Day 13: marathon day!

Posted on January 19, 2013 by HaleyComet

Marathons are the biggest, and probably only, reason I’m worried about this challenge. The day after, shit, the 2-3 days after a race, one doesn’t really feel like working out. Granted, walks and/or swims are good to help relieve the soreness, but lets face it, when you’ve done a marathon you’ve earned the right to be lazy! So, I won’t even address the stupid notions I have about doing some ultra marathons this year. That should be fun. Not really.

Day 13: Marathon. (Sunday) Mobile, AL “First Light Marathon”
Official distance 26.2mi. Garmin distance: farther than that.
Time: 5:54:01, pace: 13:31

The course was beautiful, through “historic Mobile”, then out through two Colleges, then back to downtown. It was mostly flat for about 5 miles, then the hills started about mile 10-22, rolling.
Funny thing about that jacked up car up there ^^. A guy was running near me as we were crossing that intersection. Cops were holding & directing traffic. He calls out to them “Tell me I’m hallucinating! Tell me that that isn’t a car taller than the trucks!” It was quite hilarious at mile 23. You’re laughing, right? Ok, we were delirious. Whatever.

I was trying something TOTALLY NEW during this race. I like to buck trends (and by “trends” I mean, solid advice & rules by experienced racers) and try completely new nutrition during the race. Without practicing during training (wait, what’s training?), I made tons of homemade ‘energy bars’ and carried them in my ultra racing pack. In my other races, my stomach usually stop tolerating sweet sports drink (Gatorade, Powerade: YUCK!) and gels/shot blocs after about mile 16ish. I just can’t tolerate them anymore. So, I think that since my eating over the past year has been dramatically cleaned up, that I can start cleaning up my race food. While some think it’s stupid to not use these sugar and chemical laden “foods” during a race, many people rely on real foods. Also, these products have only been around for about 30-40 years. Long distance racing has been around for much longer than that. Anyway…that’s enough of my soapbox. It’s an experiment and I’m going to keep tweaking.

Since I’m new to this blogging thing, I’ll say my finish time was…less than stellar. It’s not my worst race by any means, but it is definitely out of my normal 4:30-5:15 finish times. I believe it was a combination of the food, the very hot-for-winter temps (70 at the start, 100% humidity…UGH) and my stupid lack of salt mistake. Yep. In all my bars and carried food, I forgot to salt them during cooking and didn’t carry salt packets or pills. Lovely. (not really)

It was an experiment, but I wouldn’t say I failed miserably. I learned, or was reminded, that no matter how many of these things I do, I can’t get lazy and forget little things like salt! That said, I got a new state and finished my #22 marathon! Until next week…where I try for #23. With salt.

Days 10-12. The last complaints about the weather.

Posted on January 13, 2013 by HaleyComet

Ok, after this post I’ll stop complaining about the weather. Promise. Maybe.
If it stops raining, I’ll stop complaining about it. Until March when summer arrives.

Day 10: Home CrossFit & a walk. Did “Annie” at home, which is 50-40-30-20-10 double unders & sit ups. Pretty easy in the driveway! Earlier in the morning, we went for a mile walk in the storms to check out the flooding in the neighborhood.
“ANNIE”: 16:30 (really sucked on the jump rope today)
Walk: 30min

Day 11: Run. Fed up with the rain, I went and ran in the storm.
5:30pm: 2.1miles, 21:41, pace: 10:22. Ran in ankle deep water on some streets. Wasn’t too bad.

Day 12: Run & pushups: Drove to Mobile, AL today. Walked around downtown (nice little area, pleasantly surprised!). Quick run on the hotel treadmill while watching Real Housewives. Don’t judge. Had to be quick to make my 5p dinner reservation–I’m a senior citizen trapped in a 30something body: have to eat early. Then did 50 pushups after dinner.
Run: 1.59mi, time 14:42, pace: 9:15 (treadmill)
Note: after over 20 marathons, this is the first time I’ve run the day before a race! Ha. I’m usually really lazy.

Until Day 13…marathon day! Ciao!

Day 9 & bad weather.

