Spring Training

Wicked good workout today, especially for a Friday and given that I either have allergies or a bit of a Spring cold going on. I felt unusually motivated as I walked through the doors of World's and out of the cold, dreary, wet March air and started today's workout with a solid run. I desperately want to run a 5k this spring. I think if I can pull it off, I will prove to myself that I can finally call myself a runner after all these months of practice. Last Sunday, I pulled off 5k on the treadmill clocking in at 34.5 minutes. I do have to admit thought that I did walk 4 of those minutes (2 to warm-up and 2 separate 1-minute drink breaks during). Today I was only going to do a 20 minute run but as I got going I decided to try and hit the 5k mark again. I wanted to beat my time so I started with a 1-minute warm-up at a 3.0 incline and then amped up the speed from 4.0 to 6.0. I thought I'd be able to do it in around 30 minutes but as I quickly overheated, I allowed myself two separate 1.5 minute water/walk breaks which dragged down my time. In the end I clocked in a 33.5 minutes so at least I improved! When I slowed it down to a snail's pace to cool down afterward I got really nauseous but luckily that passed quickly. Going forward, my new goal is not to see how many minutes I can run like it has been in the past but rather to see how far I can go. Then when I can comfortably do say 3.6 miles (the distance of the Back Cove path) without stopping then I will concentrate on improving my time. 

After my run and after a good stretch sesh on the mats I embarked on a chest & back workout. I started with lat pull-downs (3 sets of 12) and then did free weight chest presses on a stability ball (3 sets of 12). Lastly came back extensions while holding a 10-lb plate to my chest. I started with a set of 12 reps, then 10 and then 8. Even though this is supposed to work your lower back, I always feel it in my hamstrings more than anything because of the way your feet rest against the footrest. After a solid legs workout at Planet on Wednesday and today's run, my hamstrings are hating on me! 

For abs today I did incline crunches (2 sets forward and 2 sets side-to-side). The first two sets were of 20 reps but I was using the bench with the rounded pads (there was a super creep on the bench I usually use who I wanted to avoid) which hurt my legs so I only lasted to 16 reps for the 2nd two sets. Lastly, I did 3 sets of 8 stability ball push-ups, using the bosu ball for my hands on the first two sets. These are still ridiculously hard. I was shaking so much after my first set that I fell off on my first attempt on a 2nd set (super embarrassing!) but after a breather I was successful on my 2nd try. I guess I shouldn't be too embarrassed about it seeing as no one else was trying it! 

That's all for today's workout. I'm seriously exhausted at this point so I better get some good zzz's before tomorrow's St. Patty's day festivities! Tomorrow's workout will definitely not involve any leg activity so they can get some much needed rest. Perhaps an ab-focused session will be needed so that the green beer doesn't go straight to my gut!