The Training Program

Ellie and I officially kicked off our training program on Tuesday, and it feels great knowing that we have a schedule to follow. I never used to like the idea of having a scheduled format to follow, but now that I am actually using one, I am pretty excited about it. We ended up taking a step back, away from the original half-marathon program we were intending to do. Instead we are now following a 10-miler program. Over the next twelve weeks, we will build up to that goal. After that, we will jump right into the  half-marathon program, right in time for the Boston Half!

I like this program a lot. It is relatively easy at first. I feel like it starts at our actual current level, rather than something that would be tough to achieve. Though it is only a three-day-a-week schedule, it does ramp up after the first few weeks, and I am actually looking forward to that. Here is a link to the program. Take a look; this website offers other programs for all ability levels.

Body Dips

Need half your body weight in help? No Problemo!

Because yesterday was a rest day, and because I had a ton of energy, I headed to the gym. (OMG! I KNO, RITE?!) I wanted to make sure to give my legs a good rest before my mandatory, scheduled run on Thursday, so I felt like it would be a great opportunity to throw in some weight training. When I got there, the elliptical called out to me so I did a warm-up mile on it. Next, I headed to what is probably my most favorite machine in the entire gym. The Assisted Pull-Up, Body-Dip thing-a-ma-jig. Basically, this machine allows you to do chin-ups and body dips, while assisting you with some of the weight. If you can't lift your entire body weight, by changing the machine settings you can offset as much or as little as you need it to.

I'll be honest with you guys, I needed the machine to assist me with about 100 lbs of my weight. I probably could have used less, but I also wanted to do a lot of reps to get my upper body working. I am going to try to make a habit of using this machine, and I'll keep you updated on how much I need it to assist me as I progress!

I actually really enjoyed my time at the gym yesterday. I was there only for a little less than an hour, and that might have been the secret to my enjoyment. I got in, did a couple of exercises that I really wanted to do, and got out before I got bored and frustrated. I am going to try to make this type of gym-blitz a habit.

PS: New RSS!

I have been working on getting an RSS feed from our online tracking system up and going. Workouts that are submitted to the tracking system will display in a side widget! This is an opt-in feature only, don't worry! Let me know if you want your workouts displayed for everyone to cheer you on, and I will flag your account as public. I will probably be tinkering quite a bit with this feature, as I have never worked on this type of system before. I hope it is a nice, welcomed addition!