Friday mornings at Liberty

The best part about teaching a class in the Winter term is getting to wake up in my own bed on Friday morning. I woke up at my usual 6:10am, Karen arrived at 6:30am and I was off to Liberty. Did a 5K on the treadmill with the last mile a solid speed effort. Finished with ab work and headed to class!

Monday morning in San Francisco

I ran at 4:45am through a very dark Japantown in San Francisco. I basically ran a one mile square around the hotel, very steep uphills on two sides and milder downhills (or at least that's how it felt) on the adjacent sides. All in all, only mustered up 2.1 miles, but at least I got a hill workout in.

30 minutes of involuntary shaking

Today was my second session with Mark the trainer. He kicked my ass again - so much so that I had to pull over on the drive home because I was light-headed. We started with the bike (killer) and then moved on to hip flexor workout and the nautilus workout circuit. I could only do 8 reps on many of the machines. Tried to finish with the bike, but only succeeded in doing one of two reps. Mark works me at the maximum weight that I can handle on each machine. This means that on many of the exercises, my arms or legs are shaking to the point of collapse. Overall, a great workout, but I remain weak 2 hours later.

Back in the gym

Worked out at the club this morning. Ran 5K on the treadmill, followed by ab work on the dip bar and some sun salutation lunges with free weights. Finished with a full set on the Gravitron. Today's workout felt great.

Short run

Lots of swimming this week, a lot less running. I could only get about 2 miles out of me today. Spent the rest of the day walking around Disney and swimming.

Back at Disney

We left last night for a quick trip to Disney. Ran 4 miles this morning and swam more than usual (probably about 800 meters). I am incredibly sore from my session with Mark, the trainer. This is rugby-type sore. Apparently, I usually don't work very hard. If this is what hard work feels like, I need to get on the ball.

Seeking Professional Help

Today was day one with a "real" trainer. The trainer I chose is a middle and long distance runner with several triathalons and marathons under his belt. He has a reputation at our club for kicking people's asses. Suffice to say, he lived up to his reputation today. Here is the itinerary, as best as I can remember it:
- start with a heartrate elevating 60-second sprint on the Schwinn Airbike with a goal of keeping it above 70 rpms.
- A set of squats (1 minute)
- another 60-second bike sprint
- A set of squats (1 minute)

Then over to the Nautilus...
- Hip flexor machine
- Hip Abduction
- Hip Adduction
- Butterly flex
- Overhead pull-down
- forward row/press
- Pushups
- Lunges with weights (my legs were shaking so badly that I could hardly do this)
- Finish with a leg press

I'm sure that I forgot some exercises, but in general, it really hurt. It was exactly what I wanted. I learned that I have great length strength, which I will continue to build - now I will try to work for maximum endurance. That is what I will need most when I begin marathon training later this year.