How I feel after an OTF workout. 

July update

Just a few updates:
1. Last month I went back to Missouri for Joe's grandma's funeral and for a weekend lake trip. I ran 3 miles on the treadmill twice in the hotel and did a workout (ran an 8 minute mile) on the lake trip. I also went to OTF 2x in Rock Hill while I was there. A year ago, I would have used that time as an excuse not to work out, or at best maybe did 1-2 treadmill workouts.

2. I went with my friend to work out at her local OTF so she could try her first class. It was fun!

3. Last week was one of my highest calorie burn weeks at OTF so far. I did two 90 minute classes (one was my highest calorie burn ever - 772 calories), four regular 60 minute classes, a slow 3 mile jog, and a rest day. I burned about 3,150 calories that week. The lady on the treadmill next to me in one of the 90 minute classes gave me a nice compliment because I ran the whole time and didn't walk except walking recoveries. We had two 5.5 minute runs for distance and I did really well.

4. Yesterday, I just did a three mile walk, so essentially a day off. Today I had an outstanding workout coming back.  Here's the summary:

• I held all my bases at 6.5 mph and I didn't walk any. It has been a real struggle to move from 6/6.2 mph to 6.5 mph and today was a good day to do that. I had to bring my push pace down to 7-7.2 mph but that's ok. 
• I did the last All Out (45 seconds) at 9 mph!
• I did 20 then 25 lbs on single arm clean and press; 20 lbs on triceps extension, 20 lbs on single arm snatches. They were low reps but that's always a good time for me to work on increasing my weights. 

On my way to my goal of using heavier weights and my paces of 7/8/9. 

195th OTF workout and one year anniversary approaching

Today was my 195th OTF workout! I was trying to make it to 200 before my one-year anniversary (Saturday, June 23) but I am heading out of town on Wednesday for a week. So it looks like I will hit 196 before my one-year because I am going tomorrow!

I am considering signing up for a 10K later this summer so I can have something to train for the rest of the summer. I think this would be a good way to get me away from OTF a few days a week, so I can do distance runs 1-2x a week and then OTF 3-4x a week.

Orange Everest and power walking goal

Earlier this week, we did Orange Everest. This is where you start at a 2% incline and increase 1% every minute up to the top (15%). Hold one minute at 15%, drop to 14% for a minute, then decrease the incline 2% every minute. It may sound like you are going downhill, but you aren't! It's just less uphill. Finally a 1 minute push then 1 minute all out at the end, which felt completely weird at 1% after all those inclines!

I don't remember how I did last time we did Everest in January, but I think I jogged until around 8 or 9% then walked up to 15%, then started jogging when I felt ready on the "less uphill" part. This time, I started at a slower pace because I wanted to see how long I could jog. I made it all the way to 11% (for 30 secs) at 5 mph. I was pretty proud of that! I should have dropped my speed to 4.5 mph to see if I could go a little longer. Then I picked back up the jog at 10% I think. Next time, I'm going to try really hard to see if I can jog at the 15%, even if it's slow.

Recently, I also decided to power walk once a week. My goal was to get to 4 mph for my speed because I was doing 3.8 mph. Today, we did a 12.5 minute block and I decided to PW. I did 4 mph for almost the entire time! So I think with a little more progress I could do an entire block at 4 mph.

I haven't seen much progress in my speeds in the past month or so, which makes me wonder if I need to cut back to 4x a week and take the other days as lower intensity days, like going for a slower jog. I am not allowing my body to rest very much and I am constantly sore and having some low back and hamstring issues. The problem with me taking days off is that the FOMO is real. I hate missing a fun workout!

190th class!

Today was my 190th OTF class. My one-year anniversary is coming up around June 23 and I am trying to get 200 workouts by then.

I did get the 2.5 miles in 23 minutes the other day but it was HARD! I was struggling to finish and I actually needed a few extra seconds, so it was more like 23:07. I was so out of breath and I even get a little time in the red zone, which never happens for me.

Lately, when I run, it feels like I am running through the mud, so I've had to lower my paces. But today I upped the incline and I got my 12 splat points (which is a big deal for me because I don't always get 12).

Another new goal I have is to power walk once a week and get my PW speed to 4 mph (and maintain that with all inclines). Right now, I'm at 3.8 mph so I think I can kick that up 0.1 in a week and another 0.1 after a few weeks/month.

Weekend and today's OTF

This past weekend I was visiting family in Missouri and decided to work out while I was there. In my previous life, this would have meant a break from working out, or maybe a few easy treadmill workouts, while on vacation. But nope, now FOMO and how good I feel all day after a workout makes me want to go.

At first the girls at the St. Charles studio ignored me, but then once I told them I was visiting and needed to fill out paperwork, etc they were nice. The coach came over and asked me if I was new or visiting and introduced herself so I appreciated that. The workouts were both 3G (3 groups - alternate between weights, rower, and treads), which I don't always get to do and a good change. I did make the mistake of eating breakfast too close to workout time, so I was feeling a little nauseous on Sunday so I had to slow down. You would have thought Imo's pizza, toasted ravioli, and J in the B tacos on Friday night would have made me feel sluggish or sick on Saturday morning, but amazingly they did not! Eating healthy when I'm back in STL is not one of my strengths, but at least this time I stayed away from White Castle.

Today's workout was one of my favorites! We did strength and power on the floor and then some strength and endurance on the treads/rower. I did 20s on chest press, which is awesome because we were also doing them tempo/slowly. I do not love pop squats (squat then jump while turning to side) but it was only 6 at a time so I can handle that. My paces/watts on treads and rower were good. I felt really accomplished after this workout.

I think my favorite combo is strength on the floor, power on the rower, and then endurance on treads. The coach in St. Charles said we are doing a 23 minute run for distance tomorrow for National Running Day so I am SUPER excited for that. My goal is 2.5 miles. After I consulted with my running paces chart on the refrigerator (yes, I'm nerdy like that), I think I need to do between 6.6 and 6.8 to get that. That would also put me close to my new 5K goal time (if I were to keep going), so this will be a good test.

Mayhem swag

We got this swag for completing at least 4 out 6 "Mayhem" workouts, which were supposed to be a little tougher than normal workouts. I got 5 of 6 in, which is pretty awesome!