Nothing will make you choke on your morning oatmeal worse than logging on to CrossFit to discover the WOD is to run 15K (9.3 miles). Just as I was hacking up a whole raspberry that I’d inhaled, my phone rang – which is awesome, you should totally hear my ringtone, makes me dance every time! It was Gym Buddy Allison.
“Did you…”
“See CrossFit?”
“Yeah.”
“Crap.”
Ah, Memories
See, I used to be a runner. I used to be very proud of being a runner. I ran races, although never won them. I logged miles and obsessively checked mapmyrun.com like it was a magic 8 ball. Sometimes it was just running and other times is was running away but either way it was the only zen hour of my life.
But then I had to ruin it with my competitive nature. I wanted to do a marathon and in my running hubris upped my mileage too quickly. I blew out my shin. Stress fracture fun! Six weeks of low-impact recovery (where I learned to love 12/8 Tabata intervals on the bike) gave me time to reevaluate my goals. Q: Why did I want to run a marathon? A: To be able to say I did it.
After that, I decided to focus on getting stronger and dropped almost all of the long cardio, favoring HIIT (high intensity interval training) and weight lifting instead. And it worked. My sprints got faster. My fast mile got faster. My arms and back got some lovely definition. And now I can do pull-ups! But my distance running suffered.
Back during the Primal Experiment, we had to run 10K (6.4 miles) for CrossFit and I gained a hugely disappointing 10 minutes on my time. Part of me wanted to just blame my carb-depleted state but part of me knew that you are what you train for and I was no longer a runner.
All That and A Bag of Jelly Beans
Fast forward to today and the 15K. I put on my best wicking wear and told myself the goal was just to get the miles done. No pressure about breaking any speed records. No personal judgments about how far I’ve slipped. Just the zen part of running.
81 minutes later (ta-DA!) with the last mile done in 6 minutes, Allison and I were laying in a sweaty heap on the stretching mats, cesspools of bacteria they are.
“Why don’t we do this more often?” she gasped.
“I know, it’s awesome.”
“Seriously, why do we feel so good?”
“Runner’s High. Endorphins,” I managed between breaths would sound porno anywhere but the gym.
“That’s for real???”
Oh, yeah.
Bulking and Cutting
My bodybuilder friends’ lives revolved around the bulk-n-cut cycle. No, this has nothing to do with the case lot sale at your local food warehouse but about how you cycle your workouts. The basic premise – and this is admittedly old skool – is that building muscle and losing fat are very difficult to accomplish at the same time. So you focus on one and then the other. You “bulk” by lifting heavy and minimizing cardio (CrossFit essentially) to build muscle and then you “cut” by dropping some weight and upping the cardio to lean out. If you do it right, the one should not cancel the gains in the other out.
At this very moment I can hear hardcore CrossFitters and everyone over at Mark’s Daily Apple smacking their collective foreheads and sighing loudly. But yes, the Experiment for August is long, steady cardio. It’s beautiful outside and I plan to take advantage of it.
Here is the plan the gym buddies and I will be following (feel free to roll your eyes, it probably burns a few calories;)):
5 days a week of 40-60 minutes steady moderate intensity cardio
1 day a week of interval/speed training
2 days a week of weight lifting
1 day a week each of yoga and pilates because… I love them.
I’m also adding a measurement. In addition to weight, inches and body fat I will also be measuring my mood. Because if I learned anything from July’s Experiment, if I don’t feel good then it’s going to blow up in my face. And really what is the point of all of this except to find what makes me happiest? Plus I’ll get to wear my running skirt more:)
Caveat
I am aware of the over training issues here and will make sure to have at least one rest day a week. Also, remember that my experiments only last one month. So September will be some new kind of torture, er, fun!
PS> I really really wanted to do a kettlebell experiment for August but I only own Tinkerbell. And those suckers are expensive. So I put in a request at my gym to order some but I have no idea if they will. One way or the other though, I’m gonna find a way to do kettlebells. Just gonna take some time.
