And So It Begins - Week One of my Monumental Redemption

(Much has happened over the last few days so bare in mind, this is going to be a long blog. )

  I like that name for this year's training, Project Monumental Redemption - I am training for redemption at the Monumental Marathon :)
Anyways, I am going to try to blog at least every other day, maybe every 3 days. I think blogging every single day is just crazy or boring... or at least that's how I feel about my blogs. Mainly they are just journal entries for me to look back on, but I know that they also entertain and inspire others.
  Last week was a very easy, hardly any running week. After Sunday's 11 miler I was feeling pain in my upper left hamstring, lower glute area and I was a little worried. Tuesday I only managed a mile with this crap and decided I would take the week off and let whatever was bugging me heal, I had 18 tough and merciless weeks coming and I needed to be in good shape to take them on. Saturday I went and tried for 3.3 miles and had no issues, Sunday I ran 3 miles and had no issues so I felt I was ready.

Oh and before I start on the last 3 days, I must introduce our newest family member. As you all know, Molly's passing in December 2012 was a lot for me to take and it's been a tough almost 3 years for me. I've been wanting to give another dog a new life and start a new chapter but I was always afraid that I was betraying Molly and her memory if I did. 
Well, Saturday on Facebook I saw on one of my favorite pages (Vom Blue Rescues) that they had a 4 month old female black German Shepherd puppy. Her eyes spoke volumes to me, but DH was skeptical of her being full blooded due to her overly large ears. Well, Monday after work I took Rocky and Dorian to meet her and learned her short history. The poor girl was neglected by her first owners and their other two dogs were even more unkind to her. When she was surrendered to the rescue, she was so thin that her skin was hanging off her bones, she was infested with fleas and tapeworms and regular worms - she was basically being eaten from both inside and out :( The only things that have been growing according to plan are her ears.
BUT she is now in good hands and I am going to make sure that she is taken great care of and grows good and strong, and can mature to be the best dog that she can be.
Meet Jetta, who is just about already Rocky's height lol.

   Monday - No Running - Back Day & Abdominal/Core

Captain's Chair: 6 sets  of 12 reps

Standing Barbell Curls: 45lbsX12reps, 40lbsX15reps, 45lbsX12reps, 40lbsX15reps, 45lbsX12reps, 40lbsX15reps

Torso Rotation: 5 sets / 10 reps / 75 lbs

Triceps Dumbbell Kickbacks: 20lbsX8reps, 17.5lbsX12reps, 20lbsX8reps, 17.5lbsX12reps, 20lbsX8reps, 17.5lbsX12reps

Loaded Plate Incline Chest Press: 90lbsX10reps, 100lbsX8reps, 90lbsX10reps, 100lbsX8reps, 90lbsX10reps, 100lbsX8reps

Standing Rope Hammer Curls: 50lbsX12reps, 60lbsX8reps, 4 sets / 12 reps / 50 lbs

Standing Triceps Cable Pull Downs: 60lbsX12reps, 70lbsX8reps, 60lbsX12reps, 70lbsX8reps, 60lbsX12reps, 70lbsX8reps

Fly Delts: 75lbsX12reps, 80lbsX8reps, 75lbsX12reps, 80lbsX8reps, 75lbsX12reps

At Home

Bicycle Crunches - 5 sets / 200 reps

Tuesday -
  Temperature was 79 degrees, humidity was 84% and it sucked balls except for the wind which was 13 mph SSW. I ran 5.2 miles in 53:41 with a pace of 10:19 min/mile.
Laps/splits:
Mile 1 - 10:48
Mile 2 - 10:03
Mile 3 - 10:20
Mile 4 - 10:18
Mile 5 - 10:13
.2      - 9:58

At the Gym - Shoulders & Delts
Cable Face Pulls: 6 sets / 15 reps / 60 lbs
Dumbbell Lateral Raises: 17.5lbsX8reps, 15lbsX12reps, 17.5lbsX8reps, 15lbsX15reps, 17.5lbsX8reps, 15lbsX15reps
Converging Plate Loaded Overhead Press: 6 sets / 8 reps / 80 lbs
Barbell Upright Rows: 6 sets / 12 reps / 45 lbs
Rear Delts: 55lbsX12reps, 60lbsX8reps, 55lbsX12reps, 60lbsX8reps, 55lbsax12reps, 60lbsX8reps
Front Plate Raises: 5 sets / 20 reps / 35 lbs

  Wednesday - 
  This morning's temperature was 66 degrees, 94% humidity but with misty rain so it felt pretty good. I ran 5.1 miles in 10:26 min/mile, I've been a bit slow here lately but I also haven't been getting much sleep.
Laps/splits:
Mile 1 - 10:56
Mile 2 - 10:19
Mile 3 - 10:33
Mile 4 - 10:23
Mile 5 - 10:01
.1       - 10:03

  Got back home, and was greeted by Jetta. I changed my clothes and headed to the gym for Back Day with Core.
Wide Grip Lat Pull Downs: 70lbsX12reps, 80lbsX8reps, 70lbsX12reps, 80lbsX8reps, 70lbsX12reps, 80lbsX8reps 
One Arm Dumbbell Row: 45lbsX10reps, 40lbsX12reps, 50lbsX8reps, 45lbsX10reps, 40lbsX12reps, 45lbsX10reps 
Underhand Seated Cable Row: 6 sets / 12 reps / 60lbs 
Torso Rotation: 5 sets / 12 reps / 75 lbs 
Machine Parallel Grip Lat Pull Down: 105lbsX12reps, 115lbsX8reps, 105lbsX12reps, 115lbsX8reps, 105lbsX12reps, 115lbsX8reps 
Seated Cable Row: 6 sets / 8 reps / 80 lbs

Then I headed to the river for a 2 mile easy run to finish off this morning. I'll be aiming for 5-6 sets of 200 Bicycle Crunches and a few sets of 20 Supermans.