Runners Language Round 1

 

Have you ever been confused when you hear about people at the gym or your running friends say long, confusing words you swear they are just making up.. like, fartlek. Do you know why training plans include tempo, interval, speed work, hills? I’m going to start a series of post that I will write once a week explaining how to do each one correctly, and why we do them.

First off:

The WHAT:

Tempo runs are a way for runners to build up their speed and strength. They increase your speed by developing your anaerobic threshold. They usually are a little slower then your 10k race pace at a steady level and get faster gradually throughout your run.

I actually think Tempo running is more important to speed work because you are pushing yourself at a comfortably hard pace that improves your metabolic fitness. When we push ourselves a little faster gradually throughout a run it teaches your body how to use oxygen more efficiently and will make you a faster runner.

THE HOW:

How do you do a tempo run? Well, Take your 3 mile run pace and add 30-40 seconds or 15 to 20 seconds to your 10 k pace

On a scale of 1-10 keep it at about a 8. Comfortable would be 5 and race would be 10.

If you wear a hear rate monitor keep it at 85%-95% percent of your max heart rate.

Give yourself the talk test. You should be able to say a short sentence {I like your shoes} but not have a full on conversation.. {about shoes).

So if I were going to do a Tempo run tomorrow..My current 5K pace is about a 8:00, so I would start at a 8:30 pace and gradually speed up.

• 10 minutes of easy running @ 8:30
• 20 minutes gradually increasing speed
• 5 minutes back down to easy running to cool down!

The pace buildup should always be gradual, not sudden, with the peak speed coming about two-thirds into the workout, which you should only hold for a minute or two.

To benefit from tempo runs you have got to put in enough time at the right intensity for you! And the better trained you become the higher you will be able to push your threshold! Soon enough your fast pace will be your comfortable pace.

Todays workout at GPP was day 4 of HELLTH week!

Since it was not timed and I have been itching to move, I took it slow and only completed two rounds.

For demos of each exercise check them out.

Baylee even got some stability reverse back extensions in!

For lunch today I took my two little dates out to Plates and Palates again.

I got the same thing as always.. It has become a weekly event. I love shrimp!!

Brent got home early from work and we decide to go out for a little family run with a few of our closest friends.

To bad my finger got in the way! I love living close to mountains and get to see the deer so close everyday.

The twins loved hanging out with them too!

Overall it was a great day!

What was your run today?

What is your favorite type of training run?

Peanut Butter Chocolate Granola

Happy Tuesday!

Today was one of those days that just FLEW by.

Brent and I stayed up late watching Breaking Bad and lets just say, that kind of show makes me have crazy nightmares. Probably the same reason I can’t watch the walking dead.

Anyway, I slept in a little and headed to the gym a little later then usual today. I wore my Ogden marathon tee in honor of the Boston bombing yesterday.

I started walking, and all the TV’s at the gym had the news on that were showing pictures of the aftermath of the whole thing, and I just broke down a little. My heart breaks for the family that lost the little boy. The whole thing is just sad. I posted this on my facebook page this morning and  it rings true.

Whoever planted those bombs better watch their backs. Us, runners are resilient.

My walk turned into a run/walk. I covered 5 miles before calling it good.

I love that skills has a camera where I can watch T&B play the whole time.

I love watching those two play together. They really never leave each others sides.

I have taken two whole weeks off of strenuous exercise or 2 to 3 a dayers. I’m starting to feel really good. Today was the first day in a LONG time that my run didn’t feel forced. REST IS GOOD!

I’m craving a good GPP workout and the workout today didn’t help. I actually love this sweat in the eyeballs, almost yak feeling workout.

After the gym I came home to play in the kitchen.

PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE GRANOLA

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups Rolled Oats
• 1/2 C. Natural Peanut Butter
• 2 Tbs.PB2 Powder mixed in water
• 2 scoops of Chocolate Protein
• 2 TBSP Ground Flax Seed
• 1 TBSP Cocoa Powder
• 2 TBSP Coconut oil {melted}

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Mix all ingredients together in a a medium sized bowl until well combined

Spread out on a cookie sheet

Bake for 10 minutes

Let cool completely before inhaling it. Because you will. It’s addictive.

Have a great night y’all!

Brent and I need a feel good TV show to watch together.. what is your favorite?

Work it.

Hi friends!!! Happy Hump Day!
Yesterday I didn’t get around to posting, it was just one of those days my bed & Nashville sounded better:.
I had a morning workout at my BIL gym, I met a friend there. It was a good cardio workout with a variety of different movements with some running mixed in.
Later I got my GPP WOD in, which I wasn’t necessarily planning on doing, because I lack flexibility in my shoulders for them and they are a MAJOR goat of mine.. Same with Brent.. when he got home from work, we decided to man up and face the squat.
Well…. OH squats can kiss it.

After I headed to Ballet Blast again with my friend. It was packed this week! But I felt more confident with the movements and was able to follow along better.
This morning I headed to GPP to coach and watch a few classes gut this workout out!

Source

Kenz was next to me in the workout and we pushed each other to the end.
Done and DONE… So rough, sweaty and uh… sweaty!
I still had some time after before I had to pick up the kids from a friends house so I decided to do a quick run.
By quick, I mean really slow. Specter took all I had today….
3 miles and that was that.

During nap time I decide to take some R & R with some ice cream!
A few of my friends have been fans of Arctic Zero for a while now and I haven’t tried it till today.
Verdict: I really liked it!!! The nutritional stats are not to shabby either! My stomach didn’t hurt afterward either! Win, win!


I didn’t take pics of my food much today, but after coaching a night class I came home and had some fish, green beans with avocado.
On a kid plate. I don’t know why I always eat my food from my kids plates? Probably because my other ones are heavy and huge and theirs are cute and make eating fun?

