BCHM Training: Week 5

Happy Labor Day! I hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend.

This past week I switched my strength training regimen from weight machines to the Iron Strength routine from Runner's World. I've done it before, and it's tough! I think it's the only workout I've ever tried that I couldn't complete. It takes about 50 minutes, starts with 90 squat jumps and ends with 50 burpees--and that's just for beginners. I started easy this week and cut down sets, but it's still tough.

Also, I sorta forgot about the 30-day abs challenge I started at the beginning of August. Oops!

A few weeks ago I wrote about how I love early morning workouts and how it was getting darker in the mornings. Now, it's pitch black. The first half mile of the trail I run on is not lit at all, so I am running in total darkness. It's not a good feeling, and I find that I run faster to prevent things jumping out and getting me--and I shouldn't be running faster on the warm-up part of my run. So this past week I started to run on the road parallel to the trail, which has street lights and doesn't get much traffic early in the mornings. I'm wondering if I should invest in a head lamp or knuckle lights.

Total weekly mileage: 23.7

Monday
Morning: 35 minutes Iron Strength workout
Lululemon Bruised Berry Cool Racerback & White Energy Bra
Yogasmoga Klarit Red Run Jump 'n Play Crops

Evening: 50 minutes yin yoga, spine series
Lululemon Medium Grey No Limits Tank
Zella Black Crops
Cat yoga
Tuesday
Morning: 45:00, 4 miles: 11:14 pace
Medium run day. Nice and cool morning--only 63 degrees.
Lululemon Clear Mint/Grey Energy Bra & Aquamarine Bangbuster
Lorna Jane The Force Excel Tank
Athleta Midnight Blue Relay Skort
Evening:  Essential Yoga video from Runner's World
Lululemon Plum/Inkwell/Spry Blue Cool Racerback &
Inkwell In the Flow Crops
Wednesday
Morning: 55:21, 4.7 miles
This was a tough workout! It was 7 .25-mile intervals at 5K pace, and it was hot and humid. I nailed my pace for the first 4 intervals then felt very depleted and had to recharge with some Lifesavers candy after interval 5. The last 2 were tough but I gave them everything I had. Here are the splits:
1: 9:35 | 2: 9:34 | 3: 9:45 | 4: 9:38 | 5: 10:37 | 6: 10:04 | 7: 10:07
Lululemon Aquarmarine Runner Up Tank,
Cadet Static Wave Stripe Bangbuster
Black Pace Rival Skirt
Thursday
Morning:  37:00, a little over 3 miles (GPS wasn't working)
My body needed this easy run after Wednesday's tough workout! It was cool at 62 degrees.
Lululemon Bruised Berry Cool Racerback & Wee Stripe White/Grey Bangbuster
Athleta Raspberry Relay Skort
Evening
35 minutes Iron Strength
Lorna Jane Ocean Comfort Sports Bra
Lululemon Bali Breeze Cool Racerback
Yogasmoga Spanish Grey Run Jump 'n Play Crops
I got these Spanish Grey crops during Yogasmoga's 50% off sale. I love them! The color is a very light grey (you can see they almost look white) but are opaque. And as with my other Yogasmoga tights, they are very comfortable. I try not to be too matchy matchy, but I loved adding my Athleta Glass Blue Spacedye Zip Hoodie to this outfit to walk the dog.

Friday
Rest day! Did 30 minutes of yoga in the morning.
Lululemon Winter Orchid Scoopneck Tank & Pretty Purple Bangbuster
Athleta Asphalt Grey Crops
Saturday
Morning: 43:17, 4 miles, 10:49 pace
After reading Kim's post on motivation, some of which was about running with friends, I realized that I joined Steel City Road Runners Club but only ran with them once. So I planned to run with them Saturday morning. Unfortunately, I was about 15 minutes late from walking the dog to meet them in time, so I ran solo on the trail near me (though did see Kim and Mike!). After I'm back from vacation, I really want to start running with the club. I need running buddies!

This run was my pace run. Though my average pace was exactly where it should have been, I was disappointed that my splits weren't more consistent. I don't want to run faster than 10:50. I'll just keep working at it.
1: 10:59 | 2: 10:42 | 3: 10:50 | 4: 10:46

After the run I did the Recovery Yoga video from Runner's World.
Lululemon Jeweled Magenta Swiftly Tank & Bangbuster
Athleta Black Relay Skort
Sunday
Morning: 1:36, 8 miles, 12:01 pace
When I woke up and saw the enormous rain cloud over the area, I knew I was in for a wet run. It rained for the entire 8 miles. It really wasn't too bad, though (it's amazing how much a hat helps), and I knew I couldn't complain after reading Carina's post about her 20-mile run on the wettest day in 2.5 years with torrential downpours and thunderstorms.
About to get very wet!
Athleta White Pacifica Tee & Fiji Green Fair Isles Skort
Lulu Grey/Clear Mint Run Hat
This week is a step-back week, which is good because I can run the weekend's long run (just a 10K) on Friday before heading on vacation Saturday.

Happy running and working out this week!

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