training update: week of 8/11-8/17

Thanks for all of your suggestions about future posts.  I'll try to incorporate everyone's suggestions!  I think I will also try to keep a "diary" of how much runs/workouts are going.... so here's last week:

Monday
I meant to run before work, but, well, I like to sleep.  So after work I checked the weather and with a heat index OVER 100, I headed to the gym.  My plan was to walk for 5ish minutes to warm up and then run 3 miles, with 1 minute walking breaks between each mile.  After walking I started off at what I thought would be an easy running pace - 5.5 or 11:00ish minute miles - and OMG it was hard.  I think the gym was hot. And humid.  Or [insert some other excuse for why it felt so hard].  I did manage to run 3 miles, but I let myself have 2 minute walking breaks in between each mile.  I varied my running pace from 5.2-6.2 throughout, but mostly stayed in the 5.5-5.7 range.  I'm pretty sure every single minute was hard, but luckily I had an entertaining podcast about the season finale of the Bachelorette to listen to (courtesy of Jamie Golden and Knox McCoy).
When I got home, I did a little bit of strength: a front plank, side planks, leg lifts, leg circles, bridges, and pushups.  Not a million reps or anything, but hey, I did it!

Tuesday
I woke up with some sore hamstrings and shoulders.  Nothing too terrible, but I definitely felt it, and was somewhat surprised... that isn't normally a place I feel sore after running!  Today, I went to spin class for cross training. The gym has new bikes which track more stats on your workout.  I was on the bike (moving) for 68 minutes, during which time I went 22.1 miles and burned 751 calories.  I totally do not buy that calorie count - I didn't enter my height, weight, or gender, so who knows what algorithm they are using.  Still, I bet I burned over 400 calories (maybe 500+) and that's pretty good in my book.  Also, I'm not sure how they determine distance (it tracks RPMs?), but that seems more straightforward and more likely to be accurate.   Anyway, the class was pretty good.  It's a teacher I've been to before.  She does a lot of mini routines that she repeats 3-5x in a row, usually making them a bit harder each time.  It's not my favorite, but I don't mind it and she plays decent music.  So, overall a good class!  Afterwards, I was tired and a little sore, but not TOO bad, and I made sure to stretch extra when I got home.

Wednesday
It magically cooled down here, enough so that I thought running outdoors was a good idea today (it was in the mid 70s, somewhat humid).  I was super excited to listen to Jamie and Knox's new podcast, the PopCast, so so I got my iPhone & arm band and started with a 5-ish minute walk up a hill before I got to relatively flat terrain and started my run.  All I can say about this run is UGH.  My plan was to run 3 miles, with 1 minute walk breaks every mile, but I think I probably walked on average 1-2 minutes every half mile.  It was SOHARD.  WTF running!?  I also felt achey - my calves were super tight, and my anterior tibs were not feeling 100%, so I was super nervousabout pushing myself.  So, I managed to run/walk around 3.2 miles, with an average pace somewhere in the 11:00 minute mile range (including the walking). Man, I hope this running thing gets easier soon.

sweaty, but apparently still able to smile about it.

Thursday/Friday
Thursday, I was going to play kickball, but instead I went to happy hour for 4 hours.  Friday, I was going to run, but instead I worked on my dissertation proposal.

Saturday
I wasn't really in the mood to run Saturday, but I really wanted to run at least 3 times during the week, so Saturday afternoon around 4pm I forced myself out the door.  It was raining a little, which I thought would help to keep me cool.  Notsomuch.  It was sooooo humid.  My first mile, I managed to only stop to walk once for 1 minute, but my second mile was much harder, and I ended up doing 1/4 mile run/walk intervals. It was partially due to humidity, but my calves were also really tight and I was worried that was a sign of my lingering injury.  I was feeling better for my last mile and managed to run all but 2-ish minutes.  Seriously, when did running get so hard?  When I got back, I wanted to collapse, but I managed to do a plank and some pushups.

no smiles left in me after this run.  collapsed on my bedroom floor.

I was hoping that my "long run" this weekend would be 5 miles, but I really was barely up for 3.  I also thought I would aim for 4 runs, but, only managed 3.  So, I need to work on a training plan for the next twoish months, and I'm trying to decide what makes sense.  One current debate: I'd like to cardio 4-5 times per week.  This could be: 4 runs, 1 spin class; 3 runs, 2 spin classes; 3 runs, a spin class,and something else.... maybe Zumba?  Thoughts anyone?

My other debate is about strength training - I'd like to do strength training more consistently.  In fact, I NEED to, because it's the only way to prevent myself from getting injured again.  One option is to pick a very small number of things and try to do them every day (e.g. a plank, side planks, pushups, and squats).  The pro here would be that maybe I could get in a routine (do it first thing every morning) and actually get moreconsistnt.  The cons are that some people say you shouldn't strength train EVERY day, and that if I am going to do something daily it's going to only be about 10 minutes of work - maybe not enough to reallly make improvements?  On the other hand, isn't something better than nothing?  I guess I could create a longer routine to do at home and do that 2-3x per week to give myself breaks.  I've just been SO BAD at staying consistent in the past.  I could also try to start doing Jillian DVDs again.  Also, Duke's gym has pilates, yoga/pilates, power yoga, core blast, and HIIT classes that I can take.  I'm not sure I'm up for HIIT - people tell me they are sore for DAYS after... like, too sore to run.  That doesn't sound enticing, but I guess it could be worth trying?  Any advice here would be welcome!