What was your workout today?
Do you eat off kids plates?
Have you tried Arctic Zero?

Tabata Burner

 

This morning I grabbed a quick pre-workout breakfast and shot out the door.

I taught a few classes before tackling this tabata workout!

A tabata is 8 rounds of 20 seconds of “work” followed by 10 sec. of rest. We performed 5 different exercises, BTB (bottom to bottom) squats, deadlifts, box jumps, kb swings and hill climbers (R+L=1).

Those hill climbers were ROUGH!! By the 5th round my reps per round got lower and lower… For the squats we were instructed to “rest” at the bottom of the squat! My legs were on fire, especially after the ballet blast class last night! My hips,booty and calves were pretty sore this morning!

 

Sore calves make those box jumps super fantastic!

That’s RIGHT!

My shins were feeling pretty good today through the workout so I went for a run. I started off pretty slow and sped up every mile and a half. Once I hit 5 I walked at an incline to cool down.

I’m happy to report.. NO PAIN! YAY!!!

LUNCH:

Lunch today came quick!

Spaghetti is Tanners absolute favorite food. He had 3 more plates after this.. with a side of ring pop.

Before heading out to teach a few night classes I snagged an apple on my way out the door.

My stomach started hurting… while I was teaching. I don’t know what it is about apples that cause the issue. ugh. I still love them though! This little baby gala was sweet and crispy!

Dinner:

Dinner was simple tonight-(like every night really..)

Tilapia and green beans for the win.

Quickly followed by a serving, plus some of some Vanilla Bean Ice cream! Who really eats 1/2 cup of ice cream? That’s like saying you also eat 1/2 cup of cereal.

Well, deserved after a long day!

What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

On busy nights, what is your go to meal?

Ballin’ & Dancin.

 

Happy Thursday!!

It is days like today, all I want to do is run and play outside.

Because of my shins I can’t run but we sure did play!

I took the kids to the park with some brunch and they had fun running around for TWO whole hours in the sun! It was perfect weather today and something we have all been craving for MONTHS! 70 degrees is my idea of PERFECT weather.

The workout at GPP was definitely the most different and fun workout I have ever done!

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This workout challenges your nervous system like no other and it is COOL! The stabilization required to kneel or sit on the ball without support is insane! It strengthens the core in so many ways. In fact, I didn’t even think it was possible to be able to do it. After a few days of practicing, I proved myself wrong..

We did single arm presses and bicep curls today and I’m already feeling it in my core! The stability ball situps remind me of using a GHD! It was also a great reminder to stretch my back out every so often! --->eek. Not so flexible there anymore! The cool thing about this workout was the not one press or curl was the same! You are constantly moving and adjusting with your ball that you use different muscle fibers to get the weight up and keep it in motion Cool stuff!

There are links that go over each movement on the GPP site.

After the workout, I wanted to get a little cardio in and since I can’t run, I did the stair climb case to no where….I had a friend to talk to, so that helped the time go by quick! I threw in a few intervals to get my heart rate up and I was dripping by the end! 

I had a protein shake from the gym to get me through the park escapade, so by the time we got home I was more then ready for lunch!

I haven’t had tilapia for a week and finally got stocked back up on it!

I made this huge salad with spinach, peppers, broccoli and avocado!

It was delicious and totally hit the spot!

I even got a good nap in while the babies before heading back to GPP to coach the night crew.

As I was wrapping up the night, a few of my friends were walking in and I guessed it was ZUMBA time! As I tried to secretly grab my stuff and peace on out of there. My friend Alison asked me to stay…

Uh…..

My friend Teresa teaches a killer Zumba class at GPP twice a week and I am NOT a zumba person.. I know its weird, I was a dancer and I have never been a fan of Zumba, I have tried, really! But I have never made it through a whole class!

They talked me into staying and told me I had to do the whole thing at least 3 times. I texted Brent and made sure it was okay if I stayed, and check on the kiddos and then got to shakin!

Guess what? I actually had fun!! Teresa is an amazing instructor and even though I’m not a frequent visitor I was able to follow along for the most part!

She did a ton of stuff where I had to be light on my feet and on my toes which really hurts my shins so I tried to implement other movements and kept my feet grounded… Needless to say, I probably looked like a fool. 

 

Her music was fun and it wasn’t a bunch of meringue and salsa stuff. It was more…

It really was fun!

Do you Zumba?

What is your idea of perfect weather?

Challenge of the week!

Get a ball and practice kneeling on it!

Low-fat Gingerbread Cookies

Before I begin tonight-

This totally happened.

I’m going to back track a bit-

Last night was GPP Girls Night out! A group of us went to Biaggis in SLC and had a great time together! (We missed those that couldn’t make it!) It was fun to get out with the girls for some food and shopping!

When we left the restaurant last night, it was snowing pretty hard and the roads were pretty slick. We made it home safely

We woke up to even MORE snow, we decided to hibernate today and did not go anywhere! We stayed home, and cleaned, organized, decorated the Christmas tree..again..

Somehow, this keeps happening…

Then I decided snow days happen for one special reason. Besides Gingerbread Pancakes in bed.

COOKIES!

I followed Ginas Recipe for her Low-fat Gingerbread Cookies!

The only change I made was I used Coconut Oil in place of the butter!

I even had a little help with the prep work!

Tell me now, who wants a cookie?

Its times like this I really think I should invest in a gingerbread man cookie cutter…

Hearts bring just as much joy though right?

I baked them at 375 degrees for 7 minutes and they turned out perfectly.

They were soft and chewy with the perfect about of ginger kick to them!

Bee could hardly wait to bite into one.

Or every single one of them.

Question of the day:

Who loves Gingerbread as much as me?

Link up your favorite Christmas Cookie Recipe!