Lizzard

How many times have we been out partying with a friend or a group of friends and we tell them about our fitness thing? We love to talk about the daily exercise, how demanding the workouts are, the dedication it takes, how nice (or mean) the instructors are, how wonderful the folks are there, and how much better we are for doing it....

After about the 5th drink, our friends either want to: challenge us to a push up contest, have a foot race, show us their junk, and of course, are joining us TOMORROW for the race or the workout. If we had a nickle for every half cocked declaration of fitness triumph to be, we could pay for 12 weeks of Boot Camp.

Well, here is an event where worlds can collide.

http://www.active.com/5k-race/atlanta-ga/one-love-stache-dash-2012

Stache Dash is nacho average 5K!

100% of proceeds to benefit One Love Generation, a 501c3 tax exempt non-profit organization empowering youth to inspire positive social change through art, service and awareness. For more information, please visit www.onelovegeneration.org.

$25 registration fee includes t-shirt, number, race time & entrance to Tin Lizzy's Cinco de Mayo event

Grind

Getting in shape sucks! Being in shape is awesome! How do we go from getting in shape to being in shape? Answer: one day at a time, one stride at a time, one exercise at a time.

At the end of every week, we add up mileage and repetitions of exercise. We are averaging 20 miles, 3,000 reps./week. In order to get those #s, we have to show up every day and keep putting one foot in front of the other. There will be good days and bad days. There will be aches and pains. It will rain. It will be cold. It will suck. It will be monotonous and sometimes boring (not really).

One day we will wake up, spread our wings and fly. Then we will know why we did the grind.

Today we exercised our legs. 555 - Parking deck stair well X 5 + 700 reps
                                             PBC - Chastain 10K + 700 reps

Barb	12
Kathleen	12
Prancey	12
Susie C	12
Susie Mac	12
Cindy	11
Lisa	11
Mary D.	11
Chris W.	10
Jenny	10
Jimmy F	10
John G.	10
John O.	10
Michael	10
Brittany	9
Caroline	9
Kaffee	9
Margaret	9
Mary	9
Paige	9
Cindy Neal	8
Elizabeth	8
Harriott	8
Kristin	8
Stacey	8
Alan	7
Gary	7
Glamour	7
Irene	7
John S	7
Katie	7
Kristen	7
Leslie	7
Roxanna	7
Christine	6
Holly	6
John O'Neill	6
Kristin C.	6
Liz	6
Maggie	6
Laurie	5
Mike C.	5
Sally	5
Miller	4
Todd	4
Matt	2
Kasey	1

Negative Splits

We started the week with a familiar Boot Camp route. In the Winter, The Church Run heads South on Peachtree to the Churches, then hangs a left and runs East to Garden Hills Playground. The first 2 miles are down hill. The long descent on Peachtree allows us to take our time and warm up with minimal effort.

We Stopped a half a dozen times on Peachtree for core muscle exercise. About half way down the hill, we changed gears to get the heart rate jumping. After one last stop in the middle of the road in front of Sunny Brook Park in Garden Hills, we started climbing our way back home. Having warmed up and pumped out 550 repetitions of core exercise, we emptied the tank as we climbed up the hills and stairs to the tennis courts in Frankie Allen. After a set of 6 count ab builders, we ran race pace up Shadowlawn back to the Church.

The effort in this mornings workout started easy, progressed to medium and finished hard. As we moved along, we kept going faster and working harder.

Someone trying to run 20 minutes for a 5k might try to portion thier effort accordingly. The first mile would be 6:40, second mile 6:30, third mile 6:20.

The way the brain works, its easier to run the last mile fastest. Our minds will tell our bodies its okay to hammer if it knows the finish line is near. If we get in trouble in the first mile having gone out too fast, the alarm bells will sound and the paces will fall off dramatically. It take discipline to go out easy and finish hard.

