Running and cutting muscle

I am almost done with week 3 of my 12 week 1/2 marathon training. I find that despite the fact that treadmill running is supposed to be easier, running outside seems to be easier for me and a more fun experience. However, I do still run on the treadmill frequently. I am following Hal Higdon's training schedule. Everyone always tells me that that is "old school" and I should look up some new training techniques. Maybe I want to be old school. It works for me.  I run Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday. Monday and Saturday are stretch and cross train days. Friday is supposed to be a rest day. Im not good at the whole "rest" thing.

So - in case anyone is currious about my training and what I am doing - I will list out below. I have an interesting workout schedule because while most people who are training for a 1/2 marathon tend to run, stretch and maybe do a bit of lifting for strength and endurance - I am trying to build muscle. And no. I am not trying to be some muscle lady body builder. But I am trying to "cut" my muscles and build them up - think fitness model look - like when you see a nike or adida's add. Those girls are kind of the physique I am going for. The road to get to where I am at now has been a long one. The running piece started back in February. I know I said that I have a 12 week program - but you have to be up to a consistent 3 mile 3 days a week before you start the 12 weeks. This does not happen over night. Especially when you take a 3 month break from the gym and eat garbage food. Anywhoo - so the running started in February. The muscle training is the same concept. To cut muscle, you have to do heavier weights with more sets and lower reps. Typical female workouts are for "lean" muscle...so a workout for most women would be light weights with 3 sets of 12 - 15 reps of each exercise. This will build endurance in the muscle. I am getting my endurance from running. It is hard enough for me to build muscle running like I am - so the focus is heavy weights 4 sets of 6 reps to "burn out."

You can't just start doing this kind of heavy lifting. You have to work up to it. So back in February, I started with a total body circut with 2 sets of 12 - 15 reps. This was done 5 days a week for 2 weeks. Then I got to cut down to Back, Bicep, Legs one day and Chest, tricep, shoulders the other day. These alternated - 3 sets of 10 reps. This went on for about 4 weeks. Then I got to increase weight while staying in this same 3 sets of 10 reps. This week, I got to cut down to 4 sets of 6 reps alternating the same (back, bicep, legs / chest, tricep/shoulders). I am not sure how long this will go on for before I cut down again.

I really didnt plan on giving a whole rundown of my workouts - but there you have it. So currently, I am lifting 5 days a week and running 4 days a week and cross training 2. I have lost 5 lbs. I feel like my body is changing and looking better. My nutrition has changed completely. I eat 90% organic. I dont eat meat with the exception of the organic beef we purchased from Nick's uncle. With all these changes, I would sure hope there have been results! The sad thing for me is that people dont ever seem to notice if I am up or down weight wise. They also dont notice if I am in shape or out of shape. I guess this could be a good thing because maybe I hide out of shapeness well, but it is a little sad because sometimes it would be nice to have people be like "wow, you look great" but I suppose I do it mostly for my health and not for the reaction.

So running. Running is so interesting. Some people run fast. They run fast with ease. They dont sweat. They look great. I am not one of these people. I stink. I sweat. I huff. I puff. I run slow. I cringe. I wonder if the people who look good doing it have been doing it and someday I can be considered one of them? I get jealous when the pinked out chick hops on the treadmill next to me, cranks it up to 8.0, runs with gazelle like perfection barely sweating, and finishes her 5 miles in the time it takes me to do 3 - then dabs her brow, steps off, and does abs for an hour. I guess that is neither here nor there - right? At least I am running!

September 2009 - April 2010 in Pictures

 So - I have been horrible with the whole picture thing. My issue with pictures is twofold. 1. I don't have a small compact camera and Nick takes the one he takes lots of pictures with to work. 2. We have a sprint card for internet at our house and it takes a LONG time to upload. We have done a lot over the past several months and I have captured only a small portion of everything on here. There is a TON that I am missing. 

There seems to be something wrong with editing blogger - which has ruined the story I was going to tell with the pictures... so I guess I have to do it up here. 

