Loving life and ready to get back to work!

Today is the last day of this amazing 4 day weekend we have had!! I spent the past 4 days relaxing with my husband and dear friends but I did manage to get a workout in on Saturday. I took Sunday, Monday and Tuesday off. What can I say, it was nice to have a break! :) I was a good girl though, I ate well and did not indulge in too many treats!! :) 

I am refreshed and ready to get going this week with some killer workouts! I miss desperately my super long 2-3 hour workout days that preceded my knee injury, but I understand the need to heal and recover properly.  I also need to remember that going all out each and every day will most of the time do more harm then good.  So I am going to stick to the Intermediate running plan that I followed last week.  

This weekend I was able to increase my intervals to 7.0 mph on the tread.  I have not ran intervals at that pace for some time as I have been trying to slow it down for my knee. I am hoping to increase the intervals this week to 7.5 - 8.0 mph but as always I will have to listen to my body and see if I can push it without overextending myself. 

So now after the relaxing weekend it is time to get back to business! Here is my plan for the rest of this week - 

• Wednesday November 5th -  Full body ST with elliptical/tread intervals 
  
• Thursday November 6th - 30 min slow run on the tread. 
  
• Friday November 7th - Full body ST with elliptical/tread intervals 
  
• Saturday November 8th - 30 min slow run on the tread. 
  
• Sunday November 9th - Day off 
  

Crazy day, it happens.....

What an adventure today was! Last night our bathroom flooded and the bathtub, sink and kitchen sink were backed up! The repair man came this morning and it was a fun time as I speak little Russian and he speaks not a word of English!  I have quite a bit of damage control to do around here so I do not think that I will get my workout in as planned. 

I have pre-logged my meals for the day to make sure that I say on track with my calories and so on. We are going to dinner tonight with some friends to eat sushi so I have logged what I will eat then as well.  

Ok I am off to mop up water and do what I can to get my place back to normal. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! I will try at some point this weekend and sit down to reply to all of your amazing comments. I was SO happy to hear from all of you! Your support and encouragement was a blessing to me. 

Have a fabulous day! Work hard, Reach high!!!!! 

Daily intake 10/31 - 

Calories Consumed - 1,572

Protein - 31%

Fat - 17% 

Carbs - 52% 

Meal 1 - 1 scoop of protein powder, 1 cup of milk, 1/2 cup of pineapple with juice and 1/2 cup of frozen strawberries. 

Meal 2 - 1/2 cup of oats, 15 almonds, 1/2 cup of low fat yogurt. 

Meal 3 - 6 egg whites with 2 slices of bread, 1 tsp of mayo and 1 tomato. 

Meal 4 -  1 scoop of protein powder with water. 

Meal 5 -  California rolls 6 pieces, Spicy tuna rolls, 3 pieces and 1 cup of Miso soup. 

Light day of ST

Today was a short ST workout but it was a great one. I did not do any cardio today as my knee was feeling great so I wanted to give it a rest for tomorrows run. Guess the ice bath helped! Even though todays lifting was short and sweet, I felt a great burn! Off to get a protein shake in....

Full Upper Body ST -  Fast paced circuit format- do not stop between moves and complete 2 sets for each muscle group, resting between sets for a few seconds - NOT minutes. 