Posted on January 9, 2013 by HaleyComet

Day 9: home interval workout “home CrossFit” & short jog.

The weather has been crap most of the past week. It’s been fluctuating between warm and cold (today, its 66°), but mostly it’s been raining. When it isn’t raining, it’s been dreary & foggy or drizzling. This southern girl can’t handle it! I need my sun!

So, my standard trail run loop is off-limits. It will be way too muddy and it’s not kind to the trails to run on them with standing water and such. I’m missing running. Oh, and yes, I know it’s possible to run in the rain on the street, but my legs like the trails. They’re more forgiving.

Evening edit: went for a little jog to loosen up my legs & bum. My rear is very sore from CrossFit yesterday. Rural stuff in the mile around the ‘hood.

Run: 1.13mi, time: 12:54, pace: 11:27

Anyway, this is what I did today. A “Spartan WOD“, which I get emailed every day. Sometimes I do them, sometimes I don’t. Today, it was a good home workout to do on a rainy day. I added double unders and an extra sprint in there, that’s what the dashes are for:

10 double unders
—
100m sprint
10 pushups
100m sprint
10 jumping lunges
100m sprint
10 pushups (supposed to be pull-ups, but I don’t have bar)
100m sprint
10 burpees
100m sprint
10 bodyweight squats
100m sprint
30 crunches
—
100m sprint
25 double unders, unbroken.

Time: 10:43

In really exciting news to no one but myself, I am LOVING this new collage-making app: Layout. Please bear with me for a while while as I try out different sites until I figure out the style of workout pics I want here. Thanks to my friend LeapinLizardz for the suggestion!

This is what I have for today. Oh, and see how dreary and gross it is?! Doesn’t seem like it should be warm enough for tank tops and shorts, but it is.

Days 4,5,6,7 & 8. Or, too long between posts!

Posted on January 8, 2013 by HaleyComet

5 days between logging is too long! Boy, I sure am sorry about that. What a pain in the ass!

Day 4: Run: 3.3 miles, Time 31:55, pace 9:40. With Rascal, aka: RunnerDog! We ran to and from the gas station because I needed cash out of the ATM. Not the school (WHOOP! GIG ‘EM!), but the machine that dispenses paper monies.
splits: 10:17, 9:17, 9:16 and 9:47 for the last .3
Then a 1/2 mi walk to/from the Post Office with the dog.

Day 5: Blah day! Overcast, cold. My calf has been bothering me, so I’m taking an ‘off’ day. Did these all together, with purpose, as per my self imposed rules:
Yoga: 15min
Then: assorted practice of handstands, headstands & 3min of planks (sets of 30sec)
Walk the dogs: 15 min

Day 6: ~~RUN!~~ Pure Barre class! Which picture do you like better?
It would help if my paparazzi wasn’t taking the pic from an angle looking down, but I guess he can’t help it that he’s freakishly tall.

Anyway…My scheduled run turned into a barre class because the weather was terrible & I had a Groupon to active before it expired. I’ll admit I was scared, and some parts were definitely hard, but overall it was fun. Different. I have 5 more classes to use this month, so I’ll be doing more of these.
Side note: I love doing Groupon for these kinds of things, I get to try new workouts or places without a major commitment.

Day 7: Weights & a Walk: I wasn’t feeling great, so no CF. Did some clean & jerks and worked on KB: snatch, clean & press, 50 swings.
Walk: 15 min walk, barefoot. I got blisters from wearing dress shoes for our date Friday night! Stupid dress shoes. This is why I stick to Vibrams. For everything.

Day 8: CrossFit! Arrived 10min late, so we missed most of the warmup. Warmup that I did do: 200m run, 50 jumping jacks, warmup lunges w/ assorted weights (15, 20, 25, 35lbs)

WOD: 13min AMRAP (as many rounds as possible)
75m run
10 slam balls (slam a medicine ball down hard, then pick it up, then do it again)
12 walking lunges w/35lb weight in EACH HAND.
Total: 7 1/3 rounds! I was the only female to do it as Rx, and the Mr. was the only male!

