135 or Bust!

     Week one of the new training program started on Monday.  The  goal of this training plan is to shave some serious time off my Half marathon time.  The strategies in the program are 1. To build a base of running at aerobic capacity, 2 to  shed some extra pounds and get to a better racing weight, 3 to increase my endurance for running at faster paces.

     Monday kicked off for  3 miles while trying to keep my heart rate below 135. This is proving to be way harder than I anticipated.  I feel like I am barely moving but I check my heart rate and it maxed out at  149 with an average heart rate of 123.

     Tuesday was another 3 miles and strength training with Matt. I did 120 pound squats! YAY ME!  Now Tuesday runs are my free runs, meaning I an run  at whatever pace I want and heart rate be damned. Since I am new to running with my heart rate as my gauge I decided to try and keep it under 135. I averaged a heart rate of 120 with a max of 139.

     Wednesday brought more metabolic testing with Nate.  This one was the resting metabolic test. Very easy to do and yields some great information.  Mainly it gives you the calories the body needs just to exist.  Mine is 1743 which is a 100 calories more than optimal for a woman my age and size. Fantastic  news because it is always good news when the trainer says eat more.  It also gives you the macro nutrient breakdown , i.e.  How many grams of protein, fat, and carbs. Now I have no excuses on the nutrition front.  I had two four mile runs on the schedule for Wednesday.  After talking with. Nate about the schedule he agreed that I could do just 8 miles at once.  So I headed out in the sleet and cold cold rain for 7 miles.  Average heart rate of 131 & a max of 154, kind of failed at keeping the heart rate low.  I stopped at 7 because it was time to strength train with Matt.  Dead lifts dead lifts and dead lifts! I attempted to do one more mile on the treadmill to make 8.  I made it a 1/4 of a mile before my glute's and stomach screamed UNCLE and went to find some food!

     Thursday was a rest day so I worked all day.

     Friday was another day of 2 a days. 4 miles before work which average heart rate of 129 & a max of 144. Work for 12. Then home to run 4 more with average of 124 and a max of 141.

     Saturday was a rest day and I was off work.  I would like to tell you I was incredible productive but the reality is I imitated a blanket draped over a chair really well.

     Sunday was long slow day of 13 miles.  13 miles at a 14:30 pace with an average heart rate of 131 and a max of 147. I choose a relatively hilly route because if we can't push the pace at least I can push the difficulty.

     Summary of my performance is a B overall.  All the runs completed except for .75 for a total of 34+ miles.  I kept my average heart rate under 135 but failed at keeping the max under 135.  Nutrition is a lot better but still have room for improvement in quality and variety.  Weight is down 4.2 lbs and down .6% body fat as of Wednesday.

Merry Christmas!

Live Epic
Michelle