glidergirl

• 70 minutes elliptical, heart rate 135-155 (mostly 130's and 140's)
• strength training, achilles exercises/stretches

Tired today!  It took a lot to get my heart rate even to just the 140's...pathetic.  I found my groove after 50 minutes and kept it at 155-160's, but then lost it when a slower song came on Pandora...dang it.  Today was definitely an "easy run" day. Hope you're all doing well. :) 

I figured out how to beat the cross training system, guys! :)

• 90 minutes elliptical, heart rate 160-185
• 45 minutes cycling, heart rate 125-140 (mostly low 130's)
• Strength training, achilles exercises/stretches 

I went to bed really early (due to a marathon work/clinical sequence) and got really good sleep.  I woke up at 3:30am with tons of energy, so I went to 24 hour fitness since it's open and had a great workout, it felt so good!  And even better, I figured out how to make it more like running, it was so fun.  -I started paying attention to the miles on the machine.  I'm not sure why I haven't done that before.  I'm sure all of you elliptical gurus have known this secret for a long time. I've only been looking at my heartrate on my Garmin.  I figured this out after mile 3 and then from mile 4-10.5, I would just hit my lap button on my Garmin.  Holy cow!  It wasn't boring at all because then each mile became a game and a goal, just like the good old running days.  I could have kept going but I had to get ready for school.  I'm definitely going to do it from now on.  I just took my x-training to a whole new level folks...  

Details: I was on the elliptical that doesn't have any moveable arms - the Crossramp one (I like that one best because then I can move my arms like I'm running...I'm sure I look like THE biggest dork ever since everyone else holds onto the bars, but at least I'm a dork getting a good workout). My levels were: ramp level 11, resistance level 12. 

Here's the breakdown:

• Miles 1-3:  28:17 min (9:24 avg), avg HR 138
• Mile 4: 8:37 min, avg HR 167
• Mile 5: 8:05 min, avg HR 176
• Mile 6: 8:47 min, avg HR 170
• Mile 7: 8:11 min, avg HR 177
• Mile 8: 8:30 min, avg HR 169
• Mile 9: 7:53 min, avg HR 179
• Mile 10 7:56 min, avg HR 181
• 1/2 mile cooldown

My heart rate seems pretty high for a 7:50's mile, so I'm either out of shape or the resistance is a lot more than just running outside.  Either way, I'm looking forward to doing some interval work, tempo runs, marathon pace, etc!  I'm so happy!

(Tuesday's post was meant for Wednesday, I had a rest day on Tues)

Today:

• 3rd PT appointment: Graston/A-stim, rolling, new exercises - I've graduated to the next level! :)  See details below 
• 7 mile elliptical recovery "run"
• achilles lifts/stretches/6 x 30 seconds of jump rope

Elliptical details:

• Ramp #11, resistance #10 (2 less than yesterday)
• Mile 1: 10:24 min, warmup
• Mile 2: 9:21 min, avg HR 138
• Mile 3: 9:08 min, avg HR 148
• Mile 4: 9:07 min, avg HR 153
• Mile 5: 9:09 min, avg HR 156
• Mile 6: 9:11 min, avg HR 156
• Mile 7: 8:44 min, avg HR 157

Operation Achilles Rehab update:

• It has done great this week!  The only way I can describe it is it feels like the itchy stage of a bad scrape.  So it doesn't hurt anymore and it doesn't get inflamed, but it does want to be "itched" (aka massaged or rolled out) after I workout.  I'm starting to believe that it actually will heal now!
• The PT had to ask me which side it was this time because he couldn't tell the difference ;)
• He's now having me increase the intensity of achilles strengthening exercises so it will be nice and strong for running - I get to jump! 
• Two more weeks of no running
• I can start to introduce running in 3 weeks 
• Gradually increase from there, supplementing with x-training
• He's still saying I can run Ogden!  I don't think I'll race it, and I may need to walk 6 of the 20 (or more), but I've decided I want to be a part of it either way.  I'm excited! :)

I totally killed heart disease today!

• 1 hour 49 mins elliptical
• weight lifting, achilles lifts/stretches, jump rope 6 x 30 seconds

Today was fun. :)  I did 8 "threshold" miles out of 13.  The last 2 were really tough.  All in all, it felt like 4 tempo miles on the roads.  I feel it mostly in my respiratory/cardiovascular system since there is no impact whatsoever. Luckily everyone wanted the treadmills, so I didn't have to get off when the 60 minute auto shut off came...I just reset it and kept going. ;)  You should see me flying on those things.  I even had my hand held water bottle for the threshold miles so I could take a quick sip.  When I got home, I mimicked to James what I looked like on the elliptical compared to everyone else and he laughed.  Us runners are seriously psychotic. :) 

My achilles is feeling great!  I didn't feel it until mile 12ish and it just wanted to be stretched is all...we're now at 2.5 hours post workout and there is no crepitus whatsoever! 

Elliptical details:

• Ramp #12, resistance #12
• Recovery strides/min = 120-130
• Tempo strides/min = 150-160
• Mile 1: 9:40 min, avg HR 129 warmup
• Mile 2: 7:49 min, avg HR 163 
• Mile 3: 7:30 min, avg HR 177
• Mile 4: 8:46 min, avg HR 166 recovery 
• Mile 5: 7:39 min, avg HR 178
• Mile 6: 7:45 min, avg HR 181
• Mile 7: 9:17 min, avg HR 166 recovery
• Mile 8: 7:38 min, avg HR 180
• Mile 9: 7:50 min, avg HR 181
• Mile 10: 9:32 min, avg HR 162 recovery
• Mile 11: 7:49 min, avg HR 176
• Mile 12: 7:43 min, avg HR 180
• Mile 13: 9:58 min, avg HR 155 cooldown