Chest Set 1 -  

Wide fly military push ups - 20 reps 

DB Flys - 15 reps with 25 lb DBs

Chest press - 15 reps with 25 lb DBs 

Chest Set 2 - 

Wide fly military push ups - 20 reps 

DB Flys - 15 reps with 17 lb DBs

Chest press - 15 reps with 17 lb DBs 

Biceps Set 1 - 

Alternating Hammer curls - 20 reps with 25 lb DBs 

Alternating Bicep curls - 20 reps with 25 lb DBs 

Standard 21's - 21 reps with 17 lb DBs 

Biceps Set 2 - 

Alternating Hammer curls - 16 reps with 25 lb DBs 

Alternating Bicep curls - 16 reps with 25 lb DBs 

Standard 21's - 21 reps with 17 lb DBs 

Shoulders Set 1 - 

Seated Alternating Shoulder press - 16 reps with 25 lb DBs 

Standing straight arm front raise - 15 reps with 11 lb DBs 

Standing bent over side raise - 15 reps with 11 lb DBs 

Shoulders Set 2 - 

Seated Alternating Shoulder press - 12 reps with 17 lb DBs 

Standing straight arm front raise - 12 reps with 11 lb DBs 

Standing bent over side raise - 12 reps with 11 lb DBs 

Back Set 1 -

Close grip pulldowns with 40 lb P90X resistance band - 20 reps 

Wide grip pulldowns with 40 lb P90X resistance band - 20 reps 

One arm bent over rows - 15 reps with one 35 lb DB

Back Set 2 - 

Close grip pulldowns with 40 lb P90X resistance band - 20 reps 

Wide grip pulldowns with 40 lb P90X resistance band - 20 reps 

One arm bent over rows - 20 reps with one 25 lb DB

Triceps Set 1 - 

Two arm tricep pulldowns with 40 lb P90X resistance band - 20 reps 

Two arm laying down tricep extension - 20 reps with 11 lb DBs 

Dips - 20 reps 

Triceps Set 2 - 

Two arm tricep pulldowns with 40 lb P90X resistance band - 20 reps 

Two arm laying down tricep extension - 15 reps with 17 lb DBs 

Dips - 20 reps 

Totals for the day - 

Time -  31 mins 

Calories Burned -  253

AHR - 132/69%  MHR - 164/85% 

Totals for the week - MTWTH 

Time - 125 mins 

Calories Burned - 1,143

Daily Intake - 10/30 

Calories Consumed - 1,497

Protein - 34%

Fat - 23%

Carbs - 43%

Meal 1 - 3.5 oz of chicken breast, leg - no skin with 3/4 cup of couscous ( leftovers from last night- weird I know for breakfast but it was good! ) 1 cup of Chi tea.  1/4 cup of low fat yogurt. 

Meal 2 -  1 cup of raw cabbage, 1 tomato, 1.75 oz of chicken breast and 1 tbsp of Newman's light  baslmic vinegar/olive oil dressing 

Meal 3 - 1 scoop of protein powder and 1/2 cup of frozen strawberries, 1 cup of milk. 

Meal 4 - 1/2 cup of couscous with 3.5 oz of chicken breast, legs - no skin with 1 raw cucumber, 1 cup of steamed broccoli sauteed with Indian Biryani mix. 

Meal 5 -1/2 cup of oat mixture, 1/2 cup of yogurt and 15 almonds. 1 scoop of protein powder with water. 

A great run followed by an ice bath...fun!

So today I felt better and wanted to make the most of the beautiful day by running outside while I still could. The snow and ice are coming this week and soon I will be forced to once again run the winter on the tread.  My run was good today, steady and strong. My knee was bothering me after about 10 mins so I stopped to walk a bit and then started running again and it felt much better. Strangely enough after about 28 mins it started to feel really good, still not perfect but I was surprised at how it was improving the more I ran. I did not want to push it however so I stuck with the Runner's World plan I am following and stopped after 30 mins. 

I know that soon all of the runs in the middle of Siberia will pay off when I step across that finish line in my first race! It is hard though running here, it can be very lonely. I long for the days when I can run around Memorial or Rice in Houston and gain inspiration from seeing all the people running around me! Until then I need to continue to be consistent and train smart, knowing that someday all my hard work will be worth it! I finished my run with a cool down and then 20 mins of Pilates, core work and some yoga stretching. Then I took the plunge!! I took a COLD ice bath! I knew it was the right thing to do but man was that hard! I am now curled up in my soft, warm pj's trying to get my legs to de-thaw!! 

30 min run with one walking interval (bc of hurt knee) and a 4 min cool down, followed by 20 min of core work and Pilates.

