My next race is the Frosty Footrace (5K) on February 27th. This is the week of the Frozen Zucchini Snowshoe Adventure (5K) on January 30th.

Day 463 | January 24, 2011: 4 m run (4x400s) + yoga

Speedwork! During lunch I used one of the office gym treadmills to do 4×400. Something about that gym treadmill makes it feel much easier than the one at home. I wonder if it’s mental or actually something physical about the machine.

Anyway, I started out slow with the 400s since my speedwork has been non-existent since, well, who knows, the summer? Before then?

1st 400 @ 6.6mph/9:05mm

2nd 400 @ 6.8mph/8:51mm

3rd 400 @ 6.9mph/8:41mm

4th 400 @ 7.0mph/8:34mm

I did a 1-mile warm-up (@6.0mph/10:00mm), 4×400 with 2:00 minutes of recovery (@6.0mph/10:00mm), then about a 1.4 mile cool-down (@6.0mph/10:00mm). The workout felt good and easy. Success!

Distance: 4.0 | Incline: 1.0 | Time: 38:57

In the evening I did the YogaWorks Beginners DVD. Wow. Did that ever feel good! Note to self – do yoga immediately after running, when possible (even if feeling distracted)!

Day 464 | January 25, 2011: cross

Tuesday was one of those days where I was lucky to get any sort of workout in. I was in training all day, and barely had any time at lunch. And had a headache and was moody when I got home.

I get headaches when ever my routine is thrown off and I don’t drink as much water and eat at my normal times. Does getting thrown off your eating/drinking schedule cause you to have headaches?

Recumbent Bike Time: 25:00 | Distance: 4.72 | Set on “Manual”, Resistance Level 3.0

Day 465 | January 26, 2011: 4 m run (tempo) + strength

During lunch I used the office gym treadmill to do a quick tempo run – .5 miles @ 10:00mm, 3 miles @ 9:05 mm, and .5 miles @ 10:00 mm. Not much for a warm-up and cool-down, but that was all the time I had.

This run was hard, but not really in a physical way – more in a mental way. I had to keep repeating, “you can do this!” And I did.

Unfortunately, my left shin was bugging me a bit when I first started, then the pain went right away. Ugh. Guess I am on “shin alert” – any pain and I must not run.

Distance: 4.0 | Incline: 1.0 | Time: 37:18

Kandi and I were talking about how red our faces get when we work out (and how people like to comment on it) at the beginning of the week, so I took a photo of me after my shower. I look really bad (angry or something, but I am not) but you can see how red my face is!

Is your face super red after you work out?

And yes, someone commented on how red my face was on Wednesday!

In the evening, I did Level 1 of The 30 Day Shred. I used 2-lb dumbbells for most of the moves, and 5-lb dumbbells for the Dumbbell Row and Chest Flies.

You know, the 30 Day Shred always kicks my butt. I like that about it.

Day 466 | January 27, 2011: cross+ strength

At lunch time, I rode the bike.

Bike Time: 30:00 | Distance: 6.01 | Set on “Manual”, Resistance Level 3.0

In the evening, I attended a strength clinic being held by the running club. It was hosted by a local personal trainer, and he shared a lot of good moves with us! I did about a 30-minute workout, sampling the moves below, and using two 5-lb, and sometimes an 8-lb weight (depending on the move).

1. Kettlebell Swings	6. Toe Raises with Dumbbells on Shoulders
2. Jump Lunges	7. One Leg Squat to Side Raise
3. Pushup Row w/Core Hold	8. Core: Rower/Ab Crunch /Ab Crunch to Dumbbell Press
4. Squat & then Toe Raise	9. Tricep Extension to Knee Up
5. Dumbbell Squat	10. Reverse Lunge to Dumbbell Curl

That’s me in purple (below), trying the Ab Crunch to Dumbbell Press move. Ouch!

Day 467 | January 28, 2011: 10 m run + yoga

Whoa! Heatwave! 30°F!!! Time to celebrate!

I was so excited to see the temperatures so high! I liked not wearing pants over my tights (although I do have shorts on that you can barely see).

I tried to run this 10-miler quickly, to see if I could. I averaged a 9:30 pace, which is really good for me right now. But it was admittedly hard in the end. Especially because my neighborhood has a lot of short hills!

I had to stop at mile 1.3 to put on wired headphones because my wireless bluetooth adapter stopped working (I thought I would try it since it was warmer). And I stopped at home at mile 5 and Steven had a warm pretzel for me to eat! What a sweetie!

After eating my pretzel, I changed in to something more “visible” since the sun was starting to set. I ended up being at home for maybe 10-15 minutes. Oops!

Yellow Uni-Boob! I am getting the feeling yellow is not a good color for me!

The rest of the run went well, but I did have to stop and stretch my right hip a few times. Nothing major, I could just feel the road on my left shin, left outside knee and right hip. I miss running on trails!!!

Run stats: I wore the Asics Cumulus 12s. I stopped at home and had a pretzel and a sip of water in the middle of the run. In the beginning, I had on tights, shorts, Under Armour ColdGear, my green jacket, a headband and gloves (which I took on and off). After stopping, I put on a new layer of Under Armour ColdGear, the yellow top over it, and the reflective belt.

Distance: 10.0 | Start Temp: 30° | End Temp: 28° | Time: 1:35:04| Avg Pace: 9:30 | 1: 9:38 | 2: 9:34 | 3: 9:26 | 4: 9:22 | 5: 9:26 | 6: 8:58 | 7: 9:29 | 8: 9:42 | 9: 9:37 | 10: 9:43

Day 468 | January 29, 2011: 4.2 m run

Saturday was another fun run with the Grayslake Running Club! We ran around Grayslake then had a little social at Dunkin’ Donuts afterward. Every time I meet up with the group I am so happy I joined. There are so many wonderful members. And it’s a lot of fun running with them! And I love that someone is always taking photos – makes me feel like I am not the only crazy photo-taker out there.

After the social, we even went over to the club president’s house so Steven could help with their speakers. Everyone helps each other out!

Oh, and a funny thing – this was my inaugural outdoor run for my new Asics. I was running and something felt funny – there was a tag inside the shoe! I had to stop and take the shoe off and get it out. Ha ha.

Distance: 4.2 | Start Temp: 32° | End Temp: 32° | Time: 40:47 | Avg Pace: 9:43 | 1: 9:51 | 2: 9:59 | 3: 9:34 | 4: 9:31 | 5: 1:51

Day 469 | January 30, 2011: Snowshoe 5K

Time to go “run” this…

And see what happens!

Week Summary: 25.3 miles

This was a good week, with the return of some easy speedwork and tempo runs. I felt like I slacked a little on the strength department. Maybe I can fit something in later today…