End of Week Check-In (a month into half-marathon training)!

As the weeks go by, one thing that I notice is that my interval days feel 10x harder than they did when I was training for a 10k. Obviously, that’s because the difficulty scales with the distance, but it can get really challenging some days! That being said, I had a pretty good week and was able to complete all my workouts despite having some pretty sore legs towards the end of the week. Here’s what I was up to:

Monday

6mi Run – 10:57/mi avg pace with a moving time of 1:05:50.

Tuesday

Shoulders:

-5 min warm up

-Dumbbell External Rotation: 20lbs @ 25 reps total (1 min rest between sets)

-Shoulder Press: 65lbs @ 16 reps total (1 min rest between sets)

-Rear Deltoid: 90lbs @ 25 reps total (1 min rest between sets)

Back & Biceps:

-5 min warm up

-One Arm Bicep Curls: 35lbs @ 25 reps total (1 min rest between sets)

-Back Extension: 190lbs @ 25 reps total (1 min rest between sets)

-Standing Barbell Curl: 60lbs @ 20 reps total (1 min rest between sets)

-Roman Chair: 55lbs @ 25 reps total (1 min rest between sets)

-Hammer Curls: 35lbs @ 25 reps total (1 min rest between sets)

-Lat Pulldown: 85lbs @ 25 reps total (1 min rest between sets)

Wednesday

Intervals (Tempo) – 3.7 mi with an average pace of 10:54/mi and a moving time of 40:22.

Thursday

Legs:

-5 min warm up

-Calf Press: 200lbs @ 25 reps total (1 min rest between sets)

-Squats: 120lbs @ 21 reps total (1 min rest between sets)

-Hip Adductor: 175lbs @ 25 reps (1 min rest between sets)

-Hip Abductor: 175lbs @ 25 reps (1 min rest between sets)

*this workout was probably the hardest leg day I’ve ever had. My legs just felt like spaghetti…it was brutal.

Chest & Triceps:

-5min warm up

-Assisted Dips: 70lbs @ 25 reps total (1 min rest between sets)

-Bench Press: 50lbs @ 17 reps total (1 min rest between sets)

-Tricep Press: 120lbs @ 25 reps (1 min rest between sets)

-Pec Fly: N/A

-Dumbbell Tricep Extension: 45lbs @ 25 reps total (1 min rest between sets)

-Chest Press: 95lbs @ 23 reps total (1 min rest between sets)

Friday

Rest Day.

Saturday

Rest Day.

Sunday

Intervals – 2.3 mi with an average pace of 10:11/mi and a moving time of 23:25.

*I got to try out the indoor track at my new gym! I love it. It’s rubberized, so it reduces some of the impact. It wasn’t too busy either since I went just after 11:00pm. It was perfect!

I have a lot going on this week, so I’m really hoping that I can maintain my schedule, however it might be a challenge. Stay tuned!

 

-Running Fast, Lifting Heavy

 

 

 

End of Week Check-In (Week 3 of Mississauga Half-Marathon training)

I got some pretty exciting news as a logged into my WordPress account earlier…I have 100 followers! I never would’ve thought that when I started this blog last October that 100 people would care about what I have to say. So thank you guys!

Training this week definitely wasn’t as great as the previous two weeks, but still not too shabby. I missed both of my interval workouts which bums me out, but I still got my long run in, so I’m happy about that. I don’t think I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m using the Nike Half-Marathon Training Plan to train for my half. I’ve used it for my last two races and have had great results. Here’s what I did this past week:

Monday

Rest Day.

Tuesday

4mi run – 10:37/mi avg pace and a moving time of 42:42. My average pace was three seconds slower this week than it was last week, but I’m not sweating it.

Shoulders:

-5 min warm up

-Dumbbell External Rotation: 15lbs @ 25 reps total (1 min rest between sets)

-Shoulder Press: 55lbs @ 25 reps total (1 min rest between sets)

-Rear Deltoid: 75lbs @ 25 reps total (1 min rest between sets)

Wednesday

Back & Biceps:

-5 min warm up

-One Arm Bicep Curls: 30lbs @ 25 reps total (1 min rest between sets)

-Back Extension: 170lbs @ 25 reps total (1 min rest between sets)

-Standing Barbell Curl: 60lbs @ 15 reps total (1 min rest between sets)

-Roman Chair: 45lbs @ 25 reps total (1 min rest between sets)

-Hammer Curls: 30lbs @ 25 reps total (1 min rest between sets)

-Lat Pulldown: 70lbs @ 25 reps total (1 min rest between sets)

Legs:

-5 min warm up

-Calf Press: 185lbs @ 25 reps total (1 min rest between sets)

-Barbell Squats: 110lbs @ 25 reps total (1 min rest between sets)

-Hip Adductor: 160lbs @ 25 reps total (1 min rest between sets)

-Hip Abductor: 160lbs @ 25 reps total (1 min rest between sets)

I should probably note that for my barbell squats, the weight that I have listed here is the weight not including the bar.

