Good sleep+healthy food+awesome trail running=GOOD LIFE

At the beginning of last week I was getting plenty of sleep but felt tired all the time.  The last couple nights I have gotten around 6 1/2-7 hours and I feel great!  I have not felt the urge to nod off at work (usually a daily occurrence) and I have been pumped for my challenging after-work workouts.  Unfortunately I can't figure out if that means 6 1/2-7 hours is my optimal amount of sleep, or if the few 8 hour nights of sleep I got earlier in the week have finally caught up to me.  Then again, Karin and I have cut "sweets" out of our diets, and are doing a pretty good job of eating fairly healthy, including lots of fruits and veggies, so maybe I am starting to feel the benefits of that.

I planned my long swim for today, following a trail run after work, but it turns out my gym closes early on Easter!  Didn't even occur to me!  So I just did the trail run, then a few Kettlebell exercises.  I love this 5 mile trail run.  The first mile is pretty much all uphill, with just enough short flat sections that it doesn't completely crush your spirit.  Then that tough climb is rewarded with a full mile of downhill, followed by another mile of mostly uphill.  The fourth mile is a perfect mix of up and down, and the last mile is the same as the first, but going down, so once you hit that, you know it is all downhill to the end.  Downhill on our desert trails can actually be harder than up because it is so rocky and technical.  Hard on your legs but easier on your heart and lungs!

It was about 85 degrees out when I did my run, and the notorious desert sun was blazing full force, but I know that is very close to the conditions I saw during the Ironman marathon last year, so I better get used to it!

View of Downtown Phoenix from the trail.  I can see all the
buildings but feel a world away!

Desert in bloom!  Love this time of year!

There is that blazing DESERT SUN!

Fish out of water

Today I swam for the first time in 6 days.  I felt just like a fish.  A fish that has been hauled onto a fishing boat and is flopping on the deck in the throes of death.  Turns out it is very, very true that frequency is imperative to swimming skill.  About 15 minutes in I finally found my sea legs.  I will not make that mistake again.  Not that it was deliberate, but I will make sure not to go more than a few days without getting in the pool.

Yesterday my "workout" was the 10 mile bike commute home from work, which was useless for speed work but a fantastic opportunity to work on bike-handling skills, since it ranked as one of my scarier commutes in terms of traffic and its direct impact on my survival.  Generally my commutes do focus, by necessity, on survival rather than training.  Sadly, the extra hour I spend commuting by bike instead of car would be better spent, strictly from a training perspective, on the spin bike at the gym, cranking out the high intensity intervals.

I have managed to add the strength training workouts I planned for my early-season training this week.  I have done the total body weight training workout twice, and will do a plyometric workout in the next couple days.  Unfortunately, it is clear from my training log that I did not so much add the strength workouts as replace the more important SwimBikeRun workouts with them.  OOPS!  Better work on that. Despite my light SwimBikeRun training in the last few days, I am constantly exhausted.  I have been ready to pass out before 8 pm (!) every night this week (inconvenient on the nights I worked till 10 pm), and yet I seldom wake feeling well-rested.  This does not bode well for 4 months from now when the real training begins.

Well, it is now 8:25 pm.  Well past my bedtime.

The first few miles always suck

After the resounding success of my long ride on the Ironman course, I had been actually looking forward to my next long road ride.  I felt like I had made a breakthrough on the bike and that it would be a steady progression from that point forward.

Ummm...not so much.  Sunday I had a 2 hour ride planned on the Arizona Canal paved path that runs through central Phoenix.  It is a drive from my house (I went straight from work, which is a little closer), but it is a great place to ride because it is away from traffic and I don't even have to cross streets; there are actual underpasses.  So that alone should have removed a ton of the fear factor that plagues my bike rides.  And yet...

The underpasses were very steep and dark, so with my sunglasses on I couldn't see a thing, which caused me to slow down to about 11-12 mph (going downhill!) entering each underpass.  And for some reason I still found myself constantly thinking that every imperfection in the path surface was just waiting to take me down.  I got so frustrated that I turned around after 4 miles.  Within half a mile I felt myself calming down, settling in, and enjoying myself.  That is when I made another discovery: the first few miles of every ride suck.  Those first few miles are usually the traffic-choked ones, so I had attributed it to that, but apparently it's just me.  Apparently I have to overcome my fear every time I get on the bike.  So now, knowing this, I can just suffer through those first miles, suck it up, and get to the good part!

