Insanity Kicks My Ass Every Time

Since I haven't been running much lately I wanted to find a way something to supplement my triathlon training. I turned to the one thing that I knew would give me a great workout no matter what, Insanity. I have used Insanity before and I need to say that every single time it kicks my ass. No other workout pushes my entire to its limit like Insanity does.

My plan for now is to do Insanity three times a week until it is time to taper for my triathlon. I am going to be following the order of the workouts on the Insanity schedule just so I don't have to decide which workouts to do. Insanity will never come before a tri specific workout though. It is only to be a supplement to my training.

So far I have only done two of the Insanity workouts (plyo cardio circuit & pure cardio) because I wasn't feeling too hot last week. There is no way to finish an Insanity workout without every inch of your body begging for rest and covered head to toe in sweat. No matter how much it hurts I push through the pain because I know how good of a workout I am getting.

The one thing I wish was different with Insanity is the amount of strength training. Insanity is an absolutely amazing form of cardio but I think something like P90X is better if you are looking to build strength. Other than that I think Insanity is the best cross training out there.

What I am most excited for, though, is using Insanity for marathon training. I am not sure if I will regularly keep up with Insanity once July rolls around but Insanity is going to prepare me for marathon training like nothing else can. A lot of people have used Insanity as a form of pre-training for running and swear by their results.

General Smallwood Training Week 6

Along with week 5, week 6 was not my best training week. The stress of finals really got to me but I still managed to get in some good workouts.


Monday:
Monday was part of my self sabotage mission. I don't think I did anything productive on Monday, making it a rest day.


Tuesday:
Tuesday morning I woke up determined to make this a great week of training after all. I did a 30 minute trainer ride to kick off my day, and finished up with Insanity Max Recovery in the afternoon.


Wednesday:
Wednesday ended up being another rest day but only because my stomach was in a world of hurt. I think it is stress but my stomach has been hurting pretty badly almost every time I eat.


Thursday:
On Thursday I decided to end my running hiatus. The plan was to do three miles nice and easy, but my stomach didn't want to run. I ended up doing a three mile run/walk loop around campus.


Friday:
On Friday I did another three miles running and walking. I fell and twisted my knee during Thursday's outing and I was feeling a little pain on Friday so I didn't want to push it.


Saturday:
Despite the rain outside preventing me from swimming, I still managed to squeeze in a twenty minute trainer ride followed immediately by Insanity Core Cardio & Balance. This was the best workout I had all week and really left me ready to take on Sunday's workout.


Sunday:
Another unwanted rest day due to stomach troubles. Definitely bummed but I wasn't going to chance heading out with an iffy stomach.


Weekly Totals

• Swimming: 0 
• Biking: 50 minutes
• Running: 6 miles
• Insanity: 70 minutes
• Total hours: 3 hours 23 minutes

Thoughts
I started the week off in a bad place. I was mad at myself and skipped workouts because I felt helpless. Based on how the week started off though I am pretty happy with the workouts I did Thursday through Saturday. Even though it wasn't the best of weeks I am motivated and ready to take on the next week. 

About My RR USA Half Training Plan

Even though training for the Rock N' Roll USA Half Marathon officially started a few weeks ago, I still wanted to do a post about my training. I didn't stick to a training plan while training for Baltimore and it showed. When I was training for Baltimore I was only concerned with finishing. I didn't really care about what my time would be or what paces I should be training at. While I don't want to put a lot of pressure on myself for this race, I still want to PR in a big way. I really truly believe that I can crush my current PR with some actual training.

I really enjoyed having the ability to look back on the things I did, and didn't do, while training for Baltimore. When I was writing my training plan for this race I wanted to incorporate a lot of cross training. First, I get injured very easily and I really don't want to get injured. Second, I want to also use this time to build a solid base for triathlon training. I also had to really take my class schedule into account. Some days I have class earlier than others and I can only get to the pool on certain days.

So here it is:

• Monday: speed run AM/ long bike PM
• Tuesday: swim & strength AM/ medium bike PM
• Wednesday: tempo run & short bike PM
• Thursday: swim & strength AM/ long run PM
• Friday: rest
• Saturday: rest
• Sunday: easy run & short bike

I decided to stick to four runs a week because any more and my IT band becomes very angry. As for what types of runs, I chose to do a long run, an easy run, a tempo run and a speed run. Originally I wanted to do two easy runs but I opted for only one easy run since four runs a week isn't really that many. I thought doing two hard runs a week would help build strength and increase speed. My main goal for my runs during this training cycle is to hit all of my long runs. I am aiming for between 8-12 miles. I didn't do runs that long last time it really hurt me in the end.

I also decided on biking four days a week. I am not an experienced cyclist and need to work on this leg the most. I don't have many guidelines for my rides, it is all about spending time in the saddle and getting used to being back on the bike. I have a longish ride planned for Monday nights and I want to do some interval work since I am such a slow cyclist but other than that my rides will probably be at a pretty easy pace and used for recovery.

I knew I wanted to do a few days of swimming a week so that I would be able to take advantage of my experience in the pool come tri season. Since I have two scheduled swims a week I want to do one as a recovery and technique swim and the other as a speed workout. Swimming will be the least important part of my training though. Swimming is what I am best at and I know that I can still do well in a tri with minimal time in the pool. 

