MCM Week 4 Training

DailyMile, we need to talk.

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I had a great training week last week, but I’d hardly call it epic.

Tuesday: Nothing spectacular; nothing terrible. Just a run.

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Wednesday: A tough 5-mile treadmill workout.

Thursday: A one-mile time trial which I am INCREDIBLY happy with. 6:10? Oh. hell. yes. According to Wikipedia, 6:13 was the women’s mile world record in 1920. So…how about we just pretend that it’s 1920 and I just broke the world record?

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[Photo via Meghann]

Friday: An AMAZING run with Meghann. We chatted, and I felt like we were running fast, but never felt like I was dying, and somehow the first two miles we busted out were at 7:21 and 7:18! Hey Meghann, how about you move here and we train together? Thanks.

Saturday: Oh Saturday. I woke up at 5 on Friday to run with Meghann, went to sleep sometime after midnight after being at BlogHer/Physique/dinner at Agave all day and then woke up at 7 to run. I was supposed to run 5 miles, per my training schedule. I laid in bed and thought how much I wanted to go back to sleep. Finally, I saw people tweeting about Summer Streets and got my ass out of bed and over to Park Ave. My legs were tight and heavy, and I had zero energy. I though maybe I’d feel a little better once I started, but I got about 1/2 a mile in before deciding to bag it. Part of me was really frustrated with myself, but most of me was happy to not be running since it was going to be so miserable, and probably more harmful than helpful.

Sunday: After a weekend of long days and nights, a few margaritas and not much sleep, I had low expectations for this run, too. I met up with a few runner buddies for breakfast and to watch the women’s Olympic marathon before going for our own long run. Laura, her boyfriend and I ran 11 miles–from the East 30s, south around the tip (just the tip), up to the West 60s. It. was. hot. And humid.

I’m not a super-sweaty person, but when I finished, there was not a dry inch on my clothing. I spared you a picture of this one. I’ve been running my long runs probably a little faster than I should, but the heat kept me at the pace I was supposed to be at, according to my plan: 10:04. I should also add that I messed up the week before on my long run and was supposed to do 12 and did 11; this week I was supposed to do 10, so I did 11, to make up for that mile last week.

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Overall, I’m happy with the runs I did get in. They were all really solid. I’m definitely a little disappointed with the run I didn’t get in, but there’s nothing I can do about it now. Looking back at my plan, I also added an extra mile on Friday by accident, so I only ended up 2 miles short of my mileage goal.

So far, I don’t think I’ve gotten my planned five runs in during any of these weeks. I’m trying to decide going forward between:

1. Just trying to get in as many of the runs as possible, and if it’s only 4, it’s only 4.

2. Adjusting my plan to a 4-day per week plan with more miles per day.

What would you do? How many days a week do you run?

Physique 57 at BlogHer + GIVEAWAY!

One of my absolute favorite workouts in New York is a Physique 57 class.

I first tried Physique last year and fell in love. The class moves really quickly, and before you know it, you’re almost done and doing the cool-down. My wallet is thankful that the studio is not right around the corner from me, or I would go a lot more than I do.

So when Ashley said she was setting up something with Physique and Well + Good for BlogHer, I was psyched.

All photos courtesy of wellandgoodnyc.com.

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They could have given us any instructor, but we got to take a class from Tanya Becker, the founder. She had twins just a few months ago but still looks amazing.

I’ve taken Physique a handful of times, but this was the hardest class I’d ever taken there. I don’t remember the class as being slow, but I certainly don’t remember all the intervals we did this time. Meghann and I had run 5 miles in the morning and my legs were exhausted, so they started quivering quickly.

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Oh, and Tanya and I had the same shirt on. I got mine hemmed because I had a short torso.

For a girl who moved to the city overweight, working a boring job and not knowing anyone four years ago, I had to pinch myself that I was getting to take a private class with a bunch of other bloggers with the founders of one of the hot fitness studios.

Great, you say. I don’t live in New York, and I can’t do this fancypants class you talk about.

Well! I have a giveaway for you. Just leave a comment below telling me what you’d like to see more of on this blog (or less of), and you can win a copy of The Physique 57 Solution, their book which has a two-week meal plan and detailed instructions for all of their exercises–AND a copy of the Physique 57 DVD, second edition. (Ballet barre not included.)

Bonus entries:

  • Tweet this post, mentioning: @tblanchfield, @physique57 and using this link: http://bit.ly/Qy9jTD. Come back, comment that you’ve tweeted.
  • Pin this post to one of your Pinterest boards; Come back, comment to let me know you’ve done so.
This contest is open until 11:59 PM PDT on 8/7/12.