Thursday

Rest Day.

Friday

Rest Day.

Saturday

Chest & Triceps:

-5 min warm up

-Assisted Dips: 85lbs @ 25 reps total (1 min rest between sets)

-Bench Press: 50lbs @ 25 reps total (1 min rest between sets)

-Tricep Press: 105lbs @ 25 reps total (1 min rest between sets)

-Pec Fly: N/A

-Dumbbell Tricep Extension: 40lbs @ 25 reps total (1 min rest between sets)

-Chest Press: 80lbs @ 25 reps total (1 min rest between sets)

Similar to the barbell squats, the weight for my bench is the weight without the bar.

Sunday

Rest Day.

Towards the end of my week, I just got super swamped and hence why the intervals didn’t happen. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this week is a little different.

 

-Running Fast, Lifting Heavy

 

 

 

 

End of Week Check In (Week 2 of Half-Marathon Training)

I’m really hoping that I can keep this momentum going…so far, I haven’t missed any workouts and still have had gas left in the tank. This is what my week looked like in detail:

Monday

4mi Run – 10:34/mi avg pace and a moving time of 42:26 minutes. The route that I ran for this run wasn’t the route I intended; I took a wrong turn and didn’t realize until .5mi later, (oops). It was still a good run though, and faster than expected, (even with some snow on the ground)!

Tuesday

Back & Biceps:

-5 min Warm Up

-One-Arm Bicep Curls: 30lbs @ 5 sets x 21 reps total (1 min rest in between sets)

-Back Extension: 150lbs @ 5 sets x 25 reps total (1 min rest in between sets)

-Standing Barbell Curl: 50lbs @ 5 sets x 25 reps total (1 min rest in between sets)

-Roman Chair: 35lbs @ 5 sets x 25 reps (1 min rest in between sets)

-Hammer Curls: 25lbs @ 5 sets x 25 reps total (1 min rest in between sets)

-Lat Pulldown: 40lbs @ 5 sets x 25 reps total (1 min rest in between sets)

-5 min cool down

Wednesday

Legs:

-5 min Warm Up

-Calf Press: 170lbs @ 5 sets x 25 reps total (1 min rest in between sets)

-Barbell Squats: 100lbs @ 5 sets x 25 reps total (1 min rest in between sets)

-Hip Adductor: 145lbs @ 5 sets x 25 reps total (1 min rest in between sets)

-Hip Abductor: 145lbs @ 5 sets x 25 reps total (1 min rest in between sets)

-5 min Cool Down

I should probably note that I only work each muscle group in my legs once during a leg workout since I run three days a week.

Thursday

Rest Day

Friday

Intervals (Hills) – 2mi @ 11:01 avg pace with a moving time of 22:45. I must confess; I didn’t do the last set of hills because not only was it pretty windy, the snow was starting to come down and it just wasn’t working out for me.

Chest & Tris

-5 min Warm Up

-Assisted Dips: 100lbs @ 5 sets x 25 reps total (1 min rest in between sets)

-Bench Press: 50lbs @ 5 sets x 25 reps total (1 min rest in between sets)

-Tricep Press: 90lbs @ 5 sets x 25 reps total (1 min rest in between sets)

-Pec Fly: 80lbs @ 5 sets x 25 reps total (1 min rest in between sets)

-Dumbbell Tricep Extension: 35lbs @ 5 sets x 25 reps total (1 min rest in between sets)

-Chest Press: 65lbs @ 5 sets x 25 reps total (1 min rest in between sets)

-5 min Warm up

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll see the issue I had during my bench press. I still managed to make do with what I had though.

Saturday

Rest Day

Sunday

Intervals – 3.4mi@ 10:38/mi avg pace with a moving time of 36:10

This week was pretty good and like I said, I’m really hoping I can keep this momentum up as the miles increase. One thing I’ve noticed since I’ve started training for my half is that I feel like I could workout even on the days where I scheduled a rest day. I even doubled up on the Friday and I still felt ok.

