I took my rest day yesterday. I tried to do the routine from freetrainers.com, but it clearly assumed I was a lot more fit than I actually am. I changed the push-ups to knee push-ups. I did the bicep curls and the side laterals with 10 lb hand weights, which in terms of the former was probably not enough and the later way too much. The only other thing on the list that I could physically complete were crunches. After about 20 minutes my arms were quivering and shaking so I abandoned the workout about 2/3 through. I will probably try it again the next time I have a rest day, but next time I won't be so ambitious with the side laterals and the 10 lb weights, I think that is what killed me.
I've been thinking a lot about my routine and last Saturday when I ran a mile. I like my routine cause it makes for a pretty even workout. Though I really like the feeling I got from running the whole time last Saturday even if it was only for 17 minutes. I'm thinking that one of the toughest thing about my workouts is all the walking. There is a great thread about the mental aspects of running on the Runners World Beginner Forums. I've long thought that my physical abilities were limited by my own perception of capability. Not that I want to lift a thousand pounds or fly to the moon, goals I know to be absurd. I just wonder if I'm ready to be running for 30 minutes straight and it's my head that is holding me back. I know that the more walk breaks I take the more I want to take them, so there has to be some credence to all of this.
Showing posts with label rest day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rest day. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Monday, August 27, 2007
Weekend Blog Dump
Friday
I needed a good day today and boy did I get one. My previous workout had been 90 seconds walking and 60 seconds running. Unfortunately the only thing I could think about all day was, "I wonder how far I could run if I just kept running." My plan when I got home was to do my normal workout and then maybe tomorrow try run as far as I could thing. Well after I talked to my wife I was even more anxious about seeing how far I could go, so I just said the heck with it and went for it. I did my mini warm up of 90 seconds walking and then I ran... for 6.5 minutes straight. I know it may seem insignifigant if you've been running for awhile, but I doubt I have ever in my life run that long continuously. At 3.7 mph that amounted to .4 miles! Anyway after I walked for a little I decided I'd run again but of course by this time my stamina was pretty low so I only lasted 90 seconds. Now for my normal workouts I have printed out from excel (yes, I'm a nerd) the exact times of when I'm supposed to do what. So I ended up walking till the 11:30 mark and from there I ran and just stayed on my normal routine. When my 30 minutes was up I had ran for 16 minutes and a total distance of 1.616 miles. Before today I considered what I was doing as walk/running, because a majority of my time was spent walking, but 16 minutes running is definitely run/walking. I know these hurdles I keep clearing are all in my head, but they make me feel like I'm really accomplishing something.
Saturday
I bought some new workout shorts today and had a bit of a surprise. I am no longer a 2XL short size. I put them on when I got home and they were far too loose, almost nothing holding them on! So those have to go back to the store. I felt a little bit tired today after yesterdays big jump to 16 minutes running, but I want to keep progressing so I went for another PR today. Doing the math for my workouts, to keep things even I have a 15 minute running formula and an 18 minute running formula. Since yesterday's 16 minute routine was unconventional I decided that I was ready for the 18 minuter. This would be 60 seconds walking and 90 seconds running. Well it didn't take too long to figure out just how wrong I was. By the 16:00 mark I was absolutely dead on my feet, so I walked through that run mark and stayed on routine for the rest. Then at the 28:00 mark I ran for the last 2 minutes. I finished with 17 minutes of running. Not the PR I was shooting for, but still a PR. I think the biggest lesson I learned today was to listen to my body and watch my past performance. If I wake up a little sore the day after doing something I've never been able to do then there is no shame in taking a rest day.
Sunday
I woke up sore today and decided to learn my lesson so I declared a rest day. After 25 days in a row of working out I felt very guilty doing this. I hope that with this rest day I will be able to come back Monday even stronger. Also I returned the shorts from yesterday and got the XL size which was $2 cheaper (another bonus)! I almost forgot to mention that I did run out to our mailbox and back today which is only about 500 - 600 feet, but still it marks the first time I've run outside in years. I will definitely need an adjustment period when I switch to outside running as with just that short distance I could feel it in my knees and feet that I was doing something more strenuous.
I needed a good day today and boy did I get one. My previous workout had been 90 seconds walking and 60 seconds running. Unfortunately the only thing I could think about all day was, "I wonder how far I could run if I just kept running." My plan when I got home was to do my normal workout and then maybe tomorrow try run as far as I could thing. Well after I talked to my wife I was even more anxious about seeing how far I could go, so I just said the heck with it and went for it. I did my mini warm up of 90 seconds walking and then I ran... for 6.5 minutes straight. I know it may seem insignifigant if you've been running for awhile, but I doubt I have ever in my life run that long continuously. At 3.7 mph that amounted to .4 miles! Anyway after I walked for a little I decided I'd run again but of course by this time my stamina was pretty low so I only lasted 90 seconds. Now for my normal workouts I have printed out from excel (yes, I'm a nerd) the exact times of when I'm supposed to do what. So I ended up walking till the 11:30 mark and from there I ran and just stayed on my normal routine. When my 30 minutes was up I had ran for 16 minutes and a total distance of 1.616 miles. Before today I considered what I was doing as walk/running, because a majority of my time was spent walking, but 16 minutes running is definitely run/walking. I know these hurdles I keep clearing are all in my head, but they make me feel like I'm really accomplishing something.
Saturday
I bought some new workout shorts today and had a bit of a surprise. I am no longer a 2XL short size. I put them on when I got home and they were far too loose, almost nothing holding them on! So those have to go back to the store. I felt a little bit tired today after yesterdays big jump to 16 minutes running, but I want to keep progressing so I went for another PR today. Doing the math for my workouts, to keep things even I have a 15 minute running formula and an 18 minute running formula. Since yesterday's 16 minute routine was unconventional I decided that I was ready for the 18 minuter. This would be 60 seconds walking and 90 seconds running. Well it didn't take too long to figure out just how wrong I was. By the 16:00 mark I was absolutely dead on my feet, so I walked through that run mark and stayed on routine for the rest. Then at the 28:00 mark I ran for the last 2 minutes. I finished with 17 minutes of running. Not the PR I was shooting for, but still a PR. I think the biggest lesson I learned today was to listen to my body and watch my past performance. If I wake up a little sore the day after doing something I've never been able to do then there is no shame in taking a rest day.
Sunday
I woke up sore today and decided to learn my lesson so I declared a rest day. After 25 days in a row of working out I felt very guilty doing this. I hope that with this rest day I will be able to come back Monday even stronger. Also I returned the shorts from yesterday and got the XL size which was $2 cheaper (another bonus)! I almost forgot to mention that I did run out to our mailbox and back today which is only about 500 - 600 feet, but still it marks the first time I've run outside in years. I will definitely need an adjustment period when I switch to outside running as with just that short distance I could feel it in my knees and feet that I was doing something more strenuous.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)