictably brutal and awesome. Tomorrow I start Couch to 5k. I asked Tom Venuto about the possibility of my overtraining and he sent an email that basically said, "well, DUH!" It was really nice of him to take the time to respond and answer my question really thoroughly.
 
morningstar said:
Today was my HIIT sprint run day, and it was predictably brutal and awesome. Tomorrow I start Couch to 5k. I asked Tom Venuto about the possibility of my overtraining and he sent an email that basically said, "well, DUH!" It was really nice of him to take the time to respond and answer my question really thoroughly.
Click to expand...

First Karie and now you! Sheesh, I better get myself back over to the inner circle! Oh, wait, you said it was an email exchange... I'd like to read what he wrote, pretty please! I am glad you wrote him, I was just thinking this morning that you should talk to him, he is always so generous with his time. He really does like helping people behind the scenes instead of seeking the spot light.

I did CCV4 this morning, it took me forever to get the ipod situated and the HRM situated, either one or the other was acting up. I DO have a heart and a heart beat, but this morning the HRM was telling me I was dead. LOL. Well, I thought it was funny. My stats are for the run time, in addition I had three 5 minute warm ups...for a total exercise time of over an hour, but they're not included in this: 49:30minutes, 5.016 miles. I am glad I adjusted my workout zones, it feels right, and I pushed myself. I still can't get my heart rate any higher than 162-165, how in the heck am I going to max out??? I recover so fast, I am down in the green zone lickety split, it's a challenge to ever get in the red zone.

For the rest of the week, and while in DC I will be doing steady state runs. After next week I am going to work the sprints and intervals and try to get my heart rate up.

Hey, Alisha, I am going to be in Sac twice this week, it's a much easier airport to fly in and out of than SFO.

Sydney, congrats on your three mile run. I agree, it does feel really good.:)

Christine, I am 5'4' also. I struggle with finding the right length too! 3 minutes down! YAY. Pretty soon you'll run faster than the wind!

Speaking of jeans, any luck Morningstar?

Jane, such an inspiration. Wow sprint intervals, swimming & PUB. Plus challenging/inspiring your neighbor too, that is very kind. :D

Colleen, how is rehab going, have you started running yet?

Tricia - speak up I can't hear you.:D:D

Kathy G. - please share some of your HRM wisdom with me....will I be able to max out my heart on the treadmill, or do I have to drag my butt to the high school track?

I hope all and all have a great day.
 
Janis, Tom said (the article I referred to is at http://figureathlete.tmuscle.com/article/training/kiss_bodybuilding_workouts_goodbye&cr=):

Hi XXX(morningstar)

thanks for your email

am i reading your journal correctly,
that you do 60 minutes of sprint intervals
AND then 50 minute slower walk, ie 110 minutes total?

and then on tuesday 1 to two hours of strength circuit?

if so, then YEAH with a capital Y id reckon
you are overtraining; if not overtraining beyond
your physical capacity (some folks have amazing
endurance and energy), then definitely in
the sense that its more than you need, given
that dieatary manipulation can help you achieve
your caloric deficit with less time investment on
cardio.

let me put it this way: if you require that much
cardio to get leaner, its an indication that
you could be missing something on the nutritional
side, becuase fat loss is firstly a matter of
calorie deficit -

its entierly possible to be
doing tons of cardio, but putting most of
those calories back in from food (compensation)
so that your deficit is still very small at a higher
level of caloric intake. Its fine to have a
"high energy flux" program - high calorie
burn, high food intake, but youve said
in your own words you are experiencing
overtraining symptoms. so you might
work more on the lower end of your calorie
range 1700 or so rather than 2300 and back
off the cardio a bit --

its just a math
equation essentially, so fat loss can be
achieved with moderate amounts of cardio
if you accomodate the calories properly

suggestion: for someone who enjoys
training and has a fairly high exercise tolerance
you can certainly continue with 6 days a week
but id suggest 3 days on higher intenisty
cardio and keep them briefer: 30
minutes with very intense intervals, or
a short interval workout like 15 min
followed by 30-40 of slow cardio

and the other 3 days, medium or low intensity
cardio for the longer duration , as much
as 45 to 60 min

In any case, some form of intensity cycling
is important and I dont know many people
who need more than 45 - 60 min aday of cardio
even for peaking -- maybe in afew cases
at figure /fitness contest prep level,

i couldnt read the article, the link is dead and
i prefer avoiding that site, LOL, but i
could easily predict what it said
split routine and bodybuilding bashing is
popular these days

there is NOTHING wrong with split routines
for people with physique goals. There are
simply people who do not need split routines
like beginners or athletes for whom split
training doesnt make sense. There are also
folks followng muscle and fitness or flex mag type
routines of the pros who do not have the
pharmacological or genetic advanatages that
those pros have so it makes no sense
for those people to follow pro split routines.

but It makes TOTALsense for a bodybuilder or
phsyique athlete to use a split appropriately. Not all of
that sites authors bash split routines - check
out some of thibadeaus articles -he knows
how to make a split routine work

did you see the latest blog at www.burnthefatblog.com
doesnt answer your question directly but
its relevant in terms of intensity and overtraining issues

Your ambition and work ethic
are admirable! Make it a personal goal
to find the right balance between
volume/intensity and your recovery
ability and you'll optimze your results
while leaving the aches and pains
and minor illnesses behind


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tom Venuto
 
Thanks Morningstar!