So after my whopping 8 MILE RIDE, I was feeling like, once again, I had not had a successful training week.  But when I looked back over my training log, I realized that, though few of my sessions were particularly long or intense, I had gotten in 3 swims, 2 bikes, 2 runs, and a strength workout!  8 mile rides do not an Ironman make, but frequency and consistency, over time, does an Ironman make.

Today I rode to work, then to the gym, where I did a full body strength workout, then home.  22 miles of riding in all.  I was clipped in the whole way, which I have never done on a commute before.  Riding to work it was dark, and there was a lot of traffic, and I was clipped in.  And I just sucked it up and did it.  I think riding to work may be the best training motivation for this simple fact: I have to get to work.  I cannot wimp out or get tired or get scared and nervous and all pathetic and turn around half way through.  I have to get to work, so I just have to keep going.  Darkness.  Traffic.  Clipped in.  Done!  And now I feel great!  Like I have made real strides!

Until the first few miles of my next long ride.  Because we all now know that those are just gonna suck.

The Plan: Get Strong and Fast

I mentioned previously that I read a lot about Ironman training and I believe everything I read, which can cause a lot of confusion.  But the conclusion I have come to is that even though there are a lot of contradictory ideas out there, everyone is actually right.  Training for any event is a highly individual thing, and considering how long the training lasts for an event like Ironman, the best course of action is whatever course of action you can actually follow.  A great plan is useless if it is not something you can execute.  It is important to know your priorities as well as your body, because different things are effective for different people.  Some say high volume is the way to get better.  Others say lower volume but higher intensity gets the same results in less time.  And in reality, I believe both approaches are equally effective.  It just depends on the person.  Some people cannot handle the high volume required to get really good.  Because it really does take a lot of time, and it takes a big toll on your body.  And other people can't handle the intensity that is required to fast-track results.  Because if you are working out for half the time of someone else, you really have to bring it.  A lot of people just can't push themselves as hard as they really need to to get the results.

At the Havasu Half Marathon last April, my fastest half so far!

For myself, I know that I feel more progress when I push myself harder for shorter periods of time.  That is when I see results.  My fastest half marathon time to date was in April of last year.  Up until mid January I had been training not for a half-marathon, but for the Tough Mudder, a 12 mile obstacle course run.  That training did include some long runs (10-12 miles), but I was focusing a lot on strength building, doing a lot of shorter interval runs and weight-training.  In fact, all of the times I have felt the most fit were when I put more focus on strength and speed than endurance.  And I always seemed to find that the endurance came naturally as a consequence of training my heart and muscles.  I have also noticed that when I am specifically training for a longer race, like a half marathon, I instinctively shift my focus from building strong muscles to just running.  I have always been afraid that if I did too much strength training I would take away from my run-specific training, and it's the running that makes you a better runner, right?  Well, I now think not.  Historically, it seems I am at my best when I am at my strongest.

 

I believe training for obstacles like these in the Tough Mudder
led directly to my fastest half marathon. 

There are at least 2 things that everyone does seem to agree on: 1. Swim technique, not general fitness, is the key to getting faster in the pool, and 2. It takes longer to build strength and speed than to build endurance.  What that means for me is that 1. Shorter, more frequent swim sessions focusing on technique are more beneficial than fewer, longer sessions, and 2. I should focus on strength and speed in the early part of my training, and worry about building endurance as I get closer to the Ironman.

So with all of this information at my disposal, combined with my experience of what seems to work best for me, I have settled on the following plan for my training:

1. 3 short (20-30 minute), technique focused swims per week plus 1 longer (60-75 minute) one for stamina.

2. No runs longer than 10 miles until 4 months prior to Ironman (and even a 10-miler will be only occasionally), with a focus on shorter, harder runs.

3. 3 Strength building workouts per week until 4 months prior to Ironman (this includes weight training and plyometrics), then possibly decrease to 1 or 2 sessions per week, based on feel.

4. 2 strength/speed focused HARD indoor cycling workouts per week plus one long outdoor ride for stamina and bike handling skill-building.  (I will add more outdoor rides as I get closer to Ironman.)

I will follow this plan until July 1st, building strength and speed (and consequently muscle endurance and aerobic capacity), at which point I will assess my fitness level and adjust the 4-month block of serious training accordingly.

Sick Again?!?!

The Sunday before last I woke up feeling like dung.  As you may recall, I was very sick in mid-January, which was only about 2 months ago, so I really am not due to be sick again for a good long time.  And yet, here I am, with a super stuffed nose  (which I was blowing about every 5 minutes this weekend!) and a super sore throat that feels like it is half swollen shut.  I assumed I have allergies, because how could I possibly be this sick again so soon?  But I have taken all the allergy meds and they haven't made a dent, not even for a short while.