So, that’s it. First week done, 51 to go! (ooof) I’d say overall it was good. The blisters and then not feeling good on day 7 kinda messed up my plans for the week, but that’s how it goes sometimes.

Again I say I won’t wait so long between posts, because then I’m sitting here formatting my pictures for several hours and it’s not fun. If I just spent 15min after my workouts doing it, like when I log my workouts, it would be done and easy to upload. Oh well, lesson learned.
See you in a couple days!

Happy New Year! Days 1-3.

Posted on January 4, 2013 by HaleyComet

I’m going to have to get serious about motivation to blog. I’m just not used to it yet. However, I feel like I’ve been pretty successful this week with my workouts! I’m feeling very motivated & started the year off right.

Day 1, New Years Day:

AM: 5.01 mile run on the Spillway Trail. (trail run, obvi) Time: 58:45. It was 70 degrees and 100% humidity. Much warmer than usual, even for the swamp.
PM: CrossFit: Warmup: 500m row, 20 lunges, 20 air squats (jumping), 20 power clean (bar only), something else I forget

WOD, it’s a 2fer!
21-15-9
calorie row
box jumps
—7min rest—
21-15-9
power cleans (75lbs)
dips (I did it on the GHD, can’t do rings)
Time: 25min. Took me forever, those power cleans after the other WOD were hard.

(For those unfamiliar with CrossFit, usually a set of 21-15-9 is the whole workout, not doing it twice! This was definitely a New Years butt-kicker!)

Day 2: “WHAT AM I THINKING?!?! I’m already sore! OMG this is going to be a LONG year! I’m such a dumbass.”

Run: 2.01 run, in between rain storms, about 40°F (cold & wet). Time: 18:39, 9:17pace. 1/2mi warmup, 1.5mi ‘moderate’ intervals (not too hard), 1/2mi cool down.
Weight lifting: sets of deadlifts (135-185lbs), push press (65-75lbs), power hang clean & thrusters (75lbs each)
Feeling fresh:

Day 3: Thursday

CrossFit: Warmup: 1000m row, 15 burpees, 100 sun gods, DL warmup
WOD:
3 rounds
12 burpee jump over box
15 pullups
7 deadlift (135)
After the first round, my ‘jump over box’ became box jumps. I was going to bust my ass.
14:22
Felt tired. My hands hurt, I’m getting blisters. This makes 4 WOD’s this week at the gym, plus weights on my own. More than I’ve done in a LONG time.

This leaves me at today, Day 4. I think I will be going for a run. I should probably do some yoga too. Hoping to have a body comp/weight/measurements/food post sometime in the next couple of days!
Have a good weekend everyone. Work hard!

Bye 2012! (aka: December Excuses)

Posted on December 31, 2012 by HaleyComet

This last month of 2012 has been a whirlwind and not in the amazing, romantic ways. Sure, there was tons of fun, but for the most part it was spent sick or criss-crossing the country. As I’m sitting here on NYE, reluctantly writing this post, I am mad at myself for 1. putting this post off, 2. not having enough time to actually write it, and 3. not having a fun, ‘grand plan’ post for the New Year and my CHALLENGE!! Oh well, there is tomorrow, the 1st. 🙂

Let me recap my horribly crazy December:

Dec 1-6: Finals. For those of you who are strangers (welcome!), I am a 31 year old full-time student. Again. It’s a joy going back to school with 18-22 year olds. Trust me. Or not. Ok, it’s not terrible, but I feel old. Anyway, back to Dec.

After my last final on the 6th, K (my other half, probably better) and I went STRAIGHT to the airport, with an hour to spare. Had a glass of wine. Boarded our flight for our “Anniversary/His 32nd Birthday” trip! 2 weeks on the Left Coast. A week in SF to visit my dear friend Luis, who is recovering from Brain Surgery #2. You see, him and my Hubs share this horrible affliction & affinity for brain surgeries… then a little over a week driving up the PCT/Highway 1 to Oregon, a big hiking road trip! Super stoked.

We arrived on the night of the 6th. On the 7th we hit up Zombie Runner: trail running store Mecca!, did some CrossFit, went to his CF Holiday Party.

