Fall Sweataway 2011 Pat IV: Sunday Morning and Afternoon

We slept AMAZINGLY well at the Oxford...a crappy night in Motel 6 plus a half marathon will really knock you out. 

Breakfast was a mix of muffin, pastry, fruit, coffee/tea, and protein-packed chocolate milk.

If you are looking for a good book on racing, Runner's World Guide to Road Racing is a great place to start.  It has everything from nutrition tips and cooldown strategies to motivational quotes from famous runners and lists of the best races in the country.

I loved how quickly my body started recovering from the Bend Half.  My first half found me hardly able to walk during the rest of the day, and still pretty drained the day after.  Not so for this time around...an unexpected pay-off of diligent training!  I always tend to focus on getting faster or going farther or working on my form.  Avoiding injury and recovering quickly make good goals for ANY training program.

Jared planned for us to walk 2+ miles to the liquor store to find a particular local brand (Oregon Spirit Distillers) of gin or rum.  They had the marionberry cordial, but not what he was looking for.  They did, however, have a Whole Foods nearby, and we had a groupon-type thing to use!

It was really sweet that he had us start the day with a long walk.  We fell in love walking and talking for hours at our college campus, and we don't usually get to any more.  (The walking part.  The poor boy will probably never find a way to make me stop talking.)  Romance props to Jared for being so thoughtful!  The view was pretty amazing, too.

When we got back to the hotel, we grabbed some bars for snacks and headed down to take out the complimentary cruiser bikes.  I have a weak spot for all things cute, and these bikes really take the cake.

We rode to the Old Mill District to do some shopping, along the river because it's pretty, up towards the area where we ran on Saturday, and around town a little.  We found a cute tea place that we'd like to try next time we come visit Bend.

It may seem like all we did on this trip was work out together...and that wouldn't be excessively far from the truth.  But we truly enjoy being active and at home in "real life" we are rarely able to coordinate our schedules to do our workouts in tandem.  So we wring every drop out of these amazing Sweataways.  (Plus we don't waste a minute feeling guilty about anything we eat.  Which is a huge perk...since we eat a ton.)

Next on Sunday's agenda was strength-training.  I was totally in need of more than a few reps, since I'd been so focused on running.  And no way would I pass up the chance to get tips on moves and form from my favorite personal trainer.

Jared being focused and me taking pictures. 
This is kinda how we roll.

We decided a full body strength workout would be best, and started with Jared's dynamic warmup, which includes jumping jacks, walking lunges, and hip strengthening exercises, to name a few.

We then did about 10 minutes of abs...and boy could I tell I had been ignoring mine lately.

For the full body workout, we did seated lat pulldowns, pushups, and body weight squats.  15 reps of each going in a circuit, resting between circuits for a total of 3 sets.

Move #1

I really have to watch my form on these, because my right trap always wants to scrunch up and "help."  This is bad for my neck and also does nothing to help strengthen my lats.

Move #2

I am not currently up to "real" pushups, so I go with bench pushups instead of "girl" pushups (pushups from knees instead of feet.  Girl pushups make it hard to have good form, and I don't think they build as much strength.  Using a bench or something equally study makes it a little easier than full pushups but encourages good form.

Move #2 with bad form

Obviously when you get tired your form slacks off.  Having a trainer or even a well-informed workout buddy can help you when you don't realize you are sticking your hips back.

If you want to try real pushups, though, go for it!  They are a great way to get a super speedy workout, any time and any place.

Move #3A

Move #3B

Body weight squats are another do-anywhere kind of move.  All you need to do to make them more challenging is to squat lower without letting your knees go past your toes...or hold the down position for a few seconds before coming back up.

Strength training is serious business.

If you want to jumpstart weight loss or any other fitness goal, strength training is a crucial part of your routine.  It ramps up your metabolism, fights fat, and protects you from injury.  A nice pair of gloves protects your hands...I like the GoFit gloves from Target.

We finished up with a quick yoga routine, which is always a good idea, especially after a day full of moving around.  It's a fun tradeoff, because Jared is great with strength training, but I know more about yoga.  When we workout together, we can both be contributing ideas and learning from each other...which is a pretty useful exercise in marriage, if you ask me.