I’ve been reading your blog for a while now and this is my first post! Like the sound of this experiment, might try it with you. I’ll let you know how I get on 😀
Good decision! Welcome back to Cardioworld! Enjoy your stay. Everybody in Cardioworld is blissed out from endorphins and likes flowers and sunshine. It’s the summer of love! Perhaps you will stay here with us forever, wheee!
By the way I just got your comment about my blog feed. Answer? I know not what computer does. Do I even have a feed? What is a feed? Anyway, thanks for stopping by!
TA x
woo hoo OLD SCHOOL BODYBUILDING.
can I be your mentor? (and I mean CAN…not may 🙂 CAN I? not sure I know enough to be mentor’y)
Im excited and shall fo’shizzle be on the lookout for overtraining signs for you as we do NOT wanna burn off muscle!
xo xo,
Miz.
Now that’s an experiment I can get in on! I’ve got my sights set on a half marathon in December, and need to start getting my mileage back on track.
Okay, not that this is an experiment for me. Sounds pretty much like you’ll be doing what I do on a regular basis. Just a bit less cardio, believe it or not.
This pretty much sounds like my regular routine, give or take a weight session (I do 3 a week) and yoga (used to do it, not so much now due to time constraints) so I’m with you on this.
I’m also with you on the mood measuring – it’s SO much more important than the numbers IMO.
I was going to say running for the leg predicament (I’ve found that to work in the past, I think? Gah! Why didn’t I take better notes!). So now I can see if it works for you while I take it easy in August. I’m sticking with Primal, but I’m feeling a little burned out on any exercise (it’s about that time of year for me). I may just do more walking and whatever I feel like.
I think it’s cool that you sound so EXCITED about this one. Sounds like you’ve been really missing those long cardio workouts.
It actually sounds pretty intense and frightening to me, which is only a reflection of how much better shape you’re in than I am. You’re still doing intervals and weights, plus yoga and pilates AND the Kick-Ass long cardio endurance work. I’d die– but you sound quite up for it.
But I’m glad MizFit is watching out for overtraining issues.
I’m so excited for you! I think you’re going to have fun with this. Your weekly schedule sounds like mine, except that I’ve been slacking on the intervals and yoga lately *makes mental note to get her crap together*
I’m glad Miz will be on the lookout for signs of overtraining, but I think this sounds like a really good balance.
Have fun!
haha – I like tokaiangels “Welcome back to Cardioworld” comment. It looks like a doable plan you’ve got here – not too crazy (but still ambitious). You’ll be great. Day of rest indeed.
Sounds like fun! You’ll have to keep up posted as to whether it helps the bulky leg situation. 🙂
As a cardiogirl myself, I love the plan. I look at your schedule, and that’s pretty much how I want my weeks to go too. Knowing you’re in almost the same boat I’m in (that boat with three little kids) I want to watch how this experiment goes from a mama management standpoint. I don’t doubt for a minute you could keep up with all those workouts and become the next running queen (in a skirt). The real hurdle is the juggling act. That’s where I want in on the experiment. I was feeling pretty content and proud of myself for my 4-5/week cardio, 1/week strength, and my best effort at yoga once a week. You’re setting the bar a little higher girlfriend. You know… if you can do all that with three kids, then…
Sounds a lot like my plan, except I sub 2 days of running for Dance Dance Revolution – I know it sounds totally dorky but at the highest settings it is a fantastic easy-day workout and FUN. =) Good luck with the experiment!
The long, steady cardio is what keeps me in a good mood. I haven’t had a decent length of long steady cardio in a few days and I’m feeling the effects- I think I’m addicted to long walks:)
I’m looking forward to seeing how this works out for you. It’ll be really interesting to see how it affects your mood! I know that it does wonders for me.
Oooh, Quix, I soooo want a DDR set!
5 days a week of cardio sounds daunting to me, just because of the time it would take out of my schedule! Before the summer started, I was doing 2 days moderate cardio, 1-2 days heavy/interval cardio, 2 days lifting (all that took place in five days), unless I picked up an extra class here and there. Good luck with your new schedule! I’m curious how it’ll turn out, maybe I should add some more cardio into mine (I know I should add yoga and more weights, because with summer I’m not doing ANY weights, apart from the 100 pushup program I’m doing).
