Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Friday:
Lat Pull-Downs (30)
Leg Extensions (50)
Leg Curls (50)
Bench Press (50)
Squats (50)
Lat Dumbell Raise (10)
Calf Raise (60)
Dumbbell Pullover (15)
Backward Lunges (45)
Bicep Curls (30)
Tricep Extensions (15)
Leg Press (60)
Lunges (20)
100 Sit-Ups and some stretching.

Saturday & Sunday: 2.5 mi COLD runs outside. Glad I got some outerwear for Christmas!

Today I logged 3.3 miles in just over 30 minutes. I'm slowly increasing my pace while trying to keep my new form. Going to try to increase my running from 3 days a week to 4. Eventually, I'm going to be morphing into an actual running guide like the half-marathon road map on nomeatathlete.com. For now, just getting used to running with the new form.

Monday: 3.3 mile run in 30 minutes. Running at a faster pace while focusing on running comfortably. I need to grab some new shoes as I've had the current ones for more than I'd like to admit.

Tuesday: Same weights workout from before. 2 sets of each. Trying to get used to working these muscle groups. I haven't lifted on a serious schedule since high school swimming.

TODAY: 2.5 mile run at a much faster pace (about 9 1/2 min). I got to run outside because, well, it's 50 degrees in Chicago on February 1st.

This concludes my first full month of a training log. I think it really contributed to keeping me on pace and has now inspired me to start my personal site that I keep neglecting to begin.

Hey man, thanks for the note! Good luck with all those races. I think if you can do a half-ironman then Tough Mudder shouldn't be too bad, LOL.

Haha, I certainly hope not! I don't know what I'm getting myself into with the half-Ironman but I know that I'm going to go at it with everything I've got.

Have a good rest of your week!

Hit the gym today for the same endurance set that I've been doing for the last few weeks. Really starting to feel comfortable with the weights & reps. I am going to stick to this set for the next few weeks and figure out what weights I can safely get to and put up 15 reps each for 2 sets. Once my first race (May) gets closer, I'll do a few weeks of more intense, higher weight, less reps workouts and then taper. I'll probably repeat that pattern in shorter fashion in preparation for the Half-Ironman in June.

Monday: 3.2 mi. run at a cadence of 90. I've been trying to work on my form on the treadmill. Doing a lot of research about cadence and where I should be striking my foot. My legs don't get as tired during the run and I definitely feel lighter on my feet, but different parts of my legs are sore that weren't before. I'm attributing that to the new muscles being used.

Tuesday: Same weights workout

Today (Wed.): 3.6 mi. run at a cadence of 85. Trying to find a happy "base" area to start training on.

I've recently been listening to the Zen and the Art of Triathlon podcast and it's getting me really excited to start racing and for the weather to get nicer.

It's been a while since my last post but that doesn't mean I haven't been working out. I've on a pretty consistent "Base training" schedule that looks like this:

Monday: Run (usually easy 2.5 mi.)
Tuesday: Same weights workout
Wednesday: Run (usually 75% at at least 25-30 min. Usually get 2.5-3.0mi. in that time)
Thursday: Run (30 min, 60-75%)
Friday: Weights
Saturday: Swimming (1500 yards)

It still hasn't been nice enough to ride but I've got most everything I need to get out on my (used) new bike.

The most important part of my post though is that my NYNY Prize Pack came today and I couldn't be more surprised, inspired, and grateful to be a part of RC's community. He is an incredible dude and has really lit a fire under my ass for 2012.

70.3 HERE I COME!

Yay, you got your prize package! Hope you enjoy it. Our donors were quite generous (particularly HealthForce Nutritionals)! Thanks for being such a valuable member of this community! Hope you'll be sticking around.

All the best,
Karen

Thanks again Karen! I definitely will be. The NYNY challenge has helped me start 2012 better than I've started the last few years and I've stuck with it. Couldn't be more pleased.

With that being said:

Monday: 2 mi. easy run. I'm starting to incorporate part of the half-marathon roadmap from NoMeatAthlete.com. I'm going to mix up the "to finish" and "to fitness" plans to build up my running stamina to prep for the last 13.1 miles of the 70.3 in June!

Today: Weights again, same routine. Starting to feel a bit too easy ( ) so I'm going to start turning up the weights & scaling back the reps as soon as next week.

Tomorrow: 3 mi. run, hopefully outside. It's supposed to be 50+ degrees tomorrow, I'm hoping it'll be nice early.

I almost forgot! On Saturday, I went out on a nice ride because the weather was supposed to be really mild, upwards of 50 degrees. I went out at 9:30am and it was about 37-39, but the sun was shining bright and I was hoping the trails at the nearby forest preserve would be cleared/almost melted. Boy was I wrong. I made my way over to the preserve (about 3 miles) only to find the pedestrian entrance was still covered in snow and ice. Determined to find the "cleared" bike route, I carried my bike about a mile into the park (image here!)

However, there was no melted trail pot-of-gold at the end of this trek. Just more snow and ice. So, I made my way back home through the local neighborhoods. All in all, it was a good 8 mile ride. Can't wait for spring.

Thursday: 2 mi. tempo run (8:40 pace, might be a little too fast but it was comfortable).

Friday: rest day

Today: 4 mi. run & 1/2 hr. swim. I'm getting m'lady ready for a sprint triathlon we're doing in june. I couldn't be more excited.

We also went to Runners Hi n' Tri (an amazing running/tri shop nearby) and went a little crazy. I picked up some new shoes and some Nike Dri-Fit winter pants. They were awesome on the run today and I can't believe I haven't owned a pair until today.

Tomorrow is looking like either some yoga or another swim workout.

Today I took a page out of John Hirsch's swimming workout database and did this nice workout:

I started with a quick 3 mi. ride on a stationary bike.

Swim workout 1.
1. warm-up: 200swim, 200 kick, 200 pull
2. 9×50 on :55 3x(slow, med, fast)
3. 6×75 15 seconds rest (50 drill, 25 build swim)
4. 300 swim :45 rest,200 swim :30 rest,100 swim :15
rest
5. 4×50 ez 10 seconds rest total: 2,300 yards

Felt really good.

I like that pic you took of the nature sanctuary. Keep flicking, earth loving people on the forum are diggin' pics like that. I'm Jealous I haven't seen much nature since December but I'm headed to the mountains this weekend, finally!

-Dylan