Five Weeks Down

That's 15 Sweat and 15 Sculpt circuits completed! Woohoo! It's really exciting to feel the progress with each day that passes.

This past week, I had a breakthrough on the Sweat Circuit. I've described before that the Sweat Circuit transitions from stretching, to Power Yoga, to Knee Lifts, then to what has been the toughest section for me, Jumping Jacks, Running, and Run Lunges. Each of the three exercises takes about 30 seconds and is repeated once making the total time about 3 minutes. Before this week, I had been trying to take it easy on the Jumping Jacks by doing them a little slower than normal; maybe even slower than is natural. By the time I got to the Run Lunges, I was tired. This week, I decided push through the Jumping Jacks, doing them with a normal speed and effort. It felt great! So, I did the same with the Run Lunges, it worked for that exercise too! So, I made it all the way through the Jumping Jacks, Running, and Run Lunges twice without slowing down or taking a break.

I tried the same thing on the next set of exercises and it worked again. Those exercises were the Lateral-X, Quick Feet, and Cross Hops. I made it through both sets of those without slowing. I feel really good about it.

I've been ready to move on to the next level of the Sculpt circuit for a week or two and am getting close to being ready to move on to the next level of the Sweat circuit too. I reviewed the next level of both circuits to see what we have ahead of us. Basically, it's more of the same with more sets and maybe a couple of new exercises.

On another note, the half marathon is next weekend. My intervals have been better than ever and I'm looking forward to the race. I usually run for 45 minutes twice during the middle of the week with a long training day on the weekend. I'm probably going to back it down to 30 minutes this week just to give myself a little extra "rest". My time for this race last year was 2:48 which averages out to about 12:49 per mile. I should be able to match that time if not beat it. I'm okay just finishing but I always like to give myself little goals along the way. My best half marathon was in April 2010 at the Run for Home Half Marathon in New Philadelphia, OH. I did that one in 2:40 and averaged about 12:05 per mile. I'm not ready to push for a better pace at the Marshall race. But, I am excited over the success I've been experiencing lately and will probably push at the next one.