Archery!

A few weeks ago I went with Alek and a group of friends to use a Google Offer we'd bought for indoor archery at Queens Archery.  I haven't touched a bow and arrow since I was 12 and in middle school gym class.  All I remember from that time is getting the arrows embedded in the grass.  

At queens archery, we used long bows and stood 5 yards, then 10 yards, and finally 20 yards (but for only one shot) away from the target.  My shoulder was less sore than I expected it to be after an hour of shooting and I managed to hit the target more often than I expected!

It was a great experience, but the hour went really quickly.  I can't wait to go again and rent a better bow for shooting.

Just fired.

My target: Not bad, but also not very good.

Happy National Dog Week!

National Dog week started on September 25th.

My dog, Emmy is a small Yorkshire Terrier.  She's too small to run with me, but she love to cuddle during my stretches after a long run.   Emmy is also good at providing motivation during planks, pushups and squats by lying under me.  If I fall, I'll fall on her.  Maybe she's a little too trusting...

Coach Emmy keeping me up during my squats

Do you run with your dog?  How far?

100 pushups challenge update!

Nine weeks ago, I started the 100 pushups challenge.  The program is not easy and I've felt that I needed to repeat each week at least once before moving on to the next week.  This week I'm starting week 3 for the fourth time.  Week 3 increases in intensity much more quickly than weeks one and two. In addition, the past three weeks have included quite a bit of travel and many life events making it difficult to get in all of the weekly sessions.

Despite the fact that the challenge is taking me many more than six weeks, I still intend to complete it.  So far I've gone from barely being able to do one pushup to a maximum set of 20.  Its great to see progress, even if it is slow!

100 Pushup Challenge: Week 1

After completing week one of the 100 pushup challenge, I've decided that I will repeat week one.  I was able to complete 8 pushups during my final max set on Saturday.  My form is bad enough that I think its worth repeating the week until I'm comfortable with my pushup form.

Repeating week one should be a breeze, right?

100 pushup challenge

On Monday, Alek and I started the 100 pushup challenge.  During my initial test, I was barely able to do one pushup.  Starting the challenge again reminded me that I'm not as generally fit as I like to think I am.  I'm not certain that I'll work my way up to 100 pushups by the end of six weeks but I'll share my progress here!

Surprisingly to me, my limiting factor is ab pain rather than arm or shoulder pain.  Hopefully I overcome that by building up more ab strength during the next 6 weeks!

I'm doing my final set for week one tomorrow morning.  Stay tuned on Monday to find out what my max number of pushups was after week 1!

Cross Training: Yoga

A few weeks back I began to attend a yoga class once a week.  Before starting the class, I thought I was in pretty good shape.  I've quickly learned that being in shape can mean different things.  While I have strong legs and cardio, I have limited flexibility and upper body strength.

Yoga compliments running well.  My abs, biceps, and shoulders are usually pretty sore after each of the one hour sessions.  This is great because I'm actually working them!  In addition balance exercises are great for ankle strengthening and working different leg muscles helps the legs to be more balanced.

Hopefully after a few more weeks I'll be a bit less sore after each session!

Ski Trip!

Is downhill skiing a good form of cross-training?   Hal Higdon mentions that he preferred cross-country as he feared injuries from downhill skiing.  He later tried downhill skiing again and decided that it is a safe form of cross training.

Downhill skiing does use different muscles than running.  You spend much of the day in a squat position and I've already mentioned that squatting is one of the forms of strengthening that I do regularly.

Since 2008 Alek and I have taken several ski trips each winter (either long trips or weekends) but this year we haven't had the chance because of my busy race schedule.  We finally got up to Killington for a couple of days and had a great time.

Finally made it to the bottom of a long mostly flat run!

Posing at the top before we head down.

I'm not a great skier.   Normally I'm ok on blue trails but during the first trip of the season it always takes some time for me to work up the confidence to go fast.  I'm most comfortable on greens that aren't too flat.

Running has helped my skiing.  I was able to ski two days in a row (1 hour on day one and 3 hours on day 2) without any muscle pain!  In previous years I've been so sore after one day of skiing that I didn't want to go a second day.  

There was snow in Vermont, so the slopes had lots of fresh powder, but the temperature was 30+ for both days.  That was a relief to me, since I only had wind pants on over my jeans (I haven't bothered to buy new ski pants since losing weight).  

Alek and I finished our ski trip (2 days and 13 miles of skiing) in the best way possible.  A trip to the Waffle Cabin near the base lodge.  Their sugary chocolate coated waffles are one of the best parts of any ski trip!

Alek with his waffle!

Vacation Workouts

Whenever I take a trip out of town, I pack running clothes.  I've found that unless the trip is specifically for a race, I don't make actually end up running anyway.  Despite my lack of runs, I usually don't feel too bad. Most trips provide a great opportunity for cross training.  If I'm not on a trip where I spend the whole day walking, I usually find myself swimming or hiking enough to make up for not running.

A few weeks ago, Alek and I went to Puerto Rico.  On our last day there we had planned to lay on the beach and swim before catching our 10PM flight.  Alas, when we woke up it was raining.  Clearly not a beach day.  After some indecision over what to do we headed to El Yunque Rainforest.  Once there, we decided to do a 1 mile out and back hike up to Mt. Britton Tower.  The tower is located on a peak that is 3,088 ft high.  The hike out was nearly all up-hill and fairly steep at some points but definitely doable for us.  Of course, this means the hike back was nearly all down-hill and quite easy.

While it wasn't raining too hard when we started, the skies opened up by the time we reached the top of the peak.   The small streams that we passed on our way up gave way to rapids on the way back.   It was an awesome thing to see.  Despite being completely soaked, we were both happy that we did the hike!

Alek and Wendy at the top of Mt Britton tower