It's Spring! (kind of)

It's finally here! Spring has arrived!  I am so ready for the warm (HOT) weather.  But in the last few days its hasn't been too "Springy" here.  It's still pretty chilly- woke up this morning and it was in the 30s.  Not OK. And with the turn of Spring came daylight saving a few weeks ago.  Reasons I hate this: 1) We lose that hour of sleep, obviously. But that's easy to get over. And 2) sunrise is now at 7:30am instead of 6:30am...which is way too late for me to do a morning run outside. So I’ve had to run at the gym instead. Part of me is hoping this will be a good thing because I am able to run on an incline like I used to when I was a strict indoor only runner. I’m hoping this will help me out with the uphill sections of the half in NY. If you have read my post about the HH half last month, the bridge KILLED me. I died on top of it, my soul escaped my body, I saw my body lying there on ground, hundreds of other runners  effortlessly running and jumping over my dead body and doing nothing. That's only a small exaggeration. But ultimately the incline is what wrecked my 2 hour goal. GRRRR…

Ever since I started consistently running outside (vs. in the gym) a little over 3 months ago I find myself more excited to run outdoors. I dread rainy, cold days more than ever now. Don’t get me wrong, I do love the gym for the free weights, machines and fantastic people watching (watching ridiculous meat heads attempt to lift extreme amounts of weight and flexing proudly in the mirror, as well as the heavily made-up college girls who spend 3 minutes on the ellipticals and then leave) but running outside is much more exciting and freeing. I'm also way faster. :) Over the past few months I've really wondered about the differences between treadmill running and road running.  Is one more effective than the other? Do they work the same muscles? Am I likely to reduce injury and recover more quickly doing one vs. the other? After some research, here's what I found... 

Obviously the first thing is the wind impact/resistance you get outside vs indoors.  Running on a treadmill is easier than running outside because the belt propels you along. The way to compensate this while running on a t-mill is to up the incline.  I do this normally, and find that on some t-mills it can get pretty difficult and on others you've really got to ramp it up to feel anything. I know this is extremely important to do because I definitely have days when the wind is literally pushing me back and it’s a struggle to more forward.  I learned that treadmill is good for speed training.  Sprint at a fast set pace for a minute or two then recover at a set slower pace.  One disadvantage of t-mill training is that its difficult to learn your pace. When you run outside you run on instinct and you change your pace based on how you feel. On a treadmill it's easy to simply set it on a pace and then run that pace for however long you planned to run instead of putting more effort in to really figure out your pace.  So obviously there are pros and cons to both.  I think the best thing to do is to mix it up a bit, but try to keep most of the running outdoors when you can.  

I'm hoping to get some good outside runs in soon. Next half is in 2.5 weeks! AHH!!!

Speaking of that I came across this hilarious article about a girl who recently ran a half in NYC and to get her through it she took a pic of a hot guy for each mile.  GENIUS!  Too bad my next half is an all women's one. HAHA.  But I'm not stopping there. Here's the link if you want to see the pictures.  They are pretty funny!
http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/woman-takes-selfies-13-hot-guys-marathon-article-1.1726861 

Testing, Testing, Level 1, 2, 3! (and half marathon number 2)

Life update since I haven't written in weeks… GO!

A few Saturdays ago, I took my krav maga test to advance into level 3.  The test was 3 plus hours of non-stop combatives, defenses, cardio, sparring, etc.  Half way through, the 7 of us testing were all so sweaty we could barely hold on to each other to deliver strikes.  It was difficult to get a good grip when both you and your partner are covered in sweat.  But at the end of the sweaty endeavor, we found out we all passed.  Phew!

I took Saturday and Sunday off from running, which was not really my plan.  I wanted to run Sunday but by the way I was feeling Sunday night, I’m glad I didn’t.  My calves were tight and my neck, back and triceps felt like they had all been wrung out like wet towels.  I guess I really needed the extra day off after that krav test.  But I was back at it Monday morning, with a good 4.5 mile run.  That night I took fitness bag class like normal and my first Brazilian Jui Jitzu class.  And let’s just say, I’m glad it’s over.  BJJ was interesting to say the least.  I was way out of my comfort zone on this new mat.  The basic concepts went against all of my instincts to punch and kick and basically flip out like a cat thrown into a bathtub full of water.  BJJ is all about manipulating the body to submit your attacker, whereas in krav there are no rules and its more of a realistic street fight curriculum.  It was hard for me to restrain my desire to punch my partner in the face when they climbed on top of me.  To make a long story short, it was impressive to see the advanced students roll and force each other into submission.  But I on the other hand, looked like I was having a seizure on the mat.   I couldn’t wait til the hour was over.  I am hesitant to try it again, but I was given a gi to borrow and I might try the gi class sometime soon to see if I like it better. 

The Newest Level 3 Krav Members

OK, OK… so in just about a month, I will be running my second half marathon with my cousin, Allison.  She also ran the Hilton Head one with me in February.  It was both of our firsts.  For our second half we are going to NYC!  It’s the More Magazine and Fitness Magazine’s Women Run the World Half Marathon.  It starts in Central Park and goes twice around the park and then up a few other streets.  We are leaving Charleston on Friday morning and coming back Monday night and with the race being on Sunday we should have some time to shop, maybe see a show and just explore.  Actually the magazines hosting the race are having tons of events and activities over the weekend to keep us busy.  We don't want to do all of them but there is a Women's health and fitness expo all day Saturday that we can go to.  The pictures from years’ past look pretty cool so I think we will at least check it out and see if it’s worth sticking around. There should be lots of fitness/health products on display and hopefully some cool running apparel for sale.  The website says there will be speakers, training sessions, SHOPPING, FOOD and PRODUCT SAMPLES, beauty touch-ups, GIFT BAGS, etc.  So basically, please note that we will really be going for the FREE STUFF.

My Motto For 2014