Faster Miles and Fitness Assessment

This past week has been busy! Sometimes I think I try to do too much in one little 24 hour day. But probably everybody does, right?

Last Wednesday I had an AWESOME 3 mile run. I set a PR for my neighborhood course of 29:10! Finally under 30 minutes. I'm sure the main reason I was able to do this was because of my wonderful fast runner hubby who was pushing me to go faster! It really does help to have someone run with you and especially for me, someone who is faster and can push me to go beyond my comfort zone. It wasn't a pretty run. It wasn't a nice run where I could chit chat. I was breathing pretty hard and I'm sure the people we past by on the trail thought I was going to die. In fact I was wondering the same thing. But I didn't (obviously)! The good thing was my legs didn't feel bad. The worst part was the hard breathing but I know that is going to happen and with time, it should get better. At least I hope so!

I decided to join a running group. It's an intermediate group with RunnerDude's Fitness. After two weeks of no training plan, I realized I was slacking in my runs. I also wanted to incorporate some speedwork and this group sounded like the perfect fit for me. Here is what convinced me:

"Running at least 3-5 miles and feel like you're ready for the next level, but not sure what the next level is? Or have you been running the same runs and feel like you're in a rut? Or are you just looking for ways to spice up your running? Then the Intermediate Running Group is just for you!"

YES! That is just what I was looking for. We will be doing different types of running workouts including fartleks, tempo runs, intervals, hill repeats and more. We will also do some core and upper body exercises and pre and post stretching. I'm really excited about this group. It starts in 2 weeks and meets on Monday and Friday nights. What?!? Friday nights? I'm usually at my favorite Mexican restaurant enjoying a Margarita and some yummy food on Friday nights. Oh well, either I'm crazy or trying to look like I'm soooo dedicated! ;)

Included in the program fee is an initial fitness assessment.  I thought this would consist of taking my weight, height, maybe some other measurements and probably I would do a little running. Boy was I wrong! It was very comprehensive. The trainer (or should I call him coach?) did various body measurements, resting heart rate, VO2 max level, flexibility, and many other things that I can’t remember! It was a lot of information to take in and fortunately, he will email me my full results in a few days (which I will share in another post). The good news is everything was within normal ranges. No red flags, YAY! I wish I would have done this kind of assessment last year before the weight loss and much increased activity. I can only imagine what those numbers would have looked like. It would not have been pretty.

Oh yeah…back to faster miles. So for the fitness assessment I had to run 1.5 miles on the treadmill. Basically, I needed to run at my race pace or at least to the point feeling uncomfortable. But of course not to push it too hard, he didn’t want me to pass out. So after last Wednesday’s run I knew the pace I needed to be at. I ended up running 1.5 miles in 14:27 minutes. This was to measure my VO2 max level (more info to come when I understand it more!).

Another fast mile…the hubby and I started boot camp Monday night. On the first night they also do a little assessment. You do as many push-ups and sit-ups as you can in one minute and run a mile. I did that mile in 9:01!! The fastest ever boot camp mile for me. Of course, Michael finished first out of the group. Not that it’s a competition, but he’s just that fast! He wasn’t happy with his time since he is STILL somewhat injured. Now the pressure is on him since everyone knows he is the fastest (what a bad problem to have). I did this same boot camp last year for 3 months and it really helped kick start my exercise routine. Everybody supports and cheers for each other. I thought it would be good to do it for another month just for a change up.

Already this week has been full of exercise…Monday night boot camp, Tuesday lunchtime body pump class, evening boot camp, Wednesday lunchtime pilates class…I’m supposed to run with a friend tonight mainly because I need too, but I am feeling drained from the past two days. Some muscles have the “good sore” feeling, but even good sore is still sore. We’ll see if I can make it. Rest day on Friday (along with Margaritas and Mexican food)!!!