cross-training

LIVING WITH A SEAL: {book release and giveaway}

- Mel

I received a copy of LIVING WITH A SEAL on Release Day, and the book written by Jesse Itzler was a really fun read — I finished in two days! Itzler has a unique personality and his hilarious storytelling kept my interest (and his conversational tone made me laugh out loud throughout). His life story is already interesting and his personal success in business and his personal life are already engaging. On top of that, he also runs ultra-marathons. And, uh… he’s also married to the woman who founded Spanx!

Living with a SEAL photo

(This family photo on the book jacket cracks me up.)

In the book, Itzler decides to hire a trainer to shake things up. That trainer happens to be an accomplished Navy SEAL, who he “meets” (nay, stalks) at one of his ultra events, and is widely considered to be “the toughest man on the planet.” There was only one condition from SEAL, however: he would have to do everything SEAL told him — and NOTHING was off limits.

LIVING WITH A SEAL: 31 Days Training with the Toughest Man on the Planet is Itzler’s account of this “month-long experiment to improve his strength and endurance and challenge his will to succeed.”

There are some eye-openers in this regimented training that included sleeping in a wooden chair, jumping into a frozen lake and running-while-wearing a 50-lb weighted vest (and training occurring at all hours of the day and night which SEAL only needs a pair of borrowed gloves for training gear). The book includes the 31-day training plan too, if you’re so inclined to follow (please note: I am not a physician do not encourage you to attempt… you know, unless you’re a SEAL).

LIVING WITH A SEAL is inspirational and motivational, to be sure. But also absolutely insane. And I’m giving a copy away for you to enjoy too!

Living with a Seal book cover

Giveaway: One copy of LIVING WITH A SEAL will be sent to a winner in the US. Leave the craziest thing you’ve ever done for getting in shape in the comments for a chance to win! Giveaway ends on Friday, November 19 at midnight.

Disclaimer: I received an advance copy of LIVING WITH A SEAL from Hachette Book Group for review. The publisher will be providing the giveaway copy as well. All opinions in this post are my own.

Weekly Therapy: Wherever you are, be all there.

- Mel

the week:
Finally got my butt back to spinning (and working out in general)! I’m trying to figure out what my workout schedule should be through December — when I then start training for the Gasparilla race(s) challenge in February 2016. I’m super excited about this destination running event, by the way. I need to sit down and figure out my race and training schedule for 2016 overall too.

I woke up on Tuesday morning at, like, 3:30 a.m. and considered staying up and going to a 5:15 a.m. CrossFit session but I found my way back to slumber (and dreaming again that all my hair was falling out, which is a little too close to reality right now). Daylights Savings Time, amiright? To be honest, I don’t know if my training will ever revert back to regular CF. I have a TRX system now at home (that I still need to set up) and maybe I’ll ask for a barbell for Christmas… but I just can’t stomach the $135/month membership fee anymore when I have a YMCA membership and a yoga pass and own enough equipment to get in decent at-home workouts.

weekend:
It only seems life-appropriate to have some dental work done the week after Halloween, right? I’ll also be watching a bit of the WFTDA Championships. I plan to get my first post-marathon run in on Sunday morning too, before my inlaws come out and spend the afternoon with us.

52 books in 52 weeks:
I finished FOUR books this week — I am determined to catch up! And it’s amazing how much time I have to read when the boyfriend is traveling for a week. HA!

#36: Lion of Hollywood: The Life & Legend of Louis B. Mayer — So happy that I kept with this book (it took me a LONG time to finish but it was worth it. Read my Goodreads review.

#37: Eat and Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness by Scott Jurek — great read for anyone who is a runner or likes big, limit-stretching goals. It wasn’t my favorite book about ultramarathons, but I liked it better than Rich Roll’s (and it had much less sponsor endorsements).

#38: Five Weeks in the Amazon by Sean Michael Hayes — well, I just hated this book. But after seeing how quickly I could finish it, I kept with it (hoping that Hayes would become more likable or authentic… and that just didn’t happen). Final thoughts: immature writing and attitude, and what a hypocrite!