He gave you great feedback! As for the article at figureathlete.com, the attitude of the writer was loathsome, I had a hard time with the condescension. Blech. That's why Tom is so refreshing -he is always positive, positive, positive. Anyway, I have wondered about whole body vs. split, and was planning on doing some variation of each when I come back. I certainly didn't know it was a heated topic for debate. With the exception of my legs, I could easily train one body part a week, STS style.

What are your goals, other than 20#'s, are you heading towards competing?

Hey - I forgot to share that my ds19 installed a chin up/pull up bar in the door of his room. Much to his surprise I did five pulls up and two chin ups. My first attempt, ever! Then he challenged me to do chin ups with my legs at a 45 degree angle - well - I failed that! I have been waiting for the power tower to start STS again, but with the bar installed, hey, I might start sooner than planned.

:D
 
Hi Everyone-
I am trying to do the C25K for the 3rd time, can I join? I say the 3rd time because it seems like everytime I try I get into week 2 and them have been injuring myself. I started back yesterday with Week 1. After reading the post from Lifeverlasting78 about the recordings on Cool Runnings that you can use, where your told when to walk and when to run, I downloaded week 1 and used it yesterday. It definitely made the time go by quickly. I am hoping to do it again tomorrow. On the days that you do not run, do you do any kind of cardio? If so what?
Thanks,
Sharon
 
Janis said:
What are your goals, other than 20#'s, are you heading towards competing?

Hey - I forgot to share that my ds19 installed a chin up/pull up bar in the door of his room. Much to his surprise I did five pulls up and two chin ups. My first attempt, ever! Then he challenged me to do chin ups with my legs at a 45 degree angle - well - I failed that! I have been waiting for the power tower to start STS again, but with the bar installed, hey, I might start sooner than planned.

:D
Click to expand...

a. with regard to competing, are you mad?????? Show myself in my skivvies for the world to see? Good lord, girl, I might have to shave or something!

b. Holy fantastic, batwoman! I am so impressed! Do you know, I can't do a single pull up or chin up? I have lots of strength, but for the life of me, those just don't seem possible- even the variations that are supposed to help you get there eventually are completely out of the question.
 
Janis said:
As for the article at figureathlete.com, the attitude of the writer was loathsome, I had a hard time with the condescension. Blech. :D
Click to expand...

I so agree. And yet everyone at Figure Athlete seems to think he's a god. I think he doesn't like women, and has chosen this way to get back at all of us!

I used to love full body workouts, and still do them when I've been missing workouts and need to get caught up, but I much prefer splits now. It just gives you that much more time to really work a body part to exhaustion. Now why does that sound like so much fun to me?
 
Any advice appreciated!

Hello everyone.

I hope it's not too late to join in...

I always wanted to run. Always admired those who can run hard, and long distances (or even jog for any extended period of time). I try to, on occasion. Today, for example, I ran/walked (best I can do right now) for 5.25 miles in under one hour. But I vary my workouts and jogging gets bumped a lot.
My problem is my breathing (the fact that it was 85 degrees and humid didn't help). I see people run who look like they are barely breathing hard. I have a tougher time. Red face, really sweaty, and looking like I ran two marathons. So the question is:

Any tips on a better way to breath? (Dumb question?)

Thanks.
Marcia
 
Marcia/Snowflaken

You are both welcome! Please feel free to post with us.

I use the C-5k program MWF and TTSat I do Cathe cardio usually. I do more cardio than some people because I have an insulin resistance problem and cardio makes it possible for me to eat some carbs. My rotation is a bit much for some but not so much for others. Also, sometimes my heart rate is up and I work with what I can do and sometimes its not a 28 minute jog, like to today I just did not have it in me. I worked in my THR, but man, I was just jogging for a few minutes here and there and mostly I hiked up those hills.

My rotation (if you care :p)
Sunday: Step Ckt (like LIC, CW or SJP)
M Jog, Stretch max
T Step steady state (like a cardio hit or RS)
W Jog, Stretch Max
T off or yoga
F Step interval workout (like low max or the Imaxes)
Sat Long jog (closer to 45 minutes to an hour with some walking, more steady state.)

I only do this 3 weeks per month. I do 4-DS once a month.

