Another week down and more progress! I have been seeing little bits of progress for a while, but since last week, it seems a lot more apparent. Even with having some really rough work days and exercising late, I am sticking with my plan and seeing improvements in not only how I feel, but my endurance as well. It’s important to learn and grow, and I think I have been doing a very good job at that. Sure, I have my moments, or days, where I am just not feeling it or just want to stop, but each time I keep pushing myself, I reap the rewards. I know this is a bit more motivational than usual, but I have been feeling really proud of my progress.

Monday 1/11

Started off my week with a planned 4 mile endurance run. Most weeks have been a bit rough on Mondays, and I usually cannot complete my run or I replace it with something less impact, like cycling. However, today I felt really good and went to do my run.

I started off my NTC Wake-up Warm-up and hopped onto the treadmill. I did my usual 5 minute walking warm-up at 3mph, then started my run. I hit all of my Galloway intervals and was able to maintain a decent pace of around 9:20 minutes per mile for my 2 minute run segments. My overall mile time was about 10:20 minutes per mile if you include the walk segments. The run felt really good and my HR was extremely consistent throughout.

Tuesday 1/12

With a good Monday behind me, I was feeling motivated and proceeded to go with my planned 3.75 mile tempo run. I started off with my NTC warm-up, then hopped onto the treadmill. I did not really each much during the day or get enough hydration, so during my run I was feeling a bit light-headed. I ended up cutting my run a bit short at 3.34 miles, although my watch was showing 3.45 miles. I was still able to hit all of the Galloway intervals though, so that was good.

I have noticed that my accuracy overall is much better with Apple’s native fitness app vs. Nike’s app. Both still don’t allow for calibration like I could do on my Garmin, but that’s not a deal breaker for me right now. Once the weather gets warmer I plan on doing some outside runs and walks with GPS so it will improve the indoor accuracy for both Apple’s native fitness app and Nike’s app. I will eventually need that accuracy for metrics, but I am still a long way away from that.

• Lesson 1: Make sure to get proper hydration throughout the day. Especially in winter-time or if you are in a really dry climate. It’s amazing the toll it takes on you for your workouts.
• Lesson 2: Make sure you are not working out if you at a larger than usual caloric deficit. I emphasize larger than usual since, for example, some people do things like Intermittent Fasting, so they have trained their bodies to be used to that. Make sure to consume something that won’t upset your stomach about 30-45 minutes before your workout.

Wednesday 1/13

Today was a rest day. It was also a really late work day. Even though I was pretty exhausted and it was late, I still wanted to get in a good workout, especially since I was a bit stressed. Therefore, I did a trainer ride like I usually would, but I pushed myself a bit. Despite that, my HR somehow did not get above 85 BPM, which is extremely low. Either I was really tired and my perceived effort was exponentially higher than what it really was, or my endurance has improved to a point where I need to start doing more dynamic trainer rides. Sadly, I cannot get the resistance higher than what it’s at now, so I think I am stuck until I get smart trainer that has a much better range.

Thursday 1/14

Nike Run Club called for a benchmark 0.50 mile run, which is basically a 7 minute warm-up, 3 minute all-out run, and a 5 minute cool down. I typically skip this since I cannot sync it to the Nike app. However, I wanted to try it out anyway.

I did my usual NTC warm-up. On the treadmill, I only did a 2 minute walking warm-up, compared to my usual 5 minutes. I then proceeded to do a warm-up run, still using Galloway, with my speed at 6 mph for the run segment. For the 3 minute all-out segment, I did not use Galloway. Instead I just ran as hard as I could, going at around 7.4 mph for 2 minutes, then bumping up to 7.6 mph for the last minute. I was really surprised I could handle that speed. For my cool down I went back to Galloway and 6 mph for the run segments. Overall, I really fun workout and I was happy to see my improvement in speed.

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Friday 1/15

As usual, my Friday workout was a NTC workout. I wanted to try out more of the Apple Fitness+ workouts, so I started off my usual NTC warm-up, but then moved into the Fitness+ app. I am pretty much going to be only using my iPad after the connectivity issues with Apple TV last time. I started off with a 10 minutes workout, Core with Molly. It didn’t have any moves that were challenging for me, but still gave me a workout, which was nice. I still had a lot of energy, so I then tried out another 10 minute workout, HIIT with Kim. I didn’t get my HR very high, but again, it was a good and fun workout. I definitely recommend Fitness+ workouts to anyone who is looking for short, beginner-focused workouts. They usually show you the proper form, which is especially important for beginners. For me, they are great because my strength isn’t what it should be, and doing most of the NTC workouts are a bit too much for me right now.

Even though I did my warm-up and two Fitness+ workouts, I still needed to burn more calories to close my rings, so I hopped on the trainer for about 13 minutes, peddling as hard as I could. I was happy to see I got up to 127 BPM, but still expected it to be higher with how I felt during the ride. I definitely think my conditioning has improved greatly.

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Saturday 1/16

It’s Saturday, which means long run! NRC called for an 8.25 mile run. I started with my NTC warm-up, then got moving with my 5 minute warm-up walk. For the most part, I hit almost all of my Galloway intervals. However, I did have a point where I just need to walk for an extra interval. This was around 3/4 of the way into the run, and it really paid off. Overall, a really good run. The accuracy was a bit off today though. Even though, with my warm-up walk, I ran 8.35 miles, my watch tracked 9.18 miles. Therefore, my pace looks a bit faster than usual. As I have mentioned before, for my training goals right now, I don’t really care, but I like calling it out because a lot of people who are training with specific paces or other metrics in mind can be greatly impacted by these inaccuracies. The fact you cannot calibrate could mean you will want to go with a different fitness tracker that you can calibrate.

Sunday 1/17

I woke up a bit more exhausted than usual. I was sore, but not in a way that was debilitating; it was clear I had done a big workout. Since the week had been hectic and Saturday was long-run day, we decided to do house cleaning today. Even though that was definitely enough of a workout, I still wanted to get something in, so I did a trainer ride for a little over 30 minutes. I just did a relaxed pace, but since I had just finished cleaning, my HR was a bit higher than usual for a relaxed ride. Overall it felt really good though and I am happy I got in the ride.