Crazylegs and Exams

As promised (partly out of guilt from my lack of consistent posting around here lately), I thought I’d give a run down of my third and Bailey’s first Crazylegs race experience. For those of you in Madison who haven’t run Crazylegs and are thinking about trying it in the future, or if you’re not from Madison and are intrigued anyhow, here are some consistent hallmarks of the race:

1. The weather will be wonderful. And by wonderful I mean the temperature will plunge to the high 30s/low 40s. It will be raining. It will be windy, and the wind will continue to change directions so that the rain is always blowing into your face. The first year I ran Crazylegs with my dad, there was a severe thunderstorm warning for Dane County but the race went on anyway. Thinking a sweatshirt would help keep me warm, I ended up being soaked within 5 minutes and killed my iPod in the process. I had fun anyhow, though my dad said afterwards he’d never do it again.

2. You will spend more time waiting to run than actually running. This is another mistake I made the first year. The race officially begins at 10:00 am if you are a seasoned marathon runner who is clocking 6 minute miles consistently. If you’re a fun runner like me, you’re looking closer to 10:15, or in this year’s case 10:45. Fortunately for Bailey, I know the system and we didn’t even leave her apartment until 10:15. We still waited for over 20 minutes, but with thousands of people slowly migrating towards the starting line, you at least have some communal body heat to share.

3. You will look ridiculous. This goes in part with the first two. Don’t try to wear make up. Don’t try to look super cute. You will be soggy and shivering and miserable until you start running, and then you will just want to get to Camp Randall. You won’t care how you look. The first year I ran with my dad, he offered me a plastic poncho to wear, which I refused because I didn’t want to look stupid. As a result, I had to buy a new iPod.  This year, I still refused to buy a poncho, but Bailey did manage to fashion some “2 minute rain coats” – I ran the race wearing a garbage bag with holes cut in for my head and arms. Did I look absurd? Absolutely! That’s half the fun.

This past week was the final week of classes, launching me into finals period. Finals period is an interesting breed in law school, and perhaps in any school. You don’t have the pressure of having reading or assignments done for class, but you have an always impending sense of doom if you happen to be doing something other than studying. Such has been my life for the past week, paired with some not-so-fit coping habits for stress. It finally caught up with me this weekend – I feel terrible! But it’s just another reminder that taking care of yourself by choosing what you do and what you put in your body is going to have an impact. I need to learn and re-learn this periodically.

For example, strength training has not been on my radar at all this past week, and I’ve been subsisting off the candy dish at work because I haven’t been packing any sort of balanced lunch. My dinner last night consisted of ice cream (bad), brussell sprouts (good), and fried cheese(bad). I’m not one to let yesterday’s shortcomings rain on today. I’m going to go to the gym for a cardio/strength mix, and then go out to my parents house for a morel mushroom dinner. There’s always a reset button.

Musical Monday tomorrow! Promise!

Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken & Crazylegs

As promise…about 2 or 3 days ago, my slow cooker BBQ Chicken Recipe

Ingredients

1 bag frozen chicken breasts (skinless, boneless – approximately 10 servings)

1 large onion, chopped

2 cups water

Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder to Taste

1/2 cup BBQ Sauce (I like Stubb’s as it has no high fructose corn syrup)

Directions

1. Place chicken, onion, water, and seasonings in your slow cooker and cook on high or low for the suggested amount of time.

2. When full cooked, drain the excess water.

3. Pull apart the chicken breasts with two forks, until the desired size of the shreds/chunks (I wish there was a better way to explain this, it just sounds weird.)

4. Replace chicken in slow cooker and pour BBQ sauce over the top, stir with a large spoon to coat well and cook on low for an additional hour.

5. Enjoy.

You can definitely omit the onion if it doesn’t agree with it, I just like the texture.

This morning I woke up a little late, so I wanted to squeeze in a hard run. I ran for 30 minutes at an 8.0 mph on the treadmill at my gym, followed by a cool down of some faster paced walking. Since I will be running Crazylegs with my sister and not going for any sort of time this spring, it’s not really necessary to speed train, but occasionally it’s nice to see where I am when it comes to sustaining speed at a longer distance.