1. We went to McCall where I learned to channel my inner Ninja.
2. We flew to New York where we walked the city, saw the tree go up, went to ground zero where it was POURING. We stayed in a tiny hotel room that barely fit our stuff and us. 
3.  We drove to Lewisberg, PA to visit Heidi at Bucknell for the 3rd year in a row and watched her play 2 volleyball games. 
4. In December, we made our yearly pilgrimage to McCall where it snowed, a lot. We went snowboarding. Nick cut his head on a tree and got 4 stitches. We purchased helmets. A relaxing christmas day at the hotsprings - perfect. 
5. I ran the Shamrock run 8k. Trooper got to watch. 
6. Nick worked hard and welded / built a fence and gate at the house. Still a work in progress, but it will be stunning when finished. 
7. We tore out the ugly mange bush
8. We hiked a 7 mile hike with Trooper. He thought it was the best thing ever. 
9. We expanded the garden. We call it garden 2.0. We are going to have a LOT of food.  

Word Wednesday

The word of the day is "Slouch" - Used in a sentence:

"I was running on the treadmill and the girl running next to me was running sub 8 minute miles. I felt like a total slouch.

Randomness

• I got a text with a picture of Ali (sister) and Jordan (her youngest, 2). Jordie requested a picture of Trooper (our dog) and I sent one. Jordie said (via Ali's reply test) Trooper is a cute dog. Aparantly, he is currently putting dogs into 2 categories, "cute" and "ugly"
• I watched Food, Inc. I cannot believe our food system. This movie has made me look at food and the grocery store in a completely different light.
• I am currently training for a 1/2 marathon as posted yesterday. At the same time, I am trying to build muscle - so my workouts consist of running and "splits" - which refer to body parts. While in the future, I will split further, I am currently doing Shoulders/Chest/Triceps on Tuesday and Friday and Legs/Biceps/Back on Monday and Thursday. Wednesday/Saturday are reserved for core and these are my least favorite days. The running happens on Tues, Wed, Thurs, Sat and Sun with major runs on Tues, Thurs and Sun.
• Lately, there are many things that make me happy:
• going to the gym
• hiking around this beautiful state
• working a little less than the past few months
• eating healthy and feeling more energized
• spending weekends with my husband
• seeing things come together with our house
• watching my dog play and playing with him
• smiling and laughing
• enjoying my job for the first time in several years
• upcoming vacation to maui
• thinking about  blowing the dust off my mountain bike and blowing up the tires.
• being on the same page as my husband regarding life and our direction - giving up my necessity to plan everything all the time and just enjoying the now and enjoying how amazing our lives are now and not worrying about the what-if's.

Hike

Nick and I had a great weekend. I had to work for a bit on Saturday, but I went in late and Nick and I went to the gym and played Racket Ball. He won 14-21.  We had Dinner at Manzana with Nick's mom and caught up on everything since Nick has been out of town and I have been working 6 days a week since the beginning of January.

On Easter, we had breakfast with Nick's dad at Little Cooperstown in West Linn. The food was so-so, but it was great to get together with George.

Later in the afternoon, Nick and I drove up the Gorge and went on a 6.5 mile hike with 1,000 feet of elevation gain. We saw Triple falls, Horsetail Falls and Ponytail falls along with some other smaller waterfalls. We crossed 2 very cool bridges, one which was make of a large log and then they put 2 boards over it with railing. Very cool. You walk behind Ponytail falls which is really neat. Trooper thought the hike was the greatest thing he had ever done. He got kind of nastypants with other dogs, but as long as we didnt see any other dogs, he was great! I got blisters on both heals, but thankfully, my running shoes dont rub that spot.

I am officially in training for a 1/2 marathon and not being able to run would definitely be hard. Today I ran 2 miles. Tomorrow, I will run 3 miles. I am training with a heart rate monitor and my heart beats high. This means that even though I want to or could run faster, I have to stay in my cardio zone. In theory, my heart will get stronger in this zone and eventually, I will be able to run faster with a lower heart rate. I am going to train this way for the 1/2 in June. With any luck, it will work and in the future I will be able to go faster. I get frustrated with going slow because it just takes so long to run the amount that I have to run. But I have my eye on being able to go faster and better in the future. I will be running the 1/2 in Sunriver, OR on June 26 and I am very excited. I have been consistently running since early February and lifting. I have seen some results which is nice. Hopefully by the time I am in Jessica's wedding in September, I am in great shape. Maybe I will be rewarded by not needing spanx in my dress :)

I have great pictures that Nick has on his camera. Maybe, I will post them someday ;-) But considering my bad track record, chances are, I will not.