Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Back in the Groove

Hills!
I had a great 4.5 mile run with hill repeats this morning. I've really missed the morning runs with my group; it's always such a great way to start the day, and we even planked after run. Running all these hills has me really pumped for the Ocala Marathon in 12 days! I know it will be challenging, but the hills really do not scare me. Of course, I haven't actually seen them so I may be singing a different tune on race day. Keep your fingers crossed for excellent weather :)

Cross Training
Even though I am still coughing occasionally, I think that is mostly due to the cold weather in the mornings because I can tell I'm mostly over this cold. Today I felt like I was back to normal with the running and cross training. The bulk of my cross training lately has been the plank-a-day challenge, but now that I'm back at work this week I'm walking 3+ miles a day again. I love walking! I also got back into yoga in full swing this week since I can breath again, and I'm already in love with it all over again. It is such a good way to start or end the day, and it helps me stretch and relax. It was the perfect way to distress tonight after a rough day at work.

Push Up Challenge
The plank-a-day challenge has inspired me to restart the push up challenge, although I have no intention of doing 100 in a row this time. I think 25-50 standard push ups (not on my knees) is a good enough goal. I would rather be able to do 4 sets of 25 than 100 in a row. I start to lose count and get bored after that anyway.

So tonight I did the initial test to see where I stand. It's been a while since I've done a standard push up, and my right wrist/palm has been bothering, so I'm not surprised I only managed 5. I tried modified afterwards ones for comparison thinking I'd maybe manage 10, but was glad to see I managed 17 before it got difficult but had to gut it out to an even 20. I was still maintaining good form and probably could have done a few more, but didn't see the need.

I need to decide if I'm going start this challenge on Thursday or if I should wait until February when the plank-a-day challenge is over, or after my 4th marathon. I still want to keep planks as a part of my routine, so I figured I could do 30s planks between the push up sets. We'll see how things shake out in the coming weeks.

Winter Park 10K
I've been debating running the Winter Park 10K or doing an olympic duathlon the weekend of March 24. I've been leaning towards the 10K for 2 main reasons: 1) I'm really not in great cycling shape, as the most I've ridden lately has been 10 miles or so at a leisurely pace, and with 2 marathons coming up I really do not have the time to focus on cycling; 2) I love racing 10Ks and there are so few nearby that I really don't want to miss out on one that is so close to home that I can bike to the start. Then I read that it's their 35th Anniversary and that sealed the deal. Just check out these amenities the 10k participants will receive:

  • Custom Medal
  • Commemorative Tech Tee
  • Collectible, Souvenir Glass
  • $5 Track Shack Cash

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