Month In Review: November + December Goals

A couple days late, but I wanted to review my exercise during the month of November plus the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the month.

If I am going to keep track of fitness, I need to remember to jot down when I do all the On Demand videos or a random couple sets of crunches here and there.  I know I did these a few more times than I wrote down.  The running and spinning are easy since my Garmin keeps track for me.

Here we go:

Nov2: 2.04 mi run
Nov4: 5.08 mi run
Nov 5: OnDemand Standing Abs (10 min)
Nov6: 6.18 mi run + OnDemand Arms with Attitude (10 min) + Abs & Back (10 min)

Nov8: 2.13 mi group run
Nov11: 5.31 mi run + OnDemand Arms with Attitude
Nov13: Helped my husband wax the car...uses the arm muscles, right??
Nov14: 5.56 mi run (first 2 mi w/hubby, rest on my own)

Nov16: 2.43 mi run
Nov18: 2.19 mi run w/hubby
Nov21: 6.06 mi run

Nov22: 3.33 mi group run (early turkey trot)
Nov24: 4.34 mi run
Nov26: I think walking around the Gettysburg battlefield for a couple hours and climbing up multiple tall observation towers counts for something.  I felt all the steps we did in my legs the next day.
Nov28: 2.21 mi run

Nov29: 1 hour spinning class + OnDemand 21-day Yoga (10 min) + Yoga for Beg. & Beyond (16 min)
Nov30: 2.05 mi run w/hubby

November Total: 48.91 miles of running.

So, at the beginning of November, I said my goals were to:
1. run 55 miles for the month
2. shoot for 48 ounces of water a day
3. get at least 7.5 hours of sleep on 3/5 weeknights.

Goal 1: While I didn't reach 55 miles, running 48.91 miles was a significant improvement from running only 35.7 miles during October.

Goal 2: This was hard to remember to jot down amounts. I should have just jotted down "yes" or "no."  There were some days I forgot to write anything down.  Beginning on the 5th, I kept track of water for 21 out of the 26 remaining days of the month.  And I only drank 48+ ounces on 7 of those 21 days.  Big time fail!  I drank 40+ ounces on 16 of 21 days.  I got better about this toward the end of the month, and will continue to try to drink more water throughout the winter.

Goal 3: Also hard to remember to write down your sleep!  I did this from November 4th through the Friday after Thanksgiving, for a total of 23 days, weekends included.  There were only 6 days that I got less than 7.5 hours of sleep, mostly toward the beginning of the month.  I had one week (Nov 14-18) where I got more than 7.5 hours of sleep every week night!

(click to enlarge)

The thin yellow line is the 7:30 mark. 
So anything above that line met my goal!
(Real MS Excel would have let me adjust the scale of my Y-axis, instead of these bizarro increments)

I have decided I'm not so interested in writing down all of my water consumption and the exact hours I fell asleep and woke up each day.  But I will continue to make drinking more water and going to bed earlier a priority so I can stay healthy this winter (especially since I work with students, and kids = germs!)

As I mentioned earlier this week, I want more of my running to stay within a lower heart rate range.  According to the chart in that post, 80-90% of your training mileage should be in the "long slow run" range, which for me is a HR 151-165.  No more than 10-15% should be in the lactate/anaerobic threshold pace.  I'm calling myself experienced since I've been running regularly for almost 2 years... so for me that range would be: 172-181.

• I'll try for 80% of my running mileage in the 151-165 range. 
• This may mean I need to stop running and walk for a couple seconds if my HR gets too high.  Which will be annoying, but good for me in the long run.
• I'll try for 15% of my running mileage in the 172-181 range.

Since I signed up for the gym for the month of December, I plan to take some group classes to mix up my routine a bit, and give me something to do besides just running, since riding my bike outside is no longer an option (until maybe March, anyway).

