Training Day 20

Today (3/24/2011) should be a 3 mile run and strength training, but again, I am in California and the weather is not cooperating in the least. I did hit the hotel "gym" & I use that term loosely, as there were not a whole lot of options in there. I did a delt's & calves workout, and I hit the stair stepper for 30 minutes. This equipment was not the best and I had to improvise with the calves, since there was next to nothing in there for the workout. I think I did OK though; at least it is better than nothing.
 OK, so tip time again. I have a great, inexpensive watch that I have been using for my speed workout's and I also use it in the pool in the summer when I start adding in laps for variety in my workouts.


Timex Ironman Vivid Colors Shock 30 Lap

The watch comes in a bunch of awesome colors, and I find it very easy to use. The only difficult part is surfing the Internet to find the color you want. This watch has been very popular and I had to search pretty deep to find the green one, which was my second choice. I actually wanted the yellow one. The pink, purple and blue ones are the easiest to find. I think the price is super reasonable too, about $50.00.



Training Day 19

Grrrr...training for this new job in California is totally throwing my schedule off. I was up early this morning, and out late tonight, so no time at all to get my run in. I should have ran 3.5 miles tonight. It's still raining here too. About the only thing I can do is increase some of my other runs to make up for the mileage, or run on a rest day. I think either one will work. I'll just play it by ear, and see how I feel in the upcoming days.
So, today can be a "tip" day. There are many different options for a post run/workout recovery drink, but most experts agree that it needs to be drank within 30 min. to be the most beneficial. You can fix a smoothie, but I find the easiest recovery drink is chocolate milk. So many runner's are utilizing the benefits of milk. I'm posting a link, so you can read about it yourself. 
http://stronglifts.com/milk-post-workout-build-muscle-gains/

I personally like to keep Carnation Instant Breakfast packet's on hand; that way I only mix what I need, and don't feel the urge to down an entire jug of chocolate milk.



I buy this large size @ Costco



Training Day 18

Speedwork Day! I'm in California today, so there is not a track available. Sometimes it is just necessary to improvise. It has been raining here this week, and unfortunately I did not bring my rain gear, and it is too cold for the clothes I did bring, so I will try to make this day up on one of my rest days.
Arthur Lydiard has a great quote: "Miles make champions." If I follow this philosophy, then as long as I get the TOTAL amount of training mileage in, I should be OK. I suppose it will be a good experiment. I have been adding a mile extra here and there just to make sure that I have the necessary conditioning when race day comes.
I'm not excessively worried about it since the previous two 1/2 marathon's I did were not even close to ideal. The first one I ran I didn't even train for. I ran 8 miles the day before, and that was my longest run. I still finished and didn't have that bad of a time, and this was on a course that was all rolling hills. Of course my knee was killing me by the time I crossed the finish line, but I was more mentally irritated by my time than anything else. I found my stats; this race was ran in January 2009.