I really enjoy cardio…it’s good for my mind and mental state. And yes, runner’s high is SO REAL. 😉
Not very different from what I do!
Sorry I will only be there in thought.
For what it’s worth, I never ran a marathon, because almost everyone I know who did too many got injured! That hour a day will give you everything you need, and if you ever feel like going longer once in a while, you will be able to!
Hope y’all have a good time!
Oh Charlotte, I love the look of this experiment. I love cardio… I think I would need to be on some kind of drug if it weren’t for sweet sweet endorphines going through my system after a good cardio session.
Please, stay on the lookout for overtraining, but me thinks it looks sutainable.
And by gosh, promise me in a month of two, you will be doing a kettlebell one, so I can live vicariously through you while I have a babe strapped to my chest.
woo-woot! welcome back to runner’s world chica!
I’m in. I think it’s exactly what I need right now and I have recovered sufficiently from the epicness of Pemberton to try to run again.
I have to second what Crabby said – you sound excited about this and that’s wonderful! I love my running time, of course in this GA heat it’s been hard lately. I can’t get out early in the morning except on the weekends, so on weeknights I’m on full look-out for any sprinklers I can run through!
Just read an interesting post advocating NO leg lifting if you want to drop bulk in the legs. Advocates … running! I’m going to incorporate this – no more PR’s on squats and DL’s for a while. But I’m okay with that if my legs get all sexy-like! We’ll compare notes at the end of August.
I have a question. I would like to participate in this experiment but what does the one hour of cardio entail? Can I do a kickboxing class? Or a spinning class? Does that count or is it specifically just machines or running?
You can always join my group Wednesday evenings at 6:30 p.m. at Washburn High Track(South Minneapolis) for an intense running/interval workout! There is also a woman up here that teaches Kettle bell classes. It would be a haul from Lakeville, but if you get your buddies on board, you can carpool! I will look forward to hearing your results. Especially when it comes to your mood!
ok, so i’m totally doing the 12/8 interval thing. I too have had issues with shin splints. I love spinning and am needing a good cardio workout. I’m with you on the cardio experiment minus the weights… until i start practice at ksu later this month (omg!)
tokaiangel – yeah, you have a feed automatically unless you turn it off:(
AT22 – can you e-mail me that study you read??? I swear we are ALWAYS on the same page, girl.
Kara – I’m lucky. My YMCA has really great childcare:) It’s not that far from you…!
Quix – I LOVE DDR!!! LOVELOVELOVE!
Daisy – Do whatever kind of cardio floats your boat. Me, I do hip-hop dancing, kick boxing, spin class and running. Glad to have you on board!
Darcy – I am SO tempted. I’m an AM workout girl though. Hard to manage after dinner with the kiddos and all that. Still, sounds really fun.
Adria – you are going to be AWESOME, girl. No worries!
Kettlebells are okay but really not much different than using dumbells. Last summer I did a couple months of bootcamp with a trainer that had us using kettlebells. This summer my new trainer often has us doing the same exercises but using dumbells, as my gym does not have kettlebells. Guess what? No difference…except that the kettlebells were all rusty and left my hands feeling nasty dirty and you sometimes get splinters from where the paint crumbles off them. The shape of the kettlebell, in my opinion makes it more of a burden as it often has to be rested on the wrist. You must take off your watch if you wear one or it will get smashed. You can do the exact same workout using dumbells for nearly every exercise from what I can see…and with dumbells you can actually do more exercises than with free weights. It’s the weight and motion of the exercise that you are interested in..not the prop used.
Oooopsie…in that last sentence I meant to say Kettlebells instead of “free weights”
Seeing as this just intensifies my current fitness plan, I’m totally in. I actually ran for an hour today. It was hard, but fantastic!
I’m very excited, although I’m keeping the rest of my fitness plan as is, I need my pilates/yoga and more strength training days. But this should be great!
Measuring your mood is pure genius. You are learning!