Hot Stuff

So the past three days have been in the 90s here in NYC. Not very fun for running. So I was very very relieved when, Monday night Ramon sent out this email:

TOMORROW'S WORKOUT:

NOTE: DUE TO THE EXPECTED WEATHER, I AM MAKING A COUPLE OF CHANGES TO THIS WEEK'S WORKOUT

(you see, I do have a soft side and do have a heart )

WE will have 2 Workout options, you make you own decision which one you want to attend:

OPTION 1: 5-6 Miles EASY Hot/sweaty/sucky run !!

OPTION 2: Cross Training Killing Workout + Running !!

You decide which of the workouts/options you want to do, just go to the proper location.

NOTE: KEEP in mind that if the weather gets better, the coaches could/may change the workout at the last minute.

Hurrah! It has been too hot to MOVE so I had not been looking forward to the original workout, which on the calendar just said "Hills."

But when we got to our meeting place Ramon had a bit of a change-up. One group could still do option 1, but the second option was going to be hills.

I really felt like an easy run would be a waste of valuable coaching time/practice, so I opted for the hills. I never get to train with Ramon (we usually just have Steve and Pete) and I forgot that his practices were really really HARD.

Everyone was bitching and moaning about the change-up in the plans, but Ramon said "Didn't you read my email? I said that we could change the workout if we wanted to!" So Ramon's workout was basically the worst of both worlds...hills AND cross-training.

We ran easy up to Harlem Hill and stopped off in the grassy area by Lasker Pool. We were already all drenched. I am not exaggerating. (I actually turned to my one friend and said "Uh, I have sweat running down my back into my butt crack." It tickled.) There we formed two lines to do Ramon's favorites. Squats. Ramon makes you do 90 degree squats...and hold them for a minute. And then he goes around and yells at you if you aren't low enough. (I got called out by name for this. Whoops.) After about a bazillion squats he yelled "GO!" and we had to sprint up either the left or right side of the hill, recover back and do more squats.

Harlem Hill (counterclockwise) was shorter, but definitely steeper. Lasker Hill was longer but more gradual. Both suck. My legs were already getting tired before I even started up the hill! But I sprinted to the best of my capability (I picked Harlem Hill...glutton for punishment.)

For the next round we had to switch hills. I must say, Lasker did seem a ton easier. It also seemed about 20 degrees cooler on that side of the park. I thought I was crazy, but Coach Pete said the same thing to me on our recovery.

We ended up doing 4 rounds of hills and 4 rounds of squats. (I kept hearing from different people "I thought cross-training involved more than squats.")

It was a HARD practice, made even hard by the high 80s temps. At the end I was exhausted and my stomach was growling so much that it hurt.

But I wouldn't have had it any other way. I do love a hard practice.

The X-Training Run

My friends and I are a little bit sick...

I say this, because we were really excited for Coach Ramon's cross-training run on Tuesday. I thought I was the only crazy one who liked this run, but as I was talking to the other advanced group runners in our warm-up I found out that I was not alone.

What is the cross-training run?

Well, Ramon puts all of the intermediate and advanced runners in a big circle and divides that circle down the middle. The first group (this was my group) goes on a 12 minute run (6 minutes out and back) while the second group does cross-training exercises. This consists mainly of lots and lots and lots of squats, some balancing exercises, some pilates and crunches, etc. But mainly lots of squats. We then switch groups. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. All in all, my group did 3 turns at running and 2 at cross-training. The other group did 3 cross-training and 2 running. (I wished I was in that group). Oh yeah, and it had rained all week, so the ground was nice and squishy and wet.

Ramon sort of reminds me of Jillian Michaels from The Biggest Loser during this workout.

He goes around and makes sure everyone has perfect form. He will push you into perfect form if you don't have it. And squats in perfect form HURT. Especially when you have to hold them for so long. Oh yeah, and no complaining. Because if you do complain either more seconds or more reps are added on.

My legs were shaking by the 6th round of squats (we did multiple rounds of squats in each 12 minute cycle).

Now, I will say, that since I do a lot of these exercises at home now on my cross-training days, that this WAS a lot easier than last year. But I also realized that at home I am not doing these exercises in perfect form (no 90 degree squats for me). So I will have to work on that. Even though it hurts.

We all left to go home on the subway covered in lots of grass and sweat. Three of us were headed to my neighborhood, so I didn't look like the only freak on the train. :)

18 Hours

That is apparently how long it takes for my muscles to get sore after a cross-training run. But it's funny...my legs aren't sore, its more my arms, my chest, my back and my abs. In a sick way I am kind of glad, because I know that this means that I got a good workout last night.

Here is what my workout consisted of:

We all met at the park at the Bethesda Fountain. From there we ran to the Hunter Statue (it looks like that might be a little over a quarter mile). From there, the group was split into two. The first group stayed with Ramon while we went on a 12 minute run.

This run seemed FAST to me. But it could be because we were all running with a pack (usually I am in the middle to back of the advanced group, but last night I was up with the coach). It could also just be because it was in the mid 90s.

At that point, we were back where we started and did a bunch of exercises. The worst were the squats. We did about a million of them and my quads were shaking. According to Ramon that is because my quads are WEAK and if I want to be a good marathon runner I'd better be doing a lot more of them. We also did that karate kid thing, where you balance on one leg and then switch really fast to the other one. More squats. Some other exercises which I can't remember and then MORE squats. I actually was happy when the other group came back so that we could run. By now I was roasting. I looked around to see if any of the other girls were showing their midriffs (they weren't) but then I decided it was too hot anyway and left my shirt with the cross-training group so that I could run in my sports bra. This is another reason that I need to do these cross-training workouts...to tone my midriff so I can run like this without being embarassed :)

Another 12 minute run. This one seemed a lot better. Maybe it just took me awhile to get used to being out in the heat. My ponytail was able to be wrung out by then though (that is my gauge of how much I am sweating).

Back to cross training for YUCK pilates moves. Planks. I HATE these. When I took Pilates I loved everything except for the planks. Well we did forward, right side and left side..Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Then we did push-ups. I found out that I pretty much have been doing push-ups wrong for all the years of my life. The right way to do them is MUCH harder and engages your chest as well as your arms. I could barely do my 3 sets of 15. My arms were so achy.

Another 12 minute run.

This time we did a bunch of technique exercises. They mostly involved kicking our butt. But the catch was that we did this on one leg over and over and over. It was like running with one leg, which was HARD. Then we switched legs and THEN we did both legs very very fast. More squats. Lunges.

Another 12 minute run.

Then, one big stretch fest. For some reason, my group ended up doing one run more than the other group. We tried to tell ourselves that this was okay because we would be stronger than them, but really we were just wishing we were in group one.

Today on my schedule is a cross-training day, which I thought was kind of weird, seeing that we just did a cross-training run. But I trust Coach Ramon. I have been much more able to run in the heat than I was last year, I have been running faster in the heat than I did last year AND I can tell I am getting stronger and my technique is improving. So I guess I will stick with his plan :)

I am glad that cross-training tonight also = air-conditioning.