The part I am most excited about is actually strength training. I only lifted weight while swimming during my last year but I saw an insane amount of improvement. Not to mention how much strength training helps prevent injuries. I will focus on upper body one day and lower body on the other day. And I won't be able to start strength training until I go back to school at the end of January.

Not written into my schedule is yoga and Insanity. I want to try to go to yoga once a week but I don't know what the spring schedule is yet. I wanted to be able to do Insanity regularly but I just don't have enough time. In the end I decided on using Insanity as cross training if I miss a run. For example, if I am unable to do my tempo run for some reason I will do an Insanity workout instead.

I Must Be Having An Off Day

I was really bummed that I hadn't run since Thursday's turkey trot so I set my alarm last night so I could head out for a run this morning before all the rain hit us.

I woke up at 9:30, got dressed, and was out the door by 10:00. I started running but I felt terrible. I figured I just needed some time to warm up and then I feel good again. Not so much.

I wasn't even a mile into the run and I felt absolutely terrible. I just wanted to be done. I convinced myself to run until a hit one mile and then I could stretch for a little.

I was only planning on running three miles but after my terrible first mile I decided to just walk back to my apartment and focus on my workouts this afternoon.

Except my workouts this afternoon and evening felt just as terrible. I did an Insanity workout but kept yawning throughout the whole thing. No matter what I tried I just felt tired.

I am not really sure why I am feeling so terrible today since I haven't worked out much this week but I am just going to call it a day and go back at it tomorrow.

I hate having days like today but they are nice reminders that life doesn't go according to plan and we have to just give it our all on that particular day. Some days will be better than others, and we just have to deal with it.

So tomorrow, I am going to attack my workouts and get back to feeling strong and in shape. No more feeling tired. I want to feel alive!

Interval Training: Insanity

I mentioned a while back that I bought the Insanity workout DVDs. One of my swim coaches actually had us do the workouts as dryland after practice and I became hooked instantly. I purchased the workout myself but haven't really committed to following the provided plan.

Since I will be starting training for my March half marathon soon I don't want to commit myself to trying to do sixty days of Insanity. I do want to do as much Insanity as I can though.

I have been consistently (meaning every other day) doing Insanity for about a week now and I can already tell that I am getting stronger. I feel more powerful and definitely more toned.

What is so great about doing Insanity is that it is interval training. You push as hard as you can for two to five minutes and then get a thirty second break. I still have to take some extra rest every now & then, but they becoming more infrequent.

Doing interval training allows my body to get a great workout and lets me push myself every single time. No matter how many times I do each workout I can still improve on my reps and form.

And Insanity is just one form of interval training. I only have access to my school's gym, which doesn't offer workout classes like a real gym would. And I really can't justify spending money on a gym membership only for the classes.

I can do Insanity in my apartment whenever I want to. I try not to do it very late at night because I'm sure the people living beneath me aren't loving my constant jumping.

But still, regardless of how you do it, it's really important to fit some kind of interval training into your weekly routine. You will love the results!

Getting Back Out There

I have been resting the past few days after running a half marathon on Saturday but today I itching to get my sweat on. I woke up early before class this morning to do an Insanity recovery workout. My legs were burning by the end of the short 33 minute workout and were consequently shaking the entire day. It felt so good to workout again though.

When I got back from class I got dressed, laced up my sneakers, and headed out side for a short shakeout run. I only wanted to go two miles so my legs weren't completely shot. My legs felt surprisingly fresh and I was so happy to be running again.

Unfortunately, my stomach was not so happy that I was running. I only ran for about a mile and a half before calling it a day and walking the last half mile.

Despite my stomach I was very happy with how my legs, particularly my knees, were holding up. I was expecting to be pretty sore but everything (minus the stomach) felt great.

On another note, I don't think I am going to do the race this weekend. I don't want to push myself too hard right now and just focus on recovering. I know I would end up pushing it too hard and that is definitely something that I don't want to do right now.

Home Again

Yesterday afternoon I got home from a wonderful week at the beach with my family and my boyfriend. I had such a great time and am so glad that I had my boyfriend with me for all of it. I ran three times while on vacation, biked once, kayaked once, and did one open water swim. I planned on doing more of each but it was vacation and I got caught up in everything. I did miss my 6 mile long run last week, which was really not good. I am not going to let it get to me though. I had a great day today and am getting recommitted to my training.

I set out to run 3 miles tonight. The goal was to run each mile faster than the previous one, and hopefully run the last mile under 10:00. When I started running I felt great; better than most days. So I ran faster than I planned. But I still felt like I was running pretty conservatively and my heart rate wasn't very high. I ran the first mile in 10:09 and knew it was going to be a great run. The next mile came in at 9:31. I was so excited when I saw this number because that marks only the second time that I have run a miles under 10:00 during a training run. I know I am not the fastest runner but I have been making a lot of progress lately. I tried to push it pretty hard the last mile but my stomach was bothering me from dinner earlier so I ended up with another 9:31. I ran three miles in 28:55, which is the fastest I have run three miles other than in a race. The best part was that I was very tired or sore after finishing. I actually contemplated running another mile but I opted not to because of my stomach.

After I got home I did an Insanity workout: Core Cardio & Balance. This is one of my favorite Insanity workouts because it is somewhat of a recovery workout so it complements my running nicely. Some of the harder workouts leave me too tired to get in a decent run. All of the Insanity workouts are great though and I highly recommend the series for cross training or just getting in shape.