 

-Running Fast, Lifting Heavy

Weekly Recap (Jan 30th – Feb 5th)

This past week was honestly really great. It just happened to be one of those weeks where everything aligned and I was able to get all my workouts in with one rest day to spare. This past week was also the start of my Mississauga Half-Marathon training! One week down, 13 to go! Here’s what I did this week:

Monday

Intervals (Fartlek) – 2.2mi in 24:03, 10:46/mi avg pace

This was the first time I’d ever done a fartlek run and it’s actually my new favourite interval run. I did it on the treadmill since I hadn’t activated my gym membership yet, and it turned out to be a lot of fun! I’m looking forward to doing it on a track though.

Tuesday

Shoulders

-5min Warm up

-Standing Shoulder Press: 25 lbs, 5 sets x 5 reps w/ 1 minute rest in between sets

-Delt Raise: 15lbs, 5 sets x 5 reps w/1 minute rest in between sets

This workout kind of sucked because I did it at the condo gym during the evening so it was super packed. I didn’t really plan this workout out since every machine was in use, so I just did whatever I could.

Wednesday

Rest Day

Thursday

Intervals – 3.4mi…

This one is tricky because Strava says that my average pace is 14:23/mi and I know that’s not true since my slowest split was 11:36. Other than that, it was a really good treadmill interval session.

Back & Bis

-5min Warm Up

-One Arm Bicep Curls: 25lbs, 5 sets x 5 reps w/ 1 minute rest in between sets

-Back Extension: 135lbs, 5 sets x 5 reps w/ 1 minute rest in between sets

-Standing Barbell Curl: 40lbs, 5 sets x 5 reps w/ 1 minute rest in between sets

-Roman Chair: 25lbs, 5 sets x 5 reps w/1 minute rest in between sets

-Hammer Curls: 20lbs, 5 sets x 5 reps w/ 1 minute rest in between sets

-Lat Pulldown: 35lbs, 5 sets x 5 reps w/ 1 minute rest in between sets

This was the first workout in the new gym! It’s a great gym and I definitely made the right choice signing up. I so far have only gone during the evenings, but it isn’t super busy which is nice.

Friday

Legs

-5min Warm Up

-Calf Press: 160lbs, 5 sets by 5 reps w/ 1 minute rest in between sets

-Barbell Squats: 90lbs (not including the bar), 5 sets x 5 sets w/1 minute rest in between sets

-Hip Adductor: 135lbs, 5 sets x 5 sets w/1 minute rest in between sets

This workout REALLY burned! I was up at my school’s main campus in Peterborough for the weekend and used their gym. My friend was picking me up in between classes so not only did I not get to finish my workout, I also didn’t get to stretch. Holy crap was I sore.

Saturday

Chest & Tris

-5min Warm Up

-Assisted Dips: 100lbs, 5 sets x 5 reps w/1 minute rest in between sets

-Bench Press: 20lbs (not including the bar), 5 sets x 5 reps w/ 1 minute rest in between sets

-Tricep Extension (Machine): 60lbs, 5 sets x 5 reps w/1 minute rest in between sets

-Pec Fly: 80lbs, 5 sets x 5 reps w/1 minute rest in between sets

-Incline Sit-Ups w/ Medicine Ball: 3 sets x 8 reps w/1 minute rest in between sets

This workout was nice because I got to do it with friends, which I don’t get to do very often.

Sunday

4mi Run – 43:32 moving time & 10:53/mi avg pace

This was on the treadmill which wasn’t ideal, but at least it was accomplished!

 

I also got some exciting news: I’ve become an Insane Labz Athlete! They have some really cool stuff from apparel, to recovery supplements and more! I have a coupon code for you guys: runlift20. Use it to get 20% your order!

 

-Running Fast, Lifting Heavy

 

Neutral Shoes and Stability Shoes and Motion Control Shoes Oh My!

I work at a speciality running store, which frequently uses the terms, “neutral, stability, and motion control”. To the seasoned runner, these terms may be familiar to you, however to someone who’s new to the sport, it may seem like foreign language. I almost always get asked what at least one of these terms mean each shift, so I figured now’s the time to explain.

Neutral

These are the shoes that provide the least support. That may sound bad, but it actually isn’t, (depending on what kind of foot you have). Neutral runners are runners that have very little or no arch weakness, which I’ll explain how to detect later. I should also point out that the amount of support a shoe has and the amount of cushioning it provides are two different things and are commonly confused. The cushioning a shoe provides is literally exactly what it sounds like. Shoes with tons of cushioning can have very little support, (case in point).