This is my new theory on illness: My body is right on the verge of illness all the time.  Sickness is right there, just waiting to pounce, and the only thing keeping me from being sick all the time is a healthy immune system.  So as soon as my immune system is compromised the sickness sees its chance and takes over.  I have noticed that every time I start working a lot of extra shifts, and consequently getting a lot less sleep, I start to feel sick.  It is almost instantaneous.  For instance, last week I worked a 17 hour day, slept about 4 hours, worked 8 hours the next day, got a full night's sleep, then worked another 16 hour day, followed by about 3 hours' sleep, followed by an 8 hour workday.  By the last day, I was sick.  Even though I went into those few days well-rested and well nourished, after those days I was sick.  I know that training already compromises my immune system because my body needs to repair the muscle damage I am doing, which is how I get stronger and faster.  But that leaves less resources for fighting off common germs.  Then throw long work hours and little sleep into the mix, and I guess my body throws in the towel.

Now knowing that I am always just this side of healthy, I am going to be extra careful to control the variables that I actually can control, like eating well and trying to get enough rest.

The irony is that even though I woke up feeling awful every morning this past week, and was stuffed of nose and sore of throat all the time, I had a great training week!

Monday: REST DAY
Tuesday: 35 minute hard interval workout on spin bike
                20 minutes running stair intervals
                (worked double shift)
Wednesday: 8.5 mile hike with my sister and the dogs
                     30 minute swim with 5 X 100 yards HARD intervals
Thursday: 36 mile ride on Ironman course
Friday: 30 minute swim with 25easy/25building/25easy/25hard (My favorite!)
             30 minutes on spin bike with 15 minutes alternating 1 minute HARD/1 minute easy
Saturday: 30 minute hill run
Sunday: REST DAY

I felt great during all of those workouts!

"I got this"

Today I rode the Ironman Arizona bike course.  Not 112 miles!  The bike course is 3 laps on a 38 mile out and back course, so I rode 1 lap.  I just wanted to familiarize myself with the course and get in a good ride.  At mile 4 I was a mess. Traffic was whizzing by at 55 mph, and there was no bike lane, and in many places not even a shoulder.  I was literally thinking, "I hate this. I hate this.  I hate this.  I can't do this!  How the hell am I supposed to do an Ironman when I hate riding my bike?!"  I seriously considered just stopping my ride at 4 miles and turning around.  (I DID NOT cry though, so I am making progress.)  But then I got to the main part of the ride, The Beeline Highway, which is about 11 miles out and 11 miles back, with a huge shoulder and no stop lights.  Around mile 18 I suddenly thought, "Okay.  I got this.  I can do this."  I felt much more comfortable on the bike.  By the end of my ride, I had actually ENJOYED myself.  There is hope for me yet!

Do what now ???

Like many aspiring Ironmen I read a lot about training.  I believe everything I read.  This can cause a lot of problems since so much of the information out there is contradictory.

This is what I have learned so far:

The only way to get better on the bike is lots of time in the saddle.

The best way to increase bike fitness is to ride indoors; there are no stoplights, traffic, or coasting to compromise your intensity.

Ride with a group.  it will improve your bike handling skills and comfort riding near others, as well as push you if you ride with faster riders.

Ride alone.  Group rides require time to get people together, and the drafting, socializing and pace fluctuations compromise your workout.

High volume training is the key to success.  Lots and lots and lots of long, steady rides and runs increases aerobic fitness.

Low volume, high intensity training is the key to success.  It increases aerobic fitness in much less time.

Strength training is important to go faster, farther, and remain injury free.

Strength training is a waste of time.  The only way to get better at swimming/biking/running is time spent swimming/biking/running.

Do not start training too early.  You will burn out and peak too early.

Do not wait to start training.  It is imperative to have a strong fitness base before you start building mileage and speed to avoid injury.

So there we have it.  All I have to do to succeed at Ironman is follow all of these very simple rules.

Last Night's workout

View from the top

I worked a double shift yesterday with a 2 hour gap between shifts.  Between taking the bus to the employee parking lot, changing clothes, and driving to the gym I only managed to squeeze in 35 minutes on the spin bike.  I do not understand how women workout during their lunch hour.  I don't even have to look nice for work; I just put my dirty work uniform back on and put a hat on my head.  With a 2 hour break I only managed  35 minutes!  How do women get a workout and still look presentable at work afterwards?