#39: Living With a SEAL by Jesse Itzler — I received a Release Day copy of this book from the publisher, and I really enjoy Jesse’s casual writing style. I mean, I read it in two days! His storytelling of training with a Navy SEAL for 31 days was fun and you feel as though he’s one of your closest friends telling you his latest crazy story (and it’s nuts!). He cracked me up more than once! There’s even a tear-out workout page included in the book if you’re so inclined to repeat his insane month-long training schedule.

seven things, seven days:
1. When looking for socks for a Halloween costume, I realized that my ENTIRE collection of derby shorts, tights and socks are GONE (save for one pair of socks and one pair of cat shorts) — likely stored in a bag in the basement and tossed during our sewer backup over the summer. And, well, I’m pretty devastated about it.
2. All things considered, my Halloween costume turned out awesome for thinking of the idea on the day before.
3. My stylist seemingly mitigated my hair breakage problems with a keratin treatment (even if it has the faintest hint of a rose gold color… which is, surprisingly, kind of awesome). But it seriously looks and feels SO much better, and I got a few other products to use as daily/weekly treatments to help protect it.
4. When it’s 70 degrees on a November evening in Pittsburgh, you go have Thai food on Nicky’s patio.
5. “At distances over 2,000 miles, you are negating the benefit that males have due to increased muscle mass and aerobic capacity.” On Longest Hiking Trails: A Woman Finds Equal Footing {via NYTimes}
6. My definition of work-life balance is, simply, that I’m not living to work. But beyond that… it gets a little complicated. More about the assumptions of work-life balance {via APA Center for Organizational Excellence}
7. The things I learned from being an Ironman. SO GOOD. {via The Things I Learned From…}

Training Week 18 & 19: Niagara Falls International Marathon

- Mel

I have continually asked myself: Am I ready for this?

Like most of my races in the past year, I haven’t really been sure until I start running. But as you probably know, every run feels different. I know this marathon is going to be tough both mentally and physically. But I’m feeling… really anxious. Especially after starting to experience some knee pain on my long run last weekend.

WEEK 18
MONDAY: Rest Day

TUESDAY: Rest Day; concert after work and Uber-ed home with friends, so only walked to work (1.5 miles).

WEDNESDAY: Disappointed that run//yoga run club was relocated because of the post-season game, but that was exactly why I wouldn’t be driving anywhere. I was annoyed enough by merely walking through the crowds to get home that I didn’t feel like running around downtown anywhere. I’ve been feeling *really* burned out, so was looking forward to our weekend get-away. Walked to-from work (3 total miles)

THURSDAY: Ran my commute home from work (with an extra loop around the Point State Park fountain). 2.18 miles at average 9.19 pace

FRIDAY: Packed, prepared for our trip. Lots of stretching in between loads of laundry.

SATURDAY: Guys, I went swimming. OUTSIDE. Our resort pool was beautiful and warm and it was so wonderfully relaxing. I did some water exercises, walking, and some laps.

SUNDAY: Again, another beautiful day for swimming (maybe a bit cooler than the day before). Not so exercise-intense as the previous day, but I stayed active to keep warm. Then, realizing that it was probably a little too chilly to hang out at sundown, we spent 15-20 minutes relaxing in the hot tub.

Truth be told, I intended to do my long run Sunday morning, but I woke up either severely hungover (wine pairings with dinner the night before, so… incredibly likely) or sick from something I ate. I attempted to get out of bed a few times — once even meeting the boyfriend for a quick game of putt-putt and lunch. But then as I sat in the restaurant, I got nauseous again and had to go back to bed. Around 5pm, I felt well enough to keep food down and start moving around. I didn’t trust my stomach in the shuttle bus either, so I walked both ways. It was probably a 4-mile round trip! Alas, I moved my long run to Monday.

Total runs: 1
Total miles: 2.18 miles

WEEK 19
MONDAY: I was supposed to do 10-12 miles for my long run, but ran out of time in the morning before checking out of our hotel at Nemacolin. I suppose it was a blessing, given that my left knee was starting to hurt around 6.5 miles in. I’m hoping it’s because of all the rolling hills around the resort property and not an actual injury. I have been dealing with really tight hamstrings and piriformis issues, which might be related to the . Strangely, this is the SAME knee that was acting up prior to the Pittsburgh Half Marathon, which didn’t bother me at all during that race; it hasn’t bothered me since, actually.

