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.
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.
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!