So I supplemented the bike workout with 20 minutes of stair intervals in the stairwell at the airport.  It's not glamorous, but I was feelin' the burn.

Let's talk about running shoes

vs.

vs.

Last night I called Karin over to where I was sitting on my laptop to show her a pair of running shoes I was looking at.  I have been looking at running shoes on my laptop for weeks...okay, months.  Last year I wore a pair of Asics GT-2160s, and I consider it the greatest shoe I have ever run in.  So when it was time to get new shoes, I ordered the new version, the 2170.  Well, it was not the same.  And ever since that disappointment I have been searching for the running shoe nirvana I once had.

A few minutes after I showed Karin the shoes, and also told her my new theory that I was wearing the wrong size, our roommate, Daisy, asked me, "So what is it you like about the 2170?"  I was completely flabbergasted!  Daisy has no interest in running.  How did she even know what shoe I wore?  Who cares?! Someone wanted to talk running shoes with me!  I was just about to launch into my full spiel about the differences between my One True Love, the GT-2160, and my Nemesis, the GT-2170, when I thought, "Wait a minute here...why is she asking me about my shoes?"  It felt like a trick.  And sure enough, when I looked over at Karin, she couldn't even hide her evil smile.  She had put Daisy up to it.  Daisy had no clue what the hell she was talking about!  She just repeated what Karin had whispered to her a minute earlier!

So...perhaps I have been talking to Karin about running shoes too much...

So guess what?  Now I will blog about it instead!

In the past I bought running shoes once a year.  It was the highlight of my year, and it went like this:
Go to a sporting goods store.  Try on all shoes that are on sale.  When a pair of shoes is comfortable and has that awesome "bouncy" feeling, purchase those shoes.

That is how I found my previous One True Love, the Saucony Grid Propel Plus which, wouldn't you know, has since been discontinued.  It is also how I found my GT-2160s.

But since then things have changed.  For one thing, I am running more and now buy running shoes twice a year.  Also, the GT-2160 is what is called a "stability shoe," meaning it is designed to correct overpronation (the foot's tendency to roll inward after it strikes the ground).  My track coach in high school told me I was an overpronator, but I never realized that there were shoes specifically designed for that.  So now I am torn between wearing stability shoes exclusively, or just going by feel like I used to, which usually worked out for me.

So this is the issue that has consumed me for months, since it became time to purchase new shoes.  I am currently wearing the men's version of the GT-2170, which I like better than the women's, but it is still not my ideal shoe.  Which brings up a whole other issue: do I really need a "women's" shoe?  I ran in men's shoes up until a few years ago, but again, I ran less then.

The bottom line is this: I stare at shoes constantly on the computer, but I rarely have time to actually go to a real running store and try them on.  So that is what I need to do, just go to the store and try on every shoe!  But until then, all I can do is blabber on and on and on about running shoes to my extremely tolerant girlfriend.


                                                                              I
   
                                                       
                                                 

A week well spent

It's been several days since I posted anything, and the reason is that my training is going...well.  I am still slow and still scared of my bike, but I am getting in quality, consistent training sessions.  This has been my week so far:

Monday: 17 mile ride followed by 2 mile run
Tuesday: 20 mile ride (on commuter to ballgame)
Wednesday: 30 minute swim w/ 5 x 100 yard fast intervals (AM)
                      5 mile trail run (PM)

My favorite trail run (5 mile Mormon Loop)

Thursday: 17 hour day at work
Friday: 45 minute swim w/ easy/building/easy/hard intervals
             45 minutes on spin bike with alternating speed and hill intervals
Today: 16 hour day at work

Best part of long days at the airport: Sunset views!

The 20 mile ride on Tuesday may not have been, officially, a "training" session, since it was on my commuter and therefore did not improve my comfort, speed or handling on my road bike; but I still pedaled a 40 pound bike for 20 miles, so if nothing else, it was a conditioning workout.