I continued for another couple miles — the pain lessened after a mile, but flared up again as I finished. The grounds of the resort were pretty neat though, especially running around the Animal Sanctuaries (I’m pretty sure that the white tiger was trying to chase me). Alas, another 8.74 miles logged at average 10:57 pace. Although now I don’t know if I should just rest until the marathon, do a few easy/low-mile runs, if this is what happens to every first-time marathoner at this point in training or what. Maybe it was from swimming?

When we got back home, I made sure to spend a lot of time foam-rolling my legs.

TUESDAY: I did some hip exercises and strengthening for possible Runner’s Knee (per Dr. Google and Runner’s World recommendations).

WEDNESDAY: I joined in with my run//yoga run club friends for a slow three miles and it felt REALLY good. I skipped power yoga afterward to focus more on stretching at home. No knee pain.

3.04 miles at average 11:09 pace.

THURSDAY: Rest and stretch.

FRIDAY: Had to work late, so Rest Day.

SATURDAY: Fineview Step Challenge – review coming this week! FIVE MILES OF FUN.

SUNDAY: More foam rolling, stretching.

I also walk-commuted to work three days this week.

Total runs: 3
Total miles: 16.51 miles
Total training miles: 252.58 miles

Less than one week until the marathon. *gulp*

Training Week 1: Niagara Falls International Marathon

- Mel

The Niagara Falls International Marathon is 20 weeks away, and I have my plan mapped out from various training programs across the internet. I found one that has 3-4 days of running and incorporates my love of cross-training for a total 6 workouts a week. I’ll be trying to stay on plan for most of it, with some two-a-days as my body (and schedule) tells me that I need another day of rest — or for the days I go to my run//yoga club.

Check out this course map!

niagara falls marathon course
Niagara Falls International Marathon Course Map

I think I’ll struggle most with the intensity of my cross-training days though, since I still want to do some CrossFit-type workouts. It will be challenging, but I’ll need to back out of any super high-intensity WODs that I cannot scale for the next 20 weeks. Also, Monday is called for a Rest Day throughout the plan and I REALLY like my low-impact spinning classes on Monday nights. Might just alternate rest days every other week. I’m a work-in-progress!

MONDAY: Rest Day

TUESDAY: My training plan called for 20 minutes of cross-training, but I scheduled another rest day because of my Wednesday workout plans.

WEDNESDAY: Restorative yoga practice at lunch time for an hour; we focused on some core work, and the session felt a lot more intense than usual. After work was my weekly run//yoga club with the lululemon crew at Urban Elements (seriously, if you’re interested in joining this group, send me a message!). It was a warm one! We did a quick 3 miles (9:30/pace) and 75 minutes of hot flow yoga with a LOT of hip opener exercises.

THURSDAY: Rest Day / plan called for 20 minutes of cross-training but Wednesday was enough!

FRIDAY: Three miles before breakfast (uh, that was dumb). I don’t know how it happened, but MapMyRun told me that I ran that first mile at 6:19 (I didn’t run with my watch, so was not replicated); altogether average pace over three miles (3.02) was 8:28. OK. I think I’ll run more at 6am, eh?

SATURDAY: Did a 20(ish)-minute cross-training workout that really burned, adapted from a Runner’s World program:
1 minute of squats
3 sets of biceps curls (10# x 12 reps)
1 minute of jumping jacks
1 minute of mountain climbers
1 minute of static lunges (alternating)
30 seconds of weighted “car driving” (10#)
1 minute of burpees
1 minute of front kicks (think: kickboxing; alternating)
1 minute of plie squats
3 sets of triceps extensions (this was actually really hard for me at 10#, so I did 1 set of 12; then alternated reps of 6 with following movement; followed up by a 12-set of flies)
1 minute of squat jumps (doing in the attic was fun! LOL)
1 minute plank

#dead

SUNDAY Eh, sometimes the rain and humidity come along at the same time, and you’re all NOPE. I had a small window where I could get out between finishing a major paper and having dinner with friends, but I flaked out on my run. Meh.

Total Runs: 2
Total Miles: 6.02

Training for a Fall Marathon? Share your link in the comments, so I can follow along on your adventure — and we can commiserate together in our long-run weekends. 🙂