8th: Stupidly did the hardest race I’ve ever done: Coyote Ridge trail run (marathon) at Muir Woods (started at Muir Beach). I smartly dropped from the 50k to the marathon, before the race, when I realized the “only extra 5 miles” would probably take me about 2 extra hours! NoThankYou. (I won’t write a race report, but let me say: worst.race.ever. I was dehydrated, EXHAUSTED and felt BAD. After 20something marathons, I know when something is wrong)

Dec 9: I woke up sick. K’s birthday! Toured SF: different neighborhoods, Chinatown tea tastings, Golden Gate, etc. Had a birthday sundae at Ghiradelli.

10-12th: SICK AS A DOG. I could barely hang on while sightseeing (we did go to Alcatraz, K got a tattoo, and tons of fun stuff, but we both felt like sh*t!) There was no way I could spend over a week hiking up into Oregon. We cut the trip short, got a last minute flight, and arrived home on the 13th. Also the day K came down with my horrid sickness.

14th: went to my brothers (4hrs away). Yes, I was home less than a day and left again. My SIL had her baby way too early and we went to help: not have the baby, but cook, housework, etc. I was still sick, so I couldn’t see the baby who was in the NICU.

17&18th: home for 48hrs. Feeling better. Laundry like a mad woman. Packing.

19th: Trip time! Again. 16+ hours of driving to surprise to the in-laws in Ohio. The highlight was stopping at CrossFit Mayhem (home of Rich Froning!) in Cookeville, TN! So fun!

19-25th: Christmas time in Ohio. Saw good friends, no major family blowups (this is huge).

26th: home

27-30: back to my brothers to see the baby, cook, etc. SIL is out of the hospital, but baby Aubrey is still in NICU.

31: Home. Writing this post.

SO. There it is. My grand plans of hanging out with my friends on New Years, running some stupid back-to-back marathons went out the window when me and K were both sick for over 2 weeks. We were nice and ~~showed up unannounced at K’s parents at 11p~~ went to Ohio when we started to feel like we weren’t disgusting people to be around.

I’m super excited for the 1st! I think I’m excited for my 365 workout challenge. Right now, I’m looking at it as one day at a time, one week at a time. Now, time for bed, I’ve got a big year ahead!

Hello, hello, is this thing on?

Posted on December 2, 2012 by HaleyComet

HI!!! Welcome! I’m pretty new to this blogging thing and it will not be winning any awards. You can leave now if you’d like; I won’t be offended.

So, what’s the point of my narcissistic vomit? Just another blog you waste time reading? The backstory in how I got here is long, but the short answer is, my “2013 Challenge.” I’m challenging myself to do 365 days of Workouts. I was inspired by Betsy of 365 Days, 365 Workouts and decided it was far enough over the threshold of the fun/insanity line for me to try it! Just like signing up for 20 marathons without training (I only trained for the first one), or the Ironman’s, working out 365 days is in the same category. You see, I love rest days. Too much. The less you stress your muscles, the fresher they are for the next ‘workout’, right? RIGHT.
(Not. Do not try this method people.)

This log is to hold myself accountable. To make myself do the workouts. By having to write them here and make it public, for shaming.

I’m using December as time to get myself into a safe place mentally for the challenge & to get my affairs in order: learn how to use this fancy blog & finish acquiring some small home-gym items like a new yoga mat & my custom jump rope.

You’re asking yourself, WHAT kinds of workouts can she do every day? How will she not go insane? I don’t know, I’m wondering that myself. I’m brainstorming with mini-challenges or focused months/blocks of training: probably a decent amount of running, CrossFit 3-4x/week, yoga, assorted home workouts, maybe some swimming. There will be light days. I haven’t come up with the minimum amount of activity to qualify as a workout, but probably a walk or yoga. Not just walking to the store from the car, or to class, but a walk for the sole purpose of a walk. My dogs might appreciate that too.

See you later this month or Jan 1, 2013, when I’m “running” my first marathon of the year. The day after I “run” my last marathon of 2012 (#4).

Haley

haleycomet365

365 days of workouts, Food, and hopefully some fun!

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