We also recommend neutral shoes for people who wear orthotics/insoles. The reasoning behind this is that since the orthotics/insoles correct whatever issues your feet may have, it’s kind of redundant to get a shoe with extra support.

Some other shoes that are neutral are cross trainers, racing spikes, and minimalist shoes.

Stability

From my experience of working at Running Room, I find that most runners fall into this category. Being a stability runner means that you have moderate arch weakness, which needs to be corrected in order to have a pain-free run. I find that stability and motion control shoes tend to be a little heavier than neutral shoes, however that’s purely my observation.

An example of a stability shoe is this:

Motion Control

This is shoe that provides THE MOST support. A shoe that falls under this category would be ideal for someone with a completely collapsed arch. I find that this category encompasses the least amount of runners. Although a decent amount of runners have some degree of collapsed arches, few have completely collapsed arches. An example of a motion control shoe is this:

So to recap, neutral shoes have the least support, stability has a moderate level of support, and motion control has the most amount of support.

Finding out how much support you may need isn’t hard to do. If you head to your local specialty running store they can do an analysis for you. Alternatively, get someone to stand six or seven feet away from you. On one leg and not holding onto anything, bend all the way down, (slowly), and come back up. Repeat, but on the other leg. No shaking in the arch or very little shaking means a neutral shoe, a decent level of shaking means a stability shoe, and a lot of shaking means a motion control shoe.

All this aside, you may try on shoes and they may feel good on you feet or they may feel bad. It really depends on you and what feels right; there’s not sense in running in something that you find uncomfortable.

 

-Running Fast, Lifting Heavy

Product Review: Iron Vegan: Athlete’s Blend Workout Supplement

Price: $62.99 CAD

I’m always open to trying new supplements; I do have a couple favourite brands, (like Vega), but I’m not really 100% committed to one brand for every need. I got a bag of Iron Vegan Athlete’s Blend, (natural vanilla flavour), for Christmas and I have to admit, I was super skeptical. This may sound horrible but whenever I see a vegan product, I’m always worried that the taste might be compromised. I think this is probably due to the fact that I’m a hard-core omnivore, and the thought of all things veggie is a little scary. Vega took a bit to grow on me but once it did, I loved it! I figured if I could love Vega, I could love Iron Vegan. Here’s what I thought of it:

-It has a different vanilla flavour than most vanilla-flavoured protein powders. Not in a bad way though. It just doesn’t have that artificial vanilla taste that you get with most brands.

-It blends really well with smoothies/shakes

-My boyfriend and I both tried it with just water or just milk, (when I say milk, I mean lactose free milk/coconut milk), and we both agree that it tastes better with water. I think since the powder doesn’t have a super creamy taste, it doesn’t complement the milk as well.

-It stores easily since it’s in a bag

-The serving size is quite large, (30g of protein/serving), so you could probably get away with half a serving if it’s in a shake/smoothie.

-It’s loaded with stuff that all athletes can appreciate in the recovery process: BCAAs, Glutamine, and more

 

Other than it not mixing well with milk, I don’t really have any issues with it. I also have used it in some shakes/smoothies that I’ve posted on Instagram, so check out which combinations I’ve come up with!

 

Running Fast, Lifting Heavy Approved: Yes

 

-Running Fast, Lifting Heavy

I’m Finally Joining a Gym!

On Thursday I went downstairs to my tiny condo gym, only to discover that one of the machines was broken and therefore out of service. This doesn’t sound like the hugest deal, but considering there are only two upper body machines, it really limits what I can do. I asked the guy at the front desk when it would be fixed and he told me he didn’t know…so now I’m kind of stuck.

Daniel’s talked about joining a new gym, (currently he goes to GoodLife since he gets a corporate discount through his work), and I decided that I should jump on board. Sure, it is an added expense, but I would be able to use a variety of different equipment that I don’t get currently.

About 10 minutes from our house is the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, which is loaded with amenities and recently dropped its rates! It’s closer to our house than the GoodLife that Daniel currently goes to AND they have 1an indoor track. Goodbye interval runs on the treadmill! We’re looking to join soon as we’ve already toured the facility. I’m honestly so excited; all the different strength training machines will have me feeling like a kid in a candy store!

