Shamrock Training Week 5

WEEK 5:
Total Miles: 17
Cross Training days: 3
Weight: 185- I was down to 183 and I feel like I am getting more toned, but last night I pigged out at a Steelers party. I weigh in every Sunday morning so this is probably why the weight came back on. These playoff games could be the downfall of me.

So here is how the week played out.

MONDAY: 4 miles on the treadmill. I started this week determined to get back on track. I hit the treadmill and ran a nice easy pace of 9:30 just to get my legs back under me. I felt really good after and the only problem I ran into was I am still dealing with a cough and when I run I sometimes have trouble keeping my breathing on track. I heard some people say this damn cough that is going around has lasted 6-8 weeks on some people. I pray I am not one of those people.

TUESDAY: CROSS TRAIN: I found a really good workout on the Men's Health website. It shows you 21 different exercise's that will help get you shredded. It took about an hour and I did one set of all 21 exercises.  I plan on breaking them up and doing 7 three days a week. This first day was more of a test run to see how hard they really were. They are hard!

WEDNESDAY: 3 miles on the treadmill. Now that I had my legs back under me I decided to get back into the runs full swing. I started at a 9 minute pace and dropped each mile by 30 seconds. After the run I did 6 miles on the bike, and a few quick exercises to loosen my hips. My hips are always the first thing to go in a long race, so this time around I am going to focus on them a lot.

THURSDAY: 4 miles on the treadmill. 5 weeks into this training and I had not really done any speed workouts. I did a 4 mile tempo run for my first one. The first mile was a 8:30/mile pace then mile 2 and 3 were a 7:45/mile pace followed by a 8:30/mile to finish up the run. Now that I am back to normal I will make sure to throw a speed workout in each week from here on out.

FRIDAY: CROSS TRAIN: 1 hour of circuit training. I like doing the circuit training room at the gym because it works out the whole body. It doesn't leave one particular muscle group hurting bad the next day. The only thing I had to add in was some ab workouts.

SATURDAY: 6 miles on the road. Finally I was able to get back on the road and run. I was blessed with some awesome weather for the run. As I ran I thought back to the last time I ran on the road and I honestly couldn't remember, It had been a few weeks since I was able to get a really good run in outside. I didn't time the run but now I wish I would have. I felt awesome and I was really moving. I am using some new mental techniques that I will get into next week that really seem to be working for me. For once I have learned to control the voices in my head that say stop, or your body is too tired.
Saturday night like most of Pittsburgh I was glued to the TV to watch my Steelers. My cousin had a party and all of my friends were there. There was so much food and I honestly ate way more than I should, but everything tasted great. I made a Philly Cheese Steak dip that was a huge hit.
How about that game? It was great to watch the Bengal Fans who were classless pieces of shit get all fired up that they were going to win the game to only have Big Ben come in and take their hearts away from them.

 SUNDAY: Today was a much needed rest day. The first week was a little light on the miles but for not running a whole lot that last few weeks it beat me down. I am still happy though that I am back and ready to up the training each week.

Thursday I will have a review of great book that I am reading.

How was your week? Who do you like in the playoffs to win it all this year?