By the end of my training week I will have worked 66 hours at the airport this week.  On Thursday I spent the morning loading and unloading 757's.  These are the planes we use for Hawaii flights; Hawaii is a bikini and sundress destination, so it is always a mystery to me why it seems every bag I load going to Hawaii is huge and weighs 70 lbs.  On my evening shift that day I walked at least 4 miles (for real) just going back and forth between the break room and the planes I was assigned to.  So the days I didn't get in training, I still got in a workout.  It can be tempting to consider my job itself as strength training, and consider that portion of my training done at the end of my shift; but while my job definitely builds strength, it makes me vulnerable to injury, and tends to use the same muscles repeatedly, therefore not giving me the balanced muscles that are the main benefit of structured strength training.  So in the end, my job is probably more of a detriment to my training than a benefit.  In addition to muscle imbalances, and possible injury, working double shifts creates days I can't train at all, and after busy or hard days I leave work tired, and the last thing I want to do is go for a 40 mile bike ride.  And yet, you see I worked 2 double shifts this week.  That is because I am greedy.  In the life of an hourly-wage worker there is this amazing thing called "overtime", which means that I get 1.5 times as much money for doing the exact same amount of work!  There are certain times in my industry when overtime is readily available.  One of those times is Spring Break (otherwise known as March).  Another time is June-Aug, also known as Summer...also known as the most important part of my Ironman training.  So I decided it is better to work more now, in my base training phase, and be able to work less during my main training phase, since I will not only be training longer and harder, but will also be loading cargo and bags in 120 degrees all day.

I love my workouts on the spin bike.  I don't even use my iPod (because I still haven't charged it!) and there is no television in the spinning studio, so I just stare at the handlebars, the mirror and the bike computer.  And yet the time just flies by!  I can pedal so fast, work so hard on simulated hill climbs, all while clipped in, and never once slow down to make eye contact with a distracted driver or stop for a light.  I am thinking the best plan for my training for now may be to do 2 rides a week on the spin bike and just do my weekly long ride on the road, so I can build my strength and speed indoors and still improve my bike handling skills outside.  Right now I get more excited for my indoor rides than my outdoor, because I like the way riding makes me feel, but indoor cycling removes the fear factor!

A LEISURELY Ride

Today Karin and I rode our bikes to a Spring Training game at Tempe Diablo Stadium, about 10 miles from our house.  Since it was supposed to be a fun easy ride we road our commuter bikes.  For about 4 years my commuter bike was basically my car, but since I got my road bike, it has been probably close to a year since I rode it.  Boy was it nice to be back on that bike!  I wasn't even scared!  It is so different from my road bike--big comfy padded saddle, fat tires, upright handlebars, fenders, rack.  My road bike weighs about 22 pounds.  My commuter weighs about 40!  It was just so fun to ride on a bike that felt stable, at a lower speed than on the road bike, sitting up high in an upright position, in regular clothes and sandals.  No pressure, no "training"; just fun.

My road bike

My "car"; the commuter

I wonder if I could ride a 40 lb. bike with 26 in. fat tires for 112 miles within the 10.5 hour cutoff time and still be able to run a marathon...

Are BIKES the new BEARS?

My fear of the bike has reached epic proportions.  It is now almost equal to my fear of bears!  I am notorious among those who know me for my debilitating fear of bears.  Some may say it borders on obsession.  And yet I have camped and hiked, often alone, in bear-populated areas all over the country, including Yellowstone and Alaska.  I refuse to let my fear prevent me from enjoying amazing places and activities I love.  I actually went to Katmai in Alaska, which has the highest concentration of grizzlies in North America, to face my fears.  But often when I am hiking and camping in bear country, I am hyper-aware and on edge.

Facing my fears in Alaska.

Likewise, I will not let my bike fear keep me from participating in activities I love, and I will in fact train for an Ironman (apparently) to face my fear.  But Karin and I did a 17-mile ride today, and for the first 5 miles my stomach was in knots.  There was so much traffic, and it seemed every side street had drivers rushing out into the bike lane before they even thought to look my way.  I was clipped in and terrified.  There just seemed to be danger everywhere, and it seemed that I was just narrowly avoiding disaster at every turn.  This is what road biking feels like for me: Like the odds are against me and I am just barely surviving from moment to moment.  Like sleeping alone in a tent in grizzly country and suddenly realizing you left a Snickers in your pocket.  Then when we finally got away from the traffic, there was a long descent and that scared the crap out of me too.

Facing my fears on the bike.

I spent time in bear country plenty without much fear, then it seemed to come on suddenly and obsessively when I started spending more time camping solo in bear-populated areas.  I was car-less and got around almost exclusively by bike for 4 years here in Phoenix, and though I was always very aware of drivers and dangers, I did not have this debilitating fear until I started training for the Ironman.

I sometimes feel like I am afraid of everything, and that may actually be very close to the truth.  However,  I have never let fear prevent me from doing what I want.  But usually one faces their fears only occasionally, or even just once, gets past them to accomplish something, and moves on.  But in this case, I have to face the fear at least a few times a week, for at least a year, to accomplish my goal.

