A Long Weekend's Worth of Workouts

It's something of a treat to have a long weekend at the very beginning of the term. Although I didn't take the holiday completely off from class prep and research, having the extra day gave me some more flexibility over the weekend to do some extra leisure reading, watch some football, get a pedicure with a friend, stop by a party, and get in some good activity.

Late Saturday morning I was just about to finally find the motivation to get out of my pjs and do a few miles on the treadmill, when a running buddy of mine texted me to see if I'd be up for joining her on her run in our neighborhood. We agreed to meet up a few minutes later and then ran out to a nearby trail for an easy out and back. Due to some technological mishaps, we had to guess a bit on our mileage. My Garmin died two minutes into the run (I really need to get back into the habit of charging it) and she forgot to restart her running app when we stopped for her dog to take care of some business. My best educated guess is we did about 3 miles in about 35 minutes. It was fun if a little bit cold and icy.

My hair all silvery from the frost.

On Sunday morning I tried to hit the gym for some cross-training. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a waste of time. I didn't realize that, while parts of the campus sports center complex open early, the facility's fitness center doesn't open until later in the day on Saturday and Sunday. Rather than taking the time to return later in the day, I opted to go home and just do 30 minutes of step aerobics while watching some playoff football. I can't really beat the price of membership to the campus gym, but in the future I'll have to remember to check the times since the hours are pretty limited.

Yesterday I took advantage of the holiday campus closure to spend most of my morning working on a writing project and getting in a little bit of a longer run of 5 easy miles. I confess that I did this run on my treadmill just so that I could justify watching an episode of a cheesy melodrama that I somehow missed back when it was all the rage.

Do you have a gym membership? Are you currently watching/listening to anything while you workout?

SLC Half Marathon Training: Week 1

My first week of "official" half marathon training for Salt Lake is in the books. It was a week that was more social than usual for us, so I didn't meet my mileage goal, but I feel pretty satisfied with the general picture of the week.

Monday - scheduled cross training. Actual cross training. I did 20 minutes of weights and 20 minutes on the elliptical machine.

Tuesday - scheduled rest. Actual rest.

Wednesday - scheduled 3.5 miles. Actual 3.5 miles at an average pace of 11:08. While this is (and I am still moving at) a slow pace, I did throw in a few faster intervals as a way to start slowly reintegrating some speed work.

Thursday - scheduled cross training. Actual short walk. I hadn't managed to get as much done as I needed to the day before because a girlfriend and I went out for an early dinner and then to see the Indigo Girls so I ended up using my gym time to prep my Friday class.

Friday - scheduled 3.5 miles. Actual rest. I had planned to run in the evening after I got home from campus, but some friends asked if we wanted to go see The Lego Movie. Since we opted to do that, I decided to bail on the run.

Saturday - scheduled 6 miles. Actual 6 miles at an average pace of 11:23. This was my longest run since last June, and, while I got really hungry at the end, it went well. It was a much-needed boost of confidence going into this training cycle.

Sunday - scheduled 3 miles recovery.  Actual 2.5 miles of snowshoeing with my spouse and a couple of our friends. It was such a beautiful day that I'm really glad that we got out for a couple of hours and enjoyed the day.

Total scheduled miles: 16.
Actual miles: 10 running and 3.5 walking and snowshoeing.
Cross training workouts: 1.

How was your week? What's the most recent concert that you've attended? Have you ever gone snowshoeing?

The Week in Workouts: November 4-10

This was not a particularly active week for me, as I can't seem to get well and stay well. The past week I was feeling a bit run down and like I was getting a bad cold. It seemed to go away for a few days and then on Thursday I again started feeling poorly. At least I got in a few workouts.

Monday - gym. I did 20 minutes of weight lifting followed by 25 minutes on the stair master. I may be the only one in the world who loves the stairclimber, but I do.

Tuesday - active rest. I got in 30 minutes of walking across campus.

Wednesday - gym and yoga. I did 20 minutes of weights and then 20 minutes on the elliptical at a moderate pace. Later in the evening I went with a couple of friends to a Yin class. It was my first time in the studio in a few weeks and my hips were definitely feeling it by the end of the class. I was exhausted by the end and even drifted off to sleep for a few minutes during savasana.

Thursday - active rest. I got in 30 minutes of walking to my class and back to my office.

Friday - 2.5 mile run. I met up with a friend who was running 42 miles this week to celebrate her birthday for a couple of birthday miles on the trail system near campus. I was really congested, and she very kindly kept to my pokey pace.

Frozen Pond Seen on Our Run

Saturday - rest. By this point my cold had become full-blown, and I spent most of the day drinking oj and blowing my nose. I probably wouldn't have gone out for a run anyway, though, as we got freezing rain that turned the streets and sidewalks into a treacherous, slippery mess.

Sunday - rest. I was still feeling pretty crummy, so I spent the day on the couch, doing class prep, grading, and drinking hot tea.

I also received some bad news on Friday. The treadmill repair guy came to look at my treadmill, and it looks like the problem is not the speed sensor - which would be easy and cheap to fix, but rather a problem with the guts of the circuitry. If this is indeed the case, it may cost several hundred dollars to repair. Considering that the hours of daylight are shrinking and currently all surfaces outdoors right now are like an ice rink with a few inches of snow on top, we're debating the best course of action. For now, we're having the repair place order a new speed sensor, and we'll see if that ends up doing the trick.

Do you have a treadmill? Do you run outside when the conditions are icy?