• I will aim to exercise for at least 30 minutes, 5 days a week (even through Christmas!) 
• My routine daily 10-minute dog walk does not count.  
• Running, spinning, group classes, OnDemand workouts, & long walks can all count.
• Wii bowling or tennis probably doesn't count? :)

Try On Report: Lululemon Run: Dash Crop

About a week ago when I returned my Lululemon Dash Pullover, I was hoping to pick up the Dash Crop in Coal/Haze.  My store was out of my size in that color combo though, so I instead tried on the all black version of the Dash Crop (as well as the Run: Alpine Tight, and the coal/lilac Run: Inspire Crop - to see a crop in coal).

The Run: Alpine tight was perhaps overkill for NJ.  I looked back at last year's winter running and I never really ran outside when it was below mid 20s.  I already have one pair of full length brushed Nike tights, so I don't think I have much use for a second pair.  However, the Alpine tight was really warm, had a nice high rise, and fit well!  In my usual size, the waist band was snug enough to stay put, but did not give me "muffin top." Length was probably about 1-2" too long for my 5'2" self, but it was easy to bunch the fabric at the ankle, or fold the fabric (they do free hemming too, if you're interested).

The Dash Crop in black fit well, and I really liked the reflective strip on the calf, which is what drew me to them in the first place.  But I already have black crops.

I tried on the Run: Inspire crop to get a sense of the coal luxtreme, and found they were not forgiving to the back of upper thighs that are not perfectly toned. ahem.  I can say they were a nice longer crop, the rise was good, but I didn't love the little lilac color panels at the bottom of the leg either.

So based on my experience with the coal Inspire crops, I thought the coal Dash crops were probably out.  I went ahead and bought the black Dash crops because of the reflectivity (my other crops don't have this).  The educator reminded me I had a long return window (into January) because of the holiday season.

 Run: Alpine Pullover in Haze / Run: Dash Crop in Black

I decided to order the coal/haze Dash crop online because I liked the idea of them matching my Alpine pullover, and worst case, if the coal was not flattering, I could return them.  I had seen other pictures of the coal Dash Crops on people online, and did not see that they were unflattering in the back.

The coal crops came in the mail yesterday, woo hoo!  And I must say, I think they are far more flattering than the Inspire crops in coal that I tried on in-store (no picture taken of those).

Run: Alpine Pullover in Haze / Run: Dash Crop in Coal/Haze

Not super-flattering photos, but I'm demonstrating the higher rise of this crop.  They hit at my belly button.  I like the higher rise for keeping the cold out and for a nice smooth silhouette in the midsection!

 

Here are all of my crops/tights I own:

In other words, I probably don't need another pair of black bottoms.

Here's the black and coal/haze Dash Crop side by side:

Length Comparison:
L to R: full length Run: Spirit Tight, Run: Dash Crop, Run: Zoom Crop.

Also note, that the Spirit tight is coal/antidote.  
And the Dash crop is coal/haze. Both are luxtreme, clearly different shades of gray though.

I'm leaning towards keeping the coal/haze.  Then after this, I think I need to go on a lululemon diet for a while.  I think I'm probably all set in the workout clothes department...

*ETA:

I should mention that in addition to the great fit and the reflective strips at the calves, these crops also feature:

• a back zip pocket which can be seen above in my pictures,
• and two hidden gel pockets inside the front waistband (These pockets can fit a packet of gu or maybe half a pack of Clif Shot Bloks).
• a decorative ruffle along the reflective strip (back side is circle mesh for venting).

First Bootcamp and Black & White Cookies

Last night (Thursday) I tried out Bootcamp at the gym for the first time.  Bootcamp, according to my gym is: "a challenging full body bootcamp workout to burn calories, build endurance and increase your strength."

Yikes.

I arrived and was told to grab a mat and a tricep weight.  I was told that we would be doing a lot of reps, so I went with the 3lb weights over the 5lb weights.  I am weak.

We started out with running 2 laps around the indoor track (1 lap = 1/10.5 of a mile. of course... that's a logical distance!)  Then we did a plank and some tricep push ups.  Let me be clear, I cannot do a correct pushup.  Any variety. I knew I would be sore today! Then we ran 2 more laps around the track, and did a bunch of crunches and another plank.