The only safe way to ride a bike!

Every workout is an adventure

Ah the joys of running in South Phoenix!  On Friday I planned to run my favorite trail but due to time constraints I changed my plan to a tempo run on one of the canals in South Phoenix.  Now don't go romanticizing the "canals" of south Phoenix.  This is what I ran on:

It's no Venice, but it is certainly nicer than running on sidewalks.

Now there are varying descriptions of what exactly a "tempo" run is, but it is basically a run with a warm up and a cool down, wherein the middle portion is run at what is referred to alternately as "race pace", "threshold pace", or a "comfortably hard" pace.  Whatever words you use to describe it, the basic goal is to run a pace that is uncomfortable but not unbearable for about as long as you can.  Do this enough, and that pace is supposed to become comfortable.  My "tempo" pace used to be between 8 to 9 minute miles, depending on my stage of training and the distance I was training for.  But since Ironman and marathon training apparently makes me a slower runner (?!) my current tempo pace is apparently around 9:30 per mile (this is 30 seconds slower than my most recent half marathon pace!!)  I only divulge this sad bit of information so that a few months from now, when my tempo pace is back down to the 8 min. region everyone will be super proud of me.

The actual pace of my tempo run on Friday, however, was determined not by my "threshold", but instead by a combination of the following:

Breaking up a fight.
Slowing down to talk to the police about said fight.
Speeding up for barking dogs behind questionably effective fences.

I saw the fight from about 100 yards away, across the street.  It looked like a couple of junior high kids, with a small group of spectators.  One kid was very clearly headed for victory, and if I were the kid on the other end of his fist (or at that moment, in the headlock) I would sure want someone to step in.  So I yelled, "HEY!" from across the street as I ran toward them.  By the time I got to them they had stopped actually fighting, and were doing that kind of sizing up, regrouping slow walk in circles thing.  I asked the kids who were watching, "Is this for real?"  I mean, you know how boys are.  One of the girls on the sidelines said they were just "messing around", no doubt to get rid of the annoying interloper in running clothes.  I didn't really know what to do so I just kept running and turning back to check every few seconds.  They had not started fighting again, and when I checked back after a couple of minutes they were gone.

I turned around shortly thereafter to run back to my car, and a few minutes later I heard wheels rolling up the dirt path behind me.  I turned around to see a police car approaching.  I thought: Well that's ironic.  Where were you guys about 10 minutes ago?  But what do you know; they pulled up next to me and said, "Did you happen to see anyone fighting in this area?"  I couldn't believe that was actually why they were there.  I guess some concerned citizen had been more proactive than I.  So I said, "Why yes, Officer, I did in fact witness some wayward youths engaging in hi jinx and tomfoolery just around the corner."  Or something like that.

They went off to find the rascals, and I continued on.  It was about this time that I heard some dogs barking from the yards to my left.  This was nothing unusual.  But then I noticed that almost without exception, every fence on the block had holes dug beneath it, or didn't even reach the ground to begin with.  None of those fences were going to keep in a dog!  And for the rest of that section, my tempo pace did get back down to 8 minutes a mile!

So that was Friday's "tempo" run.  I have been reading some other triathlon blogs lately, and I find that their posts are mostly about actual training.  So why are mine always about things like crashes, pedal issues, and breaking up schoolyard fights?  It seems every workout is an adventure!

Short and Sweet

Yesterday I did a short workout wherein I attempted to cram in as many benefits as possible in 25 minutes.  I did a circuit of exercises including kettlebell swings, planks, and some plyometric moves.  Ideally I would do a similar circuit at least twice a week, but it would be in addition to a swim, bike or run workout on the same day.  But yesterday after work I decided the best use of my time would be to watch some Netflix with Karin on a rare evening when we have the house to ourselves (we have 2 roommates).  We always make plans to watch a movie or documentary after we do everything else, including workouts, and by then we are too tired!  So yesterday we finally watched a movie we have been wanting to see for, literally, about 2 years.  Then we watched an awesome documentary called Ride the Divide, about a fairly unknown mountain bike race from Canada to Mexico along the Continental Divide.  Then by that time I didn't want to go to the gym for a long workout that would take me away from home for over an hour and a half, so I just did the cram-it-all-in circuit in the living room.  

Here are some of the exercises I did:

(That is not me in the pictures.)

Kettlebell Swing

Burpees

Froggy Jumps

Plyo Lunge

As far as super short workouts go, this one is very effective.  It builds strength and power, while also really working your core and getting your heart rate up.