 

-Running Fast, Lifting Heavy

Product Review: Nike Storm Hydration Water Pack

Price: $27.95 (on sale…couldn’t find it on the National Sports Website)

After the Downsview Airport 8k, I was in search for some sort of hydration pack, as I knew that I would be running the half in May. On our way home from the 8k, I saw that National Sports had a sale and thought it would be worth while to stop in. After scanning the store for a bit, I found a rack of Nike products that were on sale and stumbled upon this hydration pack. For $27.95 plus tax, I figured I couldn’t go wrong. Here’s what I thought about it:

PROS

-the belt itself is fairly comfortable and doesn’t chafe

-the water bottle is easily accessible (you just flip the band to the other side of the mouth piece and you’re good to go)

-the case surrounding the bottle prevents it from freezing in the winter (not sure if this was intentional or not)

-provides visibility by having a reflective Nike logo

-has two pockets for things like debit/credit cards, nutrition, etc

CONS

-the bottle only holds 22oz, so it may not be sufficient enough to run in the summer, especially if it’s a longer run

-it bounces like crazy! To be honest, I don’t know if all belts bounce to this magnitude, or if it’s just this one. But it is super annoying. It’s gets a little better as you drink more water though

-pockets aren’t big enough to fit a Galaxy or iPhone

I guess I can’t be too disappointed considering how little I paid for it, but I wish that I had held out and bought a hydration vest. Anyone have any recommendations for one? Haha.

Running Fast, Lifting Heavy Approved: No. The bouncing is a write-off.

 

-Running Fast, Lifting Heavy

Racing While on Vacation

In the spring, Daniel and I have planned to go on a European vacation for our seventh anniversary. While our destination isn’t set in stone, we’re currently on the fence between Lisbon/Madrid, and Berlin/Budapest. Our plan was to spend five days in each city, so our total vacation time would be 10 days, (approximately). I’m so excited! The farthest I’ve gone from Toronto is the Mayan Riviera in Mexico for my mom’s wedding.

Daniel and I usually go to Florida at least once a year to visit his mom, so I’m used to running there. The climate in South Florida is much different than it is in Toronto, so it was a huge adjustment, however you can’t beat running Oceanside! While I’ve gone on plenty of runs in West Palm, I haven’t done any races there. I like the idea of doing a race while on vacation, but there are a few things that I’m slightly concerned about:

-We’re leaving a few days after my half. Is that enough time to recover?

-Is there a recommendable distance I should run?

-Race Kit pick-up in a country that has a native language other than English…this is most frightening to me (weird, right?). If I were to race in Madrid I could get by since my Spanish is passible, but that’s pretty much it.

What are your thoughts? Have you ever raced on vacation (excluding racecations)? What were your experiences?

 

-Running Fast, Lifting Heavy

Weekly Recap (Jan 9th- 15th)

This week saw the start of a new semester, as well as the start of training season! The first race on the docket is the Achilles 5k in March. I’ll be using the Nike 5k and Nike Half Marathon training plans as I’ve had success using Nike for my previous races. My plan is to train for that until the end of the month, and then switch over to training for the Mississauga Marathon (half marathon distance). The 5k serves as a easy training period in which the distances are shorter, but will still work out the kinks from all my time not training for something. –Side note: my weeks start on Monday and end on Sunday.

Monday

Interval Workout on the treadmill – 1.5mi, moving time: 17mins, avg pace: 10:48/mi

Tuesday

 Rest Day – I have class literally all day, so I didn’t have time to do much of anything

Wednesday

 My friend talked me into swapping my 3mi run for a leg day…how could I turn that down?

-5min warm-up

-Squats (3 sets x 10 reps) @ 90lbs (not including the bar) – 30 sec rest in between sets

-Standing Calf Raises – (3 sets x 15 reps) @ 150lbs – 30 sec rest in between sets

-Seated Leg Press – (3 sets x 10 reps) @ 140lbs – 30 sec rest in between sets

-stretch/roll

Totally forgot how much you get pushed sometimes when you workout with other people haha.

Thursday

 2mi Run – moving time: 20:56, avg pace: 10:28/mi – this run felt a little tricky to me for the simple fact that I kept having to tell myself to slow down! It was only supposed to be a recovery run, and I felt like I was getting carried away at points

Friday & Saturday

Accidental rest days…studying got the best of me

 

I have less on my plate this week at school, so I’m hoping that that will help in terms of being able to get out there.

 

-Running Fast, Lifting Heavy