Barb	11
Kathleen	11
Prancey	11
Susie C	11
Susie Mac	11
Cindy	10
John G.	10
Lisa	10
Mary D.	10
Chris W.	9
Jenny	9
Jimmy F	9
John O.	9
Mary	9
Michael	9
Brittany	8
Caroline	8
Kaffee	8
Kristin	8
Margaret	8
Paige	8
Stacey	8
Alan	7
Cindy Neal	7
Elizabeth	7
Gary	7
Harriott	7
Irene	7
John S	7
Kristen	7
Christine	6
Glamour	6
Holly	6
Katie	6
Leslie	6
Maggie	6
Roxanna	6
John O'Neill	5
Kristin C.	5
Laurie	5
Liz	5
Mike C.	5
Sally	5
Miller	4
Todd	4
Kasey	1

Pyramids

pyramid workouts

Running is the most basic form of exercise. We add every twist and bend we can find or conceive to compliment our running. The order of the exercise is somewhat important. We try to mix it up during the week so that we use all of our muscles, abdomen more than the others.

The type of running we do is also important. In the winter, we try to do a few more stairs and hills. As the weather warms up, we flatten it out and go a little faster.

Mileage should be increased weekly by no more than 10%. We ran 18 miles during boot camp this week. For those of us running 3 miles each day this weekend, the total is 24.

In order to "pyramid" ourselves into peak condition, we can add a few miles every week. In the example above, our next 4 weeks would be 26, 29, 32, 35.

We add a few miles every week by showing up early and running a longer warm up, staying after the workout and running a longer cool down, or ramping up our Sunday long run.

This method can also be done with exercise. Annually, we peak out on push ups around the 4th of July.

Barb	10
Cindy	10
Kathleen	10
Prancey	10
Susie C	10
Susie Mac	10
John G.	9
Lisa	9
Mary	9
Mary D.	9
Chris W.	8
Jenny	8
Jimmy F	8
John O.	8
Michael	8
Stacey	8
Alan	7
Brittany	7
Caroline	7
Cindy Neal	7
Elizabeth	7
Harriott	7
Irene	7
Kaffee	7
Kristen	7
Kristin	7
Margaret	7
Paige	7
Christine	6
Glamour	6
Holly	6
John S	6
Maggie	6
Roxanna	6
Gary	5
Katie	5
Kristin C.	5
Laurie	5
Leslie	5
Mike C.	5
Sally	5
John O'Neill	4
Liz	4
Miller	3
Todd	3
Kasey	1

Day 9 Session II, 2012, 2nd day of lent, 1st day of the rest of our lives

We are gradually moving from traditional base building workouts toward faster paced tempo work. This week, we started with an easy Church Run with core exercise on Monday, came back with the Buckhead Village tour of stairs and lower body exercise Tuesday then hammered half miles behind the Church and worked core again Wednesday. Today we did easy strides on the grass and focused on upper body muscles. Tomorrow will be a total body workout with some up tempo, up hill running. The effort is set up daily as (Easy, Medium, Hard, Easy, Medium).

Each day has a specific purpose. The Hard days should be Hard and the Easy days should be Easy. Occasionally, when one of us misses a workout, we want to come back and BLAST as penance. This disrupts the rhythm of the week and depending on the individual, could disrupt the workout. It is important to stay in the program and work with the folks next to us, not against them. Racing should only be done on the weekends.

LaAmistad Buckhead 5K

Saturday February 25th, 2012
9AM - Start/Finish at Peachtree Presbyterian Gym
The last mile is up Valley toward Habby.
Forecast is Sunny and 43 degrees.

Barb	9
Cindy	9
Kathleen	9
Prancey	9
Susie C	9
Susie Mac	9
Jenny	8
Jimmy F	8
John G.	8
Lisa	8
Mary	8
Mary D.	8
Caroline	7
Chris W.	7
Elizabeth	7
Harriott	7
Irene	7
John O.	7
Kristen	7
Kristin	7
Michael	7
Stacey	7
Alan	6
Brittany	6
Christine	6
Cindy Neal	6
Holly	6
Kaffee	6
Maggie	6
Margaret	6
Paige	6
Roxanna	6
Glamour	5
John S	5
Katie	5
Leslie	5
Gary	4
John O'Neill	4
Kristin C.	4
Laurie	4
Liz	4
Mike C.	4
Sally	4
Miller	2
Todd	2
Kasey	1