Alisha
 
morningstar said:
a. with regard to competing, are you mad?????? Show myself in my skivvies for the world to see? Good lord, girl, I might have to shave or something!

b. Holy fantastic, batwoman! I am so impressed! Do you know, I can't do a single pull up or chin up? I have lots of strength, but for the life of me, those just don't seem possible- even the variations that are supposed to help you get there eventually are completely out of the question.
Click to expand...

a. eegads! ROFLMAO!!!

b. me thinks you'd still take me down at arm wrestling! And before you ask, it is a vitally important skill :D
 
Hey ladies, mind if I jump in? I have been lurking here for a few days...

A bit about me... My name is Katie, 27 yo, married to my DH Chris and we have one son, Collin, 4.5 yo. I ran the first mile (like, running without stopping) of my life last November (08) and I was hooked. I am currently training for a half-marathon this November - just shy of my one year "anniversary."

M&M said:
Hello everyone.

I hope it's not too late to join in...

I always wanted to run. Always admired those who can run hard, and long distances (or even jog for any extended period of time). I try to, on occasion. Today, for example, I ran/walked (best I can do right now) for 5.25 miles in under one hour. But I vary my workouts and jogging gets bumped a lot.
My problem is my breathing (the fact that it was 85 degrees and humid didn't help). I see people run who look like they are barely breathing hard. I have a tougher time. Red face, really sweaty, and looking like I ran two marathons. So the question is:

Any tips on a better way to breath? (Dumb question?)

Thanks.
Marcia
Click to expand...

First of all, I would say that if you are breathing this hard, you are probably running too fast. On an "easy run" day, you should be able to carry on a conversation while running. On a harder day (speed work or tempo run) you would be breathing harder, but I don't think that's what you are going for. I would definitely work to build endurance in your running before adding speed work!

I just finished reading a book called The Complete Book of Running for Women that recommended this for breathing...

(for easy runs)

left inhale
right inhale
left inhale
right exhale
left exhale

(for hard runs/speed work)

left inhale
right inhale
left exhale

So in the first example, as your foot strikes the pavement, inhale for three steps and then exhale for two. You always want to use this 3:2 or 2:1 ration so you don't overstress one leg (because the leg that strikes the pavement when you exhale absorbs the most shock).

Hope that helps! I'll continue checking in when I can!
 
So, today was my first foray into the exciting world of Couch to 5K. And you know what? I didn't hate it!

Being me, and being incapable of just doing a workout as it was intended, I had to mess with it a bit. I did a longer warm up (I find that I really prefer a longer warm up, especially when I have DOMS like I did today!) rocking to Prince, and then I did Week 1, Workout 1. And then I did it again. Then I finished off with an extra long cool down and stretch for 20 minutes, listening to some favourite songs of my own.

I did the extra 8 intervals because I really felt that I needed more of a challenge, and with the long recovery times and slower pace, I didn't feel that I couldn't handle it.

I was more impressed with the podcasts than I expected to be, knowing that it wasn't a professional doing them, like Sean O'Malley. I liked the music quite a lot, and the cuing was mostly pretty good.

Here's the stats for the total workout, including 10 minute warm up and 15 minute cool down (but not the stretch): 69 minutes, max heart rate 94%, average heart rate 79%, calories burned 936.
 
Alisha,
Thanks for the welcome! I will periodically check in, let you know if there's been any progress.

And Katie,
Thank you for the breathing advice. I'll try that the next time. I guess I sounded like I was gasping for air. I wasn't really... just that sometimes I feel it's not in sync, and I feel out of breath. But some days are better than others. I'll try slowing it down a bit, see if that helps. Your tips will certainly come in handy. One more question though... is it necessary to breath in through your nose and out through your mouth? Does it make a difference, or is it not that important? Seems like you've made great progress, so look forward to more advice!

Thanks again,
Marcia
 
Hi Marcia! Welcome to the group! I actually try and breath the way Katie (Collinsmom)outlined in her post and I find it does really help to control the breathing. I actually breath in every three steps and exhale every three. Sometimes I breath a bit harder and adjust accordingly. I breath in through my nose and out the mouth. I find that if I don't, my throat can get sore. I don't know if you "have to" breath that way though. I laughed when you said you see people who are running that barely look like they're breathing because it's so true!! I wonder if I'm doing something wrong, LOL. I exhale really hard, so I wonder what people around me think of me, ha ha. Good luck with getting back into your walk/jog/runs!

Hi Katie! Welcome! How many miles is 1/2 marathon? Good luck with your training!

Morningstar - yay on your first C25K run! I'm glad you liked it. Before you know it, you will be hooked on endurance running. ;)

Janis, I'm glad your heart rate monitor was wrong yesterday (no heart beat?!) :p Are you going to DC for business?

No run for me today. I did Turbo Jam Cardio Party. That one is so much fun, yet a good workout at the same time!

Hellos to Alisha and everyone in the group! Have a great run/day today! :)
 
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