Training: Week 2

Hi Everyone!

Week two of my half-marathon training plan is complete and today begins week three.  My endurance continues to amaze and surprise me!  These were my workouts last week:

Monday: 30 minutes easy
Tuesday: steady 35 minutes
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: 30 minutes
Friday: warm up, 3 x 7 minutes hard with 3 minute recoveries
Saturday: rest (I swam for 30 minutes)
Sunday: 45 minutes comfortable

I also did strength training and I think I did it on both Monday and Thursday.  I did my speed workout on Friday morning and that was the most challenging workout of the week.  Doing intense workouts early in the morning with nothing on my stomach is obviously difficult, but I don't think I'm necessarily doing my body harm.  Thoughts?  I do make sure to drink a good amount of water beforehand!

IT Band update: it's still bothersome, but it's not preventing me from running.  I do want to switch up my running surfaces though, i.e. more running outside.  On Sunday I had to do my 45 minute run on the treadmill because it was snowy/icy.  I've noticed that my IT Band always feels better after I roll out my legs so it seems as if the irritation is more muscular tension that muscular imbalance.  That said, I will still be diligent about strength training, but I will endeavor to get in the gym's hot tub a couple of times a week and roll every day I run. 

Last Monday I signed up for our gym's annual six week fitness challenge.  I did a weigh-in on the Tanita (body composition analyzer) which measures weight, body fat, water weight, et cetera.  For the next month, I will record my exercise in a binder at the gym, do a halfway point weigh-in, and then do a final weigh-in on February 17th.  Here are some program highlights:

-Points are awarded as follows: 10 points for each .1% body fat lost and 1 point for each pound lost
-Top male and female with highest point totals win grand prizes
-6 weekly prize drawings
-1 raffle drawing from the top 10 participants with the most minutes logged

Now, I think this program is really geared towards people who have a lot of fat and weight to lose, so I don't think I will win that.  However, I think I have a good shot of winning the most minutes of exercise logged.  If anything, this program will help me to be more accountable for my training, and I'll get a t-shirt too. 

Have a great week!