Well it’s official. I’m entered in the Warrior Dash on August 24th at the urging of my friend Joyce. For those wondering what a Warrior Dash is, you can check it out here. We have a group of women doing this, so I thought why not? I’ve never had a desire to do one of these types of races, but then again, I never really had a desire to do the San Diego Rock & Roll Marathon or the La Jolla Half Marathon either. But I did them both (mostly walking) at the urging of my BFF Lyssa and now I can put a check in the box. Unfortunately, since I moved away from San Diego 2 years ago I don’t seem to enjoy working out as much as I used to. It’s hot and humid here in the summer and freezing and windy in the winter. I prefer walking at the beach, Torrey Pines and La Jolla Cove are my favorites.
The view from a walk in La Jolla, CA
I even use to walk from La Jolla Cove to my house in Point Loma frequently (13.2 miles). Since I’m a fair weather girl it takes a lot of motivation to get me out for a walk when the weather conditions aren’t so great. Result: I’m not really in the best shape for this kind of race.
Who really wants to go out to exercise when you have to dress like this?
So it’s time to start a little training for the event. While I can walk (pretty fast) for miles without a problem, I have no upper body strength at all. I hate lifting weights for upper body and I detest push ups the most! Pull ups? Forget about it. Never have I ever been able to do one in my life, even when I did gymnastics in high school (and threw the discus). If you look at the race details, this is an obstacle course. With lots of running, jumping, climbing, and getting dirty. I THINK I’M GONNA DIE! But I have a plan, sort of. I have an app on my phone to train for a 5K (5K Runner) and a trainer at the gym that’s giving us girls a couple work out programs. One is an obstacle course fitness program and the other is an upper body weight workout.
So here’s what I’ve done this week:
MONDAY: Week 2, Day 1 of the 5K Runner. I figured I was in good enough shape to skip the first week. This included a 5 min. warm up walk, then 1.5 run, 2 min walk, repeated 4 times, then 1 min run, 1 min walk, repeated twice and a 5 minute cool down. But that seemed too easy and only got me to the front gate here on base so I did it again on the way back home.
TUESDAY: Obstacle course workout. Basically it’s a 5-8 minute warm up Then jog on the treadmill 2 mins, then 1 min. of an “obstacle” like the dreaded pushups, or mountain climbers, or broken table, there’s a whole list to choose from), then 2 min. on treadmill, 1 min. obstacle (different from first), 2 mins treadmill, 1 min. obstacle (different from first and second). Then repeat the cycle for 2 more times. I only jogged at 5.5, 5.8, then 6.0 which was fairly easy…in fact I thought the whole workout wasn’t too hard (except for push ups!) Guess I’ll have to push myself harder next time.
WEDNESDAY: Walked/jogged around the base with a friend. 6 miles. Guessing I only jogged maybe a total of 2 miles???
THURSDAY: Upper body weight workout. Can’t remember everything on the list. I think my mind conveniently blocks out painful things. My shoulders were sore then next day! In the evening I was bored and hungry so I went for a 4 mile walk.
FRIDAY: Walked/jogged. Downloaded Map My Run on my phone. It says I went 3.94 miles in 48.18 minutes. Average 12.15 pace. 439 calories burned.
SATURDAY: Walked around the base with a friend, 6 miles. Now here’s what’s interesting. I must have done something wrong because the Map My Run said I went 7.52 miles in 1:37.14. Average 12.56 pace. 783 calories burned. I know for a fact it’s not a 7.5 mile course so I don’t trust this thing!
Sorry if all this is a little boring, but putting it out there in cyberspace just might be the only thing to keep me going… especially when the heat and humidity hits full tilt boogie!