That being said, I was very tired when I got to school and couldn’t stop yawning until now.

How fast can you run and how far?

 

Weekly Challenges

It’s Tuesday, and that means a new batch of Goldleaf Challenges for my participants and anyone else who’s following along and just not telling me (totally cool, I’m a lurker on a bunch of blogs).

Basic

– Run/Walk interval set (see below for more details) 3 times this week  -10 points

– Eat at least 4 servings of vegetables per day – 10 points

– Consume at least 50 grams of protein per day (I personally aim for around 100) – 5 points

The Extra Mile

– Perform at least 3 cardio work outs, with one from each of the categories listed below – 15 points

– Eat least least 4 servings of vegetables per day, and 2 servings of fruit – 15 points

– Complete 3 make-your-own strength training sessions (see below) – 15 points

As you can see, today is a big pick your own adventure. I think it’s important to have options that can easily be incorporated into one’s schedule. These work outs give some guidance, but you’re the one who has to take control of scheduling them out, the same way that you’ll have to after the challenge has ended.

Note: The cardio challenges cannot be completed for double points, you must choose one or the other. The vegetable/fruit and vegetable challenge is the same, you can only count points for one or the other.

Basic Walk/Run Interval Sets

Yes, now I’m bringing intervals to even the Basic challenges if you want the points (you do). Intervals are proven to be the most effective way to burn fat – plus you’ll increase your speed and endurance, which makes working out easier and more fun as you learn to push yourself. Do this simple interval work out 3 times this week:

Minutes 1-5: Warm up, your perceived rate of exertion (RPE) should be around a 3 here, on a scale of 1-10.

Minutes 5:00-5:30: Sprint at a RPE of 10 – give it your full effort.

Minutes 5:30-7:00: Recover at a fast paced walk, should be around an RPE of 5-6.

Minutes 7:00 – 25:00: Repeat minutes 5:00-7:00 9 more times for a total of 20 minutes of intervals.

Minutes 25:00-30:00: Cool down at an RPE of 3 again.

The Extra Mile Cardio Challenge Work Outs

Category 1: Long Endurance Work Out

On a treadmill, elliptical, or bike (can also run outside), choose a  steady pace that you can maintain for one hour.

Time: 60 minutes

Category 2: Endurance Interval Work Out

Run for 1 minute, walk for 1 minute – 3x

Run for 2 minutes, walk for 1 minute – 3x

Run for 3 minutes, walk for 1 minute – 3x

Run for 4 minutes, walk for 2 minutes – 3x

When you’re running, you should be at an RPE 8-9

When you’re walking, you should be at RPE 5-6

My tip: I run at an 8.0 mph and walk at 4.0 mph.

Time: 45 minutes

Category 3: Speed Interval Work Out

Minutes 1:00-3:00: Warm up, RPE 3

Minutes 3:00-3:45: Sprint at an RPE of 10.

Minutes 3:45-5:00: Recovery jog at an RPE of 6-7

Minutes 5:00-27:00: Repeat minutes 3:00-5:00 11 times for a total of 24 minutes of intervals.

Minutes 27:00-30:00: Cool down, RPE 3.

Time: 30 minutes

Choose Your Own Adventure Strength Training

Choose 3 from Category A

– Chest press (10-15)

– Push up (15)

– Row (10-15)

– Flies (10-15)

– Bicep curls (10-15)

– Tricep Extensions (8-12 each arm)

– Tricep dips (15)

– Shoulder presses (8-12)

Choose 3 from Category B

– Planks and side planks (1 minute; 45 seconds)

– Bicycles (30)

– Flutter kicks (30)

– Crunches (25)

– Bridges (30)

Choose 3 from Category C

– Alternating Lunges (15 on each leg)

– Squats (15)

– Sumo Squats (15)

– Wall Sit (1 minute)

– Leg Press (15)

– Squat Jumps (10)

Once you’ve chosen 3 from each category, perform each excercise for the category three times as a set. So, for example, if I a chose alternating lunges, sumo squats, and leg press, I would perform the reps of each exercise once – lunges, then sumo squats, then leg press, and then repeat two more times, before moving on to the next category.

Here’s the fun part – you can’t do one exercise more than twice this week.

Enjoy!