Run Time - 34 mins 

Calories Burned - 358

AHR - 151/79%  MHR -  179/93%

Core Work - 

Crunches with 17 lb DB - 100 reps  

T planks - 20 reps 

Plank hold to fatigue - 10 reps 

Inchworm to plank - 10 reps 

V glut squeezes on ball - 25 reps 

Roll outs on ball - 25 reps 

Core/Pilates Time - 20 mins 

Calories Burned - 168

AHR - 135/70%  MHR -  169/88%

Daily Totals - 

Time - 54 mins 

Calories Burned -  526 

Weekly totals - 

Time -  94 mins 

Calories Burned -  890

Daily Intake - 10/29

Calories Consumed -  1,554

Protein - 31%

Fat - 22%

Carbs - 47%

Meal 1 -  6 egg whites scrambled with 1.75 oz of shredded chicken breast, and 1/2 cup of mushrooms. 2 cups of Chi tea. 

Meal 2 - 1/2 cup of oats with 1/2 cup of low fat yogurt. 

Meal 3 - 1 scoop of protein powder, 1 cup of milk and 1/2 cup of frozen strawberries. 

Meal 4 - 5 oz of chicken breast, leg de-boned with no skin cooked with Indian Biryani mix, sweet chili sauce and 1/2 cup of couscous and 1 raw cucumber. 

Meal 5 - 1/2 cup of oats with 1/2 cup of low fat yogurt.

Meal 6 - 2 cups of popcorn  and 32 oz of water.

Cold Therapy...

I have always known that cold therapy works for sport injures, in fact I have used ice baths before to help me recover after a hard workout. I was reading this article on Runner's World and found it as a nice reminder that I need to be doing this now because of my knee. Even though I know it works I am avoiding it! I do not particularly like sitting in a bath full of ice water, who does? But at this stage I will do anything to get my knee back to 100%.  

The good thing is that since we are living here in Siberia the water is so cold that all you have to do is fill the tub with the cold water from the faucet and you are good to go! No ice required!  So today after my run I am planning on returning to this long tested method of recovery which as painful as it may be, works like a charm each and every time! 

If you are aching and want to take the plunge as well, here is the article from RW - 

Ice Bath, Cold Therapy

Interesting articles....

Here are two very interesting articles I found this evening.  Enjoy! 

7 Ways to Boost Your Metabolic Rate....

5 Surprising Fat Burners....

First day back.

Well today's workout was short and sweet to say the least but I am SO glad that I pushed myself to get out there and get the job done! I felt good today but as I started lifting I felt as if I had an elephant sitting on me. I was so weighted down and really had to work for reach rep. My energy and strength were not as strong as usual, but I pushed through and really focused on making the most of each move.

 My cardio was super light today but my knee did well. I am icing it as we speak so hopefully the swelling will be minimal tonight.  All in all it was a good day, I ate really well so I guess you could say it was a success.  I have said it before but I feel so strongly that small efforts really do add up in the end to GREAT triumphs!! 

Full body circuit 3 sets with elliptical and treadmill intervals -  

Warm up Cathe drill max cardio along with elliptical and treadmill intervals at 5% and 10%. 

Squats - 25 reps  

Alternating bicep curls - 20 reps with 25 lb DBs

Standing Arnold presses - 12 reps with 17 lb DBs 

Standard military push up - 15 reps 

Standard military close grip push up - 15 reps 

Chest fly with P90X  resistance band - 20 reps 

Lat pull downs with P90X  resistance band -  20 reps 

Tricep pulldowns with P90X resistance band - 20 reps 

Repeat this circuit 3 times, then back to treadmill for 10% and 15% incline intervals  and cool down. 

Time - 40 mins 

Calories burned -  364

AHR - 141/73%  MHR - 178/93% 

Push ups - 90 reps 

Daily Intake - 10/28 

Calories Consumed - 1,672 

Protein - 30%

Fat - 20% 

Carbs - 50% 

Meal 1 - 1 cup of oats cooked with 1/2 scoop of protein powder topped with 1/2 cup of low fat yogurt and 15 almonds.  2 cups of Chi tea. 