We then went back down to the group exercise room where we did crunches then bicycle crunches for an entire song.  Then we did a plank.  And some tricep push ups.  Then we repeated that sequence...multiple times.  Somewhere along the way, while doing crunches, the instructor put steps down in front of each of us.  Then we did tricep push ups and wider chest push ups, with our hands on that step.  Note: I did all of these on my knees, not feet!

We did more crunches while laying on that step.  Then we picked up our weights and did some bicep curls with the weights while doing lunges on the step. Then we did some bent-over tricep extensions. Then more bicep curls, then some squats.  Then we repeated that whole sequence many times.

Then more crunches, some with our knees to the sides to work the obliques, and planks and both types of pushups.

For an entire hour.

Holy smokes, my legs were shaking when I got home.  I was anticipating some ab and chest soreness today.  That means it worked though, right??  It wasn't so bad in the abs, surprisingly - though they're a little tight. Maybe it's because I'm feeling it more in my upper arms and chest though.  I think I kind of liked it though, and will go back next week!

And since I had no pictures in this post, I will end with my delicious purchase from the grocery store Tuesday night.  The black and white cookie (4 them...for the 2 of us) from Wegmans.

 

My favorite part is the white butter cream frosting.  How can you not love butter cream frosting?

Turns out this combo pack had 2 chocolate cookies and 2 pumpkin spice? cookies instead of the usual 2 white cookies.  Unexpected, but not bad!

Gym Membership & Acorn Squash

Monday night I decided I would re-join my gym.  We live pretty close to where I went to grad school, and as an alumnus I can use the gym there (for a fee, of course). It's by semester, and if you join mid-semester they pro-rate the cost.  So I paid $32 to use the gym, including classes, from Monday night through the end of December. 

I tried to hold off as long as possible, with just running outside, but it seems winter is getting close.  While we had crazy 60s temps yesterday, it quickly got cold last night, and now the forecast appears to be a high around 40 and lows at night in the mid 20s.  While I don't love running on the treadmill, I could use a little exercise-excitement in the way of group classes.

After renewing, I went to a one hour spinning class (maybe only about 50 minutes of actual spinning though).  It was my first time spinning since about mid-August, when my last round of gym membership expired.  I was able to keep up alright despite not riding a bike in the last 3 or so weeks either.  Luckily, my legs survived, and they weren't even a little bit sore the next day!


Monday night we finally used up the Acorn Squash that had been sitting on our counter for the last couple weeks.  When I bought it, it was mostly green with a little orange...now it was the other way around.

I preheated the oven to 350.  

Then I halved the squash with a giant knife.

And I scooped out the seeds.  

I put the squash face down on a baking sheet covered in foil (easy clean up).

I left the squash face down for about 30 min, then I carefully flipped them over to see how they were coming along.  The squash "meat" was still too hard when I poked it with a fork.  So it went back in for another 10-15 minutes face up.  I put a tiny bit of water in them so they didn't get too crispy.

When they were fork-tender, I took them out - put in a dollop of cottage cheese, and a handful of almonds (I couldn't decide between the slivered and the whole, so I used some of both).  Voila.

While the squash was in the oven for the half-hour period of time I tried some Yoga On-Demand.  I started off with some 21 Day Yoga Routine ("two dynamic yoga fitness workouts"), and tried to keep up, but stopped it half way through the 21 minute video.  The voice was describing the moves in a low and quiet voice, but speaking very quickly!  That's not good when you're re-introducing yourself to yoga and you can't SEE what's going on because you're looking at the ground.

It reminds me of how the Old Spice guy talks in commercials:

"Look down, back up, where are you? you're on a boat"  Yeah, that's how the first yoga video was, but a softer voice: "Now look down, put your hands on the mat, lift your left leg, look at the ground, bring your leg down, and bring your foot between your hands." Couldn't follow!

I instead found "Yoga for Beginners and Beyond, a 16-minute with a "basic flow sequence" and a "deeper lunar practice." The music was a little funky, but I was able to keep up much easier.

Then when the yoga was over, I tended to my squash, then ate it.