Meal 2 - 1 cup of shredded cabbage sauteed with 1/2 cup of mushrooms and 3.5 oz of shredded chicken breast. 

Meal 3 - 1 slice of whole wheat bread with 1 tsp of mayo, 1 tomato and .07 oz of chicken breast. 1 1/2 cups of milk with 1/2 cup of strawberries and 1 scoop of protein powder. 

Meal 4 - 1/2 cup of oats. 1/2 apple and 1 tbsp of ground flaxseeds and 1/2 cup of low fat yogurt. 

Feeling better...

I am feeling so much better today! Still not my firecracker self but I am so happy to be  up and about today with a spring in my step! This is the most energy I have had in a week. Because I missed yesterdays workout I am rearranging my training schedule. So here is my new plan for the week - 

• Monday - Off 
  
• Tuesday - Full body weight training circuit with 20 mins of elliptical/treadmill incline intervals
  
• Wednesday -  30 min run 
  
• Thursday - Full body weight training circuit with 20 mins of elliptical/treadmill incline intervals
  
• Friday - Off 
  
• Saturday -Full body weight training circuit with 30 min run 
  
• Sunday - 30 min run 
  

Not the best day....

 I have said before, to be fully accountable you have to blog the good days as well as the bad! Today was not a good day in terms of how I felt. I was very nauseated today. I still have not pushed past whatever this is that is holding me down.  I took the day off, so I need to readjust my training schedule at some point to make up for today. No worries though, I will be back to my energetic self in no time.  I think that one's attitude plays a major role in how we feel so I am going to be positive! I am thankful for my amazing husband,  my health and wellbeing among so many other things that God has blessed me with! So as I am down physically today, my sprits will be high!! 

Daily Intake 10/27 - 

Calories Consumed - 1,448

Protein - 29%

Fat- 23%

Carbs - 48%

Meal 1 - 1/2 oats mixture, 1/2 cup low fat yogurt, 1/2 apple and 1 tbsp. of ground flaxseeds. 

Meal 2 - 4 egg whites scrambled with 1 oz of shredded chicken breast.

Meal 3 -  1 cup of milk, 1 scoop of Optimum Nutrition protein powder and 1/2 cup of frozen strawberries

Meal 4 - 1 cup of steamed broccoli, 1/2 cup of sautéed cabbage with 1 tbsp of olive oil and 3.5 oz of shredded chicken breast and 1 sliced tomato. 

Meal 5 - 1/2 oats mixture, 1/2 cup low fat yogurt, 1/2 apple with 10 almonds. 

New training schedule

I am reading the Runner's Worlds Complete Book of Women's Running right now and I am learning so much about training and pacing out my runs. In the book is an intermediate running program that fits well with my schedule as of now. My knee is still giving me trouble but it is by no means hindering me from running.  I am going to need to go slow in the beginning and make sure I ice my knee after my runs but I think if I take this approach that I should be back to normal within a few weeks. I worked out over our vacation and did well. The elliptical and bike worked well with my knee and I kept my runs light and steady.  

My first race is now 11 weeks away so I have more than enough time to make sure I train properly giving my knee time to heal. As far as my weight training schedule I will be lifting 2-3 days a week and will switch my program from heavy to light lifting every few weeks as usual.  

Training schedule - October 27th - November 2nd 

• Monday -  30 min Run 
  
• Tuesday -  Heavy weights - Full body weight training along with 20 mins of elliptical intervals. 
  
• Wednesday - OFF 
  
• Thursday - Heavy weights - Full body weight training along with 20 mins of elliptical intervals. 
  
• Friday -   35 min Run 
  
• Saturday -  Lighter weights circuit - Full body weight training along with a 